After years of waiting, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally here, and by all accounts, Nintendo has somehow managed the impossible, and not only produced a game of the same caliber as Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but one that might even surpass it. A direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom picks up soon after the events of Breath of the Wild, and the kingdom of Hyrule is once again thrust into absolute chaos, but some things are a little different this time round.
While it uses its predecessor's gameplay as the groundwork, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom introduces a plethora of new mechanics, from new forgeable vehicles, to an entirely new kingdom in the skies to explore. But when it comes to its opening tutorial level, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes its predecessor's foundations and embraces them fully, following in its footsteps almost step for step, which was the best thing Nintendo could have done.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Encourages Creativity From the Start
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has one of the most beloved tutorial levels in all of gaming. After waking and emerging from a cave, the player sees their first glimpse of Hyrule, and it's truly breathtaking, with Breath of the Wild's beautiful cel-shaded art style getting its first chance to flex its muscles. After meeting a mysterious old hooded man, Link is tasked with his first quest: finding a handful of shrines on the Great Plateau. Each of these Shrines acts as a mini tutorial in itself, giving the player a brand new Sheikah Slate ability and teaching them the basic mechanics associated with it. After a few hours of gameplay, the player should have finished all the Great Plateau's Shrines, and in the process, learned all the core mechanics for the entire game.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Great Plateau tutorial is one of the most seamless introductions in gaming, providing just enough information to teach players the basics, while still letting them explore those new mechanics for themselves, and create their own solutions to problems. Thankfully, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom follows in its predecessor's footsteps very closely, creating yet another masterfully-designed tutorial level.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's opening level takes players to new ground immediately, starting them on one of the game's new Sky Islands. From here, players are tasked with reaching the Temple of Time and are given free rein in how to do so. Once there, they're tasked with visiting the four Shrines across the Sky Island, with each one giving the player a brand-new Zonai ability. Much like its predecessor, Tears of the Kingdom's tutorial level is another seamless introduction to the game's core mechanics that still puts player-freedom and creativity first, and that's even more overt in the sequel.
Giving players the four core Zonai abilities from the get-go is an incredibly smart move on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's part. For a game centered around adventure and creativity, it was important for Tears of the Kingdom to showcase those elements early on, and that's exactly the case in the final product. With Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend, and Recall all available within the first hour or so of gameplay, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gives its players an immediate level of freedom that just isn't present in most games. And by giving players these powers so early, Tears of the Kingdom quickly teaches the player that these abilities are central to the game's core experience. By the end of Tears of the Kingdom's tutorial, players will be forging boats from trees, attaching fans to gliders, and fusing together a stick and a rock to make a hammer, all while learning that creativity and player-freedom is key.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.
