GamesAdventureThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomThe one feature that put me off playing Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom actually makes me feel like a creative geniusWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAdventureThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomThe one feature that put me off playing Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom actually makes me feel like a creative geniusWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Despite experiencing a serious case of FOMO whenLegend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdomfirst released last year, I took my sweet time actually working my way up to playing it. As much as I enjoyed my time with Breath of the Wild, I’ve been quite hesitant to step into Link’s follow-up adventure in Hyrule for one simple reason: I didn’t think I would be any good at it. I’m not the best when it comes to solving puzzles, particularly when said puzzles require me to build things. I’m also not the most creative when it comes to crafting, and it seemed as though Link’s new mystery hand was putting both of my weaknesses at the forefront of the sequel.
From the outside looking in, I couldn’t help but admire the creativity and ingenuity from the Tears of the Kingdom community following the game’s release. From building impressive vehicles, tocreating inventive ways to defeat enemies, Reddit wasflooded with impressive examplesof how the new Ultrahand and Fuse abilities could be used. Even now, we’re stillseeing some incredible player creations, but I couldn’t get out of my own way to actually give it a go myself.
But when I received Tears of the Kingdom for my birthday, I figured it was high time to push my apprehensions to one side and finally try it. And let me tell you, after a handful of hours, I’ve never been happier to be proven so wrong. The very features that put me off the sequel have turned out to be the most satisfying and rewarding mechanics in the game.
Lending a hand
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Weapons to wield(Image credit: Nintendo)The bestZelda Tears of the Kingdom weapons, bows and more
Weapons to wield
(Image credit: Nintendo)The bestZelda Tears of the Kingdom weapons, bows and more
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The bestZelda Tears of the Kingdom weapons, bows and more
While the shrines pose various challenges to overcome, early doors many of them serve as tutorials on all of the ways you can useTears of the Kingdom’s abilities and powers. The intuitive puzzles make it feel as though I’m organically discovering how to put Link’s new arm to use. What’s more, the amount of eureka moments I’ve already experienced makes me feel like I’m actually creative and clever, even when I’m ostensibly just welding objects together and chucking things around.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Fusing things to make my own apparatus to get from one point to the next is always satisfying. From sticking a hook on to a board to get across a crevice, to combining all manner of gadgets together to turn even the most basic of weapons into deadly contraptions, I love that even my most rudimentary builds can become a makeshift solution. Whether that be a ramshackle platform I’ve created for a puzzle, or a weird weapon combination that gives me the upperhand in combat, Tears of the Kingdom does such an effective job at making it easy to get to grips with Link’s tools.
Even when I’m probably not putting the arm to use in the best possible ways, I also appreciate that I can just cheese my way through some solutions with my hodgepodge creations. At one point, for example, I created a very ugly-looking platform that was haphazardly mashed together and placed onto a wire overhead, but I still managed to make it work to get to where I needed to go.
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If you’re getting to grips with the abilities like I am, be sure to check out ourLegend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Fuseguide.
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