i came into this game wanting to know the answer to the question that most people wanted to: is tears of the kingdom a good zelda game?

before the game released, i thought the game would be most like majora's mask, the sequel to the previous franchise darling, with a darker tone, using the same assets to create an entirely new story.

and when i fell from the sky, listening to exciting music and feeling a sense of freedom up there than i ever felt traversing hyrule, i couldn't help but think of skyward sword.

exploring the similar world again, it was of course hard for me not to remember breath of the wild, although i had a sense of appreciation about how much had changed. not just the world, but rather, the people, who have become livelier in the wake of a calamity-free hyrule.

i played dungeons (ok this is unrelated, but they were worse than divine beasts. yeah, i'll say it. pretty it up all you can nintendo, those puzzles were garbage.) to fight bosses that were pure spectacle, i was reminded of twilight princess.

as i watched the game rob zelda of all her agency once more to make her a boring, cardboard character with further squandered potential, my brain, of course, went to the wind waker.

and during the final boss, facing off against a dragon, i felt that the hero fantasy that they had first promised all the way back in ocarina of time had, for the first time, truly clicked with me.

tears of the kingdom attempts to be greater than everything before it. in some cases, it succeeds, earning its critical adoration. in other cases, it fails, still unable to be rid of the weight that the "zelda" name holds, like the last game, and the game before that, and the game before that, and so on.

so, is tears of the kingdom a good game? you get to decide that. but is it a good zelda game? absolutely not. which means, in a hilarious way, it is the most zelda out of all of them.