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. powL
    May 18, 2023
    10
    While Sony and Microsoft have their next gen consoles, Nintendo shows what a next gen title looks like. Unbelievable and miles ahead of the competition.
  2. kskawa
    May 18, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The perfect game, loads of mechanics and incredible creativity Definitely the game of the year.… Expand
  3. Gumdrop
    May 18, 2023
    10
    I have purposely avoided any reviews of this game to avoid skewing my own experience. I only checked the general impressions from some of the main sources to see there were no major issues. Though it's impossible to avoid it entirely. So I've caught bits and pieces of the negative.
    IGNORE THE REVIEW BOMBS!!!
    I'm a lot of hours in and from my perspective I've experienced none of the    I have purposely avoided any reviews of this game to avoid skewing my own experience. I only checked the general impressions from some of the main sources to see there were no major issues. Though it's impossible to avoid it entirely. So I've caught bits and pieces of the negative.
    IGNORE THE REVIEW BOMBS!!!

    I'm a lot of hours in and from my perspective I've experienced none of the negative. No graphical or performance issues. I don't know if some people are just overly picky or what.

    It feels and looks much smoother than BoTW was. And it doesn't feel like a BoTW DLC at all. What it feels like is a sequel. A sequel that builds on and improves what the original started. It's the familiarity of BoTW but more and better. The story is better. Monsters are so much better and there are more of them. The world feels so much bigger with the 3 levels.

    The new abilities are mad and over-the-top but in the best way. It offers crazy amounts of opportunity for new stuff to try. I've found myself running into some construction stuff and just spending way too long making crazy things. And you can use them together. Got a bunch of logs and a high place to get to? Whack the logs together, turn it upright, grab it with Ultrahand and then ascend through your nifty log stack. Need to cross a long gap but don't have enough stuff to cover it? Fuse a bunch of stuff together. Push it out and rotate it then use recall for a rotating bridge.
    The possibilities are endless. You can even fuse building parts together into spinning monster traps.

    This is a masterpiece. Don't listen to the overly picky, negative reviews. I know it's their opinon but in this case, those opinions are wrong.
    But, if you didn't like BoTW you probably won't like Tears.    … Expand
  4. EricDG08
    May 18, 2023
    10
    Just a beautiful game. Usually sequals aren't that great, but this one. wow. 10/10 go play it
  5. Ferronato
    May 15, 2023
    10
    Um dos melhores jogos de todos os tempos. Jogue sem medo. Tears of the Kingdom é uma obra prima!
  6. Chulka
    May 18, 2023
    10
    An incredible new entry to the Zelda series. If you thought BoTW was a masterpiece (and you would be right), ToTK puts it at another level, for sure. The amount of things you can do is overwhelming, and even saying that is underwhelming compared to what you'll experience.
  7. shefakhoda
    May 18, 2023
    10
    I recognize there's room for difference of opinion here, but I'm with the majority that love the new puzzle dynamics of Tears of the Kingdom. It's like the Incredible Toon Machine and Portal had a baby.

    Is it different from the traditional, linear Zelda games? Yes, definitely. BOTW and TOTK build on the open-world dynamics of Wind Waker and the original Legend of Zelda, with survival    I recognize there's room for difference of opinion here, but I'm with the majority that love the new puzzle dynamics of Tears of the Kingdom. It's like the Incredible Toon Machine and Portal had a baby.

    Is it different from the traditional, linear Zelda games? Yes, definitely. BOTW and TOTK build on the open-world dynamics of Wind Waker and the original Legend of Zelda, with survival elements, and by expanding the collection theme we've seen in some games. I understand why some fans of the traditional model feel betrayed and confused by the new games' popularity.

    But I loved the old games, and I love the new ones, too. The puzzles, the graphics, the story—all of it!    … Expand
  8. Jace2b
    May 18, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This Game is absolutly amazing! I mean i have wishes for Totk like better weapon durability and recipes and they did even more than i want like:
    The Sky
    The Underground
    Caves
    Dungeons
    Free Building
    More Enemys and more/different Move Patterns
    Better oversight
    better item overview in fights
    and more...    … Expand
  9. CGanon
    May 18, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Un juego que te deja sin palabras... Para los que ya estamos relacionados a los juegos de Zelda vemos como muchas mecánicas o referencias se encuentran.
    Aunque el juego no tiene una diferencia como los demás ya que si vemos que hay diferencias en todo de Twiligth Princess a Skyward Sword y en este no hay muchos cambios gráficos de su antecesor, logra compensar esa falta de innovación con la cantidad monstruosa de otras cosas innovadoras, es la secuela perfecta, un mundo completamente libre como ya habíamos visto pero ahora Hyrule se siente distinto en todo, la implementación del subsuelo hace que el juego se sienta inmenso, tardas horas en ir de un punto a otro y si bien ya hay mucho juegos similares como Elden Ring, créeme que Tears of the Kingdom es algo que te hará sentir una nueva sensación si eres fan de los mundo abierto.    … Expand
  10. BakerKiller
    May 18, 2023
    10
    An amazing new story of Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a beautiful, evolving and fun game.
  11. Frobot
    May 18, 2023
    10
    Best game I've ever played, improved every way from BOTW which i didn't think was possible!
  12. Nintenman_64
    May 16, 2023
    10
    A Masterpiece, best open world game I’ve ever played, and I’ve played a lot. I own a Xbox and PS, most of their games feel the same. For example the Horizon series.
  13. gabynuozzi
    May 18, 2023
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Me parece un buen juego, gráficos que quedaron en el tiempo. Agrandaron su mapa a comparación del anterior, pero realmente todo lo principal se encuentra en el mapa viejo. Los campamentos de enemigos están buenos para medirte pero las recompensas son la nada misma. Ya es hora de que peguen el siguiente salto.… Expand
  14. morterox2
    May 18, 2023
    10
    You have to play for a long time to be actually able to say that this is the definite version of a Zelda game, it brings back a lot from previous games and still keeps the good feeling of them. The story is incredible and very long, the dungeons are back! You cannot complain this time.
  15. Lunacat
    May 18, 2023
    10
    This game is so much fun I can hardly put it down. I feel like a hero everywhere I go in the game whether it's spelunking, launching into the sky, or just exploring the very familiar but in a lot of ways different map of Hyrule. It's Breath of the Wild but so much better, it's insanely creative and the physics of how everything works is amazing. Nintendo created a game that is the veryThis game is so much fun I can hardly put it down. I feel like a hero everywhere I go in the game whether it's spelunking, launching into the sky, or just exploring the very familiar but in a lot of ways different map of Hyrule. It's Breath of the Wild but so much better, it's insanely creative and the physics of how everything works is amazing. Nintendo created a game that is the very definition of F around and find out and I am living for it 10/10 my goty.… Expand
  16. DanterY
    May 18, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am disappointed that in the trailers this game looks very promising and ended up being the same as we had in 2017 sold as a new game… Expand
  17. Ryson
    May 18, 2023
    10
    Somehow the 0 Reviews are mostly from people who rated every Pokemon game a 10. Suspicious in my opinion
  18. 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
  19. Nargacuga
    May 18, 2023
    0
    One of the worst Zelda games i ever played... it looks pretty, they did the music better than BotW, they added new enemies to counter the ''not enough enemies problem'' and some creative ideas.

    but it runs poorly even if caped to what feels like 30 FPS, promises ultimate freedom but don't even has a standard like customizing the controls to your liking, overusing the same scheme over    One of the worst Zelda games i ever played... it looks pretty, they did the music better than BotW, they added new enemies to counter the ''not enough enemies problem'' and some creative ideas.

    but it runs poorly even if caped to what feels like 30 FPS, promises ultimate freedom but don't even has a standard like customizing the controls to your liking, overusing the same scheme over and over again so 80% of all solutions is one of your 3 movement abilities or the fuse ability to be able to even deal moderate damage. the controls and menus are so overloaded and confusing because you are not able to make favorites on items or to exclude them to make it more pleasant.

    The dungeons are nicely themed but are just gated behind the NPC characters, their abilities (wich are mostly downgraded abilities from BotW) and otherwise they are just bigger shrines and a boss.

    The Bosses are good designed, use the limited abilities nice and you can encounter the bosses in the underground after defeating them once wich is a nice feature.

    The Underground
    The best area in the game, dark, hard and rewarding

    the story is completely BS and butchers both the past Zelda Lore and the Lore presented in the game itself

    overall the game feels like nintendo trys to get into and open world RPG with souls aspects and lost the The Legend of Zelda soul completely. just make BotW and TotK a spin of series instead of butcher the Main series and stop selling games for 70 bucks for a console that can't run it properly because you messed up    … Expand
  20. Sashka80
    May 18, 2023
    7
    It‘s nice, but overrated. When you own a switch, you can of course buy it, when you don‘t, you play Elden Ring or Immortals Fenyx Rising. And use a Pro Pad, game controls aren’t good, but with this tool, it goes a bit better.
  21. Soul_Viper
    May 18, 2023
    5
    In only 1 word: DISSAPOINTED. But not only with this title but with previous Breath of The Wild too. Why I say that? Well, I'm essentially referring to the direction in which the franchise has evolved.

    I consider myself a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda, in fact my personal top 5 games of all history includes Ocarina and Majora's. In my opinion the following games of the saga were only    In only 1 word: DISSAPOINTED. But not only with this title but with previous Breath of The Wild too. Why I say that? Well, I'm essentially referring to the direction in which the franchise has evolved.

    I consider myself a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda, in fact my personal top 5 games of all history includes Ocarina and Majora's.
    In my opinion the following games of the saga were only a bit step behind those ones, but we are talking about truly masterpieces too. I refer to Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword and Link's Awakening.

    It seems the company has forgotten that one of the hallmarks of the saga is the innovation. Every game launched since Ocarina of Time is very very different from the previous one. The originality and uniqueness present on each release is over. This TOTK is just a copy-paste of BOTW with very little mods and it's very sad.

    In the first 3 hr of playing this TOTK, I only talked with 8-9 stupid automatas and a spirit (not counting the intro when Zelda talks to you). The rest was boring and basic exploration, 2 tiny dungeons and 5 min combat. In my opinion the evolution taken by the company on this saga is clearly wrong.

    This huge world is too much for Link, most part is empty and the gameplay is mainly based on exploration, gathering, cooking, climbing, walking and repeat and then repeat again. Don't expect here to see an Elden Ring universe full of life with very different and captivating scenarios but without forget including those great "closed" areas of previous Soul's games. Because one of the funniest and challenging parts of an adventure game like this one was supposed to the challenge of complete the great dungeons/temples that now are a mere shadow of those ones. In adittion final bosses are way too easy and derivative.

    The landscapes now are all very similar within itselves and the gameplay is boring. Why they left behind all the charming stories that was a key element of the game? Because don't forget that The Legend of Zelda is a game about stories, relationships with people and all vested with an awesome halo of fantasy and magic with hints of epic and sometimes tragic. Now all these elements gone and it doesn't seem to come back soon (at least while people continue loving the path they have taken with last 2 games...)

    Even the epic music that featured most of the Zelda videogames and made us to fall in love with it (how to forget saria's song, bolero of fire, gerudo valley, ballad of the goddess, kakariko village, romani ranch...) has now turned into boring and typical tunes without soul.

    Definitely I can't recommend anyone to play this game.    … Expand
  22. Lomp
    May 18, 2023
    3
    Breath of the wild was alright but had a lot of potential, I was hoping that tears of the kingdom would realise that potential but unfortunately the devs were contempt in keeping a lot of stuff the same. The majority of the map is just a reshuffled map of hyrule from BOTW. Korock seeds and shrines are the main gameplay loop in the open world AGAIN. Finding towers to update the map, storyBreath of the wild was alright but had a lot of potential, I was hoping that tears of the kingdom would realise that potential but unfortunately the devs were contempt in keeping a lot of stuff the same. The majority of the map is just a reshuffled map of hyrule from BOTW. Korock seeds and shrines are the main gameplay loop in the open world AGAIN. Finding towers to update the map, story told in pieces and just generally messing about in a massive soulless open world was all present in BOTW. The difference is at least it was initially fresh and exciting in BOTW as this was the first time for us players, and even that became repetitive and tedious as the game played out. Now we have a huge DLC expansion that asks us to do that all over again in a map mostly the same as BOTW. There is no more excitement of discovery when you realise that most of what you find in these massive maps is the same challenges recycled agin and again: korock wants to get to a friend, guy needs you to hold up sign, shrine in the distant which will reward you maybe a weapon and orb, towers in distant for map uncovering and so on. I’m addition to stagnation it also comes with its own issues. Performance issues like this is unacceptable for a game charging a next gen price. The new ultra hand ability while cool in theory is super finicky and frustrating to control. The camera is annoying especially when you activate ascend and it snaps upwards all of a sudden disorientating the player, they should have a camera zoom out like in xenoblade. Physics are annoying especially when trying to craft something with ultra hand. The way I see this game is a very messy game glued together unstably like the many failed contraptions I created. I could go on but the bottom line is that Zelda has officially lost its heart as this is most likely the desired direction they will take for the foreseeable future. What happened to bright vibrant locations like in wind water and skyward sword. What happened to awesome intricate dungeons like in ocarina of time and twilight princess. Instead we have a massive soulless open world with boring objectives.… Expand
  23. deejay2828
    May 18, 2023
    0
    It is a way to expensive DLC with new and terrible mechanics. I really liked the first or main game. This is a disapointment.
  24. OMGItsDango
    May 18, 2023
    9
    The Legend of Zelda: Torture of the Koroks.

    Nice to see that the silly low reviews are not having a major impact on the overall score for this absolute masterpiece of a game. Before the release we was aware that TOTK is the sequel to BOTW so why people are complaining about the same map is mind blowing to me, especially when it is quite clear that the map has been expanded and I mean    The Legend of Zelda: Torture of the Koroks.

    Nice to see that the silly low reviews are not having a major impact on the overall score for this absolute masterpiece of a game.

    Before the release we was aware that TOTK is the sequel to BOTW so why people are complaining about the same map is mind blowing to me, especially when it is quite clear that the map has been expanded and I mean EXPANDED, to the point where I am still happy to travel and explore areas that I already explored in BOTW, I will admit that sometimes exploring the main land can get a little boring ( at times ) but the new areas and altered regions definitely help with rectifying this issue.

    The weapons system, yes this may be frustrating at times but let's be honest, for this to be the main reason to give this game a bad score is because these people don't like a challenge, plus it pushes the player to explore more of the map and find new weapons so that is a win.

    So far my only personal complaint ( which is why I have knocked a point off my score ) is the new dungeons, I like that they have tried to keep the traditional dungeons but they don't give off the same feeling that I would experience in something like Windwakers Dragon Roost Cavern and the Tower of the Gods, or the Twilight Princess Temple of time and palace of twilight... the dungeons in TOTK feel rushed, I found them fairly easy and quick to complete.
    I miss the old compass, mini bosses and boss keys, I feel like these made a Zelda game and would probably of given TOTK a record breaking score.

    Graphics seem to match that of the graphics in BOTW which still to this day has proven to be one of the most visually stunning games on the Nintendo Switches outdated Hardware.

    Again going back to the Switches Hardware, I expected a few frame rate drops but I was honestly Shocked with how quite smooth the game is overall! we have a console that released in 2017 and I somehow can drop from the Skylands directly down into the depths without hardly any performance issues! fantastic work guys!

    The new building mechanic is a very nice touch... does not necessarily feel Zelda-ish but I am having way too much fun with it to care about that in all honesty.

    Loving the new variety in enemies/ bosses

    The memory missions are a step up from BOTW.

    Music as always with any Zelda title is a masterpiece.
    .
    Can't get enough of the Shrine puzzles! each one is challenging in its own way.

    Breath-taking story!

    Thank you for reading my review, DEATH TO THE KOROKS!    … Expand
  25. Illumikachu
    May 18, 2023
    10
    I have spend the last couple of days since release playing this game and i am positively surprised by the huge scale this game has. One of the main critique points was the reuse of the BOTW map but i have to say that it feels vastly different since there is so many new things to discover. In addition, there are many completely new areas like the sky islands and the depths that you canI have spend the last couple of days since release playing this game and i am positively surprised by the huge scale this game has. One of the main critique points was the reuse of the BOTW map but i have to say that it feels vastly different since there is so many new things to discover. In addition, there are many completely new areas like the sky islands and the depths that you can explore for tens of hours alone. I also enjoy the new abilities since they can interact with the world even more than BOTWs abilities could and give you even more space for creativity. Most of my expectations for this game have been outdone by the zelda team. Out of 100 I would give this game 95-97 since my main grudge with it and its prequel, the weapon breaking system, hasnt been addressed the way i was hoping for. Still i can see this being one of the games people are going to remember fondly for many years.… Expand
  26. Databacon
    May 18, 2023
    6
    Game is a copy of botw with some improvements and some parts that are worse. If you love botw and would love to play that again then this game is for you. But if you want a new experience that is different to botw then you will be disappointed.

    Game mostly perform well on the switch but still have frame drops, especially when using skills.
  27. Shigshig
    May 18, 2023
    10
    Loved the fact that I get to return to Hyrule in this new way with all the added stuff. The original was amazing for how it allowed us to break and use its own game physics to do crazy things. This is just that on steroids and so much fun. Also love how this was a direct sequel to botw. If there was ever a Link and Zelda I wanted to see "what happened after" for, it was these two.
  28. ReWorld-D
    May 18, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's not just another Zelda game, it's as if Minecraft and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts had a child. But none of Zelda's identity is there.
    And for a fan of the classic formula like me, this is a very big disappointment.
    The exploration of Hyrule is very empty as everything is full of kolog seeds and inconsequential missions, and the temples as well as the final boss aren't very epic or appealing.    … Expand
  29. 1271377673
    May 18, 2023
    0
    So bored of Zelda now. This game is a chore with a barren open world and breakable weapons are still a thing with a hack to prevent them from breaking. Story as usual is terribly delivered. Reminds me of Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts…
  30. joaoramos00
    May 18, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. O jogo é extremamente bonito, ainda mais para um console de baixa performance, só há loading quando morre no mundo aberto. As mecânicas foram melhoradas e muito!
    É um jogo maravilhoso    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
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