Gaming

Tears of the Kingdom: First Impressions

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I got up early on the morning of May 12 to play through the first hour of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which I reckon to be the sixteenth mainline Legend of Zelda game and the second for the Nintendo Switch.

It’s good, though not without faults.  I’m still recovering from Breath of the Wild and its insane scope compared to previous Zelda games, so Tears of the Kingdom is going to be a very slow burn for me.

First, the bad:

  • Princess Zelda’s terrible English-language voice actress is somehow still on Nintendo’s payroll.  She sounds like an American trying to fake an English accent and doing a godawful job of it.
  • Weapon degradation is still a thing.  Urgh.

Now, the good:

  • The graphics are as lovely as Breath of the Wild’s were in 2017.  Tears uses the same visual style as Breath, and I prefer this style to that of Twilight Princess and especially Skyward Sword.
  • The controls are as solid as Breath of the Wild’s were.
  • I like how Zelda plays a bigger role in the story from the outset.  It is, after all, the Legend of Zelda.  Of course, she is a damsel in distress (because Nintendo), but she doesn’t lack agency like she has in the past.
  • I’m surprised by how much I like Zelda with short hair.  Where has this character design been for the past 37 years?  It’s the look of a princess who actually cares about her kingdom and is willing to expose herself to danger in order to make sure that it is safe from any enemy.
  • I find it funny that the Sheikah Slate from Breath looked like a Wii U GamePad, but the Purah Pad from Tears is a clear and obvious Nintendo Switch lookalike.  I think it would have been cool to make the Purah Pad some kind of callback to an older Nintendo handheld (the Game Boy, say) – although I see why they didn’t do that.
  • The tremendously talented French voice cast is still on Nintendo’s payroll.
  • It’s a good Zelda game that takes place in the sky – the game Skyward Sword wishes it were.

And the ugly:

  • The way the Master Sword shattered into bits against the demon lord in the game’s opening scenario.  Holy crap!
  • The way Link’s arm looked after it was nearly burned off by the demon lord.  I thought this was a kids’ game, Nintendo!
  • Same with the suspiciously Malice-like red stuff that came out of the demon lord.  People seem to think that the demon lord is the corpse of Calamity Ganon, which would fit with its considerable power and its placement beneath Hyrule Castle.

How do you reckon there to be 16 mainline Zelda games?

Easy: I counted them, and I didn’t count remakes.

  1. The Legend of Zelda – FDS/FC/NES
  2. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link – FDS/NES
  3. A Link to the Past – SFC/SNES
  4. Link’s Awakening – Game Boy (HD – Switch)
  5. Ocarina of Time – N64 (3D – 3DS)
  6. Majora’s Mask – N64 (3D – 3DS)
  7. Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons – Game Boy Color
  8. The Wind Waker – GameCube (HD – Wii U – come on, Nintendo, we want it on Switch too)
  9. The Minish Cap – Game Boy Advance
  10. Twilight Princess – GameCube/Wii (HD – Wii U – come on, Nintendo, we want this one on Switch too)
  11. Phantom Hourglass – DS
  12. Spirit Tracks – DS
  13. Skyward Sword – Wii (HD – Switch)
  14. A Link Between Worlds – 3DS
  15. Breath of the Wild – Wii U/Switch
  16. Tears of the Kingdom – Switch

I didn’t count Four Swords Adventures or Tri Force Heroes, and I also didn’t count the Warriors games (Hyrule Warriors and Age of Calamity).

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