Deep peace and remarkable art

I started writing articles about symbolism in video games in 2022 with The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. But I have been following the Zelda franchise for much longer than that. I first played Ocarina of Time at my cousins’ house in the late 90s. Many years and several years games later, I’m still following Link on his adventures.

Breath of the Wild (released in 2017) was so immersive that at times I forgot I was sitting at my house. After that, I spent 70 more hours adventuring in Hyrule while listening to podcasts – a combination that influenced my writing and led to new interview subjects. After this experience, I was really looking forward to returning to Hyrule with the much-anticipated release of its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, in May.

Tears of the Kingdom is set several years after Breath of the Wild. It carries on the story of Link and Zelda as they work to save the kingdom from a poisonous substance released by Demon King Ganondorf. In the first three days of Tears of the Kingdom’s release, it sold more than 10 million copies – and by September 2023 that number had grown to over 19.50 million copies. 

As with Breath of the Wild, there’s a deep peace present in Tears of the Kingdom. Part of this peace comes with the experience of being alone in a giant world. Hyrule is a place where my mind can roam free even though there are enemies. Some people will connect with this solitude and others will not.

Hell Invades

I was intrigued to see that Tears of the Kingdom leans even more into the kind of good-versus-evil symbolism that may make it especially powerful for Christian players and others interested in making connections between video games and religious ideas. For example, Ganondorf is given different titles throughout the franchise’s history, including King of Thieves, Demon King and Evil Incarnate. Evil Incarnate and Demon King are both clear allusions to Satan.

NOTE: The next three paragraphs deal more with Christian symbolism, but contain major story spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.

Hyrule now has a lower realm which is called The Depths – a place shrouded in darkness. The Depths are where the Upheaval and gloom originate. It’s also where Ganondorf is regaining his strength. The Upheaval causes Hyrule Castle to be thrown into the sky. So because of the Upheaval, Hell has burst into Hyrule. The center of that Hell is Hyrule Castle, where Hell is raised into the sky; in a symbolic inversion of the ontological categories of reality, Hell has been made the highest point of the world. There is gloom everywhere which is causing corruption and death, making Hyrule a fallen world. There are gloom-infused creatures roaming Hyrule and the further one goes into The Depths, the darker those creatures become.

Another important detail is that Ganondorf was imprisoned in The Depths by the sacrificial death of Rauru, the First King of Hyrule. Rauru’s choice is reminiscent of Christ sacrificing himself. Rauru chooses physical death to prevent the Evil One’s plan to rule the world; Christ goes into the heart of suffering and willingly dies so that all of humanity might live, stopping the plan of the Enemy. Both offer themselves to save the world from darkness.

Toward the end of the game, the franchise’s hero, Link, has to finally go into the darkest point of The Depths. It is here in the Origin of the Gloom that Link fights the Demon King to save Hyrule. His path resembles Christ’s journey of willingly sacrificing himself by going into the depths of Hell to save a fallen world.

End of major story spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.

The pendulum of game design

Now, the history of The Legend of Zelda is somewhat about over-correcting the previous game. The open-world of 1987’s The Legend of Zelda led to the side-scrolling of The Adventure of Link. That was left behind for the dungeon-crawling and inventory-heavy A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time is almost A Link to the Past in 3D, but that transition to 3D is itself a huge departure.

The fantasy Ocarina of Time was followed by the surreal Majora’s Mask. That darkness changed into the cel-shaded Windwaker. The bright and open Windwaker was followed by the grimy and closed Twilight Princess. Next was the light-hearted story of Skyward Sword. And the Skyward Sword linear-design was left behind for Breath of the Wild – a genre-defining, open-world RPG.

Thankfully, in Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo keeps what is great about Breath of the Wild. Nintendo does correct the weaker points of the previous game. You are introduced to individually themed-dungeons and new abilities such as crafting and building with the environment. There is a heavier focus on story and unique boss battles. There is voice acting in key cut-scenes and musical motifs from the previous games are present. Even the resolution of the game is improved. 

Choosing a favourite

I enjoy Tears of the Kingdom so much that I now have a new problem: it’s more difficult for me to recommend Breath of the Wild with quite as much enthusiasm.

Upon release, nearly every mainline Zelda game is considered one of the greatest games of all time. With the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo continues that pattern. Not only is the game a true swansong for the Nintendo Switch, but it’s just a better version of Breath of the Wild; it is an achievement that other studios must dream about.

For some long-time fans of The Legend of Zelda, the heights of the newest entry may lack the wow-factor of Breath of the Wild, which started this new course for the Zelda series. For me, and I suspect many others, Tears of the Kingdom clearly soars higher.

Great Sky Island is a tier above the Great Plateau. This new entry in the franchise is easily a Game of the Year contender and a generational-defining gaming experience that is taking its rightful place in the canon of video games. Tears of the Kingdom is a must-play game and a remarkable achievement in both art and technology.