Game devs praise viral Zelda Tears of the Kingdom puzzle: "No physics engine I ever worked with could do this easily"

gamesradar.com:

Developers and players have been praising a puzzle in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that's so impressive it's on par with the ropes physics in The Last of Us Part 2.

Warning, the below contains the solution to the Marakuguc Shrine, so if you'd rather figure it out for yourself, look away now.

Venture into the Marakuguc Shrine in Tears of the Kingdom, and you'll be tasked with navigating your way across a fiery pit. Luckily for Link, the means for doing so are right by his feet. The solution is simple enough and involves sticking a nearby set of panels to a wheeled object and hitting the wheels to send it spinning across the fire-filled pool pulling the panels with it, thus creating a nice safe bridge in the process. While the puzzle might not be groundbreaking, the highly realistic way the panels move across the ground and extend into the air is nothing short of incredible. 

Game developer William Armstrong recently posted a clip of the puzzle on Twitter and shared his appreciation for the technical wizardry on display.

The game programming flex of all time. pic.twitter.com/id2K5uE5mzMay 21, 2023

"Doing a dynamic rope bridge under constant tension interacting with an independent moving physics actor and the player and having it work and not glitch out is impressive," Armstrong said. "No physics engine I ever worked with could do this easily." 

Also showing the puzzle some love was Twitter user @TheAndyCortez who wrote, "This is the 2023 version of the Last of Us Part 2 rope physics."

This is the 2023 version of the Last of Us Part 2 rope physics https://t.co/CHGIGALhOIMay 22, 2023

Still, a fair few players completed the shrine without witnessing this spectacular bit of programming by crossing the boiling pool