'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' Review: Breath of the Familiar - Slant

For all the welcome freedom it hands you, 'Tears of the Kingdom' may be the safest and least adventurous 'Legend of Zelda' game to date.

[SullysCigar]

Okay, I wouldn't give it a 6, but I sure as hell wouldn't give it a 10 either. Even a 9 is too high for me, given how similar it is to the last game - it almost feels like an update.

For me, if you played BotW within the last 2 years, this is a 7/10. Longer than that might stretch it to an 8. The ONLY way I could give TotK a 9 would be if you skipped BotW, or it didn't exist. Just my opinion.

[sparky77]

Have you actually played the game?

[__SteakDeck__]

@sparky77 I could ask you the same question, about these PS games that you like to criticize. Have you played any of them?

[SullysCigar]

Well, yes - that's how I arrived at this opinion. Have you? What are your thoughts?

[sparky77]

@__SteakDeck__
I go by the trailers that are shown and reviews that are made.

@SullysCigar
I was just checking since a lot of people like to poop on it since that haven't actually played it but if you have then fair enough. I have brought it but haven't yet started since I will wait until my Game Pass sub has expired before I go to my Switch backlog.

From the videos and comments I have seen online it looks like the reviews are correct and the fact you say it's a 9 if you haven't played BOTW means you agree too you shouldn't be docking points due to owning previous games unless it's bundled with it if that were the case most sequels would rarely break 6/10.

[__SteakDeck__]

@sparky77 So you don’t actually play these PS games that you criticize? You’re a fraud. How can you criticize something that you never played. You just lost credibility, not that you ever had any.

[sparky77]

@__SteakDeck__

The same way every PS fans criticizes games like Redfall without playing them.

[__SteakDeck__]

@sparky77 Except, PS doesn’t have many games like Redfall or any at all. You’re criticizing these Sony games that review great. When was the last time PS had a game as poorly rated as RedFall? And please don’t say Forspoken, that was a 3rd party game. Sony didn’t develop that.

[sparky77]

@__SteakDeck__
Just because a game reviews well doesn't mean that I need to agree with the scores or with what they say are good things. If a reviewers says they love QTE and skills trees I can say I don't like that and criticize the game for that. Just like if someone reviewed FF16 10/10 for the DMC combat I can criticize the game saying I prefer turn based.

Reviewers love single player 3rd person narrative driven games with skill trees which is why PS games review well it doesn't mean they are great games for everyone.

[DarXyde]

The fact that this is a Slant review giving it a mediocre score pretty much guarantees the game is great.

Slant hates everything everyone loves. Even if they make a point, who can take them seriously?

[Tacoboto]

"if you can't acknowledge good games on other platforms, that's a fanboy mentality"

As you're calling one of the most well-reviewed and one of Nintendo's quickest selling titles in its history a 7. And suggesting there's ONLY one way it's a 9.

[SullysCigar]

You might need to go and read my comment again before you get your panties in a bunch. It's between 7-9/10 depending on the circumstances, in MY opinion. You're entitled to yours too. How on Earth did you get from my comment that I don't think TofK is a good game?! Lol

Let me tell you another way it could be a 9: if YOU think it's a 9. It's a simple concept.

[Sonic1881]

"Even a 9 is too high for me, given how similar it is to the last game - it almost feels like an update"

By your logic most sequels shouldn't get a 9 or 10 like Halo, God of War, Spider-Man, Gears of War, Hellblade 2. Most sequels (not all) is just an update

[SullysCigar]

No, and that's a dumb twist on my words. Are you telling me Hellblade 2 looks the same as the first game, from what we've seen? No graphical improvements, for example? Give it a rest. Halo changed LOADS, God of War has changed even more!

I get what you're trying to say - and I'm guessing you'd rate TotK higher than I would - but the fact is, I'D HAVE preferred them to wait for the new hardware so we could at least benefit from better visuals and performance. It feels old and overly familiar for me. It's comfy pair of slippers, when I was hoping for rocket boots. I still like it, but I'm not wowed, like I hoped to be after ALL this time.

[Tacoboto]

If they throw in a VR Mode, instant 11/10 from him (even if he played the first game within 2 years)

[Sonic1881]

The only thing I liked about Hellblade was the graphics. It felt like a walking simulator to me imo and looking at the sequel it just looks like they just updated the graphics. Halo and Gears game play started to get stale and old to me and nothing new. God of War ragnarok was just an update from the first game. Spider-Man 2 looks like an update as well but time will tell. So yeah in my opinion a lot of sequels are just updates with not that much innovation. As far as Zelda tears of the kingdom it was the graphics and performance issues that I didn't enjoy but I did enjoy the game. It's obvious Nintendo needs a new hardware to update the graphics and performance issues. To answer your question was Zelda tears of the kingdom just an update? Sure, just like the other games I mentioned but Zelda had a lot of new features and abilities as well. Now if you're just talking about better graphics and performance that's a whole different issue just to grade a game

[Tacoboto]

@Sonic About Hellblade, I found it most enjoyable as a listening simulator - if there's the time to go back to it, you should try it out playing with headphones. It's the only game I've binged start to end over like a ten hour session in that way before, absolutely fantastic but that's in full context of acknowledging the walking/limited combat nature of the game.

[SullysCigar]

^ Yup, a VR mode would instantly add a point to the score (still not a 10!). You wouldn't want the option to play Zelda in VR??

[goldwyncq]

Slant strikes again!

[MousePaddington]

I will say that I have no shade on what someone does or doesn't like but it's not a particularly good piece of writing. It's altogether very vague (in one area - inaccurate) and it wouldn't surprise me to learn they don't write about video games that often.

Edit: Looking at their submissions on Slant, they seem to write a lot of different art forms. Their music reviews aren't particularly great either...

[MousePaddington]

Great game. I'm really engrossed in it. Seems most people are liking it.

It is kind of weird reading so many reviews of some of these games. After about the 30th or so, they all start to read the same.

[TheEnigma313]

this seems too low. This game is about an 8.5-9. Definitely not 10.

[MousePaddington]

I always thought of it more like different critics having different ideas about what those scores mean to them. One person's 6 is equivalent of another person's 7 and so on.

Not like it really matters. I think after so many reviews now, we all get the idea that it's probably enjoyable if you like this sort of game. XD

Sometimes I feel like people get too caught up in these scores.

[CrimsonWing69]

A .6 is way too low. I personally think it’s an 8/10. There’s a lot I think could be improved on the game like menu navigation/selection, make the controls less convoluted, take a few notes from Elden Ring and world design, better narrative and pacing, improve dungeon design and not make it be like “do these 5 things” for every dungeon, etc.

In no way is it a 6 just as there’s no way I can justify a 10, either.

[DankSinatra]

Why would they take notes from a game that took notes from them?

[CrimsonWing69]

Because that game arguably did it better? 🤷‍♂️

[MousePaddington]

I wouldn't say Elden Ring and open-world Zelda games are that similar, personally. They obviously have different priorities and the way you navigate the world suggests to me they're not intending on scratching the same itch.

I felt like Elden Ring gave you various different directions to go in, each one leading to a more enclosed pathway where the challenges were set and focused. Tears of the Kingdom instead expanded on Breath of the Wild's openness and kind of lets players go about the game in any which way they please. Fundamentally, the type of pacing they have to employ here are quite different, I think.

[-Foxtrot]

Oooft

Die hard fans are going to do the same they did with Jim Sterling and others sadly. They went ballistic and started properly harassing them.

[Kneetos]

That reminds me of what Sony fans did to them after no man's sky got reviewed poorly

[-Foxtrot]

Lol no where the same

No Man’s Sky was shit…low scores were out in full force

[Kneetos]

It is the same actually
No man's sky was bad, but people still harassed anyone reviewing it badly

Hell, Sony fans sent death threats to the news outlet that reported the games delay, then when Sean Murray confirmed it, they sent death threats to him

[derek]

This always happens, you'll get more reviews that are critical of the "sameness" in this game, just like Ragnarok (though that critcism came sooner). There will also be a reevaluation of how good this game is once the hype dies down just like Red Dead, maybe even a small backlash to the hype.

[GoodGuy09]

To me, the game wasn't a masterpiece either but a high 9 imo. There's definitely a lot of recycling this game did but also a lot of things to do so that made up for it. I hope the next 3D zelda, they do a new universe/timeline though, I think I've had enough of botw. I am excited for the totk dlc (if there is one) but I think that'll be it for me woth that world.

[Lexreborn2]

I put roughly 30+ hours into bow before I realized I just wasn’t enjoying the game. Downloaded the tears of the kingdom so I could demo it to see if it would be worth me trying again and realized quickly it’s not for me. I personally would’ve given bow a 7 or 7.5 because for the most part I did put 30 hours into it.

But, tears of the kingdom being more or less the same I just could do it again. To each their own but this personally wasn’t for me.

[MousePaddington]

At least you gave it a good try. I suspect they'll follow this design for a while now. Though it's up in the air whether the next game will be a direct sequel or a new continuity that follows the same format.

[sushimama]

3/5 is too low. But a 10 is too high

[mastershredder]

The Legend of Stale-da. legend of Zelda games are an experience any young gamer should have at least once or twice...after that, you need to move on. You'll grow and change more than the game "series" ever will. They have been regurgitating the same story like episodes of the walking dead for decades now.

[OzzY-waZZy]

I can't really get into it. I just finished BotW recently after having gotten through 3/4 divine beasts the first time. This does feel too similar to BotW. The autobuild stuff is not for me. Didn't like it in other games and don't like it here. Gonna keep at it and see where it goes but as of right now.. It's just making me miss the old formula. (Particularly OoT and WW)

[M0chit0]

Well, it's Slant... 😒

10/10, without a doubt. A masterpiece 👏🏻

[hiawa23]

Come on, it's Zelda. Automatic 10. It's what you buy Nintendo consoles for.

[giovonni]

There are things I like about this game, and a lot of things I dislike about this game. I spent roughly 30 hours and I can’t seem to understand how this game got a perfect score. The controls are cumbersome, the dungeons suck, and weapon durability, even though you can craft to the hearts content, is still trash. I like the fact that the game is ambitious, but it’s too ambitious. I miss the genius simplicity of Zelda mixed in with great dungeon design. This one is just overly complex with the supposed gift of choice that in essence doesn’t really matter.. when it’s one shot kills, and not enough stamina to swim across a lake. Now I’m not saying the game is terrible, it’s just not enough to be a 10

[AuraAbjure]

If you miss the old Zelda, why don't you go play some old ones? Have you really played all the zeldas? There are so many. Like a link between worlds, oracle of seasons, tri force heroes, and the minish cap. I haven't played any of those, but i want to really bad!

[EternalTitan]

And here comes the death threats from toxic Zelda fans.