I haven’t played every Zelda game but the ones I have played are some of my favourites. I have a particular fondness for the handheld games where Link is a little cartoon guy throwing pots around and solving puzzles.
I didn’t play Breath of the Wild when I bought a Switch partly because I was less interested in the open-world aspect of the game. Having seen some reviews of the 2023 sequel Tears of the Kingdom, I decided to give it a go.
It is a gorgeous looking game with well designed controls for moving around. The key question is whether it delivers the Zelda vibes that I love this series for? Yes, at least so far, but with a lot more beside. There is a lot to puzzle out but also plenty to keep you busy while you puzzle it out.
The main innovation is a kind of building aspect to the game. With a magical arm you can lift and assemble things in your environment to create devices and vehicles. These allow you to move between the floating sky islands of the world or open up new places to visit.
I’m having to do a bit of travelling (in real life) at the moment and it has proven to be a good game for both a short 5 minute play or a much longer session. Played it none stop on a recent plane flight (my first plane trip since Covid) and it kept me engrossed for the trip (a domestic flight, so not a long trip).
Camestros Felapton 