On May 27, 2023 at 11:57AM, just before the next day arrived, I beat The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
It took me around 90 hours and a little over two weeks to beat it. Those were some of the best days of my life.
I didn’t play Skyward Sword when it launched on Wii because I hated the motion controls, and everyone knows how I feel about Breath of the Wild — so it’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to express myself as a Zelda fan.
I’ve been waiting many years for a Zelda game to make me a fan again, and while A Link Between Worlds, Link’s Awakening HD, and Skyward Sword HD were all fantastic in their own right, I was still waiting for the new 3D Zelda game that was going to give me Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess vibes.
At first, I was very skeptical. I didn’t like Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom looked almost identical in trailers and promotional material. It had a big open world, weapons still broke, and Link traded off his trademark green tunic for the new blue one.
It looked as far away from Zelda as the last one, and I had little to no hype.
I didn’t even pre-order the game.
What sold me on the game was playing it early.
I won’t explain how I played it early, because everyone is a Nintendo Ninja these days, but I did. I played it a week-and-a-half before launch day. And it was incredible.
It made me want the game immediately. I remember saving up $80 so I could get it day one.
Weapon durability had fixes, the traditional green tunics could be found through treasure hunting, exploration was rewarded heavily by something useful, and dungeons were officially back. It felt like Zelda was actually Zelda again and not some Ubisoft rip-off.
And if Zelda was back? That meant I was back.
My whole life I’ve been a Zelda fan, but recently have felt excluded from the series. So much so that I went off and discovered Dragon Quest, which became a small passion of mine for a few years.
But I was back. Finally.
A Zelda game finally worth playing.
Originally, I didn’t mind the weapon durability.
The Fuse technique was enough to shrug off my biggest concern of the last entry.
Weapons would become stronger and last a longer amount of time, which I thought was a positive step in the right direction for the series.
It was creative and intuitive, but also fixed a problem they created, which shouldn’t have had to have been fixed. But I digress.
After about 60 hours of playtime, a glitch was discovered where you could import the intro Master Sword, the MsgNotFound, to your current save file, via one of the first shrines you come across on the Great Sky Islands.
You see, the Master Sword Link carries in the beginning of the game is, by story means, unbreakable. So if one was to transfer that sword through a glitch to another save file, they could essentially carry the sword through the entirety of the game.
I immediately jumped on that opportunity and spent two hours grinding the glitch, trying to get it right.
It was worth it. It was completely worth it.
I now could actually play the game.
I was always careful when taking screenshots. I wanted to make sure the Hylian Shield and Green Tunic and Cap were visible. I also wanted to be using a sword, because that’s my style.
Call it a pet-peeve, but I dislike seeing screenshots of Link wearing anything but sword, shield, green tunic. It was a very specific thing I did, and I’m glad I did it. Because when it came to story-related moments, Link actually looks like Link. And my Nintendo Switch’s Media Gallery is chock full of epic moments that remind me of past Zelda titles.
The shrines were much better this time around.
I didn’t mind there being 151 of them, as I only did about 90 of them, and wasn’t at all planning to do all of them either.
I did enough shrines to make sure I had a lot of HP and enough stamina to pull the Master Sword.
You do one shrine, you’ve done them all.
I do like how creative they became. I ended up using my high intelligence and charm to basically skip 90% of them. I don’t do puzzles and hate having my time wasted, so if there was ever a way to cheese them, I sure the fuck did.
I’m hoping Nintendo does away with them by the next title, but who knows.
The new abilities were really cool.
Fuse was my favorite for obvious reasons. It never became obsolete, because even though my sword never broke, my 5 Hylian Shields were still always at risk.
On the very last section of the game, just before the final boss, having three fused Rocket-Shields helped me avoid a Lynel and Gloom Hands encounter completely. Thank the Lord.
I was over-prepared for the final boss, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to waste any time on enemies that are both tough, take too much time and resources, and are really just placed there to slow me down. It’s like having to fight two Tonberry before you get to Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. Fuck you!
No thanks. Take that shit somewhere else.
The crafting ability and vehicles are something I tried to avoid as much as possible. I don’t enjoy steering or building contraptions or shooting lasers. I simply just want to run around with my sword and shield and be Link. It didn’t take away from my experiences nor did it seem out of place. It simply just isn’t my thing. I’ve seen a ton of neat creations on Twitter, and I’m glad it made others happy.
The most I did was build long bridges so that I could skip portions of the puzzles or climbs. It saved a lot of time. Thanks, Nintendo.
My overall favorite ability was Recall. The ability to rewind time helped me defeat certain enemies, traverse the terrain, and most importantly — cheese the FUUUUCK out of shrines. Do you know how many of those dumb fucking levels I got to skip because of Recall? Me and Recall are best buddies.
At first, I kept forgetting Ascend was even a thing, and I even solved a few shrines the extra long hard way because I’m an idiot and forgot I could just zip through ceilings. It ended up becoming a very useful tool by the end of my progress, but I should’ve used it more.
All of the new abilities in Zelda were cool, and while NOTHING could ever replace my dearest Hookshot, I still think giving Link special abilities that tie in with the game’s story is a neat idea.
Great job, Nintendo.
Speaking of the game’s story…
Hoooolyyyy shit, guys.
This game probably has the best Zelda story ever created. They really pumped up the jam for this.
Breath of the Wild’s story wasn’t really special or present, but Tears of the Kingdom flipped that frown upside down and showed us all how wrong we could be.
It was one of the ONLY games to make me legitimately cry. It was devastating and heartbreaking at times, and revolutionary and resolving at others. It had a very satisfying conclusion that had me tearing up and saying, “fuck yes” at almost 12 in the morning.
I want all my Zelda games from now on to remind me why I love Link — and why I love the series so much.
I want to be reminded how much of a kind-hearted, noble, loyal, courageous, and bad ass swordsman/hero Link — or rather — I am.
I want every Zelda from now on to lift my spirits like this one and make me a fan again.
This Zelda game was PEAK.
In the end,
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was one of the best Zelda experiences I’ve ever received.
It was a complete turn-around from Breath of the Wild, and it left me cautiously optimistic for the next Zelda game.
It’s been confirmed that they’re sticking with this “open-ended” structure of gameplay.
I still think the games could use even more tweaking to satisfy hard-headed fans like myself, but I think they have stepped in the right direction.
I loved Tears of the Kingdom because I got to play it my way — the way I wanted to. I didn’t have to worry about rupees, health/stamina, weapon durability, shield durability, and got to dress my Hero up the way I have always seen him. I got to do everything I wanted to do exactly the way I wanted to do it.
It was a near-perfect experience for me.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has patched a lot of the things I loved about the game, so if I ever decide to replay it, it sadly won’t be as fun, but I would still consider it in the top 15 Zelda games.
I encourage anyone who dislikes Breath of the Wild to give Tears of the Kingdom a try.
Google or YouTube the newly discovered glitches before they get patched, or stick with the new Fuse mechanic.
Either way, it’s a solid Zelda game, and I loved playing as Link again.
See you in 2029.
👋🏼
