The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the best games available on the Nintendo Switch. The latest installation, off the 15th highest selling video game franchises of all time, is one of, if not the best game in the series so far.
The game is a sequel to Breath of the Wild, which was awarded game of the year when it came out in 2017. The game does an incredible job of maintaining the good parts of its predecessor, while still having plenty of unique features to set it apart.
One of the most significant improvements is making an open world more than double the size of the original, making the exploration part of the game ever entertaining. Everywhere you go there is some sort of puzzle to solve or secret to unlock, and the level of exploration and puzzle solving that the game offers is unmatched. Along with all of that, the game introduces several new abilities that grant the player much more freedom. From being able to build whatever kind of crazy transportation you want, to fuzing weapons together to form the perfect combo, there are infinite ways you can play the game.
Despite all of the improvements, no game is without its flaws. One significant issue with the game is the integration of the special abilities unlocked throughout the game. These abilities can only be used near an “AI ally”, which tend to have minds of their own in the heat of battle when you need them most, disabling the abilities by making them significantly less helpful compared to the abilities in the first game.
However, the biggest limiting factor of the game is the console you play it on. Being a Nintendo franchise, the game is only available on Nintendo Switch – an outdated console that only runs at around half the processing speeds of most current consoles. This limits the games quality as well as performance, and although it is the most well optimized game available on the Switch, there is still a noticeable lack in performance and visuals in comparison to other games of similar caliber on next gen consoles.
Despite these limitations, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is without a doubt one of the best games released this year. From puzzles and infinite ways to explore to new combat with infinite weapon combos and unique enemies, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an incredible game well-worth playing.
