The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Direct sequels in The Legend of Zelda are rare, but when they do arrive they are often some of the best and most beloved games this series has to offer. Following on from the transformative Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes with huge expectations upon its shoulders, and it absolutely lives up to them.

There are, quite understandably, a lot of parallels between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild. After the opening moments that show this new threat to Hyrule being unleashed, Link wakes up once more on an island – the difference being that this isn’t the Great Plateau, but the larger Great Sky Island floating up in the sky. Once again, you’re depowered and are quickly given the handful of key abilities that you’ll use throughout the game.

These are new and in many ways completely change how you will approach the adventure ahead of you. Ultrahand lets you not just pick up and move certain objects around in the world, but can fuse them together. Need a bridge? Glue these large wooden pallets together. Need a boat? Make a raft by cutting down trees and attaching a sail. Want a car? Well, let’s come back to that.

This same concept is then extended through a second ability, with Fuse letting you attach world objects to your sword or shield, adding their properties to them in the process. At the most simple level, it means you can make a stone axe or hammer – always needed for when you want to smash some weak rock walls to secret caves – but it can also dramatically enhance more powerful weapons by attaching certain parts dropped by enemies.

However, both of these abilities would be fairly shallow, were it not for the wealth of gadgets and gizmos that are made available to you by reemerging