Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?

The only valid choice, 10.

For some reason we have some nobody named Link as the protagonist instead of the true legendary hero Tingle.

0/10

One of the easiest 10s I have ever given. I cannot belive how purely fun this game is.

10. I adored BOTW, but TOTK refines and adds so much. Don’t get me wrong I feel you need all three of the Zelda games in this series to appreciate the story fully, but it goes from strength to strength. The depths/dark world is huge and terrifying and the sky islands/sacred land while smaller is a nice respite from all the chaos and all the changes to Hyrule and its people are great to see. And the lore impact. Woo so many implications. I want to play an AoC 2 set during the imprisoning war.

I'm only about 15 hours in (curse you, finals!) But this is the most fun I've had with a game since, well, breath of the wild. I think this is a 10.

Easy 9 or 10 for me, and I wasn't even all that in to Breath of the Wild by the time I finished it. This one is getting me hooked early in a way that game didn't. All the little touches and refinements and layers that have been added to what was already a solid open world RPG though--I guess this is what I needed BOTW to be because I am absolutely loving it so far.

3% troll, it's not wrong to don't like the game, but 1/10? Really?

Perfect marks from me. It exceeded expectations, improves on BotW in every way, and I'm still addicted to exploring the truly vast world.

giving it 1 is a troll. I gave it 5 for being essentiall a BotW reskin. Shocked at how cut and paste it is with the BotW formula (opening section basically plateau, shrines to upgrade hearts/stamina wheel, Temples basically slightly easier Divine Beasts, memories, towers to open up map, the whole BotW survival/upgrade mechanics, etc, etc). Personally disappointed (massively), but glad others are enjoying.

Somehow I can give this game a 10/10 after mainly doing just towers and shrines for almost 20 hours. This game just sucks you in and I know it will only get better.

Botw+Banjo Kazooie nuts and bolts=11

Like with BOTW, I think it's a 10/10 but not a perfect game, and I don't mean in the technical aspects.

BOTW had a dozen little things I wish Nintendo had put into the game. TOTK rectifies almost every one of those little problems (no-slip gear, better "themed" dungeons, enemy variety, etc). But there are still two big issues that I can't wait to see rectified in future games.

I miss the more robust soundtrack. I appreciate the minimalist style but I think it complemented BOTW more than TOTK. I guess they figured the world is so big and you spend so much time traversing it that a big, blaring "overworld theme" would get repetitive and annoying after a while, but I would like to think game carts are big enough now that we can have longer musical pieces, with more movements, and that can change with the environment. I will say that the dynamic scores in the temples was a big addition I loved. More of that. TOTK was a babystep improvement over BOTW in the music department. I'd like to see bigger steps in the next one.

The other thing is the way the story and dungeons are presented. In this game, even more than in BOTW, you really need to watch the memories in order lest you be spoiled. I'd prefer those memories to be attached to a more obvious linear progression. Make it so that you can still do things all over the map, in whatever order you want, but for this one aspect (the main story), make it so that you have to do them in order, whenever you do them, allowing the cutscenes to play out more cinematically.

I suppose the Temples could be more like the older games. I know why they made them the way they did: You get every item before you enter, so you can't have "dungeon specific gear" and with the Ascent ability, you're limited in how you can design a multi-floor building.

I would be okay with ascent simply being deactivated in certain rooms, etc, if it allowed for more traditional 3D Zelda dungeons. The Temples in TOTK were much improved over BOTW's Divine Beasts, but they were (like with the music) only a half-step improvement vs the peak of the previous 3D games.

Critiques aside, the game is amazing, but it does (or doesn't) do things that I hope the next one does, which is exactly what I said about BOTW.

heart says 10/10
head says 9.5/10

I'm not really set on my own way of reviewing games. Not that it matters, but I was deciding between a 9 and a 10 on this one. I hate to give a 10 because it feels like I'm saying no game can top it. But I also understand no game is perfect. If I could do a decimal point system I think I'd give it a 9.8. The only downsides for me is I really really really dislike Japanese animation and while they do pretty good with this one, some of the appearance of characters kinda bug me. But that's being nitpicky and it really doesn't matter all that much when compared to the bigger picture.

It is amazing. I gave a 9 because BOTW had that initial wow whereas TOTK has wow but not as much. Still lots of wow. I agree with above and 9.9. I guess I should have rounded up.

For me, its a solid 9. Im having lots of fun with it and have played nothing since i got it, my other games are looking at me jealous, i'd pick up RE4 the day before ToTK and i have barely play it. Well done Nintendo, now i only wonder, where are they taking the series next?

One of the few and easiest 10's I'll ever give to a game, it's the best game I've played on any system for a very long time and already one of my favourite ever games. The game looks great, performance is fine for the vast majority of the game and the draw distance is impressive for what's going on.

More importantly its great fun with the new mechanics offering almost endless gameplay possibilities. There's plenty to see and do no matter where you head out to and much like Skyrim it's not afraid to let you complete tasks before being told.

Compared to BOTW, the world feels much more alive, there's a lot more to do and everything is seemingly unlockable without Amiibo.

A definite 10 from me and it makes most open world games look very dated by comparison

(Very) minor spoiler: I'm rather annoyed about two things:
There is no way for Wii U players to transfer save data.
Akkala Citadel's interior was shown in Age of Calamity, but it TotK, it somehow has a natural-looking cave instead of being a grand fortress in the style of Hyrule Castle.

I'm about 10 hours in and JUST got my paraglider. I hit Hyrule and just started wandering. Even in my weakened state, I have already had several adventures; including making a speedboat and tour the coast of Hyrule. Ultimately making it back to Labyrinth Island, which I conquered wearing rags and with no paraglider. At first I was apprehensive of being in the same world; the sense of discovery and exploration stunted in comparison to my initial playthrough of BotW. However, now that I am back on the main path; meeting up with Purah and talking to so many people, the depth of the game is starting to show. It will build ony original journey in meaningful ways. Not only that, but the emergent gameplay offered by the Ultrahand (and really ALL the new abilities) is a breath of fresh air in an open-world game; logic be darned. Nintendo chose fun and creation above all else, and that might be the most refreshing thing of all.

@Dalfgan
Same here. The initial 'wow' of BotW was not there for myself either. However, the 'wow' for TotK has come in what I can build and how I can tackle things with greater freedom. Was also leaning towards a 9 personally, but gave it a 10 here because I am sure it's just going to keep getting better and better.

I would’ve liked more help with how the devices work and how to build basic vehicles, but that’s probably because I’m just running around deliberately not doing the story

Way too early for me to score - but so far I’m immensely enjoying. It’s so far very similar BOTW, but with just enough changes to the formula where I don’t find it repetitive yet. It’s been a while since I’ve played a game as addictive as this one.

For me it's a 7,5. I wanted a Majora's Mask-like sequel (not in tone), but what we got was a Black 2 and White 2 sequel.

The same world with a few differences, a bit of expansion and a new story.

Having said that, a 7,5 still means it's really good.

Personally, I give it an 8 so far. Haven't done much of the story stuff yet but the new abilities are pretty fun.

I'm interested to see if all these 10/10s will hold up once the honeymoon phase ends.

My vote goes to 10, but only because I was rounding up from 9.5. One major issue I have with the game is how the story is handled. Unlike Breath of the Wild, you don't know what's ultimately going to happen by the end of the visions that you see from doing "The Dragon's Tears" Main Quest, and my third vision was apparently meant to be the second to last vision, and had a lot of flashbacks to other visions, and it basically told me everything that was going to happen, not just before this vision but it also hinted at what was going to happen in the last one.
In all fairness, there is a cave where not only do you discover the locations of all the geoglyphs, but you also see the intended order on the walls, but in an open world game, I am going to interact with things as I come across them. If this is how they want to handle storytelling going forward, I think it would be better if the visions/flashbacks always play in the intended order regardless of the order where you find them.

I'm not leaving a score for now, but I am really enjoying the game overall. I do miss the simplicity of just being able to have fire/bomb/etc. arrows as opposed to having to scroll over and fuse some attachment EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. especially in combat situations. And after the 15th time or so, the sign guy and the Koroks who "want to reach their friends" cross the line into tedium.

It's a great game, but like BotW, the more I see of it the more things about it I wish were different or at least optional (adding Fuse actually only adds more micromanagement to the breakable weapons that were already annoying, and the game's emphasis on "experimentation" often doesn't give you choices for something simpler). In other words, it's not perfect.

I can continue complaining about the reused map and false promise of proper dungeons but the game is so much fun still. Even for the hardest critic, personal taste, etc etc.. This just cannot be below an 8.
9 or 9.5 for me.

@AtlanteanMan yes good points. it feels like fuse is a really weak rune element. I mean so far i seem to be finding most weapons ready fused, and need to fuse the arrow every time is not a goods move imo. miss my bomb arrows so much lol

@Mattock1987 the game makes building very easy when you've done certain quests

the only complaint from me is the lack of traditional dungeons. The dungeons feel a lot like the divine beasts, which were okay at best. So I would give it a 9. I love everything else in the game and I am always thinking about it.

Where is the 11/10 option?

Since leaving the Great Sky Island it's almost constant dark and raining in my game. The lack of sunshine and beautiful vistas is impacting my ride so far. I'm guessing it's meant to be gloomier, what with the Gloom and all, but it's a bit of a cloud over things.

And I kinda feel like the game has given me too much, too soon, in terms of abilities. Like I've got a cheat code on or something. Not totally vibing with me in that sense. It's BOTW - 0.5 so far.

It's a 10/10, I never thought botw was but this fixed most of my major problems. I'd still like to see a smaller Zelda game again, though it sounds like they aren't interested in that It's not a perfect game. But is quite fun, and I like the story, unlike botw.

@link12684 I totally agree about the dungeons, and I would one up that and say that the divine beasts were actually better.

I'm only a few hours in but I know a good deal of what to expect. I'd give it a 9, 9.5 if that were an option. I would list my reasons why I believe it's not a 10 but don't want to get bombarded with replies disagreeing with my opinion

Definite 8/10 for me. A very good game, but like BOTW I feel there's far too much hype around it. I do think TOTK improves on nearly everything from BOTW even after my fairly limited progress out in Hyrule. For example, the tutorial area is considerably better than the Great Plateau.

Already way better than BotW because there seems to be more story in the game and hyrule seems way more alive, the NPCs seem more interesting to talk to. But it's been a few years since I've played so maybe BotW wasn't as quiet as I remember. But during my playthrough I felt like I was mostly just exploring a dead world, not trying to save a living world.

8/10

It's fun to build and mess around, it's surprisingly and annoyingly difficult at times when you find yourself against enemies you didn't expect, and it doesn't feel like Zelda.

But the fusing, ultrahand and the rise (can't remember it's name) abilities are all fun to mess around with. I'm honestly surprised with how much I'm enjoying this game, especially compared to BoTW.

I still hope to see a return to OoT style at some point, but this game is still fun

10 for me. Almost any complaint I had with BotW is addressed here and even things I wouldn't think of complaining about.

BotW still gets a 10 from me too anyway.

TotK is really amazing though. I just find it incredible in a lot of ways so far. Really really well done.

I've only done 1 dungeon but assuming the others are similar, it seems the puzzle elements are easier than divine beasts but the theme element is way better than the divine beasts.

So I'd say a huge step in the right direction but not there yet, I think they can improve and do better but for me I still like the 1st dungeon better than divine beasts. I'm still happy to give this game that's amazed me (or keeps surprising me in a good way) a 10.

@Cheez In general I'd say both are a 10 out of 10 when considering all videogames. When just considering Zelda games I'd give BotW 8.5/10 and though I'm not far into it I'd say Totk is 9.5/10. Though, I don't know if I'd give any mainline Zelda's lower than 7.

I like how people are basically saying 9 is too low and 10 might just barely be too high 😅

Very fun game, I'm hooked and will play it a ton, but it doesn't have the same impact that BotW had on me. That game felt like NOTHING I had EVER played before, it was so fresh, so mysterious, so exciting, and was a Zelda game like no other. TotK is excellent, but I already know this world. I love that it's a direct sequel with its own merits and improvements, and they play with your expectations, but I miss not knowing where anything is. It'd be hard to re-capture that launch BotW magic, but I think they've still created a superb game.

10 for now I give it higher if thus could be 4k Switch.

I'm still working on it but I'm at a 9. The only things holding it back for me are the main dungeons, while better than BOTW's are still kind of...just okay. Granted I've only done the water one so perhaps I just unfortunately got the worst one first but it was still just "hit 4 switches, fight the boss, done". Hopefully the others are a bit more interesting.

My other issue would be the building mechanics, while really cool, have made many of the shrine puzzles a bit too simple. Many times the answer is just slapping you in the face thanks to all the birds and fans lying around next to a ramp for example.

Other than that, some minor technical issues and the story being kind of throw away thus far at least keep me from a 10. However it's still a great game and will easily be in my top 5 by the end of the year no doubt.

BotW is a 10
And TotK is even better: 11

I’d give it a 10. A large portion of Zeldas I would give that to, it’s a testament to Nintendo. Even tho I wouldn’t say it’s perfect it is very close and on a 10 point scale rounding to the nearest whole number it’s the only way I could go. My only gripe really would have to do with some of the hand utilities feeling a bit clunky at times but still are very enjoyable and serviceable l, given you can do some pretty out there stuff. I’d say Nintendo raised the bar on the open world formula and gave us a real treat with this one, and I did go into this with my expectations not very high. Breath of the wild was not my favorite Zelda and I missed the old formula and still hope we can see a return to it but this game was a breath of fresh air for me.

The sequel to the best game ever made may be the best game ever made.

9.5 out of 10. If the game had better accessibility options and full controller remapping instead of just switching the jump and action button, it'd get a 10 from me.

@Korgon well fire is where I started and has been my only dungeon, it was a far cry from the dungeons of old. I was ready to get out of that dungeon and back to the overworld. I hope water is really not less enjoyable than fire tho. The boss I enjoyed tho.

Let's be honest, this Phillips CDI remake even fails to create the magic and splendour of Balan Wonderworld.... probably.
Yehhhhhh, I haven't played it yet. Still need to finish off BotW! Does make me wonder if a Switch successor is in the pipeline for the next year or two and whether it would run better on that (assuming backwards compatibility & some sort native upscale tech / patch for major games)

10. Easily.

It takes everything I loved about BOTW and multiplies it whilst somehow making the game feel brand new with it's QOL additions.

The new powers/tools are rewarding, creative, and fun and allowing for greater flexibility when approaching exploration of the world.

The base layer of Hyrule's map from BOTW has changed so much that I keep getting lost despite knowing this world inside out - I feel like I know nothing about present Hyrule anymore which is exciting.

The addition to Sky Islets above and being able to Skydive over a tremendously huge open world is additionally a technical and impressive feat, as well as adding an entire underworld below to explore with no load times... it's pretty insane.

With 3 unique maps, and one that is designed to feel familiar (but really is completely new), Nintendo essentially gave us 3 games worth of new Zelda content here. It shows where the 6 years of dev time went for sure.

Perfect 10 and may well be the game that dethrones Eldin Ring as my all time favorite

Still pretty early but so far a solid 8. I'm having great fun, a lot more than I ever did with BotW and honestly this is what that game should've been from the start. It's insane to see people complimenting TotK by saying it makes BotW look like a tech demo. Almost like the people that didn't love BotW have been saying that for years lol. It was nothing more than a glorified tech demo. It makes me wish I hadn't played BotW at all so I could enjoy TotK that much more. As it is, Im enjoying the TotK parts of TotK a lot, but the BotW retreads I'm less enthusiastic about

Just finished it. It's definitely one of the better games. I'd give it a 7.

I give it an 8 - it IS a great game, jsut as BOTW was, but it's still not my preferred style of Zelda game. There is still too much running around doing nothing, plus I just don't dig the weapon system with durability and breakage and all. I do like the Fusing concept though! I also don't like how they jsut drop power after power on you at the beginning - I'd rather have to find them over the course of the game. Don't get me wrong either - the game is compelling, even though I am barely into it, and I will enjoy my time with it for sure, but it's not perfect and not the best example of what a Zelda game can be to me.

It could be a while before I play this game. I still have to play Xenoblade 3 at least. And I do not rate games before I finish them. Definitely looks like a fun game though and it is reassuring to see so many people liking it. Sounds like it really is tears of joy.

Not inclined to rate things until I finish them, but it seems about as clear-cut a 10/10 as I've ever seen.

@Jhena Xenoblade 3 is wonderful. Probably the funnest 100 hours I've ever spent with a game.

I'm not very far into the game but its an obvious ten. it has so much to offer from the giant world to explore to the building mechanics, geez its just unbelievable how much content there is at such a high quality.

It’s a continuation of the best game ever: BotW. I can’t see them separately, and therefore this game is also a 10/10. Love the surprises and new stuff left and right. And am still in awe of all the mechanics running simultaneously everywhere without breaking the game.

As of right now, probably an 8 or 9 out of 10. Really enjoying the game, but some of the mechanics I'm not really digging. The building feels more like a chore honestly. And I get sick of having to create the same stuff all the time.

I also think the sky navigation kind of trivializes a lot of the exploration since you can just fly/glide to your destination much of the time. It was a similar feeling I had in Xenoblade X once you get the mechs, only that feeling occurs much sooner in TotK.

Again, still really enjoying it. An 8 out of 10 still means that it's good in my opinion! But so far I don't like it as much as Breath of the Wild.

11/10
Perfect.

@MARl0 you can save building schematics in the game, not sure if you knew that? Maybe that’ll bump it up to a 9/10

https://www.ggrecon.com/guides/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-autobuild-early-vehicle-schematics/

@TYRANACLES
I'm just about to start the fire one funnily enough. Guess we will see how that goes then.

Traversing the overworld though is where the game shines brightest. For sure my favorite aspect of the game.

It's a 10. It's better than Breath of The Wild. And that was a 10. Other people can rate it lower, that's fine, it's their opinion. But they are all wrong.
Game of the Year? Game of the generation, whatever generation Switch is in. It's better than any PS4 or PS5 game I've played. Better than any Xbox Series or One game I've played.

I'd give it an 8.
It's a good game, but just too much pissfarting about to get to the good stuff, like most open world games. I really enjoyed the tutorial island, but once back in Hyrule it kinda just felt like BOTW all over again.
I really don't think I could do another Zelda game in this style, life is too short! Also my horse McNugget is a disobedient little *****.

@Wiiiiiiiiiii Why does that bother you, though?

Solid 8.
I love TotK but for some reason, BotW is still a slight bit better.

If it wasn't for the breakable weapons I would have given this 10, as it stands 9.5. 15 hours in and hooked!!

@MrLinkTathapast
It doesn't, I even can't play the game though I really want to(because of some 'limits'):-/

@Ralizah
Thanks now I am even more looking forward to the game.

10 the best game I've ever played. BOTW was the first game to dethrone ALTTP for me and this is even better. I'm pushing 35, and I've been playing video games my whole life and nothing, NOTHING has ever had such a high level of pure fun game design.

You can complain about weapons and not being like OoT all day but you'll miss out on the fact that this is the best design anyone has ever coded into anything ever. As a dev myself I cannot believe anyone could sting together such a masterpiece of design in 6 years or even 10 but Nintendo has done it. 11/10

9 or 9.5 out of 10 for me. The weapons/shields/bows breaking makes combat a drag. The need to farm materials for upgrades and to sell for rupees to acquire story-mandatory equipment (protection from elements) create bottlenecks that detract from the otherwise sublime experience.

I spent my first 30+hrs just exploring the world, which was amazing, but after beginning to tackle the main quests it was clear I needed more rupees and to upgrade my equipment because their base level strength is laughable. That resulted in a couple boring hours of chores. So my experience was basically: 2hr annoying railroading tutorial, 30+hrs incredible exploration, 2hrs farming for specific widgets, remainder incredible temples and endgame.

The good outweighs the bad by a fair margin, thus the 9 or 9.5 (I go back and forth) but it is far from a perfect experience imo.

TotK is a 10. Xenoblade 3 is also a 10. Nintendo on a roll with their rpgs.

@Friendly The problem is that I've been playing the game for many hours and haven't encountered that yet. So that doesn't change my experience. Sure you could stumble upon something like that early, but the odds of that happening aren't good given the size of the game.

8/10. It makes a lot of improvements over BotW mechanically and the dungeons are way better, but it also feels kinda over the place and lacks the cohesion that BotW had. Majora's Mask being as amazing and original as it is probably sent my expectations too high, this is just Breath Of The Wild but more.

Out of 10 doesn't let me score high enough!! I thought BOTW was amazing but this is a whole a new level. Might become my fav game of all time at this rate

I thought BOTW was a solid 9-9.5 and I think this game is much better, so this easily gets a 10 from me. Will easily be my GOTY . I cannot get enough of it!

@GreenNinja500 Because that's a comment someone with a high IQ would make....

I'm giving it an easy 10, BoTW was one of the best games I've ever played and this so far is much better in every way.

Also those voting 1/10 are clearly trolls or jealous fanboys of other consoles.

To early for me to give a score. I have barely touched the story and haven't done a single dungeon yet. However, I do like it so far. But so far the shrines I did where mostly tutorials and the towers I unlocked where pretty easy to unlock.

6. There, I said it, I'll be famous for a few days now.

No, despite it being released on my birthday, I actually think its timing is off, from an individual perspective, as I'm currently more into smaller games. If it truly is all I fully believe it is, it's a 10, but again, no actual experience with it so far so this 10 means nothing. Here and now, it seems like what gaming has been building up to all this time, and we have a long time of disappointments coming up if we expect anything to surpass it in what it does well, anytime soon. But I'll be playing smaller games for the time being.

Whilst I view it as an 8 out of 10 (merely 'great'), in not finding it outstanding I do feel like the boy in the Emperor's New Clothes.

@Ryu_Niiyama all three?

I like TOTK a lot but some of the reasons why it doesn't get a full 10 out of 10 (I voted 8) is because the three areas are a bit too overwhelming at times (I really like the sky islands though). I think the enemies are a lot tougher so it's actually harder in some places to search and explore. Only really like two of the new abilities (ascend/fuse) ultra hand is only fun for koroks or helping out Addison with his Mr president signs and recall don't really use it much. I kinda wished the game was just the sky and land as it would've felt a lot easier and comfortable playing. Still enjoying it but feel I have to get more shrines done to get more hearts.

I’m on the fence still. The story driven sequences are great, but I’m really not enjoying the open world gameplay :/ So much “Animal Crossing” to do, chores basically… oh a boulder I’d like to blow up, but no bombs to be found.. ok I need a big hammer, where do I find a stick and a rock.. oh the hammer broke after 7 hits, let’s go source materials again…
I’m puzzled that that’s what people were waiting for. What was wrong with hearts and bombs and rupees?

It's more Breath of the Wild.

Haven’t beaten it yet but I’ve done enough so far that I’d give it a 10. Only negative thing that I see, and I’m it even complaining because it’s not too distracting — it’s just an observation, is the slowdown when engaging some of the powers.
It’s hitting some feels hard and it’s also hitting some Ocarina of Time-level story beats/moments. in my opinions it’s really the best Nintendo product to ever come out of the Nintendo oven.

@Wheatly You're incorrect about the draw distance and technical analysis is proven that. the draw distance is great! You can see so far away and know where you want to go next.

@SwagaliciousJohnson nope

@smithyo
If totk is a reskin to you what do you think of other sequels. Are Splatoons 2 and 3 5/10 games because it’s basically splatoon 1. Zelda had always followed a formula and botw created a new one while still innovating on its predecessor in almost everyway.

@Shambo hey, it also released on my birthday! shakes hands

It's a 10 for me.

I'd say 10 but this game goes to 11.👑

@sinetic your response is very vague (nonexistent)…what are you asking?

If it is what games I am referring to then:

BOTW
AOC
TotK

This game is amazing. 15/10.

@MARl0 well, is it a problem of the game though? It’s the last quest / upgrade of the purah pad and all upgrades come from Purah and Josha’s quests and are accesible right after each other. Every time you use an ability you see the empty space on the circle. Purah even sends you in Josha’s direction if you ask her. So yeah, not sure how you missed it.

Probably an 8.

Was definitely fun to just end up bumbling my way into obtaining the Master Sword without realizing I was heading to that result.

If you said anything but 10 or more then your opinion is invalid. Just sit there in your wrongness and be wrong.

Alright, who voted for abysmal? Lol

An easy 10/10, easily on par with BotW at the very least.

11/10 — filler filler filler—

10/10 not because it's perfect but because it feels like a new game.

I’m like 10 hours in so I’m not even close to being able to give it a grade. I really like it but I’m not as obsessed with it as BOTW at the time. That might very much still change. I love the new powers but the world still feels too similar, I can’t help but shake the feeling I’d rather have a full new world.

Easiest 10 of my life and I've barely scratched the surface.

Everyone thinks Ganon is the boss, but I think Beetle will be.

10/10

Note: Please do not spoil the game by telling me what the boss is.

10/10 Haven't had so much fun with a game in a long while!

Honestly I don’t know how I feel about the game so far. I haven’t made much progress and only have uncovered a small part of the map, but right now it just feels like BotW with more stuff. But in my opinion, “more” doesn’t necessarily mean better. Like the ultrahand and fuse mechanics are cool and everything, but what do they really add to the story, or the investment into the world? There are too many options for things to do that it feels distracting, especially because I’m the kind of player who just wants to run around and fight things. Personally I would have preferred if Nintendo used the same mechanics as BotW and made a new map to explore, rather than the other way around.

I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion but I still think BotW is better tbh. It just felt more fresh and satisfying to explore. Maybe I will feel better once I wrap my head around vehicle building, as I know I’ve only scratched the surface of what the game has to offer, but so far TotK hasn’t given me the same “wow” factor as BotW or the older Zelda games I grew up with.

I haven't finished it yet, as I've only completed 2 of the main story dungeons. And while I am enjoying my time with it thus far I do have to say I have surprisingly mixed feelings about TotK. I think the game just feels too "samey" to me

I find myself doing all of the same things I was doing in Breath of the Wild back in 2017. Completing shrines, collecting spirit orbs (now light orbs), collecting korok seeds,exploring towers to reveal portions of the map, clearing out bandit camps. Idk. It's lacking that same "wow" factor I had playing BotW for the first time. A lot of it just feels like going through the motions.

And while the sky islands are certainly a nice addition, I do find that, combined with the rest of the map, it all to be a tad bit overwhelming. Overwhelming in a way that BotW didn't feel. A lot of TotK feels like an exercise in tedium. Things that were simple in BotW now take longer or have extra steps. Now I have to build something. Now I have to combine my weapons together. Now I have to find a musician just so I can unlock this Great Fairy. I just want to upgrade my armor, let me upgrade my armor game!

Easy 10.

When all is said and done, this will top BotW as my favorite game of all time. This is game is incredible.

@Deemo37

You nailed it. I’d give Splatoon a 9/10. Splatoon 2 improved on some things while setting things back a bit in some ways. 7/10. Splatoon 3 is just so rehashed it deserves a 5/10 in my opinion. The sequels just can’t compete with the sheer joy of the original. Oh, and Tears of the Kingdom is a solid 8. Very good, but certain things seem really lazy. There’s a certain Hateno town side quest that is an exact clone of one from BotW. It feels like phoning it in.

20 hours in. Won't be able to score this for a long time, but really enjoying it, despite some really awful performance, especially when using ultrahand. Because of how grave that is, it'll never be a 10, even if the game design is top notch.

Game of the Year 2023! 10/10

Considering it's a huge step down from BotW, 7. Taking the cop out design choices and forcing the awful fuse mechanic to bring us Minecraft Zelda was an incredibly poor choice. First Zelda since Majora's Mask to be legitimately disappointing.

6 for me, too much of a rehash from botw. It would have been better as an expansion for botw then a whole new game.

The whole build/fuse system is fun, for the first hour or so. After it becomes tedious having to fuse every weapon you find, making the already annoying weapon handling system worse.

Also way too many frame drops, any area heavy with vegetation really shows the age of switch.

10. Can’t stop thinking about it when I’m not playing it. Is it perfect? Nope (no game ever will be) but it is ridiculously brilliant. 30 hours in and I’ve barely scratched the surface of everything this game seems to be offering.

The fact that I keep seeing the assertion that this just feels like a DLC pack for BotW even after release is staggering. This is a full blown sequel, no question about it.

Big fan of the game so far but is it reasonable to expect people to give a valid review score when it’s only been out for a week. I shall reserve judgement for the time being but suspect my score will be high!

@nintendolife Why can't we have a choice higher than 10?

BotW was a 10... no doubt. But this game is something else entirely. It's only been a week that this game has been out but it is without a doubt the greatest game I have ever played. For me, it gets a score at least double of BotW. The sheer amount of changes and content thrown into this game is astounding. This game is an accomplishment for the ages and sets a new standard for what a AAA title should be.

We are once again in the midst of a golden age of video games. I reminisce in the days of the 90's and 00's of the classics I played. But we are officially in rarified air once again... and I'm breathing it all in.

Thanks Nintendo

The shrines are so good and I’m amazed at how they’ve been able to expand the already massive Hyrule map into the Sky and Depths but….ugh the ***** koroks need to stop buying those massive backpacks and getting separated from their friends. The story is not as compelling to me as BotW. The frame rate drops more frequently that I notice it happening regularly and I’m not the sort of person to notice the difference between 30fps/60fps. And why does the whole game look like it’s being blasted with one of the ugly overhead fluorescent lights? It’s a 7 from me.

After 50 hours I can't give it a 10, a 9 seems far more fair. It's better than BOTW in every way, but the dungeons are just divine beasts 2.0. It does feel closer to a true Zelda game, but still not quite there yet. Oh right, and some shrines are outright awful. Still, I'm sure it will be my 2023 GOTY.

I mean, BOTW was a 9/10 for me. And this game is better, so I guess it's 10/10!

Lol at the trolls hitting it with ‘abysmal’

BOTW 10
TOTK 9

I voted 1/10 simply because it isn't a Zelda game except in name. It feels like a new IP with Zelda stuff bolted on.

I absolutely love most Zelda games but can't get on with BOTW or this one

@whiskeydave
Wasn’t necessarily my point but I get where you’re coming from. To me sequels are about iterating on what the original did well which for the Splatoon example I think they all do. I do however think in the realm of criticism games should be rated first on its quality as a standalone work and then how it compares to and iterates on the sequel. This mainly being because games more than any other medium it’s easy to jump into a franchise at any point. While the way the sequel improves on the first game should certainly be factored in it’s not the sole quality which was my point to the original commenter.

An easy 10 SO far but i need to "complete" it satisfactorily. I can't see it nor being a 10 and BOTW was an "easy 10" itself.

So many layers and so much compulsions for me in this game. A real deep dive.

@Wheatly did you forget you’re playing this on a Switch. Beyond impressive.

I thought 10 was Perfect, not Outstanding.

If that's the case shouldn't we see more 10s?

SPOILER

I encountered a wall in a cave that was too wet to climb, so I must have spent almost an hour trying to build a slope up this wet wall using trees and other things. Did I mention, on water? I knew there was probably an easier way to get up the wall, but it was fun to be creative and try to do it my own way. The physics are crazy.

BOTW just didn’t have that element to its gameplay.

It’s a 10.

I thinks it’s good.

Haven’t made it off the sky island yet.

Fun messing around with stuff.

Feels very BotW obviously. If it’s just another 100 more hours of that I don’t think I’ll enjoy it much.

With new 3D Zelda titles…there’s always this anticipation of experiencing it. The story. The dungeon. The boss battles. The quirky characters. The equipment.

Don’t feel like that so far

Easy 10 for me. The game is pure magic.
I can't understand some people giving it a 1 though. I mean there's plenty of highly rated games that don't interest me but I wouldn't rate them a 1 because even though they aren't my cup of tea I can still see that they are well crafted and appeal to others. It just seems immature.

10.

Amazing game. While not perfect, it’s close enough to perfect to warrant a 10 in my opinion.

@timp29 The only people who are trolling are the folks who can't possibly imagine that some people might not be into this game, and therefor rate it low out of lack of interest, or any other reason for that matter. Can't just resort to "troll" every time someone dislikes something you happen to like.

@Rottytops I suggest clicking the "scoring policy" link at the bottom of the webpage, so you can see this site's metric for their review system.

~9.2 after >20 hours in. While it has many innovative areas, a lot feels like a lazy re-tread of BOTW (Koroks, shrine structure, etc.).

Additionally, it still half-asses voice acting. By this point in time it should have ALL dialogue (except for maybe Link) voice acted, or at least had MUCH more voice acting, akin to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

Plus, there's the obvious performance and graphics issues. It being on the Switch isn't an excuse for this as Nintendo could have released newer hardware by now.

Solid 9/10 overall. I would say it takes many many great steps forward from it’s predecessor, but also takes a few steps back. I do enjoy how much more alive the world is, and how revitalized the citizens of Hyrule are. It feels like the world is one big mystery, and the citizens are unraveling it with me. Changes to the camera angles, enemy variety and behavior, and quest design are also huge pluses to me. There’s been a lot of times where I feel like I’m a part of some grand story that BotW didn’t quite do for me.

If I were to mention things I don’t enjoy, I would say the biggest issue I have is how unpolished some puzzles seem to be. For example, a lot of the shrines will follow a repetitive 3-step format, often utilizing the same building block from the previous room. Other times its rarely as cut and dry what exactly the game wants you to build and do, which can get a little frustrating when it wants to encourage creativity. Also not completely sure how I feel about the depths yet. Its cool in concept, but a lot of times it feels like one big blob of the same environment over and over. I haven’t explored a ton of it though, so I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m wrong about that.

Overall, outstanding game. Every day I’ve been looking forward to getting off work and playing.

No lower than a 9 and I'm just judging from the large tutorial area with the first four shrines. TOTK will likely be a 10 as I play it more. I'm at maybe 4 hours playtime now which isn't anything. My launch day Switch unfortunately overheated in my first couple of sessions and I've limited my play time since. I will hopefully be getting a Switch OLED to be my main Switch before June.

9/10. The game menus and item selection could use work. Not very friendly when it comes to having to scroll through all the items you picked up to find the one you want to use every time you want to fuse a weapon or put something on an arrow. Everything else is fantastic, from exploration, to music, to performance, graphics, and even environmental story telling. All top notch. So much to do in this game.

5/10 : Average and boring

I think people who rate this game below 3 should be banned for trolling hahaha

@DaniPooo
Lol yeah are mostly people who never played it.

With this game, my gaming pc is collecting dust now, i play this game almost everyday, there is so much to do, and finally it doesnt feel empty.

@Elitepatriot
You can also use the filter (most used) i use thst also, but yeah it could use some work.

I was expecting to give it 11/10, but so far I'd give it 10. I have plenty of nitpicks and it sometimes feels like megaDLC, but overall the game is as magical as BotW.

I would give it an honest 6.
The overworld stuff is honestly excellent, but the dungeons are all more or less exactly the same, go to 5 points marked on your map while the obligatory dungeon buddy is like "WOW LINK! I wonder what will happen if we do (very obvious solution) to the (obvious dungeon themed dohickey)."

All the bosses are painfully easy, even the optional ones with there more of a damage sponge versions.

The story is one of the best for a Zelda title, but is pretty generic.

After playing for about 70 hours , I've gotten my fill and the replay value is a fair bit lower for me than BotW simply because of the depths being very boring and a huge part of the game. Doubling the shrines with lightbulbs is ... Uninspired. And while it is a neat way to use the height map to make the world twice as big it's a very boring zone.

If it were not for how fun the building devices was, which is the only thing that really carried the game for me, it would have been a 4 out of 10 for me.

My challenge if it's so bad why don't you make a better game. Game couch potato critics are so common it's just laughable.

@SwitchForce I agree. People with their own thoughts & opinions sicken me!

For me its an easy 10. Not because its the perfect game, no game can be perfect. Just that TotK does so much, so well. The design is brilliant, the content is huge. The Sky Islands, The Surface and The Depths.... wow. There are subtle mechanics changes in all three zones as well as secrets to find and places to explore. This game is tougher and requires more strategic decisions to conquer enemy encampments or areas. It does it all so well. Animation is lovely, the art style is solid and consistent, the mechanics are nicely thought out, it just screams quality design. That's my feeling on TotK, it's Nintendo at their best, innovating and entertaining.

@MrLinkTathapast I was being rather tongue in cheek and having a giggle at those who scored the game abysmal. I can understand scores for TOTK that range from 4-10 depending on personal preference. I really can’t understand a 1 out of 10 score though. People are probaly giving that score in a humourous or spiteful way, probably hoping for a reaction. Have I misunderstood the definition of trolling?

I was really worried it wouldn’t be able to hold up in a post-Elden Ring world. Turns out, I love it even more, and I played that game to death, and continue to play. ToTK is just an absolute delight at every single moment.

BotW is a 10, and my second favourite game of all time. I’m only 15-20 hours in to TotK, but I think it’s probably even better. Yes it’s more of the same, but it’s so much more.
My 18 year old daughter sat down when I was playing the other night and said ‘do you mind if I watch?’ - of course I bloody don’t!

This is the best game I have ever played so it's an easy 10 for me. It's been a long, long time since a game has sucked me in so much.

@nukatha Age of Calamity is set 100 years before BotW. The built world had decayed and returned to nature. It's like complaining how the built up pristine town and ranch around Hyrule field in AoC are demolished in TotK.

@TanukiTrooper
100 years is insufficient to turn a fortress interior into a cave with stalactites

I would probably give it an 8. It's an objectively better game than BOTW and if BOTW didn't exist it would be a 9 or so, but I am definitely missing the awe and wonder that BOTW gave me. I still think it's great but it doesn't hit the same, personally.

Love me some Zelda, have for decades, but TotK isn't hitting all the notes for me that BotW did. Great game, my wife and I are putting a lot of hours into it and will continue to do so, but there are too many sections and design choices that are tedious and just not fun. Waiting for rain to let up (again), slogging through certain sections (I'm looking at you, Wind Temple setup), and, I'm sorry, breaking weapons that you have to go out of your way to find is a real drag. We just got the (SPOILER?) Biggoron Sword unexpectedly, my fave weapon from OoT. My first thought was "Cool!" My immediate second thought was "Great, I can't use this because I don't want it to break. There goes a weapon slot."

Giving it an 8 for now.

I really liked BOTW. I never agreed with the cringe whine always complaining about how they want a linear game with loud constant blaring overworld music and classic dungeons instead of open world exploration. BOTW is my favorite zelda game. This game however, doesn’t feel like a sequel to botw. In fact it took away so many good things from botw (lynel swords, crushers, lizal boomerangs, elemental arrows and swords etc.) and replaced it with a goofy, clunky and tedious fuse gimmick. I really dislike the fuse gimmick. Also, it seems like durability is worse now. Idk why the push the fuse gimmick so much by introducing “decay” to all the swords and spears and stuff laying around. Also isn’t fuse some super secret sacred ultimate god z0nAi ability? Why does half of every monster carry stuff made with the fuse ability? They must also have it. Also the monsters all look goofy now.

Btw, how is this a sequel to BOTW? there is no mention of calamity ganon, the great calamity events, and no mention of the champions. All the guardians up and vanished thanks to clean up crews, even the ones in hard to reach faraway places? The shrine of resurrection vanished too? How did zelda not see a connection between the name ganondorf and ganon? Oh wait i forgot that the characters in this game have no knowledge of ganon.

The ascend gimmick also has an annoying animation that just takes too much time.

I see you can build a house now. A weird looking house with no windows. Nice.

In my opinion this game is hot garbage (remember we all have different opinions. I think i should put this out there because while im not bothered by all the people who love this game, those guys seem to get really bothered, and i mean really bothered by anyone who says they dislike this game and its lame gimmicks). I returned my copy after just 10 days. I can’t believe they kept delaying this game for years just to eventually release some overhyped hot garbage with a clunky fuse gimmick where your boulder glued to the tip of a rusty sword clips through the ground as you walk. After returning TOTK, i went back for another play-through of BOTW and its thousands of times better.

@timp29 i don’t think having an opinion different from yours is “trolling”. Not sure how its that hard to comprehend that maybe some people really disliked this game after playing it.

@MARl0 you just have to talk too one person in a pretty major area you have to go to

@DaniPooo Having different opinions on a game is trolling? Maybe people should be banned for also not liking the same movies as you too?

@TOTKcringe no of course you can have different opinions. But when rating a game you should try being as objective as possible.

And no matter what angle you have, this game is not a terrible game.

I can admit that I don't enjoy playing the GTA games or the FIFA games or even the Dark Souls games.

But just because those are not the games for me, doesn't mean that I would give them a terrible score, because I can see that if you're into those sort of games then those games will probably be great.
In fact, I would admit that those games are not for me and I wouldn't rate them because I would probably give them an unfair score.

If you're not into hamburgers then maybe you shouldn't review or rate hamburgers? Better to leave that to someone who is passionate about hamburgers? That person will rate a poor hamburger harshly and a good hamburger fairly.

I can't in my wildest dreams imagine a good motivation behind giving TOTK a score of 3 or lower. Because it's a great open world action adventure title of very very high quality that looks and plays great on the Switch.

Objectively it's a great game with very few flaws.

Rating a game at 0 means it's a terrible joke of a game that looks terrible, plays terrible, sounds terrible, full of bugs, poor content, no quality to speak of whatsoever. There's just no way anyone can say that about TOTK even if the game is not for them.

If you're not into open world action adventure games, then maybe you shouldn't rate the game?
And if you don't know how to fairly rate a game, then you should definately not rate, you're doing more harm than good.

I just got an idea! @NintendoLife
How about you create a sort of "game-rating school" that you need to take and pass before being allowed to rate games?
Teach people what to consider when rating each spect of a game.

@TOTKcringe I can see your points, but even with those "down sides", I wouldn't call the game garbage, in fact I think TOTK did a lot of things better than BOTW. Better side quests, more freedom, larger world, more content.

Also it's clearly a sequel, I don't know what you expected.
The game takes place after BOTW and the story makes sense.

Sure there's no guardians boohoo, if you wanted to play the exact same game then play Breath of the Wild again?

Majora's Mask was a sequel to Ocarina of time and there was arguably even more differences between those games.

It’s hard to take an opinion seriously when it’s from someone called TOTKcringe

BotW was all new and we didn't know what to expect and it had plenty of surprises, but this game is more of the same and has to many puzzles.
8 out of 10.
If I stick with it to the end I'll add a point.

@nukatha imagine how cool that would have been though if one of the caves was literally just the interior from age of calamity

@RSSR
That's exactly what I was expecting. I was sorely disappointed. I also expected the Great Hall of Hyrule Castle (also in Age of Calamity) to be accessible, and it is not either.

@nukatha missed opportunities