The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Tears of the Kingdom faced an insurmountable task: following up on what is widely considered to be one of the defining games of the open-world genre. The wild thing is that it succeeded. From clear improvements over Breath of the Wild’s shortcomings to buck-wild building and physics mechanics and a seamless map spanning the sky, land, and underground. Even on the Switch, the game is incredibly impressive, to the point where I’m sometimes baffled it’s running on the hardware it is.
Read more: 15 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
The game has also become a memetic touchstone of 2023, with players building and discovering new things alongside one another and sharing stories online. Everyone’s experience with Tears of the Kingdom is different, but it’s become a shared experience for all of us to play together. Breath of the Wild set the series on a new path, and Tears of the Kingdom masterfully builds vehicles for fans to ride down it. — Kenneth Shepard
Playable On: Switch
Rough Average Playtime: 55 hours
