The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom took what fans loved about Breath of the Wild and enhanced it in almost every way. With all the attention to detail and excellent worldbuilding that Tears of the Kingdom offers, though, it’s surprising that one major location from Breath of the Wild doesn’t live up to its potential.
Among many other feats, Tears of the Kingdom is known for being one of the few direct sequels in the Legend of Zelda series. Link's adventures rarely feature a proper continuation, and even fewer are able to reuse the same game map in their sequel. Although many games in the series feature similar versions of Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom broke from tradition by featuring a nearly identical overworld map, albeit changed by time and the upheaval at the beginning of the game. The addition of sky islands and the depths helped ensure that the familiar map didn’t feel stale, as did new events and quests that transformed the familiar areas. Unfortunately, however, one of Breath of the Wild’s most important locations went mostly unchanged. The Shrine of Resurrection, where Link awakens in the first game, was hardly worth visiting in Tears of the Kingdom, leaving a small stain on the otherwise excellent map.
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The Downfall of Breath of the Wild's Shrine of Resurrection
Because of the familiar map, many players were excited to find out which of their favorite Breath of the Wild locations had changed between the two games. While exploring Hyrule, players would inevitably come across the Great Plateau, where the tutorial section of Breath of the Wild took place. The Great Plateau in Tears of the Kingdom did offer unique experiences and quests, as well as some shrines to complete, but its most important location, the Shrine of Resurrection, was barely changed at all. Inside, players can find a hot spring as well as a secret Yiga clan hideout with a few rewards. So, it’s not as if the developers did nothing new with the location, but the potential it had to reward players for remembering Link’s past was squandered.
The Shrine of Resurrection Could Have Included More Lore Connections
The lore behind the Shrine of Resurrection has always been sparse. What is known is that Sheikah technology was, presumably, able to enhance the hot spring there in order to revive Link, but that’s about all that’s been revealed. Tears of the Kingdom had a prime chance to explain the presence of the mysteriously powerful hot spring hidden away in a cave, particularly by placing a Zonai shrine at the Shrine of Resurrection. This could have given deeper lore to the Zonai shrines located across the map, as well as deepened the connection between the two games. But it seems that without Sheikah technology or Zonai influence, the Yiga clan was easily able to overtake the once-important cave.
What Happened to the Sheikah Technology?
The only clue about what may have happened at the Shrine of Resurrection between the two games is that the Sheikah technology that brought Link back to life is now missing. It seems that at some point after Calamity Ganon’s defeat, Sheikah technology from across Hyrule, even structures like the Sheikah towers and most of the fearsome guardians, have been removed for some unknown reason. It makes sense from a design perspective that, as Tears of the Kingdom focused more on the Zonai, the developers wanted to diminish the other powerful technology from the previous game, but there isn’t much of an in-game reason given for the absence of Sheikah technology.
Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by players, particularly ones who wanted certain aspects of the Sheikah technology to return. Some players even used Zonai devices to recreate the master cycle zero and Divine Beasts. The Shrine of Resurrection could have been a way to use worldbuilding to explain what happened to the powerful tech between the two games. Tears of the Kingdom will always be an exceptional game, which is what makes it so unfortunate that this one area fell flat.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- May 12, 2023
- ESRB
- Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Havok
- Cross-Platform Play
- N/A
- Cross Save
- N/A
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
