The highly anticipated Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released today and reviewers have been crowning it as a tremendous swansong for the Nintendo Switch era. If you’ve been remotely following this game, it should be no surprise that a sequel to Breath of the Wild would be praised as unanimously as its predecessor.
I mean, the game literally cured a man of his depressing life of catching the bus and having a wife.
A sequel that is essentially more Breath of the Wild was always going to be lauded as a straight 10/10 by die-hards, but the game is also reported to be a fantastic start for newcomers to the series as well.
In reviews, the game is being praised for being a fantastic evolution of Breath of the Wild, saying that the story is a lot more poignant as well as being front and centre. I love this so much as I get crazy decision fatigue when a game is almost too open-world, so hearing that story is more central to this one is a massive relief to me.
Reviewers have also been loving the new powers and building skills Link has at his disposal, with Destructoid saying in their 10/10 review: “The real kicker that helps separate Tears from Breath of the Wild is its power set. I felt like I was in control at all times, and had the ability to create my own path. For a series known for sequence-breaking, that’s not just a perk; it’s a strong argument for why Tears of the Kingdom will be talked about for years on end.”
Thanks to Tears of the Kingdom letting you traverse the skies, it’s reported that this game is twice the size of Breath of the Wild. If you think this means the game has framerate dips and might run a bit clunky, apparently it’s a rarer occasion than expected. This is a huge testament to the quality of the game that it’s running so smoothly on the Switch, which is getting up there with time.
Keen to see the absolute deluge of perfect scores coming out? Don’t worry, they’re going viral over Twitter.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Reviews:
IGN- 10/10
VGC- 10/10
GameSpot- 10/10
Inverse- 10/10
ComicBook- 10/10
Checkpoint- 10/10
CGMagazine- 10/10
Nintendo Life- 10/10
God is a Geek- 10/10
Screen Rant – 10/10
Game Informer- 9.75/10
Digitally Downloaded- 9/10 pic.twitter.com/QQAGQVs8bA— Stealth (@Stealth40k) May 11, 2023
IGN has given it a 10/10 saying “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds”
OpenCritic announced that the latest Zelda entry is currently the highest-rated game of all time on their site, sitting at a 97% critic average, with 100% of critics recommending it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is currently the #1 highest rated game of all time on OpenCritic
Reviews here: https://t.co/19NTuljHc0 pic.twitter.com/5xI2DFNehe
— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) May 11, 2023
Gameinformer also gave it a tremendous review, with a score of 9.75/10. This feels a bit contrarian, like when your date calls you a 9.5 out of 10, making you wonder where you lost that 0.5 along the way. Feels like it’d just be easier to round it up, but I digress.
The reviews have been lighting up the Twitter space, with several applauding the incredible reception for the anticipated sequel, with some cynically criticising its unanimous praise.
Nearly four decades after The Legend of Zelda series made its debut, its latest instalment, Tears of the Kingdom, is a breathtaking high point for the series, for Nintendo and for videogames. My review: https://t.co/jU8VlLIDhJ
— Skill Up (@SkillUpYT) May 11, 2023
Reading Zelda reviews and hearing that the game is incredibly polished and practically bug free despite being 100+ hours long and ambitious as hell is SUCH a relief after the recent wave of very messy AAA game launches.
— Brian Altano 🍕 (@agentbizzle) May 11, 2023
Once again the Zelda reviews boil down to, “A stunning achievement, a nearly infinite game world with astonishing experiences around every turn. The only downside is the actual experience of playing it is miserable tedium. 100/100, game of the century.”
— Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc (@JasonKPargin) May 11, 2023
Unfortunate that the Link and Ganondorf hour long gay sex scene wasn’t enough to save it
— Justin (@PrinceOfPufftop) May 11, 2023
We’re not even halfway through the year yet, and many are saying Tears of the Kingdom is a lock for sweeping Game of the Year awards.
Gfinity was the only outlet daring to challenge perfect scores for Tears of the Kingdom, giving it a 6/10. In their review, they said “If you’ve yet to step foot into the open world of Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom is the best way to experience it, with just enough new ground to keep things interesting. But if you didn’t gel with the 2017 release, the story alone might not be worth the second attempt.”
Honestly, that seems fair. Not all games are for everyone, and if you weren’t huge into Breath of the Wild, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t scratch that itch for you. Many audibly groaned when they saw that weapon durability would be a mechanic that carried over from Breath of the Wild.
That’s not to say the massive praise for the sequel is unwarranted, Breath of The Wild is one of the highest-rated games of all time and helped introduce gaming to so many people. It’s no wonder Nintendo wanted to capitalise on the success of the formula and refine it for another instalment.
Either way, the reviews have confirmed one thing: I’m not leaving my house for the next few weeks thanks to this game and I’m keen to see the monstrous shit you all build over the weekend.
