These tears are salty - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review - GFINITY

If you’ve yet to step foot into the open world of Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom is the best way to experience it, with just enough new ground to keep things interesting. But if you didn’t gel with the 2017 release, the story alone might not be worth the second attempt.

[-Foxtrot]

Hope this guy is ready to be doxxed to the high heavens

[Neonridr]

there's always that one guy out there. We saw it with titles like TLOU 2, etc.

[-Foxtrot]

There's only that "one guy" if it's a shitty short review with no context

If you read something and it's laid out, put together and goes into things then it's just an opinion.

I saw a few even for God of War Ragnarök, they gave it a 7.5 but despite disagreeing as I enjoyed the game they were well put together, can't fault those reviews who simply didn't enjoy it. It just depends on the review and how they go about it.

[S2Killinit]

Yup, he is trying to get clicks. So obvious. There is no way Im clicking.

@Foxtrot
While I agree with your logic, it must be added that an opinion is only valuable if its within the realm of rationality. Objectively, this opinion is not a rational one. Proof? Please show me the rest of the games with a 6 score, is Zelda in the same caliper? No. So 6 is not a good opinion.

[GhostScholar]

I didn’t like the story told in TLOU 2 but it was polished like all Sony games

[n1kki6]

He explains why. It's his opinion. Did you read the review or just look at the score?

[frostypants]

Yes. Can't be having people with opinions that differ from the hivemind. /s

[seanpitt23]

This game is a 9 but TLOU 2 was a total mess though!

[TricksterArrow]

You mean Joel's head made a mess, not the actual game being a mess right?

[Neonridr]

@Foxtrot - so are you claiming this guy is right and 99% of publications are wrong?

[InUrFoxHole]

@Ghost
That's spot on sir. Didn't care for the story but the game was perfect to me game play wise

[potatoseal]

Why would he have to get ready for that? Are you planning on doxxing him or something?

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

Not just this review, but I'm seeing some 8 out of 10's. What I'm taking from this is that it's not as good as Breath of the Wild. Which doesn't surprise me, the formula probably doesn't feel as fresh anymore. Think like when Metroid Prime first came out and then Metroid Prime 2: Echoes wasn't quite as good.

What this means?? I think Final Fantasy 16 will be game of the year!

[SullysCigar]

^ I think you're onto something @'Bubbles. BotW was a BIG change up. There's a lot we've already seen in TotK, especially locations, and some people just won't be as wowed as they were back then. The technology is the same, so there's no leap there either - it's still targeting 720p 30fps.

I think I'll wait and see what their next hardware looks like. It's not like they won't have a port ready for day one.

[Majin-vegeta]

I think he was getting at how jimqusiiton event that happened when BOTW released.He was DDOS cuz he gave it a 7/10😂

[-Foxtrot]

Why? Just history

One guy gave Skyward Sword a 7 - He was doxxed

Someone else, maybe Jim Sterling, gave BotW a 7 - Same happened to them

I’ve just seen hell on Earth because Eurogamer gave it a 4/5 which is 8 out of 10. People are going mental.

[SullysCigar]

^ I didn't know that @Majin - can't wait for Jim's review to come in then, as I'm sure he'll be delighted by that little episode! He just reviewed Redfall and gave it a 3/10, so I'm sure he's in a wonderful mood!

[EternalTitan]

They are going to get death threats.

[VenomUK]

I was trying to decide on whether to get Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Redfall. Gfinityesports gave this a 6/10 and my preferred gaming website VideoGameChronicle gave Redfall an equivalent score of 8/10. As that’s the higher score I think I’ll go for Redfall. Thank God we have expert journalists to help us not make a silly buying decision.

[Charlieboy333]

Woah....death threats from Zelda/Nintendo disciples. So scary.

[neutralgamer1992]

I mean I dislike Nintendo and not much of a Zelda fan but come on man this isn’t a 6/10

[gold_drake]

damn, come down. what a horrible thing to say, even with your explanation of "other people did it with other games low scoring".

this reads like u want it to happen. damn

[-Foxtrot]

Lol what a stretch and a twist

I’m not saying I want it to happen nor am
I saying I’m going to do it (like the guy above said which is super weird)

It’s a joke since the same happened to people with Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild

It literally says “hope this guy is ready” meaning “brace yourself the Zelda fanboys are coming”

Don’t be such a sensitive little thing, don’t know how you manage to survive the internet

[gold_drake]

you need to get a grip and maybe collect yourself a little before play the high and mighty. there was nothing funny about your comment. u little thing you.

i know that being pathetic is your style on here, so im not all surprised by your response.

[-Foxtrot]

Ha. Collect myself? You’re the one replying to me getting your panties in a bunch being upset because you ASSUMED my comment meant something else.

So pathetic? Lol I’ve seen your comments aswell and honestly it’s pot calling kettle

Now if you want to go cry and be upset over something I think you are better off logging out dear.

Jesus. Even giving me text speak with “u” and can’t even be arsed to use capitals.

[ChasterMies]

These kinds of threats lead to review score inflation. Never played Zelda because I don’t own a Switch but I have played fan favorites that were nowhere near as good as the review scores indicated. Let reviewed score games as they please. It doesn’t hurt you one bit,

[-Foxtrot]

Sigh. I didn’t say it did hurt me

I am literally not bothered, that wasn’t the point of my comment, it’s a reference o things that happens years ago.

Did you even read the replies above

I feel people like Majin-vegeta or SullysCigar are the only ones who are getting it with the Jim Sterling BotW fiasco

[Sonic1881]

I have an early copy and I can tell you right now this game is definitely not a 6. I would give it a 9 so far and I like the new features.

[potatoseal]

I 100%ed the first game. Did everything except for getting the last 100 or so seeds. I rated that a 9/10. Was such a great game. I'm sure I will enjoy this one the same or even moreso. But I feel like I can wait to play this one. It's not really calling me to play it, if you know what I mean.

Happy for all the megafans out there that have been waiting for so long. Enjoy. Also, I doubt this game is a 6/10. But reading this review, you can tell he's a nintendo fan and Zelda fan. I think it's the "open world" that this guys is tired of.

[SullysCigar]

I totally agree about this review. This guy is clearly a big fan and has a detailed knowledge of the history of the franchise. It's also well-written.

Whether his opinions are on point is up to each person to discern, but it's clear he hasn't set out to trash it, he's just underwhelmed and it sounds like he found it very similar to the last game. There are many locations repeated, so I certainly wouldn't go straight from BotW to this, because I can only expect it would get old fast.

The reviewer makes a sound point when it says that this would be a good entry point to Hyrule if you didn't yet play BotW. The new mechanics make it more interesting in that regard, for sure.

[sadraiden]

An open world game should not be punished for being an open world game. If that's his major beef, then he just isn't a fan of open world games. Criticizing an open world game for copy and paste goals, lifeless zones, lack of NPCs, and poor level design is fair. Macro game design philosophy isn't a negative. You wouldn't review Doom Eternal a 6/10 because "I'm tired of FPS games".

[-Foxtrot]

If other open world games get shit on for how lifeless their worlds are among other things then why is Zelda untouchable? Maybe the guy just wants it to go back to being a traditional Zelda game, it’s not like this series started off as an open world game and that’s how it’s always been.

[GhostScholar]

That’s fair

[darkrider]

If it hit got copy paste lifeless zones poor level design for, poor AI for starters, the game isn't a 10 or a 9.

Maybe the problem is saying that this game is perfect without being in any aspect.

[GhostScholar]

That makes sense actually. I am sort of fatigued by open world games. I really enjoyed the last case of Benjamin fox and last year Stray. I think the older I get the more I appreciate a 12 hour game here and there.

[potatoseal]

I feel like you have to be in the right mood to play an open world game and really enjoy it these days. At least that's how I feel. I'll enjoy any open world game, but I have to be in the right mood to jump in.

[Grilla]

Agreed, I beat botw twice, once on wiiU then on switch. Did all 120 shrines.

I’m going to hold off until Switch 2. I could deal with the bad performance and fidelity in 2017, but in 2023 it’s kinda ridiculous.

[potatoseal]

I know right? I think I will hold off too because I don't want to play it in handheld mode. I want to play it on my 85" 4K OLED lol. Don't think I can take 1080p on that big of a screen anymore lol

[EternalTitan]

This guy better have some armed security because I can see violent Zelda fans trying to kill the reviewer.

[derek]

@Eternal, "violent Zelda fans", lol.

[Black-Helghast]

thank you for an honest review, even if the score is low you can tell this person is being honest. there is no way a game that runs 30 fps and 720p in 2023 can be a full 10/10. for me BOTW is a 7.5/10 and I put 75 hours into that game just to see how good it truly was.

[stloony]

Of course it can.

Gameplay will always be > graphics

[darkrider]

And gameplay is affected by a game that isn't locked at 30 frames.

[northpaws]

The combination of 720p and 30fps sucks, but gameplay > everything, if it is fun it can be 10/10. I have seen so many 4k 60fps games play like crap.

With that said, I do hope next Switch is not a switch but a traditional console, I really wanta 4k, 60fps, HDR Zelda game.

[sadraiden]

By the time Nintendo launches a console capable of those benchmarks, the standard will have progressed to 8K 120fps, and people will still be complaining that Zelda doesn't look as good as CoD.

[northpaws]

@sadraiden

You sounded like Nintendo is releasing cutting edge hardware and I am complaining for no reason.

You know it is less than 1/3 of the power of a 10 years old PS4, right? And still selling at $450 CAD today, I wasn't complaining and you totally get me started on how greedy Nintendo is, it is the same chip of a Nvidia media box FFS. I already said it can be 10/10 at 720p because it is fun, and you still give me shit.

Maybe you are young, but N64 and GameCube were both the strongest consoles on their generation, don't tell me they never engaged, it was since Wii they went with a more gimmicky route...

Both Wii and Switch have extremely weak hardware and uncomfortable controllers unless you spend another $70 for a pro controller. To me, the Switch is not even comfortable complete product without a grip case. Extra screen, the dock, joycons, are all resources that can make the console more powerful.

Wii U was a much better console than Switch.

[sadraiden]

Stop expecting Nintendo to release a console that makes you feel like a big Sony or Xbox boy. Nintendo has never engaged with Sony or MS on this level. They make Nintendo games, on a Nintendo console. If you need a 60fps adventure game to feel like you're not wasting your life, go play Horizon on PC.

Rating a Zelda game on Switch a 6/10 based on the game running at 30 fps (which is standard for console games) is the definition of asinine.

[MrNinosan]

You haven't been around for long it seems.
The only consoles Nintendo haven't tried to keep uo with hardware is Switch and Wii.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Nintendo doesn't even try to compete with the other two in brute force performance, I'm fine with that since Nintendo tends to do something more unique that may or may not pay off for them.

[Rude-ro]

@MrNinosan
Game cube, wii, Wii U and now the switch…
And this is a decade of no longer trying to be in that hardware war.

[MrNinosan]

@Rude-go
GameCube was higher specced than PS2.
Wii-U was just a missed opportunity but actually tried to match PS3 and X360.

Wii and Switch are actually the only Nintendo consoles where they haven't tried to be as good or on par with other consoles on the market, measured by specification.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

The gatekeeping goalposts just got sent further back, my goodness.

[CDbiggen]

Muh framerate and resolution. I have a 144hz ultrawide and 3080ti and playing this game for a couple of hours today the graphics don't bother me in the slightest, dunno what you're whinging about. All about the game.

[stloony]

Someone will always take advantage of high scoring games to get clicks with a bad review.

[sadraiden]

The enlightened centrists on N4G who find your comment will downvote it, but that's exactly what the reviewer is doing.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

So you only want validation, basically.

[darkrider]

Zelda must get only perfect scores? The game is perfect and is the best rpg ever made in 2013.

[EternalTitan]

Whats the difference between 'bad' and 'good' review?
What type of reviews are only allowed?
If you are in charge of armed forces what would you do to people who give 'bad' scores?

[Rude-ro]

They also will over-inflate a score on a bad/broken game… to push impulse purchasing of said game.

There is no code of conduct when it comes to video games.
Most are 100% for marketing dollars… both ways.

[King_Noctis]

And this site would eat it like hotcakes, hence the article getting the top spot with hundred of comments.

Anyone dare to reviews games from that other console and give this low score? They would be called as sites that is thirsty for click.

[derek]

@stloony, the review is detailed and well eexplained.

[Einhander1971]

Yes with the stellar reviews certain games get, there will always be the ridiculously low scores from the certain few.

[bunt-custardly]

I know some of you guys are being "witty" etc. But doxxing and death threats shouldn't be joked about or taken lightly please.

[CptDville]

Alright, we will try to make them more concrete or serious next time.
Thanks for the advice.

[bunt-custardly]

You're welcome.

[Inverno]

People losing their minds over a 6 will never not be funny to me. You'd think people would have caught on already that these perfect scores for these hyped up games are made to sell you the game, not to give honest critique on them.

[jjb1981]

Actually, this is great. I've contemplated this for a while. Others probably have too. You read enough and it becomes believable. Then, BAM! Something I've just realized that after reading the author's thoughts on this game that this article shouldn't exist.

[thesoftware730]

Lol, this will bring a lot of hits to his site, and review lol.

Well played, sir.

[Psychonaut85]

Ooooohhhh , a 6 out of 10, he’s not like the other girls. So edgy

[SpacedDuck]

Classic review for a game that is nowhere near a 6 to get clicks and eyeballs.

[Clippy]

Reviews are subjective. I don't get why people are mad that someone didn't like the game. Personally, I still can't stand the art style. The BOTW/TOTK art style is the worst in the history of the franchise.

[Binarycode]

I played the original, got bored along the way.

Now it's still a very good game.

But climbing towers to open up other area's, easy enemies and I felt like i'd seen enough of it.

Even though cartoony look, it had some nice graphics in places

I thought technically it was on point. Physic's were used very well and appear to be in this game.

I think if you are a Zelda fan like i'm an uncharted fan it's a no brainer.

[sadraiden]

If I ran an independent games journo outlet, and the only way I had to get people to come to my website is to make insane reviews that look like such a statistical outlier it's suprising it's getting any traction at all.......I dunno.....I might feel bad about myself.

[Stanjara]

Oh boy, here we go...

[GamingSinceForever]

😮 😮 😮

[northpaws]

Zelda is one of my favorite franchises and I am getting it day 1, but I don't expect everyone to like the game, if there is a reviewer thinks it is a 6/10, let it be. If you can't accept a different opinion, you are worse than him. Just chill and be excited about the game, it is finally here, enjoy fellow gamers.

[CrimsonWing69]

You know what’s funny? I see people give other games a 6/10 when others give it a 9/10 and there’s people that defend it’s their opinion, but then when it’s a game that everybody wants suddenly it’s unacceptable.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

People seek validation not guidance. They already made their mind up about something and only want what confirms it.

[MrNinosan]

If this game wasn't made by Nintendo or have the Zelda in the Title, it wouldn't be 96 on Metacritic, same with BotW.
I'm sure this game is great, but to me, BotW is one of the worst Zelda games out there, and the only reason I played it through was because of the Zelda in the title.

I am fully aware you're not supposed to talk badly about Zelda or Nintendo, but reading the review, I don't see any reason why not to believe that would be a score fair to give, for this specific reviewer.

In my book, BotW is nothing more than a 7/10 and compared to how other games are rated with bad dialogue, non interesting story, no enemy variations, 30 fps etc, that 7 would still be high.

I will play TotK and hopefully I like it more thab BotW, but seeing this 6/10 annoys me less than the 50 or so 10/10 this game got so far, and by reading those reviews, most sounds like an 8 or 9.

[TheEnigma313]

This is more accurate. Finally, someone tells the truth.

[goldwyncq]

It's only "the truth" because you wanted it to be bad.

[Elda]

It's totally his opinion of the game, something they're entitled to having. Not everyone in the world is going to agree that the game is a 10 & that's fine. Videogame scores & reviews are subjective.

[goldwyncq]

I'd like to see the same sentiment spread whenever PS exclusives on this site get low reviews, just for the sake of fairness.

[Elda]

No matter what platform (Sony,XB or Nintendo) that has an exclusive game that has been reviewed with praise & has a high score, there are going to be some folks or other reviewers that disagree with that high score. Again...videogame scores & reviews are subjective. Not everyone is going to see what you see & vice-versa & that should be fine.

[HeliosHex]

So it feels like a DLC expansion. Not surprised, I mean it is on the same console now six years old. I'll get it when it's on sale.

[Profchaos]

Bowser's up to his old tricks again....reviewing games

[antikbaka]

everyone is entitled to their opinion but i think it's about 8

not 10, due to the fact that they could have improve UI but did nothing.
and why didn't they make new soundtrack?

also underground area lacks alot in somparison to the ground surface. And there are very few of those islands in the sky

[Tapani]

Don't click! TotK is absolutely fantastic! It made me completely eat my own words, wife and I have been playing it from 4:30am this morning, eating chocolate cookies, drinking coffee and loving the game!

[FortWaba]

As usual, bottom-tier websites will play the contrarian in a desperate bid for clicks. By being an outlier, most readers say, "What? No, I gotta check that out." Happens every time.

Don't give these people the click, folk.

[goldwyncq]

There's always going to be that one review whenever a high profile game is released.Nothing to see here.

Edit: Oh, they gave Forspoken the same score. Pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this site.

[CDbiggen]

Just the tutorial area delivers more than most games these days.

[anast]

It's Nintendo jank, but a 6 might be a bit low.

[ModsDoBetter]

Lol, why is it that when a reviewer gives a score that people don’t agree with they’re:

-“asinine”
-“doing it for clicks”
-“outwith the realm of rationality”

Like seriously?
Play the game yourself whilst make up your own mind.

Reviews are subjective yet ignoring/trying to discredit any review that doesn’t align with your own thoughts is just creating a little echo chamber filled with your own flavour or confirmation bias.

If a review hurts you THAT much, then it’s time to re-evaluate what’s important in life.

[Mea Maxima Culpa]

Read the entire article, it was very well done and I personally do not believe that the 6 out of 10 rating was for clicks. To me this is a much better written and reasoned review then the obligatory 10 out of 10 "best game eva" reviews...

[terstomp]

Good review. You nailed it. Refreshing to see an honest review instead of blindly supporting Nintendo. Breath of the Wild I consider it a time waster and Tears of the Kingdom is no doubt even more of that. I consider that a waste of my life's time but others don't. Enjoy the game, but you don't have to blindly accept other people's praise for it. Make up your own mind.

[franwex]

Maybe he isn’t trying to get clicks. Maybe for a few people it will be a 6/10.

God of war was for me.

So it goes.

[Kyizen]

Read this review, this guy is a huge Zelda fan and makes some good points on this and botw.

[goldwyncq]

The same site gave Pokemon Scarlet an 8/10 and that was a buggy mess

[Jin_Sakai]

Someone’s looking for clicks.

[GhostScholar]

Let’s say for arguments sake that tears of the kingdom is a 6 out of 10. Then what the F*** is redfall? And again, I am a fan of Xbox. But my God!

[franwex]

1.5/10? Heh.

[Stanjara]

I wouldn't give it that score...maybe an 8... but than again who would click that?
I actually agree with this review, his points are on point.

[UltimateOwnage]

lol - there's always a troll review trying to capitalize with a click bait review when a hit game gets high scores. WTG

[MrSec84]

I can't wait to play Tears of The Kingdom, based on every other review I've come across it vastly improves on every aspect of Breath of The Wild, the only issues are being tied to Switch's hardware.
It certainly doesn't seem like a 6/10 game.

The Ultra Hand feature looks to have endless possibilities for playing around in the world and the other new abilities look like loads of fun.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Yeah, nah, F*** off, there's no way you can justify rating it that low, I can understand if it's not a 10/10, especially since it's not everyone's cup of tea, the majority of Zelda games are almost perfect games, even if they're a bit samey. I read the first couple of paragraphs, but what I read was mostly fluff, not worth the click.

[PCgamer98]

The game can get pretty hard, tedious, and even frustrating for some people but still it's no way a 6/10.

[Viljong]

GJ Nintendo this make me want to get into switch again. Botw was an awesome game. This seems to be even better. Nintendo switch oled or asus rog ally. Ive got a little bit of handheld fewer.

[jznrpg]

I doubt the game is a 6. Yeah the Switch is underpowered but Nintendo makes good games that are fun to play. I think there is a good case against 10/10 . Although I think BoTW is overrated it’s still very well made and I’d give it around an 8 range. I’d guess this game is a little better despite performance Nintendo games are fun. I’m mainly a PS gamer but Nintendo has great games despite the weak hardware. They are fun and well made. I’d definitely want a more powerful console from them and I really think the Switch is a handheld that can be hooked up to the Tv. It has issues in TV that handheld doesn’t.

I was playing Odyssey with my daughter on Tv and it flashes on the screen and lags more. It plays much better as a handheld. That being said their games are good. Hopefully they make a more powerful version next time around but it will most likely be behind current gen consoles.

Despite the power issues the games are good enough for me to buy Nintendo. It’s not perfect. I won’t buy Xbox because their games aren’t good to me despite having power. Power isn’t everything or Xbox wouldn’t be in last place.

[Father__Merrin]

Previous game wasn't worth 10 it was a bland looking and choppy frame rate title. This game looks better but still no 10

[Exvalos]

It should be docked points for its performance issues and reused map

[RaiderNation]

I respect the reviewer's score because he at least took the time to clearly and competently make his argument.

[Rainbowcookie]

Just for the clicks ...