It's safe to say that I've become a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda over the past few years. Since being introduced to the franchise with the release of Breath of the Wild in 2017, I've tried my hand at several of the Zelda series' most iconic titles, completely engrossing myself in each game's breathtaking environments and inventive mechanics. Yet, there's always been one Zelda entry that has eluded me, and that I'm still struggling to connect with to this day.

Tears of the Kingdom is undoubtedly the most ambitious game in the Zelda series to date. Its wealth of game-changing mechanics and emphasis on creativity and experimentation creates a more varied and expansive experience than any other entry has offered. Despite this, I have consistently failed to completely immerse myself in TOTK like I have with so many other Zelda games. And, after having just completed a recent playthrough of the game, I think I know why.

TOTK Was My Most Anticipated Game

I Had Huge Expectations For The BOTW Sequel

It's hard to put into words how excited I was about TOTK. BOTW was not only my introduction to the Zelda series, but it was highly influential in strengthening my relationship with video games in general, completely changing my perspective on what they were capable of. So, unsurprisingly, the news of a direct sequel to one of my all-time favorite games, that was going to expand on what BOTW did so well, had me ecstatic in a way no other title has come close to before or since.

Looking back, it's easy to see how my expectations for TOTK may have gotten the better of me. It's unrealistic to expect any developer to recreate that once-in-a-lifetime experience you had with a certain title, and somehow make it better than before. Yet, I had faith that Nintendo could accomplish this. By the time TOTK came out, I had already become well-adjusted to the Zelda series, and its tendency to continuously build and improve on what it's done before. I had no reason to believe TOTK couldn't also achieve this, and so I let my excitement run rampant.

As soon as TOTK was released, I spent the following weeks sinking hundreds of hours into the game, exploring every corner of the expanded map to see what this game had to offer. From the new dungeons, to the Ultrahand mechanic, to the increased number of Koroks to find, I gave TOTK absolutely everything I had. When all was said and done, and I finally beat the game, I walked away feeling disappointed by the whole experience.

I Never Clicked With TOTK Like I Did With Other Zelda Games

I Struggled To Find That Sense of Progression Like In Previous Entries

Despite devoting so much time to TOTK, I never clicked with the game in the same way I have with so many other Zelda games. I was so confused by my experience, since TOTK seemingly had everything I could ask for from a sequel to BOTW. The game's larger scale and wealth of new abilities, enemies, and missions helped to expand on the fundamentals that BOTW established 6 years prior. It never took me long to find something new to do within the game, yet it lacked something that so many other Zelda games achieved for me in the past.

One of my favorite aspects of any Zelda game, whether it's Ocarina of Time or Echoes of Wisdom, is its sense of progression. Regardless of what direction I choose to take, whether it's following along the main story, or getting lost in a wealth of side quests, I'm continuously rewarded for my efforts, encouraging me to always keep exploring. Even BOTW, a game that's intentionally open-ended to allow the player to approach Hyrule at their own pace, maintains that constant sense of progression throughout, which is what makes these games so easy for me to come back to.

I felt aimless for the majority of the experience.

However, I couldn't help but feel that TOTK's progression was far more uneven. There would be moments where I found myself making huge leaps of progress, suddenly receiving a ton of rewards and upgrades at once, only for things to move at a snail's pace, and I felt aimless for the majority of the experience. It frustrated me that I felt this way, since TOTK was always providing me with a range of challenges and missions to do, and I couldn't explain why I was feeling the way I did.

Playing TOTK Again Has Brought Me To A Realization

The Game's Ambition May Have Gotten The Better Of It

I recently decided to give TOTK another chance after spending some time away from the game. And, having once again explored everything TOTK has to offer, I've finally realized what has prevented me from connecting to the title in the same way I have with so many other Zelda games. For the amount of variety and freedom TOTK grants to the player, the game ultimately fails to bring these elements together in a structured and cohesive manner.

The main reason for this is how several elements in TOTK often feel separate from one another. For example, exploring the Depths is like playing a separate game in and of itself, as the area is filled with its own range of collectibles, such as Poes and Zonaite, that divert attention away from the wealth of Shrines and Koroks that TOTK also demands be explored. No matter what I was choosing to focus on during my playthrough, I couldn't help but feel like I was taking the wrong direction, or failing to focus on the areas that I needed to.

Zonaite can be found on the Great Sky Island in TOTK, but only in one specific location where the supply is severely limited, requiring players to explore the Depths if they need more.

That's not to say there was no interconnection between these ideas. TOTK consistently provides opportunities for players to use abilities, weapons, and collectibles to assist them in a range of different scenarios, such as the surface's Shrines and the Depth's Lightroots sharing the same locations. Yet, none of these ideas are fused together in a way that feels organic, resulting in a Zelda title lacking that balance and sense of progression that I always adored in other Zelda games.

TOTK is still a great entry in the Zelda series, and one I still enjoy to an extent. The level of experimentation in TOTK is unlike anything the Zelda series has offered before, and I remain in awe of just how much freedom I have to explore Hyrule in the way I want to. That being said, TOTK's ambition far too often causes it to stumble, lacking that same exciting and rewarding experience that has always kept me coming back to other Zelda games, and is why I still struggle to connect with the game today.