Cities and towns have flourished, and there are more NPCs – some of which know Link personally now – creating a vibrant atmosphere that Breath of the Wild’s story and atmosphere just didn’t allow for. But this is a world that’s been untouched by the Calamity for three years. Sure, most of the landmarks are the same. That’s because this is a different Hyrule. While the mechanics (Ultrahand specifically) do make a case for being Tears’ best feature, we just couldn’t stop ourselves from deviating from the story to explore Hyrule itself. These, when combined, construct what could be our favourite game of all time. There are so many aspects of Tears that satisfy the basic need for an entirely new game. You might disagree – and rightly so – saying “ackshually *pushes up glasses* the mechanics are the best part of this game”. That last point is what makes Tears of the Kingdom so special. It teaches Link some powers (of which there is a varied number, depending on who you ask), teaches him to fight (again), and most importantly teaches him to explore this new Hyrule before setting Link loose. After learning of the impending doom that awaits both Zelda and Link, yadda, yadda – you know, typical Zelda stuff – we’re shunned in the direction of the Great Sky Island which vaguely resembles the Great Plateau in its sentiment. Fortunately, you won’t have to wait particularly long for that to happen. Nothing and we mean NOTHING can compete with the feeling in one’s stomach at the sight of your first sky island. As in, awe was quite literally inspired the first time we laid eyes on them.

This, besides Ganondorf’s return, which was teased way before this game had a name, was the first major game-changer that made people start to pay more mind to ‘The Sequel to Breath of the Wild.’ And by Jove, are they – there’s no other word for it – awesome. This is your last warning: Beware of minor spoilers below Shedding a tear for these gorgeous landscapes Perhaps its most impressive feat? Making this Hyrule outing feel… new. It does plenty to earn the score it did, introducing characters that feel alive and a physics engine so good that Einstein probably wrote E=MC² just to have the chance at playing this game. Not that we needed to – we’re probably one of the few publications out there not giving this game a perfect ten. Tears of the Kingdom is Zelda at its peak.

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