Today is the Tears of The Kingdom release date, which means many players are already lining up near the shops to get a new version of Zelda.
The game background
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, released in 2017 on Nintendo Switch and Wii U. Since the end of 2022, Breath of the Wild for Switch has sold approximately 29 million copies.
Tears of the Kingdom was officially announced in 2021 at the E3 showcase. Sales were supposed to start in 2022, but Nintendo postponed the release to May 2023, not to release the new product "raw." Despite the delay, at The Game Awards 2022, the project received the "Most Anticipated Game" award.
Game features overview
Nintendo continues to dominate the entertainment industry with a series of blockbuster successes. Last month, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" surpassed the impressive milestone of $1 billion in revenue. But Zelda is already hitting the gaming industry charts. So what does this game promise, first of all?
Unique gaming experience
The Tears of the Kingdom offers a unique gaming experience with an addictive story, beautiful graphics, and captivating gameplay. As always, you play for Link - the protagonist of the fantasy series, who must find Princess Zelda and save the fictional world of Hyrule from the evil King Ganondorf. However, this time the world was shaken by a cataclysm, due to which huge gaps formed in the earth. From them, giant flying islands with the ruins of an ancient civilization rose into the sky, and strange creatures and anomalies filled the surface.
Interesting game mechanics
The game's mechanics combines platforming, action, and puzzles, making it unique and exciting. Players can use their weapons, skills, and intuition to fight evil and solve puzzles. In addition, weapons and equipment can be upgraded to make the game more accessible and powerful.
Great graphics and sound
The game's hallmark is its unique hand-drawn graphics style, which gives the game a charming and soulful feel. The graphics are made in a bright and colorful style that accurately conveys the game's atmosphere. In addition, musical accompaniment, written specifically for the game, emphasizes the game's atmosphere and creates a unique mood.
New world features
Users explore the open world, as in Breath of the Wild, but now the map has been expanded vertically: a significant part of the plot takes place on sky islands. The game resembles a "sandbox" - gamers must explore locations, look for secrets and admire the open spaces. So that users do not get bored, tests of varying complexity and puzzles are scattered around the map, and characters with small tasks are periodically encountered.
Moving between the celestial levels of the map and the surface provides a glider. You can postpone the development of the plot and focus solely on exploring the world that lives its own life without the player's participation (for example, the warring factions of creatures can arrange a fight while gamers admire the sunset).
Game control
The controls in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are intuitive and should be fine for experienced players. The left stick on the Nintendo Switch is used to move the character. The A button confirms actions and interacts with characters and objects in the game. The B button cancels actions or exits menus. The X button opens the inventory menu, where you can view a list of available weapons, select items and use them. The Y button attacks enemies and applies special skills and spells. It is possible to use the touch screen of the Nintendo Switch to perform actions in the game.
Top reviews
Now, Tears of the Kingdom has a Metacritic score of 96 and an OpenCritic score of 97. The game is praised for its new systems that open up completely different levels of gameplay, an intriguing story, musical accompaniment, and a refreshed Hyrule that is still fun to explore.
We selected conclusions from three reviews - with high, medium, and low ratings within the published review framework.
Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom review IGN — 100/100
“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an incredible sequel to one of the greatest games ever made. Almost every aspect has been improved in some way, whether it's simple quality-of-life tweaks, a truly compelling story, or creative building mechanics that will make you rethink everything you can do in the game. The developers not only ennobled the old lands but also added large new areas. They are just huge. They have an incredible amount of tasks to complete, mysteries to solve, and entertainment that will easily distract you from traveling to a place you naively thought you could get to. Nintendo won another victory, having managed to expand and develop the world, which, it would seem, is already filled to the brim, and raised the bar even higher into the clouds.”
Eurogamer — 80/100
"An amazing sequel to Breath of the Wild with great new systems, incredible views, and more dungeon-like spaces. The game has a slightly oppressive emphasis on gathering resources. <…> This is an amazing sequel that adds depth and lush to the Breath of the Wild formula without sacrificing any of its charm."
Game Informer review — 98/100
"Video game sequels are usually based on what came before them. They look a little better, play a little nicer, and bring back important mechanics, but also introduce new ones and also continue the story. Tears of the Kingdom can tick almost every one of these boxes, but stripping it of the runes from the previous installment and swapping it out for use in a familiar yet new world is a clever move. We will have to reconsider the approach to almost every skirmish, puzzle, and method of movement. I didn't get the same goosebumps while exploring Hyrule as I did last time, but I got new emotions both on a narrower level, solving puzzles, and in general, due to returning to one of my favorite locations".
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