Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The direct sequel expands Hyrule with sky islands and underground depths, and hands the player powerful building tools with Fuse and Ultrahand. Creative solutions are rewarded with almost no limits.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Action / Adventure, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays light and upbeat. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The story matters and gives the mechanics a frame, without taking over. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available on one platform. It is a full price release.
What stands out
- Creative building system
- Sky, surface and depths
- Enormous inventive freedom
This fits you if
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you would rather build something than be told what to do
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
- you want something light that leaves you in a good mood
Look elsewhere if
- you do not have 60 hours to give a single game
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you are not willing to pay full price right now
- you want to play it side by side with someone
What it costs you in time
About 60 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 10 weeks, or 30 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 95 out of 100, which puts it above 98 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 21 overall. That is top tier. Only a handful of games here score higher.
For comparison, Action averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 12 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 897 collected ratings.
Released in 2023 and 3 years old. Recent enough to look and run modern, old enough to be patched and often discounted.
The facts
- Release year
- 2023
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Puzzle
- Playtime
- approx. 60 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Present and relevant
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Fantasy
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Full price
- Platforms
- Switch
- Critic rating
- 95 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | 2023 | approx. 60 hrs. | 95 | Full price |
| The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | 2024 | approx. 25 hrs. | 85 | Full price |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | 2017 | approx. 50 hrs. | 98 | Full price |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD | 2013 | approx. 26 hrs. | 91 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, rated higher
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Sea of Thieves Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, longer