“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” is the latest game in the long-running “Zelda” series. Arriving six years after the highly-acclaimed bestseller “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” this sequel has more than lived up to its hype to deliver both a worthy sequel and a groundbreaking game in its own right.
The story’s events pick up roughly where those of “Breath of the Wild” left off. As Link and Zelda try to help Hyrule recover from the Calamity, the kingdom ends up divided across the land, water and sky. Link must then reunite with Zelda to help reforge the Master Sword and face off with his old enemy Ganon once again.
Building on the gameplay and visual precedents set by “Breath of the Wild,” the game contains a host of new mechanics and special abilities. In addition to remixing how exploration and discovery play into the story and world design, the new abilities to create have opened up a multitude of possibilities for combat and puzzle-solving.
As well as expanding upon existing characters from the franchise’s lore, the game introduces a host of new additions to the cast. One standout example is the Zonai, an ancient race of people who serve as both friend and foe during your quest.
Though the core gameplay and presentation don’t stray too far from what was established in “Breath of the Wild,” this sequel introduces the right amount of new material while also refining the key aspects that made the previous game in 2017 work. The sheer flexibility of the creation abilities will keep players engaged far beyond completing the main story.
Much as “Breath of the Wild” did for the system’s launch (and the waning days of the Wii U), this sequel is a perfect fit for the Switch (talk persists of the console’s in-development successor).
Overall, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” is highly-recommended as another must-own title for the Switch. It builds on everything that worked in “Breath of the Wild” and forges an ideal blueprint for the series’ future.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Platform: Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: E10+
My Rating: *****/5