The framerate drops that plague The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have been noted as a problem, but the game’s biggest issues have nothing to do with the Nintendo Switch’s performance. While there are certainly some amazing moments in TOTK, the overall game design is the primary flaw for the latest Zelda entry, as it has no respect for players’ time. Those who are interested in experiencing the full story of TOTK can easily spend upwards of 60 hours completing the game. Sadly, TOTK features perhaps 20 hours of quality Zelda gameplay and storytelling, significantly padded by tedious travel and opaque quest objectives.
[Warning: Spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom below]
Link will encounter the same monsters repeatedly, sometimes guarding the occasional treasure chest, and completionists may enjoy tracking down every Shrine to maximize stamina and hearts (or simply to unlock fast travel points). The Shrine format in TOTK is identical to Breath of the Wild’s gameplay loop, however, and treasure chests rarely yield anything of lasting value, due to the return of weapon breakage. There is more of Hyrule to explore than ever, thanks to the verticality of floating and subterranean areas. A massive world that is big for the sake of bragging rights does not yield a better game experience for the player, as evidenced by Tears Of The Kingdom.
The time required to traverse the desolate wildlands of Hyrule in TOTK has many longtime Zelda fans longing for a return to the 2D worlds of games like A Link to the Past. The explorable maps of early Zelda titles consisted of a limited number of screens, but each of those had something interesting to explore and interact with. Beyond its large map, where there is a lot to see, but relatively little of interest to do, there are some entirely bizarre design choices at play in TOTK. The quest direction, at times, offers a throwback to the worst parts of NES games in a AAA game released in 2023.
The first portion of the game provides adequate direction, as Link is sent to investigate four Regional Phenomena that take the player through the Elemental Temples of Air, Water, Fire, and Lightning, similar to the Divine Beast quests of BOTW. Completing these challenges sends Link to Hyrule castle, but the main story hits a brick wall soon thereafter. After confirming there is a missing Sage, the four Sages confer with Link and Purah. Purah theorizes the final Sage can be found at a “ruin from the age of legends,” and Lightning Sage Riju notes, “If we just searched all of Hyrule randomly, we’d probably never find the sage.”
2023-05-28 15:00:04
Link from screenrant.com