The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

⭐ 10/10

I've been playing this game on and off since its release in May 2023, and I love it.  I am a sucker for Zelda games, hearing the music is enough to make me give it a 10/10 rating.  But I thought this game elevated Breath of the Wild in such a way that I don't think I could ever replay that one, which is kind of crazy. The way this game starts is genius, and then the world opens up in a spectacular way, one you are totally expecting, but when I dove off that sky island and saw the familiar-but-different world open up before me I couldn't wait to explore every corner.

That's what this and BOTW nail - the world.  This game makes traversing it easier with all the things you can do in the air, and even after 100 hours I am enjoying poking around everything, looking for Koroks, just seeing what's over the next hill.  It's an experience very few games can match, constantly being distracted by something in the distance and being fulfilled by whatever you find. The game design here is unmatched, and I think its incredible they almost completely reuse the map from the previous game and its still incredible.

I will scatter some negativity in here, but this is still a perfect game.  The Depths were very cool the first couple times you dive in, but once you are strong enough the fear of dying going away and its repetitive.  I think they could have done so much more down there, but the game is already massive, so I liked the detailed touches of how the lower world reflects the upper.  It's something other classic Zelda games have had so its really cool to get this bizzaro-world again. I think one of my most memorable moments was my first big discovery in the depths, wandering aimlessly and stumbling across a main quest and realizing I was subtly funneled there without realizing it.  I felt my mind being blown at the scale of the game design, how something like that was possible, how something so random could end up so satisfying, and that's the moment I knew this was a perfect game. Exploration leading directly to reward.

The other innovation this game has over BOTW is ultrahand and fusion.  These are genius concepts that take this sandbox to a level that has never been reached, where basically anything can be made.  I think the draw of Zelda has always been allowing your imagination to do problem solving and feeling the thrill when it works, and now you can do anything you can imagine. For someone who likes guide rails and paths this is really freeing.  There were so many excellent puzzles that made me feel so smart, and I can't imagine the amount of testing required for a game like this to not be full of bugs.

Another negative is the story.  None of these games have great stories, but BOTW and TOTK struggle in being non-linear, so the story is written in a way where you uncover pieces of it in whatever order you want.  There are some cool cutscenes but for the most part I was unmoved.  I feel like this is the last piece they have not yet mastered, but I also don't think they care?  If this game had no story it would still be 10/10, and they can lean on the world and my imagination to make the game fulfilling.  I think if you want to make a game this open its nearly impossible to include a linear satisfying story (see Elden Ring), but maybe someone will surprise me one day.  Red Dead has an incredible story, but might as well be a side-scrolling game compared to this, they have tighter lanes they can force you on. Amazing how I can say this game has zero story and its still a 10/10.  Masterpiece!

Fusing items to your weapons is another stroke of genius.  In all games like this you have an inventory with thousands of items you work hard to collect but never use.  This basically solves that, even if I end up fusing all the same items all the time.  3 of the final shrines I did all introduced me to new fuse powers, and that's incredible! Endless combinations here - again I can't imagine working on this game and the amount of time the developers put into testing variations.

One final negative is the lack of boss variance.  You are fighting the same things all the time at different strengths, and even though the bigger dungeon bosses are cool none of them are particularly memorable like the ones from previous games are.  Zelda used to be all about unique boss fights, and while the mechanics are fun none of them were difficult enough.  Again, I think in a game this non-linear difficulty is another thing that suffers, even Elden Ring had this problem at times. But Elden Ring also surprises you with hundreds of different things to fight, and I wish they had spent more time making more bad guys.  Don't get me wrong, some really fun fights, some really strong things like Gleeoks, tons of opportunity to fuse different items and experiment in how you fight bosses. But by the end combat is the least interesting part of the game, which is a shame.

This game came out so long ago and I played a majority of it back then, so it feels like everything worth saying about this game has been said.  It is innovative and fun and relaxing and satisfying.  I think the final boss rush was actually very good, especially when compared to BOTW, and I will probably do it one more time before putting the game down for good. It's not often that expectations are exceeded like this, but the last 2 Zelda games have surpassed my wildest dreams. I have heard it said the next Zelda game will be a bit more traditional, less open world, and I think that's a good idea.  They broke the standard, made two perfect games that will be inspiring copycats for decades, and I look forward to whatever they cook up next.

Despite the negatives this is essentially a perfect game that makes me feel like a child playing Ocarina again.  I love how the new world builds on top of all that came before it, and when I hear musical callbacks I feel transported in a way that makes me emotional. Oh, and this game released on my birthday!  Best present ever.