Although The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a fantastic game --one of the best of all time, in fact -- it wasn't without a few fan frustrations. Some of these issues, such as the short weapon durability and annoyingly slippery climbing surfaces have been addressed in the sequel, whereas others, such as the lack of more traditional dungeons, have remained the same.
Another fan complaint with the game was the fact that its storytelling felt a little distant and removed from the player. This disappointing sentiment was the result of how the game's story was told. Players received most of the plot as a mere viewer through unlocked memories, rather than as an active participant. Although this technique was satisfactory for Breath of the Wild, it's hugely disappointing in its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom .
TotK’s Most Exciting Plotline Is Delivered Through Unlocked Memories
Tears of the Kingdom tells a rich action-packed story of trickery, love, betrayal and heroism, but sadly it's again hidden within locked memories. As a result, the game's most intriguing characters and story arcs simply pass by the player, who has no direct control or interaction with them. By using such a system, Tears of the Kingdom essentially locks players out from the most important parts of the story, meaning they're left as mere bystanders in the game's most exciting events.
Unfortunately, the game's primary story is pretty generic and serves the simple purpose of giving a reason for the gameplay and main quests to exist. Although it does start interestingly as both Link and Zelda explore the depths of Hyrule together to uncover the trapped corpse of Ganondorf, it soon becomes a bit too familiar, with Link waking up on the Great Sky Island to begin his journey.
The hero is then tasked with helping the game's four tribes -- the Rito, Zora, Goron and Gerudo tribes -- with their respective problems and associated temples, before taking the fight to Ganondorf himself. Such a simple main storyline does the game a disservice as the backstory behind it is so compelling. Sadly, these events occur in an earlier timeline and are only witnessed through unlocking memories.
These memories are unlocked both via progressing the main story and by finding geoglyphs and dragon tears. They tell the backstory of the game's events, including the importance of the tear-shaped stones used by the current Champions of Hyrule's four regions to harness the power of their ancestors. These stones were given to the first Sages of Hyrule by King Rauru to amplify their powers in their early fight against Ganondorf. After being transported back in time at the end of the prologue, Princess Zelda asks the first Sages to lend their descendants the power to aid Link in the game's primary timeline.
However, there's a major twist when Ganondorf steals a tear stone from King Rauru's wife, Sonia, after deceiving her and killing her. With its power, he transforms into the mighty Demon King, becoming too strong for King Rauru and the Sages to overcome. As a result, they're forced to seal him away, lying dormant until Tears of the Kingdom's main timeline.
TotK’s Exciting Side Story Is Confusing and Easy to Miss
The story's intertwining timelines can be a little confusing to follow and they're not helped by the memory system. The vast majority of these memories are hidden behind the dragon tears side content. Although it's pretty major side content so most players will likely see some of it, there's still a lot to do to unlock it all. To do so, players need to search the whole world map to find 12 dragon tears. The fact of the matter is that not every player has the time or even the desire to do that, meaning they'll only unlock certain segments of the game's most gripping storyline.
To make this story even harder to follow, these memories aren't even unlocked in order. As a result, it can be incredibly confusing for players who are unlocking later segments without the context of having unlocked the previous memories. For example, some players will see Ganondorf's betrayal and murder of Sonia without having been introduced to her as a character. As a result, this style of storytelling can leave some players feeling lost and frustrated, without fully understanding the story being told. Again, this fact is hugely disappointing given the strength of the story and its huge potential.
Tears of the Kingdom Wasted Its Story Potential
Of course, Link being a silent protagonist does obviously limit the game's storytelling in some ways, but that doesn't mean he can't be a central part of the main twists and turns. Other Zelda games have managed to successfully build a strong story that takes place with the player, as Link, at the forefront. For example, Majora's Mask, often cited as the best Zelda story, was still able to build a powerful picture of the world and its inhabitants, who Link could interact with directly. Similarly, The Wind Waker was also able to put the player in the center of the story as they control Link throughout the main events of the game, building relationships and personal connections with characters, including Princess Zelda herself, as a result.
Unfortunately, Tears of the Kingdom largely prevents players from exploring these plotlines and characters as they're locked in the past. It deprives the player of the exciting potential of interacting with early versions of Ganon, getting to know King Rauru, Sonia and the first Sages, or working alongside Princess Zelda for example. These characters are all intriguing and allowing Link to build a relationship with them would make the game's events even more shocking and impactful. Overall, despite hiding a thrilling story under the surface, it's a real shame that Tears of the Kingdom continues Breath of the Wild's memory system for storytelling as the end result feels disappointingly detached and, at times, a little confusing for the player.