Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom shrines restrict how we play the game

The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom of Tears It feels like a giant playpen, allowing players to run around like kids and wreak havoc in the best possible way. Thanks to a new set of powers and items, Link can build everything from skateboards to twisted devices to torture Korok. Combining it with the vast world, tears of the kingdom Give players ample opportunity to experience the world in a variety of ways. However, this freedom comes with certain conditions. To upgrade Link, players must complete a dungeon-like temple, which for better or worse limits how people can play the game.

Links have two main statistics. tears of the kingdom: Hearts (determines how much damage Link takes) and Stamina (determines how long Link can run, climb, swim, and glide). Together, these two statistics play an important role in how each person experiences the game. With more hearts and a larger stamina wheel, everyday activities like combat and exploration become more manageable. It can make the difference between being killed or surviving in one hit, or allowing you to glide or climb enough to reach your destination. There are ways around these constraints, but upgraded armor will increase Link’s defenses, and Zonai’s device will aid Link in his explorations. By and large, these two stats profoundly affect a player’s ability to rise and circle around Hyrule.

Aside from some hearts earned by playing the main quest line, the only way these traits can be upgraded is by completing miniature dungeons called Shrines. Defeating shrines grants Blessed Light, 4 of which can be spent on Heart Containers or parts of Stamina Wheels. Each shrine works like a small dungeon with a small puzzle (or series of puzzles) to solve. Some shrines may have difficult puzzle solutions, but none the length of the temple.

There are many things I like about this particular system. Some shrines act as tutorials teaching players how to interact with the world. Rather than dumping all Zonai he information on how to use the device at the start of the game, players gradually consolidate their knowledge after completing dozens of shrines.this is especially important tears of the kingdom That’s because you don’t always know how to use all the items or how to build complex machines using Zonai devices. In addition to functionality, it is also flexible. If you struggle with a particular shrine, you can simply skip it. There are many shrines, so you can skip here and there without losing your stats.

However, given that you’re not a duped speedrunner, the system also limits how you can play this open-world adventure. Two of Link’s key stats relate to shrine completion, which can feel inflexible for players willing to explore.At start tears of the kingdom, the cavernous darkness of the Depths area completely captivated me. I loved the challenge of the exploration and the excitement of having big, evil creatures looming in the dark. And while I found I really loved my time there, I eventually had to discipline myself and force myself to go to the shrine. Link’s health couldn’t cut it, especially given how the darkness found in the depths can temporarily steal your heart.

I don’t think the developers should get rid of shrines, and I don’t think shrines are bad. However, the current shrine system limits how people can enjoy the game, as it is a de facto requirement for anyone wanting to add hearts or stamina wheels for Link. Not rewarding players with the same kind of rewards for activities such as exploring the overworld makes it difficult to play games with exploration only in mind. Likewise, if someone is interested in building cool zonai machines, or just wants Hyrule to be a horse simulator game, or is not into shrines for some other reason, that person is out of luck .

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Previous Zelda games rewarded additional exploration by allowing players to collect heart shards found in chests throughout the Overworld. This feature was not in Zelda. tears of the kingdom. Other adventure games also offer a no-die or no-damage mode where players can purely run around the world. Nintendo developers, on the other hand, seem determined to force all players to go through the shrine and solve it.

Critics of this idea might rightly point out that dungeons are a hallmark of The Legend of Zelda games. The only problem is its vastness and openness. tears of the kingdom We have already overturned this idea. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, and now tears of the kingdom and its new sandbox mechanics dramatically increased the possibilities of Zelda. Zelda is exploring. Zelda builds ridiculous robots. Zelda collects and cooks. I changed Link into a cute costume and took a picture. And for some, Zelda may not have completed dozens of shrines.