After a six-year wait, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally here!
I must admit, in the lead-up to the release of the game, I wasn’t that excited. Recently I’ve been playing fewer video games, so I didn't have the same hype that I used to. I knew I’d play the game, but I didn’t think about it too often. However, as the release date drew closer, I found myself with more and more excitement.
On release day, I woke up ready to jump back into Hyrule and find out what happens after the end of the first game. I and my housemates took a group trip to our local Westfield and picked up the game, then returned home to play. One of my housemates had already claimed the big TV, and I found myself actively avoiding the living room while they played so I wouldn’t be spoiled. I’m glad I waited for the big screen - it was so worth it.
Now, after having played the game for a couple of hours, let me share everything I’m excited to experience in the game.
The abilities
I remember watching the gameplay demonstration where all of the new abilities in the game were shown. While I was watching, I thought that some of the abilities looked so goofy; I thought that the Fuse ability would lead to weapons that would look out of place in the world, and that Ultrahand would be so fiddly that I wouldn’t even bother using it unless I absolutely had to. After playing the game for a couple hours, I can definitely say that I was wrong.
Yes, some of the weapons you can forge with the Fuse ability do look a bit silly, but it adds such a fresh way to play the game. In the last game, I often found myself hoarding weapons to use later, or with random materials stacked in my inventory. Now, I feel less frugal as I will always have a weapon as long as I can see a rock and a stick. And all the items I thought useless in the previous game can now be used to add effects to bows and shields. It feels like there are infinite ways to approach battles - because there are!
Ultrahand is also not as fiddly as I expected. Objects lock together in quite a nice way, so I’m not left struggling to build stuff. Many areas require you to make machines to get to new areas, but most leave you with the freedom to choose whether or not to make anything. In one area, I didn’t know how to reach a higher level of the map, so I just stuck a few trees together and made a make-shift ladder. Totally valid.
With these abilities (and more you can unlock), it feels like you’re not just wandering through the world, but making use of it.
The map
When I first heard that Tears of the Kingdom would be using the same map as Breath of the Wild, I was sceptical. How would the game feel new if I was wandering the same lands? What new landmarks would there be to explore? And why did it take them so long to make the game if they just reused the map? Experiencing the world for the first time relieved me of all of this scepticism.
Tears of the Kingdom adds two new dimensions to Hyrule: the Sky Islands and the Depths. Both are just as expansive as the world we saw in Breath of the Wild, so it feels like there are whole new maps to explore. The Sky Islands are visually stunning and give you lots of opportunities to use your newfound abilities. While I am yet to experience the Depths, I have heard spooky things about them which have made me a bit nervous to explore them. Despite my nerves, I am so excited to discover all the new world has to offer.
Conclusion
While I haven’t progressed too far into the game, playing my first couple of hours has got me so excited to learn more about the history of Hyrule, and to see what havoc I can cause with the new abilities.
Amelie Ritchie is a second-year UNSW student who started off studying Science and Engineering but joined the dark side by transferring to a Bachelor of Media (Comms. and Journalism) to engage in her affection for writing. She loves to read and write, finding the most enjoyment in fiction and personal essays. It is likely you will find her sitting in the gentle light of her bedroom, listening to music as she burns a candle.
