The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
By: Nintendo
RELEASED as a Switch launch title, Breath of the Wild not only catapulted Nintendo's Zelda series into the modern era, it also ensured its handheld became one of the top-selling consoles of all time. So, what better way to bookend the ageing hardware than with a sequel to one of the highest-rated games of all time?
Giving players absolute freedom with its 'go anywhere, do anything' gameplay, Breath of the Wild has been oft-copied but never bettered, and Tears of the Kingdom is an excuse to do it all over again.
Picking up several years after the defeat of Calamity Ganon, Tears kicks off with Link and Princess Zelda exploring the catacombs beneath Hyrule. Without spoiling the party, I can say that, within the first half-an-hour, Zelda falls down a hole, islands appear in the sky and our tunic-clad hero gets a new arm.
With Hyrule Castle pulled into the sky and a toxic darkness belching from the earth, it's time to step inside the elfin loafers of Nintendo's sword-swinging icon for another dose of open-world adventure.
Draped over the original's scaffolding, Tears could never have the same impact, instead turning everything up to 11. Much like fancy bog roll, Hyrule is now 3-ply: though its map may be familiar at first glance, floating islands now cover the skies and cavernous Depths cover much of the earth beneath Hyrule, creating a trio of environments to caper about in your makeshift jalopy.
The headline this time is four new powers. Ascend lets Link burrow vertically through rock and Recall reverses time, but Ultrahand and Fuse are the real game-changers. Like a Blue Peter 'make' gone wrong, or when Homer Simpson designed the ultimate car, Fuse lets Link combine objects with his weapons, from strapping springs to a shield to adding flamethrowers to his sword.
Ultrahand is the game's star, though, letting creativity run riot as players combine anything that isn't bolted down to craft planes, jetpacks, hot air balloons and anything else your imagination fancies. Nintendo haven't re-invented the wheel, but they let you stick four of them on a tree trunk to fashion a wooden car. It's Minecraft, Zelda-style, and sure to swamp Youtube with its creations.
While, traditionally, each new Zelda yanked the series in a bold new direction, TOTK is the most conservative of sequels. Doubling down on everything that made the original so good, the sheer fact Nintendo can coax a game of this size and scope from its six-year-old handheld proves age really is only a number. Zelda's latest may have had big shoes to fill, but the follow-up to Breath of the Wild shows you really can improve on perfection.
Despite playing David to Sony and Microsoft's Goliaths, Tears of the Kingdom is an energy shot for the portable pensioner, reaffirming Nintendo's position as the daddies of gaming. When it comes to blockbuster games for the Switch, it was always going to end in Tears.
