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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is perhaps the most anticipated addition to the popular series – and it’s easy to see why.
The epic earthly adventure takes gamers to new heights by literally traveling across land and air to uncover the secrets in the kingdom of Hyrule.
Like its predecessor Breath of the Wild, gamers step into a world of discovery and exploration, but now hero Link is given the opportunity to harness new powers.
With these new abilities, our protagonist can fuse various objects together to build vehicles – from cars to rafts, gliding planes and even hot air balloons. One gamer even created a Trojan horse for Link to hide in and avoid nearby enemies.
However, this new freedom makes it difficult – and sometimes frustrating – to solve the endless puzzles.
It may take players all their strength and brainpower to think outside the box and create suitable inanimate objects to complete the task.
This means a quick sneaky Google search to discover what to do next won’t help, although it may give gamers ideas on what to build.
Nevertheless, this makes the game the ultimate zone for creativity and imagination – ideal for those who enjoy solving puzzles.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched on May 12. Sold over 10 million copies worldwide in just 72 hours, officially making it the fastest selling game in the series in Australia
Like its predecessor Breath of the Wild, gamers step into a world of discovery and exploration, but now hero Link gains the ability to harness new powers
Journalists and gamers attended the game’s official launch in Sydney on May 12 – and everyone was buzzing with excitement
Attendees were some of the first in the world to play the game and solve puzzles, including building a moving vehicle to cross between two destinations
The storyline picks up where the predecessor ended with hero Link and princess Zelda exploring beneath Hyrule’s castle after the defeat of antagonist Calamity Ganon.
It looks like Nintendo took the landscape from Breath of the Wild and added it to it. From expansive valley views to hidden caves, picturesque landscapes and craggy snow-capped mountains to explore, the images themselves do not disappoint.
With almost everything at your disposal, players are only limited by their imagination.
In a sense, some of the new enemies are non-threatening, while others are hard to defeat, such as the mighty giant stone titan and the three-headed dragon.
Returning enemies include the blue blob of Chuchu, the terrifying troll-like Hinox, and the green Lizalfos.
These new abilities allow our protagonist to fuse different objects together to build vehicles
But it may take players all their strength and brainpower to think outside the box and create suitable inanimate objects to complete the task
Returning enemies include the blue blob of Chuchu, the terrifying troll-like Hinox (pictured), and the green Lizalfos
Patience is also required, as Link can only run, climb, and swim for a limited amount of time – an aspect of the previous game carried over into the latest story arc, although it made the game more realistic.
While players are really challenged all the time, the game delves deeper into a new rift of the mind and stimulates the brain in a satisfying way when a certain sense of progress is reached.
Similarly, in Breath of the Wild, players collect resources to build stronger weapons and shields that are all used in combat.
Take to the air! Players are limited only by their imagination
In just 72 hours, it has sold over 10 million copies worldwide – officially making it the fastest selling game in the series in Australia.
And as of March 2023, the series has sold more than 130 million copies worldwide.
While the game is said to take around 30+ hours to complete the main storyline, an intense ‘speedrunner’ beat Tears of the Kingdom in just one hour, 34 minutes, and 33 seconds.
Nintendo Australia Managing Director Takuro Horie said: “We are overwhelmed by the fan support for this record-breaking launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
“Nintendo Switch continues to deliver engaging experiences anytime, anywhere, and we look forward to seeing players’ adventures and creations as they journey through Hyrule.”
It’s been almost 40 years since the original Zelda was released, and I have a feeling Tears of the Kingdom won’t be the last story.