Summary
- The NPCs in Tears of the Kingdom are more evolved compared to Breath of the Wild, with story beats that tie closely to Link's actions, bringing depth and flavor to the game.
- The developers wanted to make the characters feel "alive" and show the passage of time in the game's world. NPCs have different dialogue depending on the situation, and Princess Zelda has grown and become more proactive in rebuilding her kingdom.
- The Dragon Tear cutscenes showcase Zelda's growth and make her one of the most powerful incarnations of Zelda. The developers put a lot of effort into fleshing out the world and Zelda's character.
The director behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom explains how the developers approached making its NPCs, wanting to make the world feel "alive" in the process. The sequel to Breath of the Wild has been praised by fans and critics for many things after much anticipation, such as how the world feels while exploring the kingdom of Hyrule. Complimenting the open-ended nature of Tears of the Kingdom's world is the number of NPCs for the player to encounter, who all offer something unique and insightful about this version of Hyrule.
The NPCs of Tears of the Kingdom are heavily evolved from Breath of the Wild, featuring story beats that tie together closely depending on what Link is doing. This can result in several hours of playing the game and interacting with its characters, bringing up bits of flavor text and dialogue that portray how the citizens are dealing with the consequences of the previous game and how they're rebuilding their lives. This was a challenge that the game's director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, wanted to tackle, making these characters feel like an organic part of the world.
In an interview with Nintendo Dream magazine (translated courtesy of Nintendo Everything), Fujibayashi was asked about certain sections of Tears of the Kingdom, such as its characterization of Princess Zelda to how the story develops outside the player and Link's viewpoint. Fujibayashi explains that since Tears of the Kingdom follows up on the events of Breath of the Wild, the developers wanted to show the passage of time and how they are living in this new world. As such, the characters would have different dialogue depending on the current situation in-game. "We wanted to make every character feel 'alive.'" says Fujibayashi, "Instead of having everyone wait around for the main character, Link, the world has continued to move even without him."
Fujibayashi explains that this growth isn't just reflected in the NPCs, but also through Princess Zelda's story in Tears of the Kingdom. Unlike the previous game, which featured a Zelda who was burdened by her expectations, this incarnation of Zelda is now more mature and wants to do right by her people after the Calamity. This includes changes in her character visually, such as her hairstyle being shortened to reflect her being more proactive in rebuilding her kingdom and making it easier for her to move around.
We wanted to make every character feel "alive." Instead of having everyone wait around for the main character, Link, the world has continued to move even without him.
The director also discussed the Dragon Tear cutscenes in Tears of the Kingdom, which was related to Zelda's growth and how it makes her one of the most powerful incarnations of Zelda. More specifically, these cutscenes show how Zelda has learned from her parental figures and steadily becomes the powerhouse seen at the end of the game. The developers spent a lot of time and effort on fleshing out the world and incarnation of Zelda for Tears of the Kingdom, which seems to have succeeded.
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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
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
- Franchise
- The Legend of Zelda
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- How Long To Beat
- 59 Hours
- Metascore
- 96
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
