My first few hours in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom left much to be desired. At first, I couldn’t quite see the appeal of the sequel to Breath of the Wild (and unlike those who played it on Switch, I played and finished the game on the ill-fated Wii U). It seemed like more of the same except, of course, with a slightly different set of tools on Link’s belt. Weapons still broke frequently and he was severely underpowered against most enemies in the world save the humble bokoblin.

But, much like how I tackled the Talus enemies in the game, something shifted and I began enjoying it a bit more. Was it the fact I now had semi-decent weapons or materials to fuse Link’s decaying weapons to? Maybe it was the accumulation of hearts to serve as a buffer against the damage my armour was failing to cushion.

Or, perhaps I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, a la Sorrengail’s assertions. Which, in my estimation, is a little extreme. After all, I’m not being held prisoner by Tears of the Kingdom. I can put it aside at any time. I…just…simply choose not to (but also because I like to finish the games I play unless I completely don’t click with them – see Soul Sacrifice on the PlayStation Vita or Codename: STEAM).

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released in 2023 to critical acclaim. However, unlike many others, I was unable to scrap together a decent enough portion of time to put a dent in the massive game. After all, I was still drowning in many other releases and desperately trying to play catch-up.

Come August 2024, though, and I was ready to take on saving Hyrule from Ganondorf. Little did I know, the game would end up sucking up hundreds of hours and it would not be until the end of September that I’d be able to complete it.

Although, given my completionist tendencies, I should have known better when I finally descended from the the Great Sky Island and began my trek to the Rito village in Hebra.

From a story perspective, Tears of the Kingdom keeps it simple. The opening moments see Link and Zelda descending down into the depths of Hyrule Castle. There, they stumble upon a ruins containing several murals that tell of a great war before their time. It isn’t long before they find the desiccated body of an ancient creature. When Zelda reaches out to it, and the secret stone it holds (should have honestly named them sacred stones but maybe they didn’t want to have it confused with Fire Emblem), the creature wakes up and attacks the two with its corrupting red tendrils. In a bid to protect Zelda, Link’s right arm is sucked dry of vitality. Worse, the Master Sword is damaged beyond repair.

Before Zelda and Link can even think to flee, the ground beneath Zelda plunges down and whilst the rest of Hyrule Castle is sent skywards. Though Link tries valiantly to reach for his princess, Zelda plummets into the depths before vanishing in a flash of golden light. Before Link falls to his doom, however, he is saved by a floating sentient arm. Losing consciousness soon afterwards, Link awakens on a floating island, his withered right arm replaced.

How such a thing is possible, we will never know. It simply does. We’ll call it Zonai magic for now. But, given this is a Zelda game, many of the larger mysteries of the world will remain unanswered. Rather, Link is focused on simply finding Zelda and saving Hyrule (or what remains of it) from the encroaching threat of the Demon King (seriously, they haven’t even rebuilt the castle and the people are scattered all across the map. These people don’t even have a standing army!)

Link’s first order of business is heading to Hyrule Castle before Purah, a Sheikah descendant, sends Link out to figure out the regional phenomena plaguing the rest of Hyrule. It is only after Link manages to resolve the issues plaguing the Rito, Gorons, Gerudo and the Zora – collecting more secret stones along the way and unlocking the power of the elemental sages – that Link is then requested to find the Fifth Sage.

With Mineru at his side, Link is directed to find the Master Sword to finally banish the darkness that is Ganondorf.

Along the way, Link must traverse the width and breadth of Hyrule. I know I certainly did in my playthrough as I unlocked each of the Skyview Towers and committed myself to completing all the shrines scattered across the world.

Then, of course, there were the Dragon Tears, or, in this case, the titular Tears of the Kingdom. Visiting each of the new glyphs that had suddenly cropped up around Hyrule, Link was able to relive Zelda’s memories from the time she had vanished in a shower of golden light.

Having taken the secret stone, Zelda travelled back in time to the very beginning of Hyrule. There, she befriended King Rauru and his wife, Queen Sonia. It wasn’t long before she, too, had to contend with Ganondorf and his quest for more power – and thus shedding some backstory to the enigmatic villain found underneath Hyrule Castle.

Of course, besides a thirst for power, there isn’t much to Ganondorf’s character. His is not a sympathetic story of a downtrodden Gerudo boy who struggled to become king. And frankly, it’s enough. Although why he wants to take over Hyrule is anyone’s guess given how many of the Hylians, Gerudo, Zora, Gorans and the Rito are still struggling to rebuild their once great civilisations following the Calamity.

Heck, their current societies aren’t even very advanced except for the the Purah Pad (which allows Link to teleport to any shrines or Skyview Tower).

From a gameplay perspective, there is little that has been changed from Breath of the Wild. Link has shields, bows and a myriad of weapons at his disposal. Just like the last game, they will break after frequent use – an annoying design decision but at least was explained in the narrative this time round.

Then, of course, there’s the new suite of powers Link has at his disposal like UltraHand, Fuse, Ascend and Recall.

And here, I believe, it is important to return to my Battle Talus analogy. You see, when I first started playing Tears of the Kingdom, I struggled to take on the Battle Talus in a meaningful way although I was always determined to do so. The Battle Talus, fortunately, had several platforms on its shoulders. Once the bokoblins were killed, it was simply a matter of getting on to the platform.

My problem, of course, was how?

Like an idiot, I started the game by trying to lift myself higher by creating fire. This worked for a time, although Link still had to dodge all the boulders thrown his way as one unlucky shot would kill him instantly.

Unfortunately, starting a fire meant I could only take these creatures on in places with burnable material. Like grass.

Up in the Hebra mountains, there wasn’t as much available.

Of course, that was when I remembered I had a slew of special powers I could use. The first one that came to my mind was Ascend. Once the Battle Talus had thrown its boulders, I could run up close to it and Ascend up to where its weak point was located.

This also worked for a time. Until I encountered the other Talus in the game: Frost, Fire and Stone Talus. None of these creatures had platforms and climbing up them whilst they were trying to actively kill Link was not an easy task.

And that was when it finally clicked.

Link had the ability to recall objects and send them back from whence they came. And it was this that turned out to be the key in taking down the Talus minibosses in the area.

Should I have kicked myself for taking so long to figuring out the best way to take down these creatures? Probably. But given I was playing through the game blind and had found alternative (albeit less effective) ways of taking them down, it was certainly an adventure. One that remains in my mind because of how challenging I initially found them.

Beyond these tools, Link can also sneak around, flurry rush and parry (although without the guardian death beams to worry about, I tend to dodge more). It’s nothing overtly complicated from a combat perspective.

What is different is the player’s approach to problem solving. Which, with Ultrahand and Ascend, is a lot easier because should one have the materials on hand, it’s quite simple to brute force various answers instead of struggling to find the one intended by the developers. For example, if you simply can’t get the timing just right to leap off a moving minecart to reach the ledge above you, why not simply tape together blocks of cooled lava to create an unwieldy bridge you can simply run across?

It is this flexibility that is Tears of the Kingdom‘s greatest strength. Yes, the weapon breaking is tedious and the cooking is somewhat novel at the start, but it’s the possibilities of what one can create to solve their immediate problems that enthralled me. I mean, I’ll never be able to create the complex contraptions others have to deal with mobs in as quick a farmer as possible to farm materials for crafting, but I’ve been able to navigate my way around Hyrule well enough to enjoy the time I’ve spent in it.

Were I to give it a score, I’d give this game a solid 7.5 out of 10. There are some mechanics here I’ve enjoyed but I’m also fatigued by the very large nature of the open-world.

In fact, much of the music never did stand out to me. Most of my adventure around Hyrule also involved listening to video essays from the likes of Shanspeare, Tara Mooknee and Haley Whipjack (as she recapped Season 4 of Once Upon a Time) as a means to distract myself from the very real grind Tears of the Kingdom requires to explore each nook and cranny.

It probably didn’t help that this was the sequel to the beloved Breath of the Wild, which was the very first open-world Zelda game. And because of that, despite adding in the depths and the sky islands to explore, the awe I found in the first game was no longer present. I’d already been to Hyrule and saved it.

Now I had to do it again but with additional places to explore? Hylia, no!

And, let’s be real, who, in this day and age, has the time to hunt for 1,000 korok seeds? Certainly not me. I didn’t even reach a fifth of the total number!

All in all, Tears of the Kingdom is a good game. A great game, even. But for me, it simply didn’t quite reach the heights of what I’ve come to expect from video games. And that, dear reader, is certainly an opinion on the internet. One from a humble blogger who has played a large variety of games over the many years of her existence.

But it is important to note that my opinion is by no means, the definitive stance on the game. Sorrengail, I hope you’ll read this one day and realise I wasn’t taken hostage! Despite its best attempts, I wasn’t entirely swayed to its side.

But also, FINISH THE GAME!

As for bleachpanda, FINISH Final Fantasy XV, YOU COWARD!