The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's release is right around the corner, and fans are eagerly waiting to get their hands on this much anticipated sequel. In the past few days, clips have been coming out from lucky fans that were able to play test or receive Tears of the Kingdom ahead of launch. While it was cool to see the various ways each player approached the same obstacle, it's had some fans concerned about how the game will reward creativity and innovation.
When Breath of the Wild launched in 2017, players were in awe of the vast freedom of this new Hyrule. The game allowed for the first true open-world experience in the franchise's history and encouraged nonlinear progression of Link's journey. Additionally, the game's physics sandbox was unlike anything seen from Nintendo before. Players fell in love with all the different possibilities their new Sheikah Slate Runes gave to interact with the world around them. In the years since, fans have continued to spend hours in the game finding new (and sometimes absurd) ways to traverse shrines and the overworld.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Needs to Reward Players for Their Creativity
As the previews continue and more information about Tears of the Kingdom is shared, it seems clear this freedom will once again be available to players, but the question of incentive arises for many restless fans. When presented with one of the game's many challenges, it's undoubtedly fun to explore the many methods to complete it. Countless players have found unique ways to skip entire puzzle sequences in Breath of the Wild with the handful of tools at their disposal. It always looks impressive, but this open-endedness may quickly become stale in the sequel if and when players discover the simplest, and often the easiest, option gets the job done just fine.
With Tears of the Kingdom seeming to address criticisms of its predecessor from dungeons to the return of classic enemies, it would be the perfect opportunity to return a bit of treasure hunting to the series. Though the same effect is achieved through the game's Spirit Orb mechanic, players were found longing for secret treasures such as Heart Pieces in Breath of the Wild. These hidden rewards were often a Zelda staple and gave players a real sense of pride and accomplishment.
If Nintendo wants to keep the creative freedom of these Switch entries fresh, harder-to-reach prizes such as these are the perfect incentive. By hiding more prominent rewards among the paths less traveled, players may continue to seek more imaginative ways to explore an area. Nintendo came close with Breath of the Wild's 900 Korok Seeds scattered about Hyrule's most obscure places, but after maxing out a player's inventory, the remaining 451 are virtually worthless.
With the many islands populating its sky, Tears of the Kingdom opens up ample opportunity to hide rewards for only the most daring of adventurers. Players could take a direct line to their goal or use their new abilities to platform across the more precarious sections in search of secrets.
This iteration of Hyrule is incredibly vast, and it would truly be a shame if players had no reason to explore every inch of its beautiful landscape. By giving players the illusion of choice in their exploration, Nintendo runs the risk of this new version of Zelda quickly becoming stale. Sure, a player could kill a boss with a motorcycle, but there's ultimately no reason to shift to an open world format if there's no incentive to veer off the direct path other than looking really cool doing it. Players eagerly await what new secrets Tears of the Kingdom will bring, hoping that there are quality rewards for their creativity.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases May 12 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
