I haven’t beaten Tears of the Kingdom yet. I don’t think I want either. Between work and short family trips, I don’t have as much time as I should, but now with over 60 hours, I feel like I’m getting closer to where I want to be in my heart. Watch things end. But there is no tingling sensation of fine dust. Ending Tears of the Kingdom’s story feels like a complete departure from the way I’ve chosen to enjoy its beautiful, gigantic world. It’s the first time since Red Dead Redemption 2 that he never wanted a game to end, and the third time he intentionally avoids finishing a game he loves.
The other two are the aforementioned Red Dead 2 and its predecessor, Metal Gear Solid V. They have something in common. All three of these completely robbed me of my free time at the expense of all my other games. In the case of Tears of the Kingdom, despite my relatively limited playtime, I slept less, had fewer tasks to complete each week, and basically fell a little behind in life. . that’s ok! A sink was made for stacking dishes. I think it’s mentioned in the original patent. Maybe you should look into it.
Both Red Dead 2, MGS5, and now Tears have given me a world where I can basically walk around and do whatever I want without having to progress through the story. I never even opened a full map in RDR2, despite playing over 150 hours. Because I was just enjoying the world, the setting, the way it actually made me feel like I was on the last vestiges of the American frontier. I live a life similar to that of a person in the early 20th century. Metal Gear is like a giant playset, with all the GI Joes out there with the best vehicles and weapons, and I always revisit the guardhouses and story missions to get the elusive S I tried to gain ranks (all of which I had at least already completed). Tears of the Kingdom is a magical combination of both. It’s a toy box full of super fun LEGO sets that you can stick together to create weird and often silly creations. In a world of increasingly formidable foes, defeating them will drop tempting rewards and inspire curiosity to see what the results will be after fusing them into weapons.
But there are also three different and complementary layers. A world of golden skies straight out of Greek mythology, a newly modified Hyrule, albeit basically the same map as the first game, and the depths. The depths are where I find the most rewarding to explore, and you can only see a portion of it until the light route kicks in, and even then it’s only a small part of the overall Underworld map. Each section almost felt like it could exist on its own, and to be fair Hyrule did too, but so did the caves, temples, dungeons, giant monsters, side quests, and pieces of armor to find, collect, and upgrade. I have.
It’s really nice and it always amazes me what kind of magic it does to make it feel fun. I never suffered a crisis of choice, nor did I ever feel like I was going through a vast open space. I love Ghost of Tsushima, and while the world is gorgeous, it can feel empty at times. Not so with Tears. Everything is precisely arranged to satisfy my curiosity to the fullest without feeling barren or crowded.
There are so many opportunities to enjoy Tears of the Kingdom outside of the main story that I keep myself very busy. and i love it I look forward to playing it every chance I get. It’s fun to play and I love the story this game tells and how it’s told, but I’m not eager to see it end anytime soon. It’s still too much fun.
Seth Macy is the Executive Editor of IGN Commerce and would love to be your friend. You can find him hosting his Nintendo Voice Chat podcast.
