You’re standing on a floating island made of crumbling green stone, looking down at a world that feels both hauntingly familiar and completely alien. Below you, the vast kingdom of Hyrule stretches out, but it’s scarred by massive red chasms and dotted with fallen debris. You jump. The wind whistles, the music swells with a lonely piano trill, and you realize you aren't just playing a sequel. You’re playing a physics engine disguised as a fairy tale.
So, is Tears of the Kingdom good?
It’s a weird question to ask about a game that sold 10 million copies in three days, but it’s a valid one. After the high of Breath of the Wild, expectations weren't just high—they were tectonic. People worried it would be "glorified DLC." They feared the map was too similar. Honestly, if you just look at screenshots, you might think it’s the same game. You’d be wrong.
The Ultrahand Revolution
The biggest change isn't the story or the sky islands. It’s a mechanic called Ultrahand. Basically, Nintendo gave players a literal glue gun and said, "Figure it out." You can attach almost any object in the world to another. Need to cross a lake? Glue three logs together and slap a motorized fan on the back. Want to commit war crimes against a camp of Bokoblins? Build a self-driving tank with flamethrowers and a laser beam.
It’s ridiculous.
💡 You might also like: Marvel Rivals Emma Frost X Revolution Skin: What Most People Get Wrong
There’s a specific kind of magic in how the game handles failure. Usually, in open-world games, if you try something "wrong," the game just stops you. Here, if your wooden car falls apart because you forgot to balance the weight, that’s just physics. You feel like a genius when things work because the game didn't hold your hand to get you there. Eiji Aonuma and the development team clearly spent years just making sure the chemistry engine didn't explode when players started attaching rockets to shields. Which, by the way, you can absolutely do. It’s the best way to gain height quickly.
Why the Map Doesn't Feel Old
A lot of skeptics asked if is Tears of the Kingdom good considering it uses the same base map of Hyrule. It’s a fair point. But the "reused" map is really just the middle layer of a three-tier sandwich.
You have the Sky Islands above, which provide these beautiful, airy puzzles and a sense of verticality we’ve never seen in Zelda. Then you have the Depths. The Depths are terrifying. It’s a subterranean world as large as the surface map, pitch black, and filled with "Gloom" that permanently deletes your health heart containers until you reach a light source. It turns the game into a survival horror experience. You’re tossing Giant Brightbloom Seeds into the dark, praying there isn't a Frox—a giant, one-eyed frog monster—waiting to eat you.
Complexity vs. Accessibility
Let’s talk about the friction. This game is much harder than its predecessor.
📖 Related: Finding the Right Words That Start With Oc 5 Letters for Your Next Wordle Win
The fuse system is a great example. Your base weapons are almost all "decayed" because of the Upheaval (the game's inciting incident). They break fast and do pathetic damage. To survive, you have to fuse things to them. A monster horn, a boulder, even a mushroom. It adds a layer of menu management that some people find tedious. If you hate clicking through menus to find the right item to attach to your arrow, you might find the flow a bit stuttery.
But the payoff? Massive.
Fusing a Keese Eyeball to an arrow makes it a homing missile. Fusing a Ruby to a staff gives you a fireball launcher. It rewards curiosity in a way that very few modern AAA games dare to.
The Performance Question
We have to be real: the Nintendo Switch is old. It was underpowered in 2017, and in 2023 and beyond, it’s basically a calculator compared to a PS5. When you’re using Ultrahand and moving large objects, the frame rate can chug. It dips below 30fps sometimes. Does it ruin the game? Usually no. But if you’re a "60fps or death" kind of gamer, the technical limitations will grate on you. It’s a miracle this game runs at all, honestly. The fact that you can dive from a sky island, pass through the surface, and enter a hole into the depths with zero loading screens is a feat of engineering that probably required some kind of dark ritual at Nintendo HQ.
👉 See also: Jigsaw Would Like Play Game: Why We’re Still Obsessed With Digital Puzzles
Narratives and Nostalgia
The story is told through "Dragon’s Tears," which are essentially memories scattered across the world. It’s a non-linear way of storytelling that worked in the first game and works even better here. Without spoiling anything, the plot involving Zelda’s disappearance is significantly more emotional and high-stakes than the "waiting for Link" vibe of the first game. There’s a sense of tragedy that permeates the world.
- The Temples: They brought back traditional dungeons! Sorta. They are much better than the Divine Beasts from the first game, with unique bosses and themes (the Wind Temple is a standout), but they still feel a bit short compared to the sprawling temples of Ocarina of Time.
- The NPCs: The world feels alive. People are actually rebuilding. You see construction crews, researchers, and monster-hunting squads. You aren't just a lonely hero in a graveyard; you’re a participant in a civilization trying to survive.
- The Side Adventures: Not just "fetch me five crickets." There are actual multi-stage quests that change the world, like the mayoral election in Hateno Village.
Is It Worth Your Time?
If you want a game that tells you exactly where to go and what to do, you will hate this. It is a game of distractions. You’ll set out to save a princess and spend four hours trying to figure out how to transport a Korok to his friend using a hot air balloon and a plank of wood.
The "goodness" of Tears of the Kingdom comes from its respect for your brain. It assumes you are smart. It assumes you will experiment. It doesn't put invisible walls around its puzzles. If you can find a way to "cheat" a puzzle using your powers, the game lets you. That is the ultimate mark of good design.
Essential Tips for New Players
- Don't hoard materials. Use those Zonai charges. Fuse those high-level horns. The game gives you plenty, and being "too powerful" is part of the fun.
- Go to the Depths early. It’s scary, but the Autobuild ability is hidden down there (specifically at the Great Abandoned Central Mine). It saves your life by letting you instantly recreate vehicles you've built before.
- Follow the birds. If you see a flock of birds circling in the sky, there’s usually something interesting—a shrine, a cave, or a point of interest—directly below them.
- Stamina over Hearts. You can always cook "Hearty" foods for extra health, but having a big stamina bar is the only way to explore the sky effectively.
Ultimately, the answer to is Tears of the Kingdom good is a resounding yes, provided you enjoy the "tinkering" aspect of gaming. It’s a toy box. It’s a laboratory. It’s a sprawling epic that manages to make a seven-year-old map feel like a brand-new frontier. If you haven't jumped in yet, start by focusing on the main "Regional Phenomena" questline; it naturally guides you to the tools you need to survive the more brutal challenges of the late game. Stop overthinking the physics and just start gluing things together.