Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review - the best a Switch game can get

radiotimes.com:

When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild first launched way back in 2017, the Nintendo Switch console was brand new. It's easy to forget that BotW also came out on the Wii U, straddling the generations and providing a final showcase of what Nintendo's outgoing console could do.

Here we are in 2023, on the cusp of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releasing into the world, and it feels like a similar time for Nintendo. This sequel to Breath of the Wild has been a long time coming, and the Switch is no longer the new kid on the block in the gaming world (despite the nice screen on the new-ish OLED model).

In fact, the Switch console now feels like it is nearing the end of its lengthy lifespan — Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S have already been out for a couple of years, absolutely blowing the Switch out of the water in terms of visual fidelity and processing power, and yet the rumoured Switch Pro has still not be announced to replace it.

Enter Tears of the Kingdom, which could be the final major showcase of what Nintendo's current console can do. With no new Mario games, Zelda games or fully fledged Pokémon RPGs in the announced pipeline after this, TotK feels like it could be the last hurrah for the current generation before Nintendo finally reveals its future hardware plans.

And we're pleased to report that, boy oh boy, Tears of the Kingdom really is a brilliant game. If Nintendo wanted a showcase, a celebratory hurrah to cap off this generation, this is all that and more. Breath of the Wild was already beloved, of course, and this sequel manages to stay true to its predecessor in so many ways whilst also mixing in countless new elements to get you hooked in once again.

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