Our “Zelda” review is still ongoing, good things take time after all. We’ve summarized here how other testers rated “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”.
Its predecessor “Zelda: Breath of the Wild” was a milestone for the Zelda series and the entire open world genre in 2017. With nearly 30 million copies sold to date – it continues to sell well – the game breaks everything that came before by Zelda standards. The expectations of the successor are all the greater.
So what are the critics saying?
For once, they agree: “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” is Nintendo’s masterpiece. The massive open world, which now extends into the sky and underground, is praised, the return of classic Zelda virtues, challenging but never unfair puzzles and combat, and the impressive technology for the six-year-old Switch. It is also emphasized that “Tears of the Kingdom” stimulates creativity and imagination like no other game and gives the player almost complete freedom to explore the game world. The controls, which are cumbersome in some situations, and the graphics, which are no longer up to date, are criticized.
In the international rankings on Metacritic and OpenCritic, Link’s latest adventure trumps: “Tears of the Kingdom” scores 97 points, the highest score of any game on OpenCritic. It currently has an average rating of 96 points on Metacritic.
IGN: A remarkable sequel that raises the bar even higher
The gaming portal IGN writes:
« ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ is an incredible sequel to one of the greatest games of all time and improves on it in almost every way – whether it’s a truly gripping story or creative new building mechanics that make it that you want to … possibly reconsider.”
Rating: 10/10
polygon: Nintendo’s colossal sequel gives players more freedom than ever before
The game portal Polygon writes:
“The brilliance of ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ lies in how well it captures the player’s imagination. (…) Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, producer Eiji Aonuma and their team have created a complex world in which self-determined experiments in locomotion, combat and discovery are paramount. Once we’ve interacted with “Breath of the Wild” on a micro level (climbing cliffs, setting fire to the undergrowth outside an enemy camp, collecting arrows stuck in our shields, to name a few), “Tears of the Kingdom’ even deeper; after almost 70 hours I feel like I can control the molecules of the game.”
Rating: No numerical rating
The mirror: An heir to the throne who hardly makes any rules
The German news magazine writes:
“Producing the worthy sequel to one of the highest-rated games of all time is tough. Nintendo succeeded with ‹The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom› – with only one flaw (…) It’s the graphics.” Tears of the Kingdom’ is not an ugly game. It has a beautiful style, juicy colors, impressive backgrounds. But technically it just doesn’t make sense. (…) Whoever can overlook the visual – and that shouldn’t stop anyone to play – will have many hours of fun and many enlightening moments with ‘Tears of the Kingdom’.”
Rating: No numerical rating
golem: The new Zelda is a masterpiece
The German technology portal writes:
“Even the predecessor was a milestone for open worlds, now the developers have achieved the almost impossible and set new standards again. (…) ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ doesn’t feel like an extension for a minute – on the contrary. The new game mechanics and the whole impression are more complex and bigger, the world offers much more space through additional areas. (…) We find the technology impressive given the age of the switch. Not so much for the basic graphics, but for the physics system and the animations.”
Rating: No numerical rating
GamePro: Similar to a masterpiece
The German game portal GamePro writes:
Is ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ the better ‘Breath of the Wild’? Our answer: Not really, it’s ‘just’ different. Certainly, the new skills invite you to experiment even more, the puzzle shrines are a bit more varied, the game world is bigger. But there is no real progression in the story, the controls are even a bit clumsy. (…) All in all, that makes ‹Tears of the Kingdom› a successor on an equal footing.
Rating: 93
GameStar: Nintendo actually does the impossible
The German game portal GameStar writes:
“Link’s new open world adventure is a masterpiece that will enchant fans old and new alike. (…) Friends of major game worlds can wander for weeks. Those who prefer a fantasy story with guaranteed goosebumps will also get their money’s worth.” (…) The somewhat clumsy controls in build mode? The underused subsoil? That’s hair I like in my soup when the other ingredients taste so damn good!”
Rating: 94
computer games: “Breath of the Wild” was just a taste
German gaming portal PCGames writes:
An excellent, insanely big action-adventure that builds on the strengths of its predecessor and puts freedom above all else. (…) The overloaded and sometimes uncomfortable operation can lead to frustration. Not only is it clumsy to build, the cooking is just as detailed as in the predecessor. (…) The background music is again a feast for the ears, convincing both in story sequences and during the free gameplay. It’s just a pity that again only a fraction of the game has been set to music – not even all the dialogues and scenes of the main story have been spoken. (…) In the end, it’s all whining on a high level, because despite these few flaws, Nintendo has with ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’, which can clearly show game-of-the-year qualities. “
Rating: 90
(oli)