Gaming & Consoles
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review: A Sequel That Rebuilds Its Own World
- Brand:
- Nintendo
- Ages:
- 10+ years
- Updated:
- 2026-08-06
The verdict
Tears of the Kingdom is a rare sequel that meaningfully expands on an already-great game rather than just repeating it — the Ultrahand building system alone reshapes how you interact with the world, and the near-universal critical praise it received at launch has held up well.
Pros
- Ultrahand building mechanic turns the entire open world into a physics-based construction toy, layered on top of the same map from Breath of the Wild
- Sky islands and underground Depths effectively expand the explorable space well beyond its predecessor
- Widely regarded as one of the best-reviewed games of the decade, with near-universal critical acclaim at launch
- Physical cartridge means it can be resold, lent, or played without eating into limited console storage, unlike many modern digital-first releases
Cons
- At $69.99, it carries the higher price point Nintendo introduced for its flagship first-party titles, above the traditional $59.99 standard
- Builds heavily on the same base map as Breath of the Wild, which can feel familiar rather than fresh to players who spent hundreds of hours in the first game
- Some performance dips are reported in the most complex physics-heavy player builds on original Switch hardware
This review is based on Nintendo's published Tears of the Kingdom details and the near-unanimous critical acclaim it received across major review outlets at launch, plus the sustained positive reception from players in the years since.
Ultrahand: the mechanic that changes everything
The Ultrahand ability lets players fuse objects together to build vehicles, weapons, and contraptions on the fly using in-world physics — strap wheels to a plank and you've got a car; combine a fan and a raft and you've got a boat. It's the kind of open-ended systemic design that turns puzzle-solving and exploration into genuine creative expression, and it's the single biggest reason the game was so widely praised at launch, earning some of the highest aggregate review scores of any game released in its year.
Is it too similar to Breath of the Wild?
Because Tears of the Kingdom reuses the same Hyrule overworld as Breath of the Wild — now joined by floating sky islands above and the shadowy Depths below — some players who deeply explored the first game report a sense of familiarity in the base map, even with genuinely new content layered on top. Whether that bothers you largely depends on how much time you already spent in Breath of the Wild's version of Hyrule.
Who it's for
Best for existing Switch owners who loved Breath of the Wild's open-world exploration and want a genuinely expanded, more mechanically creative sequel, as well as newcomers who missed the first game — Tears of the Kingdom stands reasonably well on its own. Skip it only if open-world exploration and physics puzzles aren't your genre.
Frequently asked
- Do I need to play Breath of the Wild first?
- No, Tears of the Kingdom's story and world stand on their own, though players familiar with Breath of the Wild's map will recognize the base geography beneath the new sky and underground areas.
- What is the Ultrahand ability?
- It's a core new mechanic that lets players fuse objects and materials together to build vehicles, weapons, and structures using the game's physics engine, opening up creative solutions to exploration and combat.
- Is it a digital or physical release?
- It's available both physically on cartridge and digitally through the Nintendo eShop; the physical cartridge lets you resell or lend the game and doesn't use console storage the way a digital install does.
- Is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom worth buying?
- Yes — it's one of the most critically acclaimed games of its generation, and the Ultrahand building system genuinely expands what an open-world Zelda game can be. Worth the $69.99 price for anyone who enjoys open-world exploration.
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