Expert review The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequence to the events of the previous part. Does this mean you have to have played the first game? No, because the story of this new part is clearly explained in the beginning. Link and Zelda find a prophecy about an approaching war in the dungeons of the castle. After the intro, I was ready for Link's new adventure in Hyrule right away. The world is full of new areas and new powers.

After the intro, I land on one of the new Sky Islands. I open the map right away and it seems to be about the same size as in Breath of the Wild. It seems to be, because there's a great difference. There are many new Sky Islands. Actually, there are 2 maps: the map from the previous game and a completely new world high above the clouds. This means you can go on twice as many adventures.

On this first Sky Island, you also get your first new powers. I get started with Ultrahand. With this power, I can attach objects to each other. I can make a bridge out of two planks and even build even a complete raft out of tree trunks. When I first start building, I have to get used to the controls. Especially turning the individual parts is harder than I thought. But at the end of my play session, I quickly put together a raft.

Ascend is the second power I get started with. You can quickly move yourself to higher areas with this power. For example, Link can use Ascend to teleport through certain ceilings. During my play session, I also used this to solve some puzzles. For example, I first tried to use Ultrahand to make a staircase out of floating blocks. Later, I realized I can place the blocks on top of each other and teleport through it with Ascend.

The most fun new power I can get started with is Fuse. With Fuse, you can combine materials and weapons. For example, I see a boulder that I combine with my sword. This doesn't just make my sword stronger, but also changes it into a sledgehammer I can use to break other rocks. This also works with my shield and arrows. For example, I combine one of my arrows with a bat eye, so that it always hits the enemy. Just like with Ultrahand, I have to get used to the controls.

Even though I had to get used to the controls, I really enjoyed my plaing session with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The game doesn't slow down and a lot of the menus are a lot better organized. You can switch between powers and weapons faster than in Breath of the Wild. There's also more variation in some activities. For example, I ran into a Korok who couldn't find his friend. I had to help him build an elevator. With Ultrahand, I glued the elevator together and also glued the Korok to the elevator.