The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is off to a fantastic start with reviewers giving it top scores and many of the people who have played it saying that it is a better game than Breath of the Wild. This is an amazing accomplishment as BOTW was recognized as not only one of the best Zelda games but possibly among the best video games ever made. As a sequel to such an innovative and enjoyable title, TOTK had a lot to live up to.
Our Screen Rant review of TOTK, as well as many others, has listed it with a perfect score. Though this doesn’t mean it isn’t without its faults, it is a must-play game that is well on its way to being Game of the Year for 2023. BOTW was 2017’s Game of the Year, and many didn’t think that Tears of the Kingdom would be able to fully live up to its quality. Thankfully, it not only stood up to the challenge, but in many ways, it has even managed to surpass its predecessor.
10 The Map In TOTK Expands Into The Sky And Below The Ground
While BOTW was already a wonderfully expansive open-world game, TOTK managed to take that map to new heights. The added Sky Islands, in particular, are a clever new way of enlarging the map to give Link reasons to investigate new vistas. Then the developers also took things down into underground areas, all of which contribute to making it even more enjoyable to explore every detail.
9 The Shrine Alert Noise Is Less Annoying In TOTK
Breath of the Wild had a very useful, but extremely annoying, audio cue that would help players know when a shrine was nearby. In Tears of the Kingdom the developers have continued to have a helpful sound for people to know to look for a shrine, but this time it is a much more subtle tone. Considering that there are over 150 shrines throughout the world, this small detail is one that matters.
8 Tears Of The Kingdom Brings Back Ganondorf
The famous villain of the Zelda franchise, Ganondorf, makes his return in TOTK after BOTW had the strangely mutated enemy, Calamity Ganon. Though the primal creature of Calamity Ganon was an interesting change, bringing back the more traditional Ganondorf is a treat for long-time Zelda players. Furthermore, while Calamity Ganon did not speak in BOTW, TOTK brings the incredibly talented Matt Mercer to voice the role of Ganondorf.
7 Link’s Ascend Ability Makes Exploration Easier In TOTK
Exploring in BOTW was a fun experience as Link could get nearly anywhere, even climbing mountains as long as his stamina held. TOTK takes this concept a step further with the powerful new Ascend ability that allows Link to move upwards through ceilings or tree branches to quickly reach dizzying heights. This becomes not only a shortcut for vertical travel but is also useful in some combat situations when used creatively.
6 Tears Of The Kingdom Offers Greater Enemy Variety
One of the complaints that some players had of BOTW was its fairly limited range of enemy variety. Both normal enemies and bosses were relatively few in assortment, and it could become tiresome to face the same types of monsters over and over again. Developers took note of this issue and in TOTK there are new enemies added into the mix. That said, the familiar classics such as the Bokoblins will still be around.
5 TOTK Has Quality-Of-Life Improvements For Recipes And Inventory Management
Tears of the Kingdom improves upon smaller quality-of-life details that caused some frustration in Breath of the Wild as well. Simple things such as not having an easy way to access cooking recipes or some inventory management issues have been revamped for TOTK to make it easier on the player. No longer will players have to memorize the recipes or constantly refer to a spreadsheet, these are now saved in a menu, and clearing things from your inventory is quicker and easier, even when in the middle of accessing a chest.
4 Link Can Use The Travel Medallion For Fast Travel
Getting the Travel Medallion in BOTW was a challenge for players and only available after players purchased The Master Trials DLC. It was a useful item, however, which opened up a way for Link to fast travel around parts of Hyrule, saving players a lot of time. In TOTK the Travel Medallion is back, but this time developers have made it easier for players to be able to get it, without having to pay for an additional DLC.
3 Dungeons Make A Comeback For Tears Of The Kingdom
A big criticism from fans regarding Breath of the Wild was the lack of dungeons in the game. Zelda games have long been known for their puzzle-filled engaging dungeons, and this was a major blow to the fanbase to find that BOTW did not have any. For its sequel, TOTK has brought back classic dungeons that are unique to their environments.
2 TOTK’s Weapon Fusions Combine Creativity And Humor
The ability to fuse objects to weapons seems to be a way that TOTK developers are trying to sidestep the complaint of weapon durability that BOTW had. The weapons in TOTK can, and will, still break, but now Link is able to fuse objects together to make them stronger and have new abilities. This is a way for players to be able to stretch their creativity and also adds a lot of humor to the game with some of the possible combinations or the effects of having fused certain objects.
1 Link’s Ultrahand Allows Vehicles, Bridges, Or Anything A Player Imagines To Be Created
Links new Ultrahand ability in TOTK is the star of the show, particularly for creative engineering minds. With this power, he can create nearly anything a player can imagine from bridges to vehicles. It encourages players to look around them with fresh eyes and see the potential in any object and experiment with creating whatever they would like to try and see what the physics will allow.
Originally thought to be the best Zelda game conceivable, BOTW has met its match with its sequel. Developers for TOTK took a look at what worked and what didn’t work in the original title and tweaked, corrected, and reworked things until it was better. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom still has flaws of its own, but it has surprised much of the gaming world with its ability to surpass Breath of the Wild.
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