There are two ways to cook The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomjust like in the original The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: You can place food items near a fire to roast them into more effective snacks, or throw them in a bowl over a fire to make a good meal. On paper, cooking in both games is simply the mechanism that allows Link to heal and recharge himself. The right dish can recharge the hero with lost hearts bickering with Bokoblins or warm his bones enough to handle freezing temperatures.
But Nintendo made cooking attractive Breath of the Wild, a bright spot of simple joy in a vast video game world. It contains more than 100 recipes Breath of the Wildand more inside Tears of the Kingdom; it’s a joy to experiment with ingredients to create new dishes or power-ups, listening to Link buzz as carrots and beef dance in the simmering pot. Cooking, even the simplest forms in video games, has a way of grounding, creating the world in which it exists a link between our world and that of the game – in this case Hyrule. There’s so much emotion and meaning behind food and culture, and cooking mechanics in games pull on those threads and evoke that feeling in the world.
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Breath of the Wild‘s cooking mechanics did just that, but Tears of the Kingdomsomehow made the mechanic better.
Functionally, cooking works the same way Tears of the Kingdom as it is in it Breath of the Wild — Roast over a fire or cook in a pan to create food with different variables, such as cold resistance or increased attack damage. But Nintendo’s addition of recipe cards makes cooking even easier; in the material menu, you can now click “Select for recipe” on an ingredient to open recipe cards that show how you have made dishes in the past. When you’ve had enough of all the ingredients on a card, you can select the card to place all of the ingredients in Link’s hands. (No scrolling to find things Tears of the Kingdommessy menus!)
It’s especially useful for keeping track of what you’ve made, but also for making sure you’re always making what you need (unless you’re just experimenting). It’s one of those quality of life changes Breath of the Wild which players hoped for in the years leading up to the sequel.
Nintendo has also added a Zonai device called a portable pot, which is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a single-use pot taken from the menu of Zonai devices, allowing Link to set up camp almost anywhere to cook, no fire required; Gone are the days when you have to stock up on meals before going into a big fight, or worse, getting out of a dungeon or fighting to get more food to heal. Instead, the portable Zonai pot is there to make what you specifically need, wherever you want. It’s not flashy, but also one of Tears of the Kingdom‘s best new additions.
You can pick up portable pots from the Zonai vending machines on the air islands, so be sure to stock up.
Aside from these quality of life changes, Nintendo has made one small improvement that I’d argue it’s making Mine experience better, even if there is no practical need. Link is still humming along as his dinner cooks, but indoors Tears of the Kingdom he hums classic Zelda tunes like Epona’s Song or Zelda’s Lullaby.
This, too, is one of the ways Nintendo has been grounded Tears of the Kingdom. Music and cooking fill Hyrule with so much life; Link humming these tunes invokes his playful spirit, a feat for a seconds long melody. It’s such a lovely little infusion of history and a nod to old Zelda fans, and a perfect addition to Tears of the Kingdom.
But now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to Hyrule to find new ingredients to play with.