Highlights

  • An image of a vividly green Tears of the Kingdom map recently made the rounds on social media, having been authored by a player who spent 870 hours in the game.
  • While their Hero's Path Mode map was almost entirely covered in green lines, its intricate web was created in just a fraction of the fan's total playtime.
  • Hero's Path Mode only tracks the last 256 hours of Link's movements.

One highly dedicated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom player has recently demonstrated what the in-game map looks like after 870 hours of playtime. The screenshot of their map, bursting with Hero's Path lines all over, subsequently made the rounds on social media, captivating a vocal section of the Tears of the Kingdom fandom.

The Hero's Path Mode was initially introduced to the series as part of The Master Trials DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The feature, which works as an on-demand history of Link's movements across Hyrule, has also been included in the latest Zelda game from day one.

TOTKHYRULE
Related
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a Master Class in Open-World Design

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, which cast a large shadow, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a great example of an open world done right.

And while some players may end up beating the game without ever so much as glancing at the Tears of the Kingdom Hero Path Mode, this functionality does have an inherent ability to deliver a memorable representation of one's past adventures. Twitter user Nightfish, AKA @NightGames834, can very much attest to that fact, having recently shared a remarkable screenshot of their map almost completely covered in Hero's Path lines. After this testament to their dedication made the rounds on social media in mid-April, the player clarified that they have spent approximately 870 hours in the game.

Tears of the Kingdom Hero's Path Mode Only Tracks the Last 256 Hours

Be that as it may, the intricate web of green lines spanning their Tears of the Kingdom map of Hyrule was actually woven together in just a fraction of their total playtime. Namely, Hero's Path Mode only tracks the last 256 hours of Link's movements. Exceeding that figure will see the feature purge the oldest lines in order to draw new ones. While some players may find that restrictive, this system is actually more powerful than it was in Breath of the Wild, which only tracked around 200 hours' worth of movements.

With 870 hours of playtime, Nightfish has hence ostensibly spent enough time in the game to paint its entire map green several times over, if only Hero's Path Mode had enough memory to create a comprehensive chronicle of their adventures. Elaborating on this achievement, the player revealed that they were adamant to hunt down every last Shrine and Korok Seed in Tears of the Kingdom without resorting to guides, which is how they racked up so many playtime hours.

Even so, they were still missing a double-digit number of seeds up until recently, with their game completion rate sitting at 94.82% at the time they shared their vividly green Hero's Path map. The player did ultimately manage to reach 100% completion, having said as much in an April 20 tweet, in addition to revealing their total Tears of the Kingdom playtime counter had surpassed 900 hours by the time all was said and done.