The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a big boy. I clocked in 80 hours before even realising you could build your own home in Tarrey Town. Entire regions and quest lines can be missed if you fail to talk to a specific NPC or rush through things without stopping to smell the Bomb Flowers. This wasn’t a luxury I was afforded while playing ahead of the embargo.
I was working against the clock, driven to reach the end credits of a game which feels designed not to be rushed. Speedrunners and others far more capable than I am will quickly prove me wrong after launch as they storm through the entire thing in under an hour, but for most of us, Tears of the Kingdom is a gradual jog as opposed to an aggressive sprint. Each temple, discovery, and encounter is something to be savoured, and you should do just that.
You feel the urge to rush ahead because there’s so much to see, this temptation rearing its head the moment Link steps out onto The Great Sky Plateau. Fortunately, the game knows we are eager beavers and prevents Link from yeeting himself into the sky and towards the surface until a bit of housekeeping has been taken care of. You first need to befriend Rauru, who will lead you to shrines housing a number of exciting new powers. The environments here are all-purpose built to accommodate the experimental curiosity that surfaces in their wake.
Forests are filled with wooden sticks and rocks of different shapes ideal for fuse, while the snowy mountains where another shrine awaits are dotted with outcrops perfect for Link to ascend through. There’s a method to reaching each objective, but the focus is on messing around with every single tool the game gives you. Taking the boring path is totally possible, although even the NPCs seem to drip feed handy little tutorials and ideas, pointing towards parts of the world filled with materials and equipment you should be playing with instead.
After leaving the starting plateau I’d hurry on over to Lookout Landing to obtain the camera and paraglider, but once you’ve received the four main quests - this game’s equivalent of the Divine Beasts - I’d let the world swallow you up and do whatever comes naturally. Let your own imagination guide you in whatever direction feels right, taking your time to befriend an army of Koroks or duke it out with Bokoblins while completing your first dozen or so shrines.
Ganondorf might be poised to revive himself and destroy the world, but this game employs the dissonance we see in most open world games in that no matter how severe the threat happens to be, it doesn’t care so long as you’re having fun. Besides, each little thing you do feeds into the preparation to vanquish the Demon King. All the mushrooms picked, weapons earned, and friend made helps Link grow into a warrior capable of conquering evil, which is likely why Tears of the Kingdom is littered with so many seemingly menial tasks to be performed.
You’re likely to do them while venturing towards familiar friends and unknown temples, a sense of adventure chipping away at the ultimate goal no matter how long it takes. It’s a consequence of my job, but part of me wants to start up a fresh save and indulge in this game without the need to be critical, or force myself to see as much as possible in fear I may miss something.
Due to having a deadline to meet, I missed so much. I didn’t build my home in Tarrey Town before filing the review, and even now substantial quest lines involving the stables or some of my favourite characters are being mopped up after the credits have rolled. It’s the sort of game where discoveries will continue to be uncovered years from now, so take your time and value the personal meaning of your experience, treating it like a water cooler where gameplay stories can be swapped with friends because everyone is going to play Tears of the Kingdom in wholly different ways.