The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9840 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7,514 out of 9840
  2. Mixed: 734 out of 9840
  3. Negative: 1,592 out of 9840
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  1. howdyzach
    May 17, 2023
    7
    I've been reading a lot of fawning reviews of this game and there aren't any reviews that's willing to be honest about the problems that it has. The world is barren and boring to traverse, the characters and narrative are insufferable and the combat doesn't seem to be balanced in a way that makes sense to me. I am constantly getting one shotted by seemingly low level enemies, I find itI've been reading a lot of fawning reviews of this game and there aren't any reviews that's willing to be honest about the problems that it has. The world is barren and boring to traverse, the characters and narrative are insufferable and the combat doesn't seem to be balanced in a way that makes sense to me. I am constantly getting one shotted by seemingly low level enemies, I find it very frustrating. I don't get how people think this is a good looking game, the textures are muddy and the world is low contrast. There's good art direction and it's definitely a fun game but it is far from perfect and most reviewers seem like they are in a competition to out-praise this game.… Expand
  2. Dunge
    Sep 10, 2023
    7
    I completed the game last week after playing for 3 weeks nonstop, got all shrines and sidequests complete (but not seeds/armors upgrades/photos), just like I did with BOTW.

    I'm a huge Zelda fan and completed all games in the series, I had the same opinion as I often read about BOTW, it's an amazing open world game filled with content, but a very poor Zelda game. I hate how people praised    I completed the game last week after playing for 3 weeks nonstop, got all shrines and sidequests complete (but not seeds/armors upgrades/photos), just like I did with BOTW.

    I'm a huge Zelda fan and completed all games in the series, I had the same opinion as I often read about BOTW, it's an amazing open world game filled with content, but a very poor Zelda game. I hate how people praised the "you can do anything in any order" part, that's exactly what makes it stray away from the formula. You are supposed to unlock unique items in a specific order to gain abilities and unlock harder sections of the map, that's what makes a Zelda game a Zelda game. I also hated like most the weapon destruction, and the stamina/climbing that while it helped with locomotion, it was painfully slow and long and padded the playtime with annoying moments doing nothing but waiting. Nevertheless, I enjoyed pretty much everything else.

    Come TOTK, I initially got a bad first impression when they showcased it with a construction aspect. I hate construction games, if I wanted to do so I would play Sim Cities or Minecraft or online survival games, not a single player Action RPG. But fortunately, it ended up being not bad at all. The fact that pieces are limited and break after a while restrict it to smaller sets and mostly to get past a simple puzzle, so I actually liked it.

    The new paragliding mechanic is great for faster locomotion too, but completely rendered the horses useless (never used one in the whole game except for quests). It also brings the same negative aspect as climbing that half of the gameplay time is spent teleporting to a tower, launching up and gliding toward the objective point, which get long and repetitively annoying with nothing happening.

    As far as the rest of gameplay elements go, there's absolutely nothing else, it's a complete copy/paste of the same game with no redeeming qualities that can explain the long development time, same engine, same graphics, same combats, same quest structure. I think they trolled us by making the weapons "decayed" and even easier to break. Instead of making longer more complex shrines, they just added even more!

    The depths seemed cool at first, and I loved the Yoga questline in there, but after it was done I realized it was just an empty mess. It's 10x bigger than it should have been and there's absolutely no reward for lighting it up, it seems like a big afterthought they didn't complete. "Just make the players run along in the dark for hours with no goal".

    But the part that disappointed me the most are the side quests. In every previous Zelda games, including BOTW, they were at least interesting to complete, always with some funny or clever aspects. In TOTK, they are just fillers, they are boring collectible or just going back and forth to places. I feel like they forced themselves to place references to every character of other games, even if it didn't fit in the story and the world, they put them there as an afterthought to fill in a checklist of references.

    That said, I still loved my time playing it, but I absolutely cannot agree with people saying it's the game of the year, it's just a downgrade to this marvelous series. I seriously hope Nintendo scraps the concept and reboots anew again for the next title.    … Expand
  3. bound4earth
    May 30, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Quest text that is unskippable, and quests that force 4 time repetition is plentiful. They leaned into Navi type quest text that you cannot just speed through, everytime you turn in one of so many objectives a voice pops up unckippable that say 3 more. Who designed this. What happened to the guy that did BoTW, why did they fire him to force this game to a stop constantly. They took what made BoTW great and tore it out to replace it with a gimmicky physics model or tack on boulders to weapons. Instead of just adding it, they made it the core of game-play. It is fun for the first 10 hours, but puzzles are just repetition after that and even with auto build becomes boring and wastes time.

    The physics and weapon additions could have been cool if they were not made to be core gameplay elements because everything great in BoTW had to be gutted to make way for these systems. It is also overused to such a degree that you see nothing but repeated puzzles constantly and it gets tiring to use auto build even half way through the game.

    Lack of bombs and freeze powers is puzzling and having useless minions that get in the way constantly only to accidently use abilities because the UI is just trash tier design. AT least make companions optional because they offer nothing except a few useless attacks for people that want them. The arrow menu is a great example how bad the UI is, you have 5-6 useful addons, and a few can use here and there, but they add all items to the arrow addon list (scrolling through a hundred or more items when most are garbage is trash design) and you have to add them everytime you shoot an arrow. Weapons went from usable in BoTW to absolute garbage in this game because they tacked on a gimmick, so they had to make almost all weapons trash to force you to use the gimmick tack on boulder. Because you can tack on boulders rocks that used to take one bomb or bomb arrow now take 10 or 6 minion roll uses. Weapons still break because bad design to include the master sword.

    BoTW didn't have enough story, no problem they said. They will tell you the same story 6 times over. When you do the sage quests, they repeat for every four after that, 3 videos back to back identical in most ways that you have to skip separately. They repeat telling the exact same plot lines over and over and over to DEATH! They story is better than BoTW overall, but ruined by repetition and the way it was told. You also have the writer ruining an overall great story at the very end with an M Night tier twist which just shows trash writing.

    MINOR SPOILER The writer doesn't understand what a sacrifice means so they just undo it all in the end. Just trash tier writing that brings the entire story down. MINOR SPOILER

    The game has a better story than BoTW, but told so horrifically and forced stops constantly that it becomes an annoying experience just to try to play through it. The gimmicks added only forced the developers to trash all of the old useful abilities only really keeping the grab, gutting ice platforms, stop time and bombs for no reason. They also repeat a lot of content for the physics based stuff and it got old fast.

    The game is good, but to call it a masterpiece ignores that it improves nothing in any meaningful way over BoTW and in most respects delivers a worse experience (Story repetition, UI, companions that should have been optionally auto use like BoTW, buggy physics got old fast). I think a lot of this had more to do with how amazing BoTW was and the team being stuck between a rock and a hard place, hence the weird shift to physics instead of adding it, making it a core mechanic.

    Tears Of The Kingdom is a great story, minus the terrible M Night Twist and is filled with flawed gameplay. Worth a play if you play all Zelda games, but I don't think it is required for all Zelda fans. I don't really know who to recommend it to because if you are into physics based game-play it gets old long before the game ends and doesn't even innovate in physics based puzzles, if anything it just repeats a lot of BoTW ones with new tools.

    A good but flawed game that a lot of people are giving undeservingly high marks on.    … Expand
  4. LordBlade
    May 22, 2023
    7
    Overall a great game. A worthy successor to Breath of the Wild.
    Tears of the Kingdom has managed to fix up a few of the mistakes that the previous title presented, though sadly it has introduced some mistakes of it's own.
    One of the biggest problems is a lot of wasted time. There's tons of areas that you can struggle to get to, which offer no purpose. And countless chests that are a    Overall a great game. A worthy successor to Breath of the Wild.
    Tears of the Kingdom has managed to fix up a few of the mistakes that the previous title presented, though sadly it has introduced some mistakes of it's own.
    One of the biggest problems is a lot of wasted time. There's tons of areas that you can struggle to get to, which offer no purpose. And countless chests that are a massive challenge to reach... all for 10 arrows. Many times you'll use up a lot more resources than you're gaining.
    The boss fights are interesting, and not properly balanced. You still have the classic "use your new toy" approach, however some bosses are an absolute joke while others require pixel perfect reflexes.
    As for the shrines, they're very samey. Most are pretty simplistic "puzzles" (mostly just busy work). Others you just walk in and grab your reward.
    The graphics are pretty much the same as the first game. Slightly more detail in some things, but overall not much of a change. Which is fine.
    The music is again, more of the same.
    The world map hasn't really changed much. Same massive open areas of nothing with little points to obsess over (and then find only holds a chest with 10 arrows).
    The game overall is fun, but it does get tedious. You will be spending countless hours doing the same thing in areas with slightly different graphics but the same general busy work. If you're OCD about completion, this will be problematic.    … Expand
  5. KesslerCOIL
    Jun 27, 2023
    7
    It's alright. It'd be a lot better if Nintendo's controllers didn't suck and the switch wasn't painfully weak.
  6. mrwho995
    Jul 4, 2023
    7
    A fun enough experience, but not worth the 6 year wait.

    The game uses the same gameplay mechanics, physics and chemistry engines, assets, and overworld as its predecessor, which makes things feel stale. The re-use of the overworld especially, after the longest wait for a new Zelda ever, makes this game impossible to rate too highly. However, it does also add a lot of new stuff. The    A fun enough experience, but not worth the 6 year wait.

    The game uses the same gameplay mechanics, physics and chemistry engines, assets, and overworld as its predecessor, which makes things feel stale. The re-use of the overworld especially, after the longest wait for a new Zelda ever, makes this game impossible to rate too highly. However, it does also add a lot of new stuff.

    The best thing about this game are the Side Adventures. There's a huge amount of them and they have good variety. From a nice little contained story in Tarry Town, to the extensive adventures you get up to with the Lucky Clover Gazette; from a war between a fashionista and a traditional mayor, to infiltrating the Yiga Clan; from fighting with regular townspeople against monsters, to soloing an entire priate camp that has taken over Lurelin Village, and then rebuilding it. The Side Adventures are truly exceptional.

    The biggest weakness of the game is exploration rewards. They are almost always not worth the bother. The game is massively bloated with useless costumes, and if not that, rewards are one specific item you don't need, a bad sword/bow/shield. a map to something useless, or at best a Sage's Will. This heavily disincentivises exploration and makes the game feel empty and unrewarding.

    The Depths are a welcome addition, and can be good fun to explore. However, after a while they start to get slightly tedius and repetitive, with very little content in them beyond combat encounters and yiga camps.

    The dungeons are a vast improvement on Breath of the Wild's divine beasts, and were genuinely enjoyable to play, one of the highlights of the game. But unfortunately they are still quite far the standard set by Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. However, the Water Temple is very underwhelming and worse than the divine beasts, and the Spirit Temple simply isn't a dungeon at all, although the leadup to it was great. The highlight of the temples has to go to the Lightning Temple, which comes closest to feeling like a traditional dungeon. The Fire Temple and Wind temple are also good.

    The memories are far better implemented and far more interesting than in Breath of the Wild, but ultimately I still find them to be a bad way of telling a story in an adventure game; I'm not engaged if the story isn't contemporaneous and related to the actions of the player. The main questline is shockingly repetitive between the different regions, with an extremely fomulaic and repetitive story structure, and using almost the exact same cutscene four times; it's unbelievably lazy at points. The final few hours of the game are good fun however, with a great final boss followed by an epic and cinematic setpiece.

    Despite the Sky Islands being the main marketing draw of the game, they are really quite underwhelming and there's not that many of them. The exact same islands are copy-pasted countless times, which is honestly shockingly lazy for something that is supposed to be the main marketing draw of the game. They're a decent addition but could have been much, much better.

    The Fuse and Ultrahand abilities are fun to play around with, and very impressive from a technical, design, and art perspective. They can transform how you play the game and allow for a lot of fun gameplay experiences. They both must have taken a significant amount of work. Ascend and Recall are also technically impressive, and fit well in to the game; they make you quite fundamentally rethink how you approach exploration and combat respectively.

    Unfortunately, although the home building feature is an amazing idea, is executed utterly abysmally. They honestly shouldn't have allowed this feature to be released in such an underdeveloped, awkward, and restrictive state.

    Graphically, the game is certainly showing the Switch's age, and the successor can't come soon enough. Despite the ancient hardware the game can still manage to look really nice in parts, and although performance issues are more common than in BoTW, they're still relatively rare. The draw distance can sometimes be very poor. But usually, the experience is a good one. This game definitely shows the Switch's age but it *just about* gets away with it.

    There is a lot to like about the game, but ultimately it's an underwhelming experience for me. It feels too similar to Breath of the Wild to justify waiting so incredibly long for it. The new abilities are very impressive from a technical perspective, and must have taken a lot of time, effort, and trial and error to work so well. The dungeons are a huge improvement to the Divine Beasts. And the side quests are by far the best in Zelda history. But this doesn't make up the lazy, repetitive, and underwhelming story, the terrible rewards for exploration, the dry soundtrack, and the extremely extensive re-use of content, especially in the context of the longest ever wait between 3D Zeldas and with no 2D entry to plug the ga    … Expand
  7. ND3G
    May 16, 2023
    7
    Meh. BotW while being technically impressive is far from my favorite Zelda game. Tears is just more of the same. I mean it is literally the same game 90% of the time.

    The building mechanic is interesting for a while but it gets old pretty quick. The crap cooking system is back as is the ridiculously low weapon durability. I thought after 6 years they could have figured out how to    Meh. BotW while being technically impressive is far from my favorite Zelda game. Tears is just more of the same. I mean it is literally the same game 90% of the time.

    The building mechanic is interesting for a while but it gets old pretty quick.

    The crap cooking system is back as is the ridiculously low weapon durability.

    I thought after 6 years they could have figured out how to use the engine to make some kick ass dungeons but no. This is divine breasts+.    … Expand
  8. max1c
    May 13, 2023
    7
    The game is alright. Definitely not a 10/10. It's 90% the same game as BotW so if you want more of the same this game is definitely for you. Otherwise there's not much to see here. The biggest issue with this game is the controls. Controller was, is, and always will be a terrible input mechanism for a 3D game like this.
  9. starki11er
    May 29, 2023
    7
    It is a beautiful world in which you can easily lose (if you have time) combinable weapons with lots of material that at the end of the day are crystal, many shrines to increase your hearts or improve your stamina and a lot of koloks poop, minimal story scattered around the map, secondary characters without charisma and sadly the main villain is easily forgettable compared to the previousIt is a beautiful world in which you can easily lose (if you have time) combinable weapons with lots of material that at the end of the day are crystal, many shrines to increase your hearts or improve your stamina and a lot of koloks poop, minimal story scattered around the map, secondary characters without charisma and sadly the main villain is easily forgettable compared to the previous Ganondorf (win calamity is epic) and a ridiculous appearance in the final battle nothing to see (oink oink), has very good musical notes, is not an epic game as people have wanted to place it, but neither is it a game to be despised for being a continuation… Expand
  10. abowman
    May 18, 2023
    7
    If you liked BOTW, you will like this game.

    These Zelda games have a lot of charm but completely lack basic character progression mechanics. Zelda has always had its puzzles, but these recent iterations really feel more like puzzle games than they do RPG's. Enemies are sparse and non-threatening. In the 2 main temples I've done so far, there was probably 4-5 enemies in total throughout    If you liked BOTW, you will like this game.

    These Zelda games have a lot of charm but completely lack basic character progression mechanics. Zelda has always had its puzzles, but these recent iterations really feel more like puzzle games than they do RPG's. Enemies are sparse and non-threatening. In the 2 main temples I've done so far, there was probably 4-5 enemies in total throughout the ENTIRE dungeons. I spent the VAST majority of the time navigating the environment and solving puzzles. The bosses themselves are EXTREMLY easy and again play more out like a puzzle than they do an RPG boss.

    There's a lot to do, but rarely does it feel like any of it is worth doing. They did improve on this aspect with TOTK by adding in multiple armor sets, some of which can be found randomly throughout the world. However, all of the armor essentially has the same armor rating, and all your swapping is special effects or resistances.

    The weapon system, while improved from the first game, still unfortunately feeds into the lack of character progression. Just like BOTW, all weapons break. Between this and the armor system, it basically makes the entire gear system feel pretty underwhelming. You will open chest after chest to find a stack of arrows, a basic building component, or maybe an ore of some type. Chests very rarely feel rewarding or exciting a result.

    Outside of hearts and stamina upgrades there is essentially ZERO character progression. Just like BOTW they give these upgrades by making you do... wait for it, dozens of puzzle shrines! Atleast the puzzle shrines are much more interesting this time around, but its essentially the same exact mechanic.

    The performance issues are also noticeable. Particularly in the fire temple, I was dropping to about 5-10 frames in some spots. It's always amazing to me that consumers let Nintendo get away with this. This is unacceptable in a 70 dollar AAA game.

    It's hard to imagine what they spent 6 years on here. The level design is phenomenal. Basically, everything else is reused from BOTW. It's always shocking to see the critic reviews on these games as well. I just don't see this being anywhere near a perfect experience, but to each their own I guess. I consider TOTK average all the way around.    … Expand
  11. Focs
    Jun 23, 2023
    7
    Это больше похоже на DLC чем на полноценную игру. И вот почему.
    1. Основная карта почти не изменена. Да там добавили пару новых объектов некоторое количество дыр. Но это тот же самый Хайрул который был в botw,
    2. Добавленное подземелье это просто огромная пустая локация с повторяющимися боссами и врагами. Там по сути нет сюжетных миссий. Из побочных более или менее интересных это клан    Это больше похоже на DLC чем на полноценную игру. И вот почему.
    1. Основная карта почти не изменена. Да там добавили пару новых объектов некоторое количество дыр. Но это тот же самый Хайрул который был в botw,
    2. Добавленное подземелье это просто огромная пустая локация с повторяющимися боссами и врагами. Там по сути нет сюжетных миссий. Из побочных более или менее интересных это клан ига. Такое ощущение что эту локацию добавили просто, что бы хоть как-то оправдать ценник в 70$ Для сюежта который тут кстати очень плохой ее можно почти не трогать.
    3. небесных островов довольно мало и они вписаны в сюжет довольно странным образом.
    Ну а теперь о самой игре.
    Сюжет ужасен. Он мало того, что перечеркивает весь сюжет botw он еще и ломает повествование. Если описать его без существенных сполеров. То в прошлом люди натворили бед и в место того что бы их решить. Они их оставили потомкам. Город говоря что потомки разберутся. Ну а вы потомок вот и расхлебывайте. Но даже без этого возникает много вопросов. Даже не надейтесь, что вам объяснят где были эти острова в botw и почему мы их не видели. Где был еще одни дракон который появился в этой части. Куда исчезла раса которая была в botw. Кто такие мудрецы и почему их нет тут. Каким образом святилище борятся со злом и как это Раурус смог их построить. Кто такой Рауроус. Почему все в этом мире забыли про технологии и роботов. В общем вопросов у вас будет море.
    Боевая система. Она стала еще хуже. Мало того, что вам теперь нужно запоминать где лежит более или менее хорошее оружие. Так вам теперь надо еще и запомнить где лежит улучшение которое сделает ваше оружие лучше. Да вы можете грейдить оружие. НО
    1 если оружие не грейдить оно ломается за 3-5 ударов. и имеет очень маленький урон.
    2 все улучшения имеют уровень. То есть если вы взяли рог бокоблина то он к любому оружую прибавить допустим 6. А там королевский рог белого бокоблина добавит 40. Понятно, что к хорошему оружию вы не будете присобачивать хлам. Отсюда вся способность объединения идет нах. Мало того если оружие уже почти сломано и вы объедините его с хорошим улучшением то оружие останется сломанным. Так что улучшением починить оружие нельзя.
    Ну и на сладкое способности.
    Они хуже и скучнее. Чаромонтаж особого разнообразия не дает. Комбикинез - прикольно побаловаться но жрет много ресурсов. Чаропортал - сокращение дистанци. Способность ситуативная. Естественно без нее некоторые данжи не пройти. Автореверс - скучная хрень. Применяется очень редко. Реконструктор - позволяет воссоздать ваши изобретения если вы их сохранили. Для этого нужны либо ресурсы либо сами предметы. И то и то можно фармить. Если вам это нравится. Для сюжета не нужен.    … Expand
  12. NorwayGamer
    Jun 19, 2023
    7
    I count Breath of the wild among my favorite games of all time, and have actually finished it 3 times! That being said, I was very sceptical when I saw the trailers for this, as it looked too similiar to the previous game, and unfortunately I was right.

    From the start of the tutorial area, to the overworld, story and gameplay, you really do feel like you're playing the exact same game,    I count Breath of the wild among my favorite games of all time, and have actually finished it 3 times! That being said, I was very sceptical when I saw the trailers for this, as it looked too similiar to the previous game, and unfortunately I was right.

    From the start of the tutorial area, to the overworld, story and gameplay, you really do feel like you're playing the exact same game, with a few tweaks and new gimmicks.

    It took Nintendo 6(!) years to develop this game, which you should really count as DLC, and not a new game in it's own.

    I lost interest about 2/3 into it, because the magic I felt playing Botw in 2017, just isn't present here anymore. I genuinely hope others can find more enjoyment with it than I, but for me it feels like a chore unfortunately..    … Expand
  13. Andante
    May 25, 2023
    7
    Tears of the Kingdom is on the surface a very impressive game for the first 10 hours or so, especially if you haven't played BOTW before. It offers a HUGE beautifully crafted world, absolute freedom, many ways to approach puzzles, some challenging shrine puzzles and an interesting way to upgrade your gear and take advantage of items you collect. The world has been expanded with floatingTears of the Kingdom is on the surface a very impressive game for the first 10 hours or so, especially if you haven't played BOTW before. It offers a HUGE beautifully crafted world, absolute freedom, many ways to approach puzzles, some challenging shrine puzzles and an interesting way to upgrade your gear and take advantage of items you collect. The world has been expanded with floating islands and a huge underground continent. Although these things sound amazing the sad truth is that after several hours the game is not fun to play. The story is a reincarnation of Breath of the Wild, the areas and even many characters are the same. The huge world is filled with countless tiresome tasks, the rewards you get are usually not really special or worth the whole struggle and there is a great absence of dungeons and quality moments in this game. On top of that, breakable weapons result in a non stop micro management, which takes a lot of fun away. The most nerve breaking feature by far I encountered though are the slippery surfaces when it rains.....this feature simply doesn't make sense because you will reach your destination anyway when it stops raining....Final thoughts: This definitely doesn't feel like a sequel but rather as a very big DLC or even as a remake (!) of BOTW! I can recommend this to players who are new to the series but not for people who have already played BOTW.… Expand
  14. BadLarry
    May 29, 2023
    7
    Nintendo needs to abandon hardware development and focus solely on creating good games that aren't crippled and limited by out of date technology. Nowhere is this more evident than TotK. Critics are right about the depth and innovation and all things that make Zelda a great franchise. I just don't understand how they can ignore or excuse the muddy textures, low resolution, and pitifulNintendo needs to abandon hardware development and focus solely on creating good games that aren't crippled and limited by out of date technology. Nowhere is this more evident than TotK. Critics are right about the depth and innovation and all things that make Zelda a great franchise. I just don't understand how they can ignore or excuse the muddy textures, low resolution, and pitiful framerate. Without exaggeration, this game looks like a PS3 era game at best. Just think how this game would look and play on current gen consoles? Yes, it is a challenge to squeeze a huge magnificent game into smaller portable hardware. So don't. Use the technology that's out there rather than forcing it through a weak console. That way you can develop without the sharp boundaries of your console and you don't have to limit the quality of experience for your fans.… Expand
  15. ThereIsNoSpoon
    Aug 6, 2023
    7
    I gotta be honest, the first 70 or so hours of this game were amazing. It was the first game in awhile where that's all I wanted to play with every free moment I had. But after the 70 hour mark it just became very repetitive, and I started to notice just how shallow the story and quests were, and even the dungeons bored me. The first two I did were brilliant (wind and water temples),I gotta be honest, the first 70 or so hours of this game were amazing. It was the first game in awhile where that's all I wanted to play with every free moment I had. But after the 70 hour mark it just became very repetitive, and I started to notice just how shallow the story and quests were, and even the dungeons bored me. The first two I did were brilliant (wind and water temples), while the other 2 were very dull and I just wanted to get to the end.

    Despite its brilliance, BotW also left me feeling unsatisfied once I beat it. The story was just not very good, and TotK is the exact same in this regard. Not only that but the game gives the player information that the characters don't know, and so you have to continue through the story knowing what's happening but being unable to inform others, which was frustrating.

    The more you play, the more you really get the feeling that the developers got tired. Rauru's blessing shrines, for instance. There are so many of these, where you find a shrine and there's no puzzle at all--you just simply collect your treasure and leave. At first it's a nice little reprieve, but then when you encounter them again and again you start to miss the puzzles. They also repeatedly have shrines where you just kill all the zonaite constructs using items in the environment, which are all a cakewalk. I guess those were easier to design than puzzles. Then there's the plethora of caves that are all essentially the same, and the koroks who can't walk and need your assistance to reach their friend, and the guys who need help holding their signs. You do so many of these that it becomes a grind.

    That you can also constantly cheese the game also speaks to the developers not caring as much as you think. Once I learned how to make a hoverbike out of 2 fans and a steering stick that's literally all I ever used to travel. There was no longer any reason to care about horses, gliding from sky islands, or land vehicles of any kind. The shrine puzzles can also be cheesed horribly using a variety of methods. Some will say this is intentional, but I fail to see how using the same technique on every shrine could be intentional. There were simply too many variables for the developers to keep track of.

    And then there are the depths: a massive, pointless underground that seems to only exist to surprise the player into thinking there's an overwhelming amount of content. There's really not much to be found down there, and everything that exists is repetitive. It just feels like they tried to make the game huge for the sake of being huge. I would have rather had them focus on underwater exploration instead of this entire underground that is a chore to navigate and offers nothing truly exciting.

    I think the biggest letdown though, for me, is just the fact that the game is a continuation of Breath of the Wild in every sense. It doesn't feel truly new. It feels like one massive expansion pack. And no matter how much you argue against that until you're blue in the face, that is exactly what it is. They took the world of BotW and edited the heck out of it. While it's amazing what they were able to accomplish on the Switch, it's also visually underwhelming because it still looks like a 6 year old game (which looked dated even back then)--and we've been there and done that.

    Overall, I think the game is a good way to waste 100-160 hours, but it's also overrated because it lacks in a number of key areas that left me feeling very unsatisfied once the credits rolled. I don't think I should feel that way from a game that's gotten 10/10 ratings across the board. I certainly shouldn't feel that from a game I dropped 100+ hours into. Just because a game has inventive ideas and loads of content doesn't make it a masterpiece. Pacing, story, consistency and quality of content are also important.    … Expand
  16. xellos81
    May 14, 2023
    7
    I need to write my review because I've just read another guy talking about TOTK as BOTW 2.0 which is exactly how I felt playing it.
    Gameplay is the same, combat is the same, music is the same, and also audio effect etc.
    For me, the biggest problem in this game is that feels completely disconnected in his different parts. Totally looks like a production with a certain direction but then    I need to write my review because I've just read another guy talking about TOTK as BOTW 2.0 which is exactly how I felt playing it.
    Gameplay is the same, combat is the same, music is the same, and also audio effect etc.
    For me, the biggest problem in this game is that feels completely disconnected in his different parts.
    Totally looks like a production with a certain direction but then they started adding stuff on top of it. Maybe Nintendo thought that adding everything together in an open world made sense but no, it didn't .
    Is still the same, but like a cheap copy of it. You already had the original in BOTW.
    The sages stories are the same, plus are shallow and totally not even comparable to the struggle that the characters had in Botw trying to help you because the failed in the first place. The real last chance. Nobody have the emotional strength of Mipha.
    Here the characters have minor emotional impact on Link, is mostly like that you help each other but without being interconnected.

    I also want to say that walking around Hyrule for the first time in Botw was astonishing.
    When in BOTW I arrived in the Zora's domain I was like: Wow... This place have his own poetry and I was honored to have the possibility to walk around and feel the magic of the artists that invented such a beautiful place.
    Now in totk instead, everything is empty, without a soul, because every place is well known and Nintendo also ruined the magic of the experience adding totally different game dynamics over a place that had a different purpose.
    As I said, they added on top, not in the mix.

    The demonstration is that the sky islands aren't actually connected with the game itself, is just something they added to have different panoramas for the marketing.
    And also the Zonai tech is almost skippable because it's not intertwined with the game itself and vehicles are more similar to a cheatcode in GTA than anything made with love for the Zelda's saga.

    Plus, we totally need new hardware.

    That said, I'm playing it
    But I'm not engaged    … Expand
  17. HUNRain
    Aug 12, 2023
    7
    Its a good game. Not best,not great, just good. Better than BotW, but its like a DLC addon with a new story, with enhanced and reimagined gameplay from BotW.
    BotW was a very repetitive game with critical issues thats untolded by fanatics and paid critics... A good game because several innovation elements, but a very repetitive game with repetitive dungeons and enemies... ToTk is a bit    Its a good game. Not best,not great, just good. Better than BotW, but its like a DLC addon with a new story, with enhanced and reimagined gameplay from BotW.
    BotW was a very repetitive game with critical issues thats untolded by fanatics and paid critics... A good game because several innovation elements, but a very repetitive game with repetitive dungeons and enemies... ToTk is a bit better with more innovation. Thats all.    … Expand
  18. FatherCreamy
    May 21, 2023
    7
    It has a lot of content, but most of it is bland and starts to feel like a chore after a while.
    Overall I don't find the game all that fun or rewarding.
  19. YoMammy
    Jul 3, 2023
    7
    all this game is is a copy and paste of the last zelda and that game was not very good either. i've been a die hard fan of zelda since super nintendo and those games leading up to this game were much better and more interesting. these new zeldas don't even have dungeons anymore it's just a bunch of shrines that are made for elementary school kids to solve
  20. arostislavna
    Jun 3, 2023
    7
    It's Zelda, and maybe has some repetitiveness because of sharing things from BotW. I wouldn't exactly call it "new" - just a continuation.

    Truthfully, the only negative for me is that Nintendo should just make a console without gimmicks that is incredible in power. That's all everyone demands from Nintendo at this point.
  21. Senkaiden
    Jun 21, 2023
    7
    The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is basically an expansion to Breath of the Wild, with some added game play mechanics. $70 is overpriced for this game.
  22. JosePhCyto
    May 23, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Lo bueno

    Mejor soundtrack que el primer juego

    Mejor batalla final, Aunque no era tan difícil, superar eso.

    Mejor Mapa Aunque es el mismo & Exploración.

    Mejores habilidades

    Lo malo

    Mismo gameplay que el primer juego

    Misma forma de desarrollar la historia

    Muy mal aspecto narrativo La historia se vuelve a contar en forma de recuerdos, pero esta vez los recuerdos donde se localizan no tiene ni un poco de sentido puedes pasarte por altos todos ellos si no exploras bien.

    Habilidades de los héroes APESTAN y odio la forma en la que se activan.

    El que desarrollo la batalla final, se fumo un kojima Al final ganondof se traga una piedra y se convierte en dragon, lo malo aqui es, por que el es el unico que tiene esos puntos débiles ? por que el es el unico que tiene la piedra en la frente ?

    Mismo sistema de combate, hasta con los jefes importantes, esquiva cámara lenta 1, 2 ,3 ,4

    El deterioro de las armas apestan APESTAN!!!

    El juego comienza y de repente todo se pone mal, hay que salvar a zelda otra vez, hay que buscar a 4 campeones otra vez, hay que ayudarlos en sus regiones otra vez, hay que hacer cuatro bestias divinas otra vez, no son mazmorras otra vez, y los recuerdos para entender que mierda pasa otra vez.

    The legend of zelda tears of the kingdom es todo lo que debio ser Breath of the wild.

    7/10    … Expand
  23. frederik1478
    Jul 6, 2023
    7
    This game is breath of the wild but better which is the best and saddest part of it. I think it is a really good improvement but I did had the feeling that I was playing a really big expansion pack at some points.

    The world exploration is still very fun and good I certainly begin to only glide from place to place because I used the Towers to it, so I never really used my horse sadly. I    This game is breath of the wild but better which is the best and saddest part of it. I think it is a really good improvement but I did had the feeling that I was playing a really big expansion pack at some points.

    The world exploration is still very fun and good I certainly begin to only glide from place to place because I used the Towers to it, so I never really used my horse sadly. I think I maybe used my horse a one hour and that was that in my entire playthrough.

    But here is the biggest improvement the boss fights and the temples , all the temples are so fun to get through and you can use whatever methods inside them to get through it and just flying through the sky in your glider in one of them is the best feeling I had.

    The game looks amazing it is weird. How good it looks it runs like s*** sometimes and it's stuttering and just the graphics you can see there were resolution gets turned down, but it is very pretty game and it's amazing this is from an old console.    … Expand
  24. Hunter2020
    Jun 21, 2023
    7
    El juego esta demasiado sobrevalorado, tiene caida de fps y es practicamente igual al anterior, mundo muy grande y vacio como misiones repetitivas, tiene algunos cambios y mecanicas nuevas pero no mucho mas. Hubiera sido mejor un mundo mas chico que no tenga caida de fps y con algunas mejoras mas y hubiese estado mejor.

    Se nota pero de lejos que toda la prensa no critica nada de    El juego esta demasiado sobrevalorado, tiene caida de fps y es practicamente igual al anterior, mundo muy grande y vacio como misiones repetitivas, tiene algunos cambios y mecanicas nuevas pero no mucho mas. Hubiera sido mejor un mundo mas chico que no tenga caida de fps y con algunas mejoras mas y hubiese estado mejor.

    Se nota pero de lejos que toda la prensa no critica nada de nintendo siempre le meten notas altas y por mas que el juego tenga fallas pero si es de otras companias le critican de todo hasta el ultimo pixel, son hipocritas a la hora de criticar otros juegos que no sean de nintendo.    … Expand
  25. Dubeau
    Jun 2, 2023
    7
    TOTK is certainly good but it has some flaws in it. The story is interesting from the Zelda side but the ending was just ok. I would have loved an aftermath. The story is dulled by a series of repeating events, which kinds of give away the suspense. There is a lot of fetch quests, way too much. Those who contained real stories, where just too few. There are 3 levels of maps: the sky,TOTK is certainly good but it has some flaws in it. The story is interesting from the Zelda side but the ending was just ok. I would have loved an aftermath. The story is dulled by a series of repeating events, which kinds of give away the suspense. There is a lot of fetch quests, way too much. Those who contained real stories, where just too few. There are 3 levels of maps: the sky, ground and underworld. I must say the sky part was fun to fly into, but there was barely anything interesting in it. The fighting was frustrating, I don't know how many times I was cheap killed from the back. The camera is to blame in most cases. This time around, the horse riding was horrible. I like the vehicule creation, but getting the auto create around 3/4 of the game isn't very good. Graphicly the game is the same as the last one. If anything there is way too much fog in this one. Weather effects are superb tho. Getting enough arrows is a pain. I wish the recipe could be obtained but there is a lot of variations in them. Weapons and shields still breaks. The item management (to attach or throw) is quite annoying when you hit 30 items and more. The special power were fun, like ascend and grab. Music was excellent. I give it 75%. If you want a RPG that has an enormous map with a lot of things to pickup and find, that's for you. For the story, it was kind of a generic one with some good parts.… Expand
  26. aljirik1992
    May 17, 2023
    7
    Breath of The Wild — игра поколения… Поколения WiiU. На Swith она шла придатком и не более того. Поэтому, когда KOLKHOZ gamEng выставлял оценки версиям для «провалившейся» консоли и переключателя на Metacritic, у первой красовалась десятка, а у второй 8, хоть и материал был сугубо грубо идентичен.

    ——— За шесть лет на свечке появилось аж 4 проекта после «придатка», где остроухий в    Breath of The Wild — игра поколения… Поколения WiiU. На Swith она шла придатком и не более того. Поэтому, когда KOLKHOZ gamEng выставлял оценки версиям для «провалившейся» консоли и переключателя на Metacritic, у первой красовалась десятка, а у второй 8, хоть и материал был сугубо грубо идентичен.

    ———

    За шесть лет на свечке появилось аж 4 проекта после «придатка», где остроухий в трико давал жару вечному злу:

    Монструозная — «Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda»

    Зубодробительная — «Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity»

    Полностью оправдывающая название последней консоли «Switch» и её уникальность — «The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD»

    И филигранная — «The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening».

    ———

    Глядя на них «Тётка» ощущается колоссальной, но всего лишь тенью «Ботвы». Игрой страдающей болезненным(на мой вкус) для индустрии понятием классического, «вымученного» сиквела.

    Этот абзац не отменяет того, что игра хороша, но если философия «Breath of The Wild» — это не действовать по шаблону, то для «Tears of the Kingdom» у меня плохие новости.    … Expand
  27. Ntfwprophet
    May 19, 2023
    7
    Good game, not great. It's nowhere as good as Breath of the Wild. The fusing weapon system is ok, but it's annoying that you have to fuse everything or it isn't powerful enough alone, plus arrows have to be fused every single shot which is annoying. Personally I also found the games puzzles in BotW to be more thought provoking and challenging as I can pretty much beat every shrine withGood game, not great. It's nowhere as good as Breath of the Wild. The fusing weapon system is ok, but it's annoying that you have to fuse everything or it isn't powerful enough alone, plus arrows have to be fused every single shot which is annoying. Personally I also found the games puzzles in BotW to be more thought provoking and challenging as I can pretty much beat every shrine with two platforms and the recall ability. The recall ability is just beyond broken, I can cheese my way through the game using it. Why waste time trying to figure out how to get over something when I can just use recall and two platforms of any kind. The ultrahand ability is just stupid, I literally haven't seen anything at over 100 hours in that I can legit say is worth wasting time to build. Cars look stupid,, just a flat platform and wheels, I'd rather just have the bike from BotW. The summons you gain from defeating the bosses suck, I don't like playing with an AI teammate so I always disable them, they are nowhere near as good as the BotW abilities. Essentially BotW was better in nearly every way. The size of the map is meh, considering it's the same map as BotW just made bigger by adding the sky, depths, and caves , honestly it actually seems like less is happening in the world around you, there are definitely way less plants as there are more total in TotK but they are more spread out. I could not possibly rate this better than an 7 as it's truly nowhere near as enjoyable as BotW and everything annoying about the first game remains in this. Could have been so much better, but hey, a lot of people like it, and I wasted my money on it so obviously it's a succes, but there is absolutely no possible way this game is a 10, no possible way. But to each their own I guess.… Expand
  28. Xplocion
    Jun 2, 2023
    7
    The Good: Direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. Much to explore. Different layers (Air/sky, Earth and underworld). Crazy crafting abilities (mechas, tanks, speeders, cars, floating platforms, creatures... . Lots of temples

    The bad: It looks like a Zelda game stuck to two other games (one very similar to Skyward Sword and the other very similar to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts). Very    The Good: Direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. Much to explore. Different layers (Air/sky, Earth and underworld). Crazy crafting abilities (mechas, tanks, speeders, cars, floating platforms, creatures... . Lots of temples

    The bad: It looks like a Zelda game stuck to two other games (one very similar to Skyward Sword and the other very similar to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts). Very continuous at the graphics level, at the air level it makes it look horrible (compared to other Zeldas in the air like Skyward Sword). The music only has a couple of new songs. The legendary beasts return. There are many temples but you can't randomly face them or skip it like in the previous game. The world is open to explore but by force you must follow the story and if they give you freedom already passing a certain combination of temples and missions. Crazy crafting breaks progress, difficulty and makes enemies just spectators

    The meh!: we had already seen the crazy crafting of vehicles in Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts from 2008-2009 and I didn't see such a stir, what's more, everyone was against this mechanic. We have seen the sky theme in Skyward Sword as an area to explore, it is here but poorly implemented, it is not the core of the game and visiting it is even boring. If the game is called The Legend of Zelda but it's more of a "I want to be Mario Bross" or "I want to be Nuts and Bolt" or "I want to be Henshin Impact" insert things and mechanics just to insert even if they don't make sense and break the lore    … Expand
  29. Luposlipaphobia
    Jun 3, 2023
    7
    I think TotK is an above-average game, for the record, but I’m judging this more harshly because BotW is one of my all-time favorites. There's a lot of cool new dynamic systems, but they the execution is flawed imo. Instead of focusing on the negative, I’m going to offer my solution to reworking TotK into, what I think is, the perfect sequel:

    1. Replace the overworld with the depths and    I think TotK is an above-average game, for the record, but I’m judging this more harshly because BotW is one of my all-time favorites. There's a lot of cool new dynamic systems, but they the execution is flawed imo. Instead of focusing on the negative, I’m going to offer my solution to reworking TotK into, what I think is, the perfect sequel:

    1. Replace the overworld with the depths and add biomes to areas. Make one biome the normal depths with pitch-black zones, one sky islands, the 4 normal biomes (snow, water, etc.), and one jungle. Make each biome fit the new inverted landscape.
    2. Only allow ultra-hand in specific zones, i.e. “workshop zones” where you have to use what’s available. This limits crafting so you can no longer cheese every puzzle/fight every enemy with machines. Also keep blueprints, but only let you build full machines at unique vendor locations (make these rare). This makes it so you must be creative in order to transport your machine if you want to use your new machine in a specific area (maybe let you craft anywhere as an endgame mechanic, so the end feels more rewarding).
    3. Make it so you can craft other player’s blueprints via. asynchronous multiplayer (perhaps these are unique/cheap vendors and these machines can't be taken apart). Let players choose 1 of 2 random blueprints, and if your blueprint is chosen by another player then you earn rep, which can be used in a new shop (perhaps a shop to buy specific weapon buffs, like one to make it so one of your unique weapons is “unbreakable” similar to the master sword).
    4. Remove 75% of monster/dropped parts and only focus on 20 or so fuse items that make your item very unique. I.e. one of them removes friction from your shield and leaves an ice trail. One lets you create a mini-tornado around enemies/etc.
    5. Make puzzles much more challenging/linear, like the lightning temple. All temples pale in comparison to this more “classic Zelda” temple, imo.
    6. Add fully voiced companions that you can interact with during your journey. Let them make observations and help in unique ways/in specific areas. As is, their usefulness in combat is questionable at best, many of them wander around making it a chore to get their attention.
    7. I’m going to botch the name of this ability, but replace the vertical ability in TotK with something like Statis in BotW. Maybe a gloom hammer that lets you charge batteries (temporarily) and build kinetic energy.

    Personal preference/QoL changes:

    8. Just focus on quality, not quantity. It’s fun transporting those korok guys maybe 5 times, then you see the same scenario played out 30+ times throughout the game.
    9. In a similar vein, add the ability to automatically skip forced animations, i.e. the animations at the end of each shrine.
    10. Make shrines more challenging with different crafting parts. Perhaps change the difficulty based on how many crafting parts you get per shrine. Limitation is key in making challenging scenarios & creative solutions.

    (Obviously, you'd have to rework the story, but that is pretty doable)

    This would be the perfect sequel, imo. Part of my frustration with TotK is it does a lot right, but it’s tantalizing at points because Nintendo gives the player too much all at once. Simply cut down the filler and focus on quality.    … Expand
  30. cirospm
    Aug 2, 2023
    7
    Existem muitas coisas boas em Zelda As Lágrimas do Reino.
    É um jogo Single-Player, sem online obrigatório, sem microtransações e nem modismos de New Game+, porque jogos bons não precisam apelar tanto.
    Você pode salvar o progresso na hora que quiser, e portanto não é aquele tipo de jogo que te prenre até o próximo checkpoint, e você só termina porque afinal comprou o negócio, ou nem    Existem muitas coisas boas em Zelda As Lágrimas do Reino.
    É um jogo Single-Player, sem online obrigatório, sem microtransações e nem modismos de New Game+, porque jogos bons não precisam apelar tanto.
    Você pode salvar o progresso na hora que quiser, e portanto não é aquele tipo de jogo que te prenre até o próximo checkpoint, e você só termina porque afinal comprou o negócio, ou nem termina,. Este Zelda é um jogo bastante divertido e comum, simples. É exatamente aquilo que se espera de um jogo eletrônico. Não é um filme-interativo, tipo TLOU, Tomb Raider, God of War Ragnarok... é um jogo bastante mecânico e com uma cutscene aqui e outra ali. São cutscenes curtas, longe daquelas horas de Metal Gear Solid e Death Stranding. Você bate nos inimigos mecanicamente indo até eles e apertando o botão de bater, ao invés de simplesmente dizer para a inteligência artificial: bater. Ou defender. Etc. Isso seria um jogo de RPG. Zelda Lágrimas do Reino é tão rico que contém, também, elementos de RPG, mas continua sendo um jogo puramente mecânico, analógico. É difícil e desafiador em vários momentos. Os gráficos são feios, não tem como fugir disso. Tem muito serrilhado, textura borrada, o jogo roda lerdo (fps baixo, queda de frame rate), e também fica uma situação revoltante constatar que usando um computador mediano dá pra rodar TLZLR usando o Yuzu, de graça e com gráficos melhores. Bem Foda isso, Nintendo. Também não concordo em misturar ipads e bugigangas tecnológicas do tipo com o mundo de Zelda, que é orgânico, bucólico, alquímico, elemental... o Link é um Elfo da Floresta, e não Usuário de Rede Social.
    O Shigero Miyamoto (produtor de quase todos os títulos da Franchise Zelda) disse numa entrevista recente que prefiria os gráficos foto-realistas (mantendo a ambientação fictícia de Hyrule!), e concordo com ele. Acontece que o hardware do Switch é capenga desde que foi lançado em 2017, então imagina em agosto de 2023... os gráficos são estilo desenho-aquarelado porque não tem como ser de outro jeito. São limitações do próprio console da Nintendo. Não existe exploração sub-aquática, tal como em TLOZ Respirar do Selvagem. É notável que não é por preguiça dos programadores da Nintendo, muito menos falta de talento e criatividade, mas é porque o setor de planejamento de hardware está desvairado, ou então porque uma Equipa não se comunica com outra, algo que é um tanto extravagante e incompreensível. Tirando estes defeitos e decisões bizarras da própria Nintendo, gosto muito deste jogo, de sua atmosfera, suas músicas, controles, o paraglider e muitas, muitas outras coisas. Não é nota 10 porque os gráficos -Tecnicamente- são feios, muito mais feios do que deveriam, e outras coisas menores, altamente opinativas, como por exemplo as armas que quebram!!!, eu ainda preferia que fossem eternas! Apesar da ausência de Koji Kondo, as músicas estão bastante decentes (excepcionalmente acima da média, e não apenas em jogos de videogame) e, finalmente, fique tranquilo, o Link não fala. Resumindo, vai tranquilo que continua sendo um Jogão, por mais que seja triste ver algo tão bonito, ambicioso e bem feito ser ferozmente limitado por sua própria desenvolvedora, talvez o nome Tears of The Kingdom tenha vindo daí. Excelente jogo, caso não se importe com gráficos toscos.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Switch Game of 2023
1
#1 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 150 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 145 out of 150
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 150
  3. Negative: 0 out of 150
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Mar 18, 2024
    100
    I wasn't sure how Nintendo would find a way to top their work in Breath of the Wild back when it came out, but I feel they have here – with years of more polish applied and refined exploration. [Issue #66 – July/August 2023, p. 71]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 22, 2024
    100
    The good thing is that, thanks to the limited possibilities, the creators couldn't go crazy and swing for hundreds of game miles. Instead, they created what could be called Elden Ring in a travel pack. [Issue#328]
  3. Shacknews
    Dec 28, 2023
    100
    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.
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