This game was nothing short of incredible. Where Breath of the Wild carved a new, revolutionary future for the Zelda series, Tears of the Kingdom expands upon that in further revolutionary ways, feeling like a return to a familiar land and a new experience all at the same time.

The story was absolutely a step above Breath of the Wild's effort in this regard. I do wish they'd have improved more on how the story was delivered, because this felt a little too stuck in the delivery methods that Breath of the Wild established.

The vehicle mechanics, even if at times a little frustrating to piece together, were nothing short of a miracle in many ways. The physics work that had to be done here to get this game as stable as it is, just incredible work. And I loved every second of messing around with vehicles.

Did this game establish the wonder of that first time running out into the world in Breath of the Wild? No. But it established new ways to explore the world and gave us different tools for doing it in a way that made it all feel new again. And that's no small feat. Nintendo's given us another masterpiece.