What I’m playing: ‘Tears’ takes Zelda to new heightsDate: 6/13/2023 For as long as I can remember I have been a huge fan of Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda” series. My first foray into the series was way back when my brothers and I got our Gamecube as kids for Christmas one year.
Packaged with our new console was “The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition” which brought together the series’ first two games along with Nintendo 64 classics “Ocarina of Time” and “Majora’s Mask.” The disc also included a demo version of “Wind Waker,” which had a 30-minute cap on several different areas you could play through.
Since that day I have played every single Zelda game that has come out, from “Twilight Princess” all the way up through the most recent release, “Tears of the Kingdom.” While few Zelda games are direct sequels, “Tears” follows up right where 2017’s “Breath of the Wild” leaves off.
I played “Breath of the Wild” twice the year it came out, once on the Wii U version and a second time on the Switch version. I was completely blown away with the game and thought it was a brilliant way to modernize the series and breathe some new life into one of Nintendo’s flagship series. I thought there was no way to improve the series from there, but somehow, “Tears” does exactly that.
“Breath of the Wild” introduced players to a larger open-world map of Hyrule, something that had not happened on such a grand scale for previous titles. Somehow that world was made even bigger and more engaging for the sequel. With “Tears” Nintendo added verticality by introducing sky islands above the map of Hyrule as well as the Depths beneath the surface, giving players the opportunity to explore a slightly different Hyrule from the first game with new areas to explore above and below. The Depths in particular is a fun and challenging place to explore, that gives players the option to unlock armor from previous Zelda titles.
In order to access these new areas, players will find giant caverns in the ground with reddish black miasma spreading from the entrances to the depths. Above players will see the islands dotting the skies, to reach these new heights Link has a new ability to reverse time on specific objects so pieces of structure that fall to the ground can be reversed to go upward with Link on it.
Across the land and sky players will find shrines, which are much the same from “Breath of the Wild,” giving players puzzles and combat challenges to overcome in order to increase both their life and stamina bars. Players can also find Koroks throughout the land who present players with smaller puzzles to solve, helping them to expand their inventories for weapons, shields and bows. Throughout the world there are also side quests and larger scale side adventures that really help to build out the world and supplement the main narrative.
Very rarely do I continue to play a game’s side content after I roll the credits, but “Tears” is different. With more puzzles to solve, optional bosses to be slain and more fun to be had I anticipate spending much, much more time in this iteration of Hyrule before I put the game down for good.
With such a big open world you might be wondering how players are able to get around and explore each region as well as the skies above and the Depths below. The main gimmick in “Tears” is the ability to create means of transportation using Link’s new Ultrahand ability, which allows players to pick up nearly any object in the world and combine them together. Using wheels, pieces of wood, rockets and plenty of other parts that can be salvaged players can put together any manner of vehicles. A quick search on YouTube will show the many creative ways players have begun to travel around.
In terms of combat, players also have new tools. Early in the game, players will learn that many of the weapons across the land have decayed as a result of the events of the main story, now players have the ability to fuse objects to their weapons using the Ultrahand ability. With the ability to fuse, players can craft weapons with increased durability and attack power. This ability also works with the player’s shield and arrows for some interesting combinations. For example, attaching a rocket to a shield allows players to launch themselves into the air, while attaching a bomb to an arrow adds more explosive power. Like with traversal, players have some new and creative ways to slay their enemies.
While the story is very much more of the same with series antagonist Ganon wreaking havoc across Hyrule, Princess Zelda needing to be found and Link left to save the day, the story takes some very interesting twists and turns with some heartbreaking revelations and happy moments along the way. I’ll stay light on details because these moments have to be experienced first-hand.
I will say, two story beats specifically, receiving Link’s iconic weapon the Master Sword and the questline called The Dragon’s Tears are two of my favorite moments not only in “Tears,” but in the series as a whole. Receiving the Master Sword in “Tears” might be the best iteration of doing so in the entire series. Typically, there is a slow build up and climactic moment of receiving the sword and “Tears” takes that idea to new heights for the series.
Much like “Breath of the Wild” players are given the option to tackle the story in any order they would like and after spending time exploring, any of the first main objectives can be done with relative ease. Narratively, these can be done in any order, so it’s up to the player’s preference for where they want to begin.
Like with all Zelda games, the soundtrack is outstanding. From reinventions of classic themes like “Zelda’s Lullaby” to new compositions, the range of the soundtrack is excellent. I think the main theme as well as the music from the final boss are awesome additions to an already beautiful collection of Zelda music, spanning over 30 years now. I also highly, highly recommend using headphones while playing; there is so much depth and detail to each composition that is only amplified by listening through headphones as opposed to speakers through a TV.
The one area that to me is a bit lackluster is the main story dungeons. In almost all cases the dungeons boil down to going and hitting four or five switches to access the boss, many of which are very easy and straightforward. This, however, did not do much to detract from my overall feelings on the game.
Going into “Tears” I thought there was no way Nintendo could top “Breath of the Wild,” but they did it with a game that is much grander and even more fun to play than its predecessor, that gives players plenty to do and enjoy for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours. From the first dive to the surface, “Tears” is a game chock full of fun and adventures to be had. “Tears” is not only one of my favorite games I have ever played, but also one of the best games ever made, and I would highly recommend it to anyone new to the series or for longtime fans.
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