“Exploring the Mind-Bending Freedom of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”

For example, I had to bring a stray Korok higher up a river, but I also found a large glowing stone. I wanted to take both, but how? The answer turned out to be a monster truck. I glued the Korok and rock to the side of the monster truck and drove up the river. The Korok got where it needed to be. With the stone I unlocked a new Shrine further along the river.

I solved two puzzles at once with a monster truck. In a Zelda game. With a monster truck.

Tears of the Kingdom continues to amaze you, but that’s not surprising. Predecessor Breath of the Wild already laid a new foundation for open world games in 2017. The game world always caught your attention. It rained incentives and there was always a reward. In Breath of the Wild, adventure was natural. Even FromSoftware turned to that formula.

Tears of the Kingdom is not saying goodbye to that setup. This sequel is also deliberately vague about where you should go, and the structure of the main mission is initially largely the same. This sequel is also pure adventure. Sometimes that legacy is very recognizable. Many Korok puzzles, such as making circles with stones on the ground, return in the same form. That’s unfortunate, but any further concerns about recurrence are unfounded.

For example, there are theories that Tears of the Kingdom is some kind of glorified DLC. That fear mainly exists because this game takes place in ‘the same’ Hyrule. Those worries are not only unnecessary in retrospect, they are laughable. Nintendo dodges the recycling trap with an arc as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the Japanese constantly play with your expectations in that area.

Towns like Zora’s Domain, Kakariko Village and Gerudo Town are still there, but they are not the same. Hyrule is torn to shreds. There are islands floating in the sky everywhere. Almost everything is different or extensive. That also has a lot of influence on the characters and where they are in this story. Old friends play a big role in this adventure. It is therefore advisable to finish Breath of the Wild first – that makes this game much more interesting.

At the same time, this sequel is an excellent ‘first Zelda’, especially for children. Some characters and missions return that warm and nostalgic Zelda feeling that was a bit lacking in Breath of the Wild. This is really one old school Nintendo hero epic. In any case, this sequel contains much more linear story than Breath of the Wild. There are also more cutscenes, although the voice acting isn’t exactly the game’s strongest point.

The story also explains why Link no longer has his old powers. They have been replaced with new powers, and those powers are the heart and soul of this game. They shape your adventures, literally and figuratively. The new starting area is of crucial importance in this. Nintendo plants seeds in your head that benefit you for the rest of the game. You have to think differently in Tears of the Kingdom, and you learn to think differently there.

For example, you can swim through ceilings or items in your inventory merge with items in the game world. But the power you’ll be using the most is Ultrahand, which moves, tilts, and glues things together. There were after some previewsessies ensure that the controls were awkward, but fortunately that is only the case in the beginning. Ultrahand requires spatial awareness, especially if you want to get tilted objects horizontally or vertically.

You have to learn to turn tilted stuff towards you first. That takes some getting used to, but after a few hours of playing it feels like second nature. And then you can go.

Really go.

Imagine: a lake of lava. By placing a large wing and sticking some fans on it, you can simply fly over the lava lake. But why not build a bridge of ten wings? Can also. You can also build a very high car to drive through the lava. But all those solutions take time. If you want to be fast, just fuse a missile on your shield to launch yourself up.

You could also have put a plank upright on the floor with some kind of spring underneath. You still have to turn it over. What good is a plank on a spring falling to the ground? Well, if you rewind time, the plank would not fall, but spring upright very quickly: a catapult. You can also use that slingshot to launch my own invention, Mammoth Man, into the lava. It’s useless, but it’s possible.

Why don’t you build a ramp? At the bottom of that ramp you place a large steel spring to shoot yourself diagonally off the ramp. Maybe one feather is not enough. Then you just glue three feathers together and fly over the lava lake with great ease. You can also use a water sprinkler to solidify the lava. Whatever you do, as long as it works.

One of Tears of the Kingdom’s greatest achievements is how the experience systematically thrives under all that freedom. As a player you get so much space to tackle problems, but the game mechanics and game world remain standing proudly in almost all scenarios. And that with so much freedom, in an open game world. It’s an insane design philosophy.

That freedom goes a long way. For example, almost all interactive items, such as wheels, balloons or fans, can also be stored in your inventory. So you always carry some kind of box with Lego with you. You conjure up building material right out of your pocket, but the game never breaks. The amount playtesting who cost that must have been absurd. This is truly one of those games that commands the respect of other developers. This Nintendo team is not to be envied.

There is so much freedom that sometimes you even forget what is possible. At one point I was continuously slaughtered in a camp. Enemies blocked a tower there. Up to ten times I persevered – I like to bump myself against the same stone. But in Tears of the Kingdom there is really no reason to. There are so many variables to experiment with. I should have built that blimp that flew over all the enemies a long time ago.

I could also have rewinded the big steel ball they roll down the hill, by the way. That would have quickly made short work of those pesky Bokoblins.

There are of course limitations. It’s not like you can always force solutions with, let’s say, a shield with a missile on it. This is certainly not possible in Shrines and towers. For example, one of the towers, which you use to unlock areas on the map, had its doors closed, so I couldn’t get in. But I did get a tip from someone who was standing at the tower: at the bottom of the mountain you could find delicious mushrooms in the caves.

Now if you realize that you had to position yourself under the tower to drill Link through the ‘ceiling’ of the cave, then you are smarter than me. I was stuck there for a good half hour, because such a solution is the only solution in such a case. To become good at this game you have to learn to think like this game. And that means that you really need all your powers to arrive at certain solutions. The game is sometimes set up for that.

The towers are a literal and figurative highlight anyway. After you enter them, Link will be shot straight into the air. This is by far the most fun way to enter the overworld. As Link cuts through cloud fields in a straight line, you gaze out over the torn landscape of Hyrule. You can see far, further than you expect on the Switch. Tears of the Kingdom is really a beautiful game at such moments.

This is particularly noticeable when you are in that upper world. You then look out over all the different landscapes, each with its own external characteristics. Ice, desert, jungle and lots of moss-covered artifacts catch the eye. That upper world is important. You go there often, especially to solve puzzles. The countless islands are all home to secrets and Shrines. There is also plenty to do there, if you are still in doubt.

Technically, this sequel squeezes a lot out of the Switch. The hybrid console therefore has difficulty with it, especially in handheld mode. This is especially true if you are a bit further in the game. The frame drops are comparable to Breath of the Wild in nine cases out of ten. Especially when you enter new areas or go crazy with game mechanics, the frame rate drops by half a second.

The frame rate is usually 30, but sometimes it drops to something like 25. That’s quite a shame, but to be honest, I took this into account a bit beforehand. Then it’s actually okay. In any case, the gaming experience does not really suffer.

Besides, you won’t remember that frame rate, believe me. The adventures and surprises all the more. I’ve really been looking forward to typing this review for the past two weeks, telling you all of what I’ve been through. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. This review should have been a therapeutic moment. But now that the time has come, I really want you to discover everything for yourself.

It’s very rare that games are as good as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Have fun.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases on May 12 for Nintendo Switch.