Tears of the Kingdom: Writing Sequels

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hasn't quite been out for three weeks yet but I've put an ungodly amount of time into this game already and I have to say: I love it. It's everything I wanted and more. They brought back mechanics from Breath of the Wild that worked and added on where they could to make their fans happy. The story itself is just as emotional as it's predecessor's and kept me just as enthralled. The thing with sequels though is that, a lot of the time they're just cash grabs for big companies to steal more of our money. We've seen too many releases made just for the sake of coasting off the success of a name. But Tears of the Kingdom is the perfect sequel. So let's talk about what they did right.

Image Credit Nintendo

The first and most important choice they made was in the mechanics and the gameplay itself. Inherently, they actually haven't changed all that much. We still have our bombs, we can still freeze time in a way, and we can still move objects around but with a little more freedom. Nintendo saw the mechanics that worked and added onto them; changed them in a way that could only benefit us. We still have bomb arrows but also a much wider variety; we can do so much more. They saw people taking octorok parts to make blimps and rather than cheating the game to make planes they said, "Here you go." I have to applaud Nintendo for doing what other companies couldn't: for seeing what their players wanted and giving it to them.

On top of that, the weapon system also feels much more rewarding. While there might not be levelling, I love that I can keep monster parts for later rather than hoarding all my good weapons for harder fights. Every fight feels much more worth it when I get something that'll help me later out of it. Which wasn't always the case in Breath of the Wild. Sometimes I ran into silver monsters and only got a stick out of it.

To finish it off, Tears of the Kingdom feels much more like a Legend of Zelda game than Breath of the Wild did while still holding true to it's immediate predecessor. They managed to make it feel more like a puzzle game while leaving room for the exploration that we loved. It almost feels neater, in a way. And then there are the enemies. Seeing old enemies like gleeoks and like likes returning felt like they were honoring the old games while making something new of it and I love it.

Image Credit Nintendo

Beyond the mechanics, they also did a fantastic job of writing the story and building off what they'd already established. It's a joy to see returning characters like Sidon and Riju welcome us with open arms and they clearly haven't forgotten about Breath of the Wild either. They remind us returning players of the war we fought while gently easing new players into the world. It feels almost fulfilling to see characters like Paya and Tulin grow into themselves from where we left them before.

My one gripe with Tears of the Kingdom is the lack of guardians and divine beasts but I also understand that the tone doesn't quite work anymore. Breath of the Wild's atmosphere of quite desolation was complimented by the speckles of death and destruction adorned with flowers and plants as if to say we've suffered but survived. Tears of the Kingdom benefits much more from the people you meet as if to say we're still growing. Even the openig shows that things have changed with Link and Zelda exploring old ruins. Through the world, you see that they've spent time together with people trying to reclaim what they'd lost. While I love the guardians and miss them dearly (especially with the gloom hands that follow me around), but they just wouldn't fit the same.

I have to give it to Nintendo for this one they really did listen to their audience. They built off of what they had and allowed themselves room to try new things that worked wonderfully. Tears of the Kingdom was well worth the wait and I can't wait to see what else they give us in another six to ten years.