The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom comes with the promise to exceed all expectations and provide an unforgettable gaming experience. Players from all over the world are ready to embark on this new adventure and discover what wonders await in the kingdom of Hyrule. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world full of magic, danger and intense emotions! Right away, I’ll tell you why this installment is so much better.
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The Ultimate Open World Experience
Tears of the Kingdom is an adventure I’ve experienced recently and it has blown me away. I love the freedom it offers to explore an open world at my leisure. I can go where I want, at any time and do what I please. This world is completely mine to discover with no restrictions.
The game is based on Breath of the Wild, but don’t be mistaken into thinking it’s the same. The map has been recycled but the Hyrule that is now presented is a completely new one and even more dangerous due to an ancient calamity. When exploring, I sometimes feel a little nostalgic when I see familiar areas, but I am quickly surprised to see how many of them have changed. In addition, new areas full of secrets, mysteries and great rewards have been added. There is also a hidden area that blew my mind when I discovered its true extent. At times it felt like a whole new game to me.
In Tears of the Kingdom, the norm is to explore large, desolate, empty spaces that create a sense of loneliness and isolation. It is by design that anything out of place immediately catches the eye. Plus, traveling across the world is a laborious task, making it worth navigating for rewards of all kinds: be it a cave with hidden treasure, a secret sanctuary, or a warm campfire where you can hear tales of Travellers. There are also wonderful sights that have left me speechless, and clashes against enemies that have mercilessly pursued me, which has added excitement and surprise to the experience. I think Breath of the Wild understood this mechanic, but Tears of the Kingdom has perfected it even further.
In my experience, the Shrines in Tears of the Kingdom are similar to the ones in the previous installment and serve the same function. They are puzzle-based challenges that utilize all of the game’s mechanics and systems. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed these Shrines a lot more than the ones in Breath of the Wild because they’re definitely better designed, fun, and not as reliant on the motion control of the Nintendo Switch. It’s a positive experience because what was frustrating in the previous game was having to manipulate items, failing, and leaving Sanctuary empty-handed.
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Innovations in mechanics and abilities
In Tears of the Kingdom, Link becomes an unstoppable force thanks to his exceptional abilities. Each new power adds a unique dimension to exploration, giving you greater control over the world to challenge you in exciting and unique ways. For example, Ultra Hand is an ability that allows you to manipulate certain objects and put them together to build whatever you want, from platforms that help you reach high places to rustic machines that help you navigate the environments and fight enemies. It is similar to the Sheika Stone Magnet module, but much more dynamic because it is not limited to metal objects. I have a lot of fun building vehicles of all kinds and experimenting with the tools that the game generously offers so that I can be creative without limits. The question is: how creative can I be and how am I going to break the game?
There is another very useful ability in Tears of the Kingdom called Rewind, which allows you to go back in time for something that has already happened. You can use Knockback to make an object thrown by the enemy recoil and damage or stun them, or to turn a dropped object into a rising platform to reach new places. It was fun finding creative uses for it. Another interesting ability is Combination, which allows you to fuse a wide variety of objects with your weapons. This ability evolves Breath of the Wild’s disposable weapon system and overloads it with hundreds of possibilities. Now, all the objects you find can be potential weapons, even the remains of your enemies. You can fuse plants and other objects picked up from the ground, like the flower bomb, with arrows for an explosive effect from a distance. The possibilities are almost endless.
“It is a testament to Nintendo’s quality of delivering fully functional products”
Additionally, there is another ability called Infiltration that allows you to ascend to a higher plane as long as certain conditions are met. The amazing thing about this ability is that the game doesn’t limit you or tell you when you can use it or not. As long as there is a flat surface above you and it is within reach, you can emerge on top, regardless of whether it is a platform or a mountain.
What has surprised me about all the systems in Tears of the Kingdom is that everything works perfectly. There’s no need to be careful to avoid breaking things or juggling your way to it, which encourages me to experiment and use my full arsenal and items. This is a true testament to Nintendo’s quality in delivering fully functional products, with no performance issues, on technically inferior hardware compared to current consoles that struggle to offer the bare minimum with much more processing power.
On the other hand, the soundtrack of Tears of the Kingdom is a real gem, full of passion and overwhelming force. Its enveloping melodies transport you to a dark and mysterious world, where each defiant distorted note fits perfectly with the theme of the game. It’s amazing to experience how music accompanies you at peak moments, flooding your senses with epic fanfares and making the environment come alive with every orchestral chord. It feels like the sounds themselves have a life of their own, responding instantly to changes in scenery and action. It is a truly captivating experience.
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Inheritances and sins of the past
As you can read, Tears of the Kingdom is an improved version of Breath of the Wild, as it fuels the feeling of exploration and constantly rewards the player’s curiosity. However, he still carries the shadow of his legacy. There’s still a disconnect with the franchise’s past through the dungeons, which is the big sin that Breath of the Wild introduced. While the presentation of the dungeons has improved in Tears, they actually feel like glorified puzzle sequences, on the same scale as the divine beasts. This detracts a lot from the epic feeling, as it’s best to get to them first.
The same thing happens with the Tears of the Kingdom story as well. The protagonists are not Link or Zelda, but the open world welcomes you to do what you want and how you want. This means that character development is limited because there seems to be little urgency to find Zelda. Everything indicates that we will have to wait, once again, for a DLC that fulfills our whims.
“It’s Adventure Perfected”
As you can see, I have to admit that the bad points are inherited from the last installment and the new approach of the franchise and it does not escape having unexciting aspects. For example, Tears of the Kingdom plays the same sound as its predecessor in story structure. I won’t go into details to avoid the scary spoiler, but once I find a hero, it’s a little disappointing to see that the resolution of the others have the same structure, which detracts from the narrative impact. In addition, again what is told is little and is fragmented into repetitive bullets hidden throughout the entire map.
On the other hand, I’m a bit disappointed with the aerial scenarios in the game. They are very few and they only hide secrets and rewards. All the previous material from the game suggested to me that these new areas would have greater importance, but they are only fragments that I visit sporadically. The real adventure, once again, happens with your feet on the ground.
In conclusion, this is one of the best games of the year; one that understood his strengths, greatly expanded his offerings, and deepened his systems to deliver an adventure like no other. Like I said, it’s the adventure perfected, although it still carries the sins of its predecessor. But don’t let this distract you from the greatness and magic of exploring every corner of the new Hyrule.
Hyrule is truly yours
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