Disclaimer: I have not finished the game yet
Introduction
But courage need not be remembered...for it is never forgotten - Princess Zelda, in Breath of the Wild
It’s been more than 6 years since Breath of the Wild first released on the Nintendo Switch. Critics were blown away by the sheer depth of the world. The story itself could’ve been an entire novel series. Then, 2 years after its release, at E3 2019…Nintendo released a trailer for the sequel. We awaited with bated breath, hoping that the release date would soon be announced. Then, in E3 2021…Nintendo released another trailer, stating the release date would be in 2022. We were overjoyed.
Unfortunately, they then announced that it would be pushed back to 2023 due to some major difficulties. Soon afterwards, the announced the release date and released 3 new trailers. Trailer 1, Trailer 2, Trailer 3.
And with the world awaiting the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom released on the 12th of March, 2023.
The start of the game
The beginning of the game is as you’d expect. You start as Link after the events of Breath of the Wild (BotW), exploring underneath Hyrule Castle with Zelda. This gives so much depth into the story, even for an intro, and foreshadows some of the events to come.
Moving on, you encounter a strange corpse, with a glowing hand on it. On the hand is a gem. The hand falls off, and the corpse wakes, and steals all of your health and stamina. It also breaks the Master Sword, and collapses the cavern.
You are teleported onto a giant sky island and given a new hand, and are told to find Princess Zelda.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very much the same as BotW, with the same attacking and dodging mechanics. This time, however, you get 5 new abilities
- Ultrahand. This is like Magnesis, but better
- Autobuild. Exactly what it sounds like.
- Recall. Basically reversing motion
- Fuse. Fusing weapons together
- Ascend. Again, exactly what it sounds like.
The Camera and the Sensor also make their way back into Tears of the Kingdom (TotK). Furthermore, you get 3 Traveller’s Medallions and Hero’s Path mode.
The World
So. Big. Not only do we have the sky islands, we also have the Depths. These are a bunch of caverns underneath Hyrule, teeming with darkness. Explore at your own peril. A ton of the NPCs have changed as well. Check out Tarrey Town, for example. And there’s a cool little Easter Egg waiting for you in Hateno Village.
The Story
It’s so much more than I could’ve possibly dreamt of. Just the thought of “The Dragon’s Tears” quest makes me amazed at the thought Nintendo put into this game. There’s so many twists and turns in the plot, and I’m really excited to see how far they go.
Conclusion
Again, I haven’t finished the game, but I’ve put a ton of time into it just exploring. This game is huge, and I can’t wait for the next title to release