The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Critical Consensus

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Have you heard? The new Zelda game launched today.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the direct sequel to Switch launch title Breath of the Wild, and its arrival marks the end of a six-year wait to find out the answer to one of the burning questions about Nintendo's current generation: having successfully reinvented one of your most beloved franchises, what do you do next?

Whatever Nintendo has done to address this – the platform holder has been characteristically secretive about Tears of the Kingdom in the run-up to its release, and critics are largely honouring that secrecy – it seems to have worked. At the time of writing, the game's Metacritic score stands at 96 (just one point below Breath of the Wild) after 91 reviews.

In their five-star review for The Gamer, Jade King writes that Tears of the Kingdom is a "game that equals the majesty of its forebear."

"You're bombarded by curiosity at every turn, wondering how far the limits can be pushed before Zelda's open arms spread forward to smother them," they write. "I had little faith in lightning striking twice, and I couldn't be more delighted to be proven wrong."

In her 10/10 review for NintendoLife, Alana Hagues adds: "Somehow, Tears of the Kingdom does the impossible and makes Breath of the Wild feel like a proof of concept; it takes everything its predecessor does, improves upon every single aspect, and gives you even more freedom, an even bigger world, and tons more secrets to uncover. It's frankly staggering and makes for an absolutely incredible experience."

Eurogamer's Edwin Evans-Thirwell, who gave the game four stars in the site's first scored review in years,