'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' builds on beloved predecessor
CTV
Nintendo is set to release the long-awaited next game in its Zelda series. 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' refines and expands on previous instalments with an experience that's both familiar and worth the wait.
Before Nintendo introduced its successful Switch gaming console in 2017, the video game company made a bold move by making huge changes to one of its most beloved franchises.
"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," released as a launch title for the Switch, eschewed the well-established conventions of the long-running series.
Gone were the familiar massive dungeons series hero Link would explore in order to get the item or weapon needed to access the next part of the game world. "Breath of the Wild" introduced a sprawling open world that could be explored at the player's pace.
The resulting game was a smash hit. "Breath of the Wild" garnered lavish praise from reviewers, won several game-of-the-year awards and was a system-seller for the Switch. Nintendo says 29 million units of the game have been sold as of December 2022.
Six years later, Nintendo is set to release the long-awaited next game in the Zelda series. "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" refines and expands on the changes in "Breath of the Wild," and while the experience is more familiar this time around, it is still worth the wait.
"Tears of the Kingdom" picks up where the last game left off. Link and Princess Zelda, having saved the land of Hyrule from the evil Ganon, are exploring under Hyrule Castle for evidence of a forgotten civilization known as the Zonai.
They happen on what appears to be a corpse. When it animates and starts speaking to the heroes, chaos ensues. Zelda disappears, Hyrule Castle rises into the sky, ancient relics start crashing to the ground and Link awakens on an archipelago of floating islands, critically wounded and with the arm of an ancient Hyrulian king grafted on his body.
