How "Tears of the Kingdom" Broke All Expectations

Link standing on a sky island (Nintendo)

There was a particular game that was released earlier this year becoming the sequel to a fan favorite, “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”, in the Legend of Zelda franchise. As most people realize by now, “Breath of the Wild” revolutionized the franchise, redefining the open-world genre of games and becoming a hit sensation for many Zelda fans and newcomers alike. However, there was a problem, releasing a sequel to one of the greatest games of all time had everyone's expectations through the roof. That game was none other than “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom”, after teasing it 4 years ago back in 2019, Nintendo would finally release it on May 12, 2023. This begs the question: did Nintendo deliver an amazing sequel, innovating on various game mechanics, world-building, and/or linear storytelling, or did they fall short of those expectations? The short answer is yes, but in order to explain why, we must explore the various changes and improvements, “Tears of the Kingdom'' made compared to “Breath of the Wild”, in order to see if it deserves to be called a sequel to one of the greatest games of all time.

If you played “Breath of the Wild”, “Tears of the Kingdom” is, in more ways than one, a close resemblance, sharing the familiar world of Hyrule along with new additions and changes to fit the new premise of “Tears of the Kingdom”. You’ll be glad to find that “Tears of the Kingdom” is not only welcoming to returning players of “Breath of the Wild” with many references scattered throughout but also newcomers as well.

“Tears of the Kingdom” picks up after the events of “Breath of the Wild” after an unknown period of time. The game begins with Link and Zelda exploring a secret passage beneath Hyrule castle in an attempt to uncover a strange phenomenon called “gloom”. They discover Zonai ruins and murals detailing a war against the "Demon King" and eventually encounter a mummified Ganondorf bound by Rauru’s right arm. The arm suddenly falls off with a tear-shaped gem and Ganondorf comes to life badly injuring Link’s arm and the Master Sword while causing Hyrule Castle to rise into the sky and Zelda to disappear. Link wakes up with his damaged arm replaced by the disembodied arm and his quest begins once again to save Zelda and defeat Ganon as he tries to unravel the true story.

While the core story does follow the same premise, “Tears of the Kingdom” includes much more lore and world-building compared to “Breath of the Wild” which felt more rewarding towards the end. Unlike “Breath of the Wild” which focuses on building the world by introducing main characters, Link, the 4 Champions, and Zelda, “Tears of the Kingdom” expands past what players are already familiar with, by introducing lore-driven characters from the past they play a significant role in the story. One of the most apparent examples and surprising to me is when exploring the world and talking to NPCs, everyone recognizes Link, this brought a smile to my face as it truly felt like a continuation of a nostalgic journey. “Tears of the Kingdom” doesn’t waste your time making it feel like a nostalgic continuation for people already familiar with “Breath of the Wild”.

Beyond the narrative, “Tears of the Kingdom” offers many more changes in gameplay mechanics that many people would enjoy. For starters, the original Sheikah slate from “Breath of the Wild” is replaced with Rauru’s arm which gives players newfound powers that are arguably better than “Breath of the Wild”. Instead of the beloved Stasis, Magnesis, Cryonis, and Remote Bombs, Link now has the abilities Fuse, Ultrahand, Ascend, and Recall. Two of these abilities Fuse and Ultrahand completely change the game giving players incredible creative freedom. Fuse is the ability to fuse any two weapons, materials, or objects together not only giving the weapon unique stats but in most cases changing how the weapon is used. Even after playing for quite a while and finishing the game I only scratched the surface of the thousands of combinations you could create with weapons. The other ability is Ultrahand, which lets the player grab and stick various objects together to create almost anything players can imagine. I found these two abilities to be one of the biggest game changers in “Tears of the Kingdom”, compared to what “Breath of the Wild” offered, where I could easily spend hours creating and experimenting with various creations.

Even though the enhanced creative freedom provides countless possibilities for players to explore Hyrule, it wouldn’t make a difference if the world stayed the same as “Breath of the Wild”. That's where “Tears of the Kingdom” added not one but two different layers of exploration creating a whole new level of verticality. The Sky Islands and Depths provide a whole new addition of lore to the game while providing collectibles and content that wouldn’t be achievable in “Breath of the Wild”. However, if you're not a fan of exploration then it's completely optional but it provides a great addition of new content if you ever get bored. If you’re a completionist or just enjoy exploring like me, I found the Depths and Sky Islands to be incredibly fun to explore and find secrets as it does include optional side quests. Coupled with creative ways of transportation from Link’s new abilities the Sky Islands and Depths provide a great addition to content without sacrificing the beauty of Hyrule.

“Tears of the Kingdom'' not only met but surpassed my expectations and unless there is a good reason I don’t see a need to ever go back to “Breath of the Wild”. What “Tears of the Kingdom” was able to accomplish, taking one of the most innovative games and making it better than ever imagined, made “Breath of the Wild” look one dimensional. The expanded story, third dimension world-building, and creative game mechanics are all a step above which truly does justice to the legacy “Breath of the Wild” began. My journey through “Tears of the Kingdom” didn’t feel like a second playthrough of “Breath of the Wild”, instead it felt like a breath of fresh air, a completely new journey, fueled by nostalgic bits of an old journey.