The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the best-reviewed games of all time, nabbing a staggering 97 rating on Metacritic (a score almost unprecedented for such a mammoth release in this generation) and immediately being hailed as one of the greatest experiences ever crafted. Now over six years later, reviews for the long anticipated sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, are in – and they’re somehow just as glowing.
With the first 84 critic reviews lodged, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a Metascore of 96: https://t.co/JwVf7Ec8JH
"It gives you back as much as you put into it, and beckons you to soar, burrow, engineer, solve, adventure, and explore." – Steve Watts, GameSpot pic.twitter.com/lKIqE0cH40— metacritic (@metacritic) May 11, 2023
The game has earned perfect scores from multiple outlets, currently good enough for a 96 aggregate score on Metacritic and a 97 on OpenCritic. Gamespot calls it “a canvas for your own creativity, a book to write your own stories, a world to create your own legends.” IGN hails the game as “ an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds.” Nintendo Life enthuses about the adventure as “a glorious, triumphant sequel to one of the best video games of all time; absolute unfiltered bliss to lose yourself in for hundreds of hours.” By our count, the game has a staggering 49 perfect scores currently aggregated on Metacritic, and may well accumulate more. Particular praise seems to be placed upon the game’s story, expansion of ideas, and creativity.
Even the outlets that don’t hail the game as the second coming are more than positive: Game Informer’s 9.8 review calls it “ingenious” for replacing the toolset from the first game with an all new one, while Eurogamer’s 4/5 review calls the game “a terrific Breath of the Wild follow-up with some brilliant new systems, amazing views and more dungeon-type space.” Only the 6/10 GFinity review seems to have a truly mixed take on the game, and it’s clear reading it that the author simply didn’t gel with it, calling it a follow up to the “divisive” Breath of the Wild (I don’t think I’ve before seen a single person in my life call that game divisive, but different strokes.)
Tears of the Kingdom releases tomorrow, May 12th.
Make sure to check out our guide where we list off a retailer list and details about pre-order bonuses!
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
