After years of waiting,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis finally here. Players can once again explore a massive Hyrule as they try to stop it from being destroyed. The game has been a fantastic treat so far and has even gone on to become one of the highest-rated games of all time. Fans seem to be loving it, and its open world has helped prove whyThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis second to none.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildreinvented what it meant to be anopen-world game, andTears of the Kingdomhas done it again. While the two open worlds are pretty similar,Tears of the Kingdominjects enough new mechanics to make it feel even stronger. It offers players countless hours of content to explore and hundreds of secrets to discover, and more open-world games may want to take some notes.
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Tears of the Kingdom’s Hyrule is a Sight to Behold
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildmay have been late to the open-world party, but Nintendo’s approach to the concept helped reinvent the genre. Its vast plains and freeform gameplay enthralled players, and the studio packed it with hundreds of secrets to discover. Even though the game is six years old, players are still discovering and learning new things aboutBreath of the Wild’s Hyrule. It was an impressive feat at the time, andTears of the Kingdomhas helped remind players whyThe Legend of Zeldais still on top.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomonce again lets players run wild within its open-world Hyrule. While they can follow the narrative, they can also go about this world however they want. The only restrictions are the ones that players put on themselves, and Link’s new powers give them even more freedom as they explore. Someone has alreadybeatTears of the Kingdomin 94 minutes, while others are discovering new things around every single corner.
Tears of the Kingdomactually gives players an open world that feels true to its meaning. Other titles in the genre like to lock certain regions down until players progress through the story, fill the entire world with set dressing, or make the world feel like a video game.Tears of the Kingdom’s abilities for Linklift any sort of restrictions and let players interact with practically everything they see before them. If they want to scale a mountain off in the distance they can, if they want to build a massive plane then they can, and if they just want to cook food for the rest of their life then they can do that.
Tears of the Kingdom’s open worldis very impressive, and the content within is not half bad either. The various beings that dot the land are interesting, the side quests can be challenging, the puzzles are exciting, and the combat has taken on a whole new meaning with the addition of the Fuse ability. There is just a ton of content to explore in this game, and it could be years before players see everything that it has to offer.
While the Nintendo Switch may be quickly showing its age,Tears of the Kingdomhas reminded players why they bought into the system in the first place. Nintendo has constructed an experience unlike any other, and this is only the start. Hyrule will likely be expanded upon withTears of the Kingdompost-launch DLC, and there is a strong possibility that a third game will expand it even further. If it maintains the same level of quality asTears of the Kingdom, then Nintendo may cement itself as the new king of the open-world genre.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Switch.
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