In early May of this year one of the most anticipated games of the past 5 years finally released. The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to 2017’s The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild which was in and of itself, a masterpiece that brought innovation and exhilaration back into the series which had begun to get stale after years of the same formula being used repeatedly. In the wake of Breath of the Wild’s release, it garnered critical acclaim so when the sequel was announced it was an instant recipe for success. So much so that at the 2022 Game Awards, it was voted the most anticipated game of 2023.

Released on May 12, 2023, Tears of the Kingdom was quickly acclaimed as one of the best video games of our generation. It overtook the streaming scene reaching number 10 on the most watched category on Twitch during the month of its release. There was a time when you could not go onto the internet without seeing it being mentioned.

It took the faults of its predecessor, corrected them, and then took the things it did great and bolstered them even further. The most glaring difference is that Tears of the Kingdom took Breath of the Wild’s open world and expanded it with both islands in the sky and a new overworld underground called the depths. In addition, it also added several key features to distinguish it from its predecessor, proving it to not be just a simple copy and paste of Breath of the Wild.

Overall, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom was a sight to behold that took the internet by storm. It is likely to win several awards at the 2023 Game Awards and is likely the front runner for game of the year. It also showed the big companies that players will wait a long time in exchange for a fantastic game, which is likely to cause other developers to slow down shedules and give us better games in the long run. The only question left is what can Nintendo do next that will live up to this masterpiece.