The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Reviews
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has lived up to the high expectations created by the success of Breath of the Wild with its exquisitely intertwined gameplay systems, outstanding music, and a legendary story culminating in a magnificent denouement. It's not every day that such a special video game like this comes around. Truly the stuff of legend.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom lives up to the franchise's pedigree, and then some. It’s a remarkably confident sequel that refines and remixes elements of Breath of the Wild in delightfully surprising ways. The aging Switch hardware it's confined to can’t always keep pace, but that’s a minor blemish on an overall masterful experience that is essential for all Nintendo fans.
We were all a bit surprised that Nintendo elected to do a straight-up sequel to 2017's seemingly unsurpassable Breath of the Wild, and we were shocked to see it would reuse the same open world. But any concerns we might have had about revisiting the same version of Hyrule were quickly shattered upon release, and now, six months on, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom continues to dazzle and amaze. In this case, lightning really did strike twice.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a title great enough to unite the whole industry. A game to celebrate the past and find the best in the most innovative future Nintendo can offer.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Tears of the Kingdom is a great game that makes it hard to go back to Breath of the Wild. It improves on its predecessor in terms of exploring and its sandbox method of gameplay, but fails to update the main combat mechanics and weapon system.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sets the gold standard for what should be a sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. By combining the predecessor’s main strengths with brand new, brilliant and delightful gameplay mechanics and an enormous expansion of the game map, Tears of the Kingdom provides an experience that is dripping with the excitement of discovery and the disturbing new reality of Hyrule. It’s not easy to succeed a stroke of genius, but Tears of the Kingdom does just that. This is a gaming masterpiece for all time.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I know I've spent a lot of time discussing my qualms with this new formula for Zelda games but I did still enjoy myself. Don't get me wrong, everyone should play Tears of the Kingdom. The new outfits to find are fun and varied, the caves are really interesting and Ultrahand has some fun uses. It is an incredible achievement but it's just not what I'm looking for in Zelda games. That's a shame for those of us that want those classic elements back. I don't think the Zelda 'formulas' are mutually exclusive. I think there's a better balance they can strike but they're not there yet. I can only hope Nintendo takes stock of the sincere critiques of these two Zelda games and find ways to accommodate all Zelda fans moving forward.
The level of interactivity in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, its puzzles, and the feelings you get while playing it are beyond compare. It's not perfect, but you shouldn't miss out on it because this is a fantastic game.
Tears of the Kingdom accomplishes its lofty goals, improving upon the masterful Breath of the Wild in nearly every key aspect; Tears may not be my favorite Zelda, but for millions of fans, it might be one of the greatest gaming experiences of their lives.
"Fantastic mixture of new and old Zelda ideas."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
The sequel to one of the greatest games of all time might also be one of the greatest games of all time.
This game is incredible and despite it not being the Zelda I remember, it’s one that will be added to the great memories in a way more than Breath of the Wild.
I had and continue to have a fantastic time with Tears of the Kingdom. It starts with a very strong opening and maintains this engaging story throughout. The new and returning elements worked well together and encouraged exploration and creativity. TotK really did take Breath of the Wild and crank it to 11 with the whole experience. The detail of the game and the creativity of other players really were unreal to see. The visual and audio designs were both fantastic and made travelling across Hyrule a delight. They went hand in hand together, especially Matt Mercer’s Ganondorf. Players will find their money’s worth here as many hours in I still have lots to do. I have had an incredible time and no doubt will continue to do so. Nintendo has knocked it out of the park and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the Zelda series. I hope you enjoyed my review, it was a pleasure to write. You can find my hands-on preview of Solasta: Palace of Ice if you’d like to read more.ll I’m delighted to give The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
If we were to say that this is an expanded and revitalized Breath of the Wild, we would be underestimating the level of creativity and ambition present in this sequel. It is very rare to find a game with the inventiveness of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom; moreover, one that invites you to innovate by his side. It's perfect? No. However, the small (and numerous) defects that we can point out to this experience are grains of sand on this desert that is the charm and fascination that it exercises and still holds over us after more than a hundred hours on this map. It's the perfect excuse to experience or return to this version of Hyrule, and if you've dedicated dozens of hours to Breath of the Wild, you could easily invest hundreds into the sequel.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Needless to say, this is a Game of the Year contender. It took one of the best games on the market and improved it in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible until we got a controller in our hands and played it. A joy from start to finish.
I could go on and on about this game. It has consumed my gaming time for the last two months and I have not wanted to play much else. I delayed doing the final mission for the longest time as I didn’t want it to end. There is still a ton for me to discover and unlock and I think I am going to keep going back for a long while. Rarely does a game that spans hundreds of hours keep me invested for even close to that long. Nintendo continues to keep this series fresh and while I do love what these new entries are doing, I would be remiss if I didn’t say I do kind of miss the classic design. Still Tears of the Kingdom is by far one of the best games of this generation and if you somehow haven’t played it yet, there is no excuse.
Like a great novel might, this game made me feel more connected to the world around me, and it put me in touch with feelings of wonder that I haven’t felt in a long time. I’ve often felt that too much is made of the anecdote that Shigeru Miyamoto was inspired to create The Legend of Zelda by his childhood explorations of Japanese countryside. For so long, the series had lacked, in my view, any recognizable shred of real exploration, real play. But then, along comes a game like Tears of the Kingdom, which gives you both a wonderful world to explore and thrilling, imaginative new ways to explore it, and I get it. Playing this, I feel like a kid again, alive to the wondrous nature of the world, imagining myself on all kinds of incredible adventures.
Overloaded, exuberant, grandiose, insanely ambitious. Tears of the Kingdom is a sequel that spectacularly expands the palette of Breath of the Wild and creates an environment in which player expression is encouraged and celebrated as an end in itself. Its "fluid" moulds create an unprecedented, more vivid relationship with the virtual world, in which its true beauty is neither emphasised nor offered as a ready-made dish, but is gradually discovered. A work of tremendous confidence and skill from Nintendo's development teams. The only question that remains now is: where do you go from here?
Review in Greek | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a complete triumph and an instant contender for Game of the Year. While no game is truly perfect, it follows up a title that many of us would consider one of the very best ever made and manages to improve on it in nearly every way. Believe the hype. If you have any way to play Tears of the Kingdom, you owe it to yourself to do so as soon as possible.
Tears of the Kingdom is just like Breath of the Wild, but better. The sequel adds more than enough to be a completely new experience, but familiar enough to feel like coming back to an old friend. The new abilities are an absolute technical feat, adding countless hours of creativity and innovation unlike any other title in this genre — even if the hardware constraints of the Nintendo Switch leave room for improvement.