After six years, Nintendo released in May 2023 the long-awaited sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW for short), which won over Zelda’s fans back in 2017. The new game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK), has been a great success, taking BOTW experience to the next level. In fact, it shares many similarities with its predecessor, but yet it is different in many ways.

The return of Ganondorf

In an unknown time, after the defeat of Ganon in BOTW, a strange new phenomenon takes over Hyrule. A mysterious substance that drains out the life of those who touch it has appeared all over the reign. To learn more about this “gloom,” Link and Zelda decide to explore the secret passages beneath Hyrule Castle. Here, they find the ruins of the ancient Zonai civilization.

But something more terrible lies beneath the castle. A mummified Ganondorf, covered in gloom, is kept in such a state by a single arm holding his chest. However, when Link and Zelda enter the room, the former Gerudo King, who first appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is awakened. Ganondorf spreads the gloom. Hyrule’s castle detaches from the ground and rises into the sky, while Zelda falls into an abyss. 

Teleported by the arm, Link wakes up on an island floating in the sky. Here, his adventure to save Zelda and Hyrule once again begins.

More than a sequel: is it worth it?

Tears of the Kingdom catapults players in a world that is familiar to many. The map is the same as BOTW, and those who played the previous game will find everything just as they left it (you can even have the horses saved on BOTW uploaded automatically on TOTK)… more or less! Everyone remembers Link and his actions during BOTW times, but something still feels off.

Zonai ruins have appeared everywhere, together with new towers and shrines. And the world is thrice as big, divided into three different layers. Now, there are the Sky Islands and the Depths to explore, making the game even more challenging.

The enemies remain the same, except for a few new additions, like Gleeoks, Aerocudas, and Constructs. On the other hand, some of the enemies of BOTW don’t exist anymore. The dreaded Guardians, for example, have been replaced with the even more terrible Gloom hands.

While the gameplay is not different, there are some new runes, the magical tools used through the Sheikah Slate to alter the world around Link. Ultrahand, Ascend, Recall, and Fuse allow players to complete quests using their imagination, creating farfetched weapons or fun vehicles.

Last but not least, the breathtaking landscapes loved by BOTW fans are even better on TOTK, thanks to the improved frame rate.

Countless adventures and side quests

Tears of the Kingdom, just as its predecessor, is an open-world sandbox game. But it takes these definitions to their peak. Not only is the map three-layered, but the quests and missions of the game are countless, and there is no specific order to follow. Players can wander wherever and do whatever they want at any time.

There are a total of 24 main quests, nine more than BOTW. Furthermore, the 139 side quests are almost double those of BOTW, which were “only” 76. And this number does not even include shrine quests and all the other small challenges and adventures players can undertake.

As we all know, in The Legend of Zelda series players can easily get sidetracked from the main quest by several other side adventures, and this is even truer for TOTK.

One puzzle with thousands of solutions

One of the main differences between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild is the former’s emphasis on imagination and creativity.

Thanks to the new runes and the wideness of the world, players can approach a challenge from different angles (quite literally), making their single experience unique. For some people, a specific shrine can be impossible to solve. For others, the solution lies right in front of their eyes. Some can even find a perfect Fuse combination that allows them to take a shortcut.

There is no intended way to play the game; everyone gets to reach the end at their own pace, making the best use of their inventiveness.

Time repeats itself

Since the first games of The Legend of Zelda, players played as Link to save Hyrule from a calamity brought on by an evil force. The story is the usual: Princess Zelda, possessor of the Triforce of Wisdom, sends Link, wielder of the Master Sword, on a mission to save Hyrule and herself.

The evil force is also usually the same: Ganondorf or, in his final beast form, Ganon, the Demon King. Being the only male Gerudo, he was predestined to be his people’s king. But, as explained in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the complex, strenuous life in the Gerudo Desert instilled in him the desire to conquer the flourishing reign of Hyrule. Despite repeated defeats, he reincarnates and finds his way back in every game, just to be defeated again.

The game series is an eternal struggle of good versus evil. Even if, in the end, peace is regained, not many years pass until Hyrule is under attack again. It’s a never-ending cycle of rebirth and destruction, with a confusing timeline that splits and merges in the various games. In Tears of the Kingdom, this concept is even more emphasized thanks to the focus on time travel. And, maybe the very symbol of the game is a hint for the player. The two dragons eating each other’s tails recalls Ouroboros, representing the eternal cycle of death and rebirth.

Friendship and sacrifice

In Tears of the Kingdom, Link is the undiscussed hero, but he can’t do everything himself. As in most games of the series, he receives help from the many friends he makes along the way. For example, in BOTW the so-called Four Champions provide back-up for defeating Ganon. In Tears of the Kingdom, their successors literally walk alongside Link to assist him in combat and missions. And there are also the Sages, whose role is central to the whole lore series. With their powers, their purpose is to protect the Triforce and Hyrule. In TOTK, the Champions receive their powers directly from the Sages, who wait for Millenia to help Link in his mission.

But the greatest ally is Zelda. Far from being a damsel in distress, she always uses all her power to contain evil and to accompany Link in his mission, assisting him from a distance when needed. Her role is even more pivotal in the narratives of both BOTW and TOTK. Her lifelong and profound friendship with Link leads her to risk her own life to help the hero, and in TOTK, we witness the greatest sacrifice of the series.

Immersive and intense soundtrack

The Legend of Zelda games are renowned for their incredible soundtracks that have a strong emotional impact on players.

Since the dawn of its creation, music has had a pivotal role in the games: the ocarina, Link’s chosen instrument, was used by the hero to travel between worlds. Later on, it served different mysterious and magical purposes, but it always found its place in the story.

Even if the ocarina doesn’t appear in Tears of the Kingdom, music still plays a huge role in creating immersive gameplay. The game’s main theme truly touches experienced players, and there are even specific concerts in which the whole soundtrack is played by an entire orchestra.

Furthermore, some tunes are deeply connected to certain parts of the game, such as the stable theme you can hear when you’re near a stable. One of the most engaging and enthralling, though, is probably the theme for Colgera Battle, as many fans shared on TikTok.

Another sequel? Not quite

As one can imagine, Tears of the Kingdom has been a massive success since its release, selling 10 million copies in the first three days. It quickly climbed the rankings, with a top score of almost 100/100 on Opencritic. But, shattering most expectations, it won’t have a direct sequel. As reported by Destructoid, Eiji Aonuma, the game producer who has worked on The Legend of Zelda games since 1998, declared that there won’t be a threequel. In his words:

I think it is – to use a bit of a term – an apotheosis, or the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda. In that regard, I don’t think that we’ll be making a direct sequel to a world such as that that we’ve created.

Nevertheless, fans did not end up empty-handed, and in 2024, Nintendo released a new type of game to continue the legacy, taking a different approach: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.