The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Reviews

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is ranked in the 100th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9.5 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

Link is back, and better than ever! The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes the excellent foundation of its predecessor and adds to it: the new abilities allow for much more experimentation and puzzle solving, plus the islands in the sky offer a change from the earthbound world of Hyrule, inviting you to explore much more, putting the saying "The sky's the limit!" to new use. Nintendo has managed to outdo itself once again after Breath of the Wild.

Review in German | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
May 29, 2023

You can bet we'll see Tears of the Kingdom at the top of every "best games" list for the next few centuries.

Review in Turkish | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
May 28, 2023

This is a game that shows the value of a game being given time to cook and of a studio that has supported a consistent group of developers working on the same series for decades. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is not a game anyone else could make. This is why you bought your Switch, even if you didn't know it at the time.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 22, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom is without a doubt the best Zelda game to date. Although it offers a pure sandbox experience, the world is bustling with secrets to discover, treasure to loot, and puzzles to solve. It’s one of the few games that encourages exploration and rewards those who do it in full. It only takes a few hours to learn that there’s something new and exciting to discover just around the corner.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

The game has all the necessary qualities to be a great, massive, intelligent, and creative gaming experience that surpasses Breath of the Wild. However, it lacks a "wow factor" and feels like an improved version of its predecessor rather than a completely new experience. Despite its higher quality, the game relies too much on its predecessor, and the main world map is essentially the same.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

95%
Jun 28, 2023

The sequel to one of the greatest games of all time might also be one of the greatest games of all time.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's truly open world, player’s freedom and openness to experiment make it a true showstopper. Since Breath of the Wild, there was no open world game that made me so happy. But if you don’t share my love for the previous game, you have nothing to look for here.

Review in Polish | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
May 25, 2023

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes the incredible blueprint of Breath of the Wild and further hones it to craft a better, more polished rendition. The crafting and building can honestly be its own game and its open world continues to be a treat that encourages exploration. The action also remains top notch and the game overall is a testament to what can still be possible on the Nintendo Switch. Granted, it has its share of issues and won’t feel as new or groundbreaking for folks who already played BOTW. That being said, other games coming out this year definitely have their work cut out for them to supplant Tears of the Kingdom as the best game of 2023.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

One of the best adventure games that have ever been made. A playful and artistic titan, who swallows the hours in one bite, in a sumptuous banquet of possibilities, creativity, imagination.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
May 30, 2023
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Easy Allies Review - YouTube video thumbnail
Impulsegamer
Daniel
Top Critic
4.8 / 5.0
May 19, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom captures and improves upon everything it's predecessor was. The sky was they limit and they certainly reached it!

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9.8 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

Nearly every encounter, whether puzzle, traversal, or combat, must be reconsidered. It makes you think in new ways. I didn’t get the same goosebumps exploring Hyrule as I did in the past, but I did experience new emotions both on a granular level from solving individual puzzles and on a larger scale by going back to one of my favorite video game locations. They say you can never go home again, but I adored returning to Hyrule with all new tools.

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XGN.nl
Top Critic
9.8 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom quickly does away with worries that Breath of the Wild's Hyrule won't be as fun to explore a second time. Sky Islands, changes to the landscape and much more make this journey every bit as exciting as the previous adventure. Criticisms of Breath of the Wild have been taken to heart where possible, leading to unique dungeons, among other things. Small performance blemishes and occasionally annoying companion AI can't stop this game from being absolutely essential.

Review in Dutch | Read full review

9.8 / 10.0
May 19, 2023

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is almost the raw ideal of video games. It's a giant exciting open world, and you're given a huge amount of tools and puzzles to use in that world. It takes everything that was great about Breath of the Wild and improves upon it. It even takes some of the previous negatives (like weapon durability) and turns them into new strengths. The only weak part in the game is that the story isn't any great shakes, but even that's more of a minor annoyance than a serious complaint. Tears of the Kingdom is destined to be a modern classic, and it's an absolute joy to play. Unless you disliked the Breath of the Wild formula, Tears of the Kingdom is a must-play for any Switch owner.

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9.8 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom manages to surpass the perfection previously achieved by Breath of the Wild, an incredible accomplishment. I'm very happy for the other software houses, who will now be able to have a carefree summer, sparing themselves endless work sessions in an attempt to create a contender for the title of game of the year: right now, the current generation of game designers sadly lacks that spark with which to create a product that can come close to Tears of the Kingdom.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9.8 / 10.0
May 11, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom is what happens when a triple A studio with a triple A budget can take its time to develop a game, focussing on polish and gameplay instead of graphics. The result is so powerful that it puts to shame many contemporary games. This is a masterpiece.

Review in Italian | Read full review

98 / 100
May 11, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom brings together the power of adventure, the wisdom of freedom and the value of creativity, never forgetting what makes The Legend of Zelda so special: epic moments and the ability to thrill. They were not wrong to say that the title is a spoiler: we have shed tears of joy.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Nov 25, 2023

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.

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10 / 10.0
May 29, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom builds on and innovates from all the foundations laid by Breath of the Wild, thus rediscovering the meaning of the open world.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

10 / 10
May 26, 2023

If nothing else, Tears of the Kingdom proves how revolutionary Breath of the Wild was six years ago. The new installment doesn't attempt to redefine the series further or revolutionize game design. It both threads the path of its predecessor and improves upon it. And as it also proves, that sometimes you don't need anything more than that.

Review in Czech | Read full review