Hyrule, and more individually, Princess Zelda is in need of saving again and Link is ready to answer the call. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on May 12th. Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Zelda’s last entry, Breath of the Wild that takes place immediately following those events. That’s important to note because while not unprecedented, it is very uncommon that we get a direct sequel in the Zelda franchise. It stands to reason that many of the game mechanics will remain the same between the two entries.
There have been some differences already highlighted but I have to think that much of the gameplay in Tears of the Kingdom will mirror Breath of the Wild. Looking back to 2017, many outlets gave Breath of the Wild perfect or near-perfect scores at the time of its release. I loved it but I didn’t think it was perfect. Here are five things that Nintendo can do in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that would greatly improve the game and two things that would actually make it worse.
Adding Dungeons (Improvement!)
It has been confirmed by Nintendo that Tears of the Kingdom will include dungeons! In an interview published on Nintendo’s website, Satoru Takizawa said “The four Divine Beasts were the dungeons in the last game, and they shared similar designs. This time, the dungeons are huge and each carry their own regional look and feel, just like traditional The Legend of Zelda games.” This is huge news because my biggest complaint about the Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild was that though they were fun, they were a tad formulaic because of how similar they were.
A big part of every Legend of Zelda game is the intricate dungeons. The puzzle-solving that each dungeon requires can be both challenging and rewarding. Some dungeons like Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple can drive normally sane people to madness. Others like the Arbiter’s Grounds in Twilight Princess are generally considered to be fun and innovative…in a way that doesn’t bring dread and fear into the heart of the player.
Dungeons are the bread and butter of the Zelda franchise. While the Breath of the Wild DLC tried to rectify the mistake of not including them in the main campaign, it was too little too late. Freeing the Divine Beasts was no substitute for a genuine dungeon experience. You may argue that the shrines were like mini-dungeons but I would argue that I don’t want mini-dungeons and neither should you. I simply can’t accept the loss of dungeons to something as inferior as the 138 shrines that can be found in Breath of the Wild and its Champions Ballad DLC.
Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not saying the shrines were bad. They offered a small nugget of puzzle-solving and strategy that definitely felt like they belonged in a Zelda game. They just didn’t have the grand design, the enormity, or the “ah ha!” moment of a true Legend of Zelda dungeon. Keep the shrines. Heck, we can even keep the Divine Beasts or something similar but the inclusion of real dungeons in Tears of the Kingdom, if done correctly, will make for a great improvement.
Lose the Korok seeds. (Improvement!)
Introduced in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Koroks are small wooden people who evolved from the small people living in the Kokiri Forest. They still revere and protect the Great Deku Tree. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a completionist in video games. I own my bias here because a completionist may really enjoy this. In Breath of the Wild, Koroks are hiding just freaking anywhere like up high in the dangerous stones of Hyrule Castle while it swarms with Calamity Ganon’s forces. You might find them in a cave, on a beach, near a tree or literally anywhere else you can think of. When you find one, you get a seed. The more seeds you find, the more inventory slots you unlock. You can max out your inventory with 441 Korok seeds. There are 900 seeds to find. That is precisely 900 more than I ever dared to care about.
I wouldn’t care that they are in Breath of the Wild in this fashion except that inventory slots are tied to them. I defeated Calamity Ganon with less than 100 Korok seeds and a ridiculously low amount of bow slots available to me. You want to keep the Korok seeds in Tears of the Kingdom? Fine. Just don’t make me have to care about them.
Keeping Epona Tied to Amiibo (Worse!)
One of the biggest missteps in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the realization that Link’s horse, Epona, was not in the game. It’s possible to add her in the game with the use of the Smash Brothers Link amiibo but otherwise it’s not possible. I was very fortunate that I had the correct Amiibo available to unlock Epona but not everyone is in that same position.
Amiibo have a weird tendency to have volatile supplies. Case in point: the Smash Bros Amiibo which sold for $13 when it was released is now available on Amazon for about $30. It can’t even be found at GameStop where I originally bought it to begin with but they are trying to sell me the newest Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo. I have a bad feeling about this.
Lose the Weapon Durability (Improvement!)
Keeping in line with my problems with the lack of dungeons, the weapon durability just didn’t feel like it belonged in a Zelda game. I am, however, not an unreasonable man. I don’t think we have to lose weapon durability entirely but let’s make it an option in settings. Perhaps turning off weapon durability makes you lose a weapons slot or two. I think it’s a fair trade to not worry about if my weapon will break from normal use in the course of a battle. We can even keep environmental destruction like a wooden shield burning when it touches fire in the mix but I’d really prefer if Nintendo didn’t punish me for normal weapon use.
Add in More Voice Acting (Improvement!)
One of the best things to come out of Breath of the Wild was the inclusion of voice acting. Some of it was a little hokey but mostly, it was very well acted and was a welcome inclusion into the Zelda franchise. The problem was that the voice acting was oddly inconsistent. Some scenes that could have benefitted from a cutscene were instead just walls of text to have to read through. Now, I can’t speak for everyone but if there is voice acting available and then I have to sit and read, I lose interest so fast.
I want there to be as little reading as humanly possible in Tears of the Kingdom. I want every part of the narrative to come across like I’m watching a movie. If none of the plethora of streaming services around are going to give us a proper Zelda movie or series, then at least give us more to watch in the video games.
Ramp Up The Visuals (Improvement!)
Ask anyone who knows me. I’m not a graphics addict. I don’t care if it’s in 4K. I don’t need the newest and best computer to play my games from. I don’t even care what engine a game is built on. If a video game has a good story to tell and fun mechanics that I would enjoy, that’s typically all that matters to me. I don’t need much to make me happy.
One thing I do need is a steady framerate. I was an early adopter having bought my first Switch and Breath of the Wild as a pre-order for pickup on launch day. It’s entirely possible that many of the issues I experienced during my initial playthrough have been fixed. I shouldn’t have to speculate about that though. The framerate around Death Mountain dropping to literal zero should never have happened.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will launch on the same console but that doesn’t mean it should have to suffer the same issues as its predecessor. There is no reason why a consistent framerate can’t be reached on the Nintendo Switch. I don’t need 60 FPS. I’d like 60 FPS but I don’t need it. I just need the framerate to stay playable in every location, every scene, every fight, etc. It’s not too much to ask that the latest Zelda game not be broken upon release.
Making Crafting Essential to Success (Worse!)
If you’ve seen the promotional materials for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you’ve likely noticed that crafting has a more prominent role in this entry than it did in Breath of the Wild. In Breath of the Wild, crafting was more or less relegated to cooking which had a number of uses including protection from different elements and healing. In most cases, cooking was completely optional and keeping any kind of crafting as optional is definitely the way to go.
Before I go any further, let me just say this: I. Hate. Crafting. Hate is a strong word. It’s an appropriate word but it’s a strong word. There’s been a limited amount of gameplay shown to us so far by Nintendo but seeing that crafting was going to be more prominently featured in Tears of the Kingdom was soul-crushing. I have absolutely no desire to do crafting in any game, Legend of Zelda included. If it has a minimal role, that’s fine. If it’s completely optional, that’s even better. Remember that Zelda games are marketed to kids and families. If a kid wouldn’t fully understand it and enjoy it, it shouldn’t be a prominent and required part of the experience to succeed.
These things, of course, are just my own personal musings. You may think about things from a different perspective and that’s fine. I just want Nintendo to give players the freedom to shape their own gameplay. From everything I’ve seen, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom promises to be an experience. Right now, it’s primarily up to Nintendo to define what kind of experience that’ll be.
