The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Masterfully designed open-world with unmatched verticality and fusion mechanics.

Switch 2 fixes notorious sub-30fps with stable 60fps. Handles complex physics smoothly.

A masterful Zelda game that prioritizes emotional closure alongside gameplay. The final moments brilliantly interweave story and player agency in a way that defines the series.

A glorious, triumphant sequel that takes Breath of the Wild's formula and improves on nearly every facet, making the original feel like a proof of concept. The three-layer world of sky, surface, and depths, combined with the Ultra Hand, Fuse, Ascend, and Recall abilities, opens up staggering freedom for combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving, while a more prevalent story, returning traditional dungeons, and a tougher challenge round out an enormous experience. Performance dips below the capped 30 FPS during busy moments, a reminder of the aging hardware, but it never undercuts the enjoyment.

An exceptional sequel that builds meaningfully on Breath of the Wild with sky exploration, underground realms, and revolutionary physics-based building mechanics. Offers endless creative possibilities and genuine sense of wonder.

A wonderful top-to-bottom expansion of Breath of the Wild that piles on new features without losing its charm, easily good for a hundred hours or more. The vastly expanded Hyrule, with its caves, chasms, depths, and sky islands, shines alongside inventive new abilities, especially the standout Ultra Hand. Returning weapon degradation and a slight design-by-spreadsheet feel in some underground areas are minor frustrations, and its heavier lean into modern open-world collecting may not suit every fan.

Masterpiece that improves on Breath of the Wild in nearly every way. New mechanics (Fuse, Ascend, Ultrahand) transform interaction and exploration. Excellent temples, sky, and underground areas create stark contrasts. Fantastic music and sound design. Performance dips with Ultrahand but still very playable. Filled with wonder and discovery—a fantastic adventure that shouldn't be missed. Official score: 9.5/10.

SwitchUp Switch review.

Innovative building mechanics and vast exploration with some revolutionary gameplay features.

Zelda at its peak — Ultrahand and Fuse enable boundless creativity, with one of the most memorable Zelda story moments ever.

MinnMax's Kyle calls Tears of the Kingdom 'fucking fantastic' and 'one of the best things I've ever played in my life'. A strong iteration on Breath of the Wild though it doesn't have the same industry-impact-bomb feeling. Continues to play obsessively. Spoiler-free deep-dive style review.