Puzzles have always been a core element of the Legend of Zelda franchise, even back in the very first 1986 Zelda that tasked players with uncovering the secret behind a maze. Puzzles have only continued to become more prevalent as Zelda's evolved over the years, going from simple pressure-plate puzzles in the early games to fully-fledged dungeons that contain one gigantic puzzle surrounded by a bunch of smaller challenges. And thankfully, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom continues the trend.
Much like its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom boasts a sprawling open-world, littered with countless points of interest. But among the enemy encampments, NPC villages, open fields, and Skyview Towers, Tears of the Kingdom's open-world is once again home to a plethora of Shrines, containing another slew of compelling puzzles and combat challenges that Nintendo was definitely right to bring back this time around.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Was Right to Bring Back Shrines
When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched back in 2017, the general critical and fan reception was astounding, putting it as one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. However, despite everything that it got right, many fans still had one big criticism with the game, and that was its lack of classic Zelda dungeons. Thankfully, this complaint didn't hamper Breath of the Wild's reception too much, and a lot of that comes down to the presence of Shrines in the game, a set of 120 separate challenges and puzzles that granted the player a Spirit Orb upon completion, which could then be used in turn to gain the player an additional heart container or stamina wheel segment.
While The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom brings back fully-fledged dungeons once again, its open-world is still home to just over 150 Shrines, which is even more than the last game. And these Shrines aren't just rehashes of Breath of the Wild's. Each of Tears of the Kingdom's Shrines comes with its own unique challenge, whether it's a tutorial designed to teach the basics of combat, a puzzle using the game's new Zonai abilities, or an intense combat challenge against the game's new Zonai Construct enemy type.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's puzzle-focused Shrines are an extremely worthwhile addition to the game. At the start of Tears of the Kingdom, players unlock a handful of new abilities, replacing the Sheikah Slate powers of Breath of the Wild. While players can use these new abilities across Tears of the Kingdom's open-world, fusing together whatever their mind can conjure up, these new Shrines give some much-needed focus to these abilities. Each of Tears of the Kingdom's puzzle Shrines usually require the player to use at least two of the new Zonai abilities in order to reach the end, but really, it's down to the player's own creativity in how they approach it. With these new abilities, players can skip whole portions of a Shrine. Rather than scold the player for their creativity, Tears of the Kingdom rewards it, with player-freedom being its core principle.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's combat-focused Shrines also provide a unique challenge. Unlike those found in Breath of the Wild that mostly just throw a handful of Guardians at the player, Tears of the Kingdom's combat Shrines often take a bold new approach. Players will often be completely stripped of their weapons and equipment and are tasked with taking out every Zonai Construct in the room with only the materials they can find around the Shrine. This not only tests the player's combat prowess, but also their survival skills, making each challenge feel truly rewarding to complete.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Switch.
