It's difficult to explain the joy I experienced when I first played Breath of the Wild. The exploration loop was fresh, and it brought me back to the first time I walked around in Fallout 3 or Skyrim just searching for a new cave or point of interest. Did Tears of the Kingdom deliver that same joy? Frankly, no. However, I would not describe Tears of the Kingdom as a mere evolution and refinement of the systems that Breath of the Wild created as some people have called it (some going as far as to call it a glorified DLC). Unlike an iterative series (think Far Cry), TotK adds depth by creating new mechanics that change the way you can play. Rather than refining shrine puzzles and changing the world to build upon the rune abilities of the first game, they turned the entirety of Hyrule on its head with brand new abilities while simultaneously including 2 new areas. Granted, the Sky Islands are pretty sparse, and The Depths don't have a ton to offer besides the mines and some tougher enemies, the sheer square footage they added to this game gives you plenty of space to wander and explore. I also think the story is more compelling and does some things I've never seen in a Zelda game. While the lost memory trope of BotW is tried-and-true, a fresh take on the Hero of Hyrule's story was most welcomed. TotK is a once in a generation kind of game, and I strongly recommend you give it a play if you're even the slightest bit curious.

If there's one thing I hate about a game that isn't designed to be an escape room simulation, it's when the rules change for what and how you can interact with objects in the world. The puzzles are really satisfying, but I really don't like the first 10ish minutes of each room trying to figure out if I can click on the same sign, chess piece, apple, or wall the same way that I did in the previous 5 rooms. The concept is sound and interesting, but I found the lack of setup in some ways much more frustrating than it needed to be. In a game like Portal, the rules of the world are pretty well-defined, and you have some semblance of an idea of what you need to do within the first 30 seconds of looking around. This game had several head scratching moments that had me backtracking for several minutes before realizing I just missed that the little wood piece on the wall is interactable or that there's a piece of cheese hidden in the sliver of a wall crack. Also, the Portal-meets-Bennett Foddy narrative bits felt a little half-baked and uninspired. They could have done something really cool with this story, but they just chose to go with the same old tropes. All that said, it's a beautiful game with some striking visuals. Some of the puzzles felt really rewarding to solve, and I think the repetition of the early sequences was interesting (somewhat PT-like).