This yet another magnum opus from Nintendo. Breath of the Wild came and completely changed the way we gamers viewed and played open-world games. Now after 6 years, Tears of the Kingdom shows how Nintendo still had a lot of innovative ideas in the minds to improve the experience even further, a feat I didn't think was possible. So many new and incredible gameplay mechanics are introduced here which I haven't seen in any other game I've ever played. I would go on to say these gameplay mechanics are the most innovative and creative. They completely changed the way players will experience Hyrule again. The Hyrule itself although similar is quite different than before. We have the new Sky and Underground maps now that makes the exploration even more worthwhile. One thing I also appreciate about its gameplay is how it allows freedom but also test the player's creativity and problem-solving skills like no other. Having many tools at the disposal means nothing if the players can't exploit them according to their creativity and not something that was scripted by the developers. The physics engine in this game is also the best i've ever seen with Red Dead Redemption 2's physics engine at close second place. This time the game has a heavy emphasis on story, and the plot is very interesting with proper voice acting. There are also dungeons in this one for those missing them in Breath of the Wild. Last but not the least, the graphics although not ground-breaking by today's standard, are still very artistic. In fact, it looks and feels like a Studio Ghibli movie. Due to this art-style, this game will still look gorgeous even after 25 years whereas most photorealistic game of today will probably not age well in comparison. We've seen this in case of Wind Waker, which is a timeless piece of joyful art. In comparison Mass Effect, which came a few years later hasn't aged that well in looks department. Although, I do admit that there are a few performance drops in some instances due to Switch's hardware limitations. I believe this should have been a launch title for the Switch 2 and as a result should've made use of improved specification to run smoother and looked better. Nevertheless, the questions is that do I like it more than Breath of the Wild? Well, in some cases yes and in some cases no. Yes because it's clearly a more grander experience with vastly larger map, better gameplay mechanics and better story. But it doesn't compare with the experience of discovering Hyrule for the first time in Breath of the Wild. Although by comparison the experience of Breath of the Wild was a lot simpler; but that was where the true beauty of Breath of the Wild really was. It was after a very long time that I had some much fun, and a sense of nostalgic escapism; or maybe, feeling like a kid again playing a video-game. Nintendo clearly knows how to make the most memorable and joyful video-game experiences, and this alongside Breath of the Wild ranks topmost in my absolute best game of all time.
