The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released on May 12, 2023, almost a year ago as of the time of this writing. And before it, Breath of the Wild on March 3, 2017. Both games released to major acclaim and both have left their marks on gaming history. Yet, Tears of the Kingdom ultimately didn’t have the same impact as its predecessor.
Development for Breath of the Wild started immediately after the release of Skyward Sword in 2011. Eiji Aonuma and his team paid attention to some of the criticisms around that game. As a result, they experimented with nonlinear gameplay in A Link Between Worlds which came out in 2013. This concept would evolve into the open world gameplay seen in Breath of the Wild, where players had the freedom to explore Hyrule and pursue various goals at their leisure.
Development for Tears of the Kingdom began after Breath of the Wild finished. Originally, it was planned as DLC but the ideas got too big and became the start of a brand new game. At E3 2019, a teaser trailer was unveiled to show off the then unnamed sequel to Breath of Wild.
Fans went crazy with speculation based on what little they showed, chiefly the seeming return of Ganondorf who at this point, hadn’t made a proper appearance in the series since Twilight Princess over a decade earlier. 2 years later, a full reveal trailer(that still hadn’t named the game yet) showed fans more of what was to come - specifically Link flying among the clouds and even showing off one of the new in-game abilities, rewind. Incidentally, this also coincided with the release of Skyward Sword HD, a game known for its great sky being the main hub world. Finally Tears of the Kingdom was pushed back from its initial 2022 release and came out in May 2023.
Released to critical acclaim,Tears of the Kingdom became one of the Switches best selling games. There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said, Tears of the Kingdom expanded on what Breath of the Wild had and did so beautifully. The new floating islands in the sky, and the vast underground Depths feature a lot of new areas for players to explore. While the Upheaval changed enough of Hyrules landscape to help even the main world feel a bit different in places. New mechanics like Ultrahand and Ascend open up new options for puzzle solving and exploration. The new Zonai toys offered players many options for traversal and combat and Fuse allows for creativity with weapons and shields. For all that was new, there were some things that remained the same. Shrines returned, albeit differently designed, and they still serve the same purpose as the shrines from Breath of the Wild. The various races; Gorons, Zoras, Rito etc all come back and with them some familiar characters. Players could even rush straight to the final boss like in Breath of the Wild. Many of the same locations returned. Tears of the Kingdom though does lack one thing: the awe of seeing that open world for the first time.
Breath of the Wild was a Zelda with a wide open world the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the original Zelda on Nintendo Entertainment System almost 40 years ago. It was also a demonstration of what the Nintendo Switch could do and completely eclipsed its simultaneous release on Wii U. The first time players started it, they were taken aback by the huge scope of the world and the sheer amount of exploration they could do out the gate.By contrast, The Great Sky Island is bafflingly linear as a tutorial location compared to the wide open Great Plateau. In fact Tears of the Kingdom arguably gets off to a slower start, it takes a little while to even finish the Great Sky Island, and after doing so, players still have to go a little ways to get the paraglider, an item that was necessary to even leave the Great Plateau in its predecessor. Breath of the Wild was a love letter to the franchise and its fanbase. There were dozens of easter eggs and references to be found, like locations named after lands from previous games. It was immense. With Tears of the Kingdom, it's the same Hyrule. Many of those Easter Eggs and references remain. Naturally, it's not going to be as impressive and that's why the most impressive things about Tears of the Kingdom are the new stuff. The Depths, the Sky, the mechanics, the games highlights are what it brings to the table. It's more of a look forward than a look back. Because Tears of the Kingdom continues what Breath of the Wild decided to do. Breath of the Wild rebooted and breathed new life into the franchise. Tears of the Kingdom moves forward with that new life.
I would recommend both games, as both left their marks on gaming and the ever growing fanbase. They may use the same world layout but both are ultimately very different experiences. Both are great games and Tears of the Kingdom ultimately, is a fantastic continuation of Breath of the Wild’s legacy.
All screenshots from my copies of Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild
