No matter how much a pianist plays the same note over and over again, trying to press the key with the same intensity, it will always sound different. No matter how hard he tries, the hammer will strike the string and the sound will seem the same, but it will also be imperceptibly different. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the past two weeks while playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The highly anticipated new installment of this historic franchise arrives this Friday in stores for the Nintendo Switch console. It is the direct sequel to the acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) and puts players back in the shoes of the hero Link, who after a mysterious catastrophe finds himself involved in a new adventure through the kingdom of Hyrule. The plot premise is the same for all players, but its execution and development are as different and irreproducible as the same piano note.
The freedom that Breath of the Wild granted to those who said they entered it was one of the most celebrated characteristics of this title and it is something that, although it seems impossible, Tears of the Kingdom takes a little further. Now, the protagonist has new abilities that allow him to interact with objects and the environment in creative ways. Mix and match elements of the scenery, create all kinds of mechanisms and motorized vehicles, make a block of stone go back in time, break through the roof of a cave to the surface… Imagination is stronger than the sword.
As we mentioned in our first impressions, despite its digital nature, Tears of the Kingdom is a video game with a toy soul. The title directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi and produced by Eiji Aonuma conveys a physicality that is reminiscent of construction kits, but also of the ingenious toys that Nintendo itself manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s, before they were launched decisively into the sector. of the video game The sensation of playing with pieces is added to the plausible physics system that the previous adventure already enjoyed, and the result is a game in which each situation or puzzle can be solved in totally unexpected and unique ways. It is the maximum definition of the act of playing.
If Breath of the Wild has become a viral game due to how the creativity of the players could give rise to unsuspected, surprising and even comical situations; Tears of the Kingdom further magnifies that blank canvas character. If in previous Zelda games there was only one way to solve a puzzle or get to a place, in its latest iteration the possibilities seem limitless. It is a freedom that exceeds that of other games that also allow you to explore an open world without too many restrictions, to the point that on more than one occasion it seems that Tears of the Kingdom is more like Minecraft games and survival titles, rather than games. Elden Ring or Skyrim.
But there is much more to Tears of the Kingdom than excellent mechanical design and a robust physics system. Link’s new adventure borrows a lot from Breath of the Wild, and it could be considered that at the content level it is a very continuous title, but it also strives not to forget the importance of discovery. Although it has undergone quite a few changes due to the catastrophe, the kingdom of Hyrule remains much the same as we remembered it.
Nintendo has decided to extend the explorable setting beyond the surface to take the action into the clouds and other completely new areas that are best left undisclosed. In this sense, the game scenario is expanded with different layers that also make the feeling of cohesion broaden.
Floating islands, caves that branch off into huge caverns, and temples that are integrated into the game world itself add to the familiar Hyrule to create a more interconnected and believable environment. It is very curious how Link’s new powers give him mobility that has practically no limits.
If in Breath of the Wild an escalation system was introduced that demolished that convention of the borders of the stage being the end of the world, Tears of the Kingdom ups the ante by completely destroying the idea that the stage has invisible borders. It does, obviously, but they’re disguised in such a way that you feel like you’re in a world that seems real despite being populated by all sorts of fairy-tale creatures.
So far I have referred entirely to the gameplay, but another of the most outstanding features of the title at hand is the story itself. It is very evident how the team led by Fujibayashi and Aonuma have taken good note of one of the most widespread criticisms of Breath of the Wild, and which made reference to the little weight that the story had for many, to offer on this occasion a plot much more interesting and epic. Tears of the Kingdom stands out for how it is played, but also for its story and its careful narrative.
Again, the player must unravel the mystery of the plot by piecing together the different pieces of the story, but this time the conflict between the characters and the intensity of the drama go up several notches. The characters, many of whom are returning, are much better defined now; but among all of them, the imposing role reserved for the classic antagonist of the saga stands out, a Ganondorf more evil than ever, who manages to generate a tension that makes the player want to advance in the story to find out more.
Although the game offers the player a series of main objectives that advance the story, it is in the more secondary missions that Tears of the Kingdom greatly improves on its predecessor. In fact, the overall structure of the game benefits greatly from the fact that not all quests, both main and side quests, are carved from the same pattern.
The situations that each mission proposes are more varied and, again, on many occasions they can be resolved in different ways. This more open overall structure – even more so than in Breath of the Wild – means that many of the main quests don’t need to be completed to reach the endgame. It is a groundbreaking concept, since it not only makes each game different in the order of events, but also in its duration. The result is a game that can be played in 50 or 150 hours, and in both cases it is a complete and unique experience.
While a picture is worth a thousand words, and the game trailers Nintendo has released thus far speak for themselves, it would be unfair not to mention the outstanding artwork behind Tears of the Kingdom. The game follows the aesthetic that was already introduced in Breath of the Wild, but the general finish is slightly higher thanks to a greater polish on settings, characters and overwhelming elements, such as lighting or the recreation of weather conditions. Thus, to the poor image resolution or to a performance that is at the limit, artistic design takes precedence. Personally, what surprises me the most is the love put into the secondary characters, since there are many and none of them is the same. The technical muscle is buried by the artistic muscle.
We return to the piano note that I mentioned at the beginning of this analysis, that note that will always sound different, even though our ears are incapable of perceiving those subtle nuances. In Tears of the Kingdom the piano notes of the composer Manaka Kataoka play again as we ride our mount through the meadows of Hyrule. One might think that those piano notes are the same for all players, but then again, the interactive nature of the entire game is also carried over into a soundtrack that adapts to each situation. The notes are the same, but not at the time they are sounded. That is the key to this new Nintendo masterpiece, the ability for each person to live their own adventure and that there is no one better than another. Tears of the Kingdom takes everything that Breath of the Wild did and takes it further. It surpasses it.