The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is low-key a horror game
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom scares me. It’s not because players are using Link’s powers to torture poor Koroks or build war machines to raze enemy settlements to the ground. It’s because the entire land of Hyrule has experienced an earth-shattering event called the Upheaval, and the once-pastoral land now oozes a viscous goop that looks like a fiery blood-and-poison cocktail. In this Hyrule, not even the trees are safe, as they can uproot themselves and murder Link. Tears of the Kingdom isn’t just a sweeping fantasy adventure; it’s also a horror game.
In Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda is gone and the vibes are off. It’s not just that Link can’t find her. It’s that she keeps appearing in random places throughout Hyrule and then shooting off into the ether — but also, she’s not herself, instead acting like a doll or some sort of possessed corpse. Once the blood moon rises — a routine event in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom wherein the monsters that Link has killed get revived — players will be treated to one of the creepiest cutscenes in Zelda history. In Breath of the Wild, Zelda meekly calls out to Link and tells him to be on his guard. In the new one, Patricia Summersett performs a very creepy version of Zelda’s voice narrating the revival of the monsters. All Link can do is observe the blood-red-stained sky helplessly as the ritual passes and evil springs forth.
Again, the larger land has undergone an event known as the Upheaval, and it’s now covered with red-and-black goop that the characters call “gloom.” As Link descends down from the Sky Islands, he’ll get a bird’s-eye view of the gaping holes in the surface of the land, each one lined with a ring of the substance. If you dare to
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