By Kirsten Moreton
Players can expect some difficult features in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which will make Link's adventure in Hyrule more challenging.
Arguably one of, if not the most anticipated games of 2023 is The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, the sequel to the iconic Breath of The Wild game. Both games have been received incredibly well with some fans even believing Tears of The Kingdom has improved upon BOTW which was seen as a game-changer for Nintendo.
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The two games share many differences, as well as similarities and features which are present in both games. However, one of the biggest differences is how much more Tears of The Kingdom has to offer, as well as how hard the game can be with its bout of villains.
8 Decayed Weapons
One of the new additions to the game that proves difficult for players is the decayed weapons. The Upheaval causes all weapons to be 'decayed', essentially meaning they are not as strong as they normally would be, or as powerful as they were in Breath of the Wild. Tears of the Kingdom also introduced the 'Fuse' rune which allows players to fuse items to weapons, essentially giving gamers a way to combat this issue and become the strongest in Hyrule.
Certain aspects of the game require specific fused weapons that normally would not be great in combat, for example, fusing a rock and stick to create a hammer, or a leaf and a stick to make a fan. The requirement for these weapon fuses means players usually need to have a weapon or two in the inventory not for combat.
7 Increased Enemy Camps
Enemies and enemy camps have had a huge shift from what they were in Breath of the Wild. In BOTW most camps had low-strength enemies that were easy to beat, usually with a few explosives which could be ignited with a fire arrow, taking out the entire camp in one. However, in TOTK, enemies and enemy camps are littered with high-level enemies with powerful fuse weapons, as well as new and more powerful monsters.
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Combined with the decayed weapons, the game becomes more challenging and the 'blood moon' which occurs in both games grows more daunting. Especially early in the game when players have fewer weapons, stamina, health, inventory, and armor to survive these aggressive enemies which are spread out across almost every inch of the map, making players wish for some companions to help.
6 Shrine Detector
Although the shrine detector feature is available in both games, it is much easier to obtain within the prior game Breath of the Wild. Within BOTW the shrine detector known as the 'Sheikah Sensor', is given to players upon completing the game's tutorial beginning on the Great Plateau, where they can use the best horses to find and complete each shrine.
The shrine detector is much harder to obtain in Tears of the Kingdom, thus making it harder to improve stamina and health, adding an overall more challenging aspect to the game. In Tears of the Kingdom, the shrine detection feature can only be obtained once gamers complete the Hateno Village Research Lab quest. With so many quests and tasks within the game, it is unlikely that most players would prioritize this one, and it is not made known that shrine detection is made available upon completion. Because of this, many have played much of the game in the detectors' absence.
5 More Objectives
The newest game in The Legen of Zelda series comes with a whopping 253 quests in total, including side quests and side adventures. This is a huge difference from Breath of The Wild which had just under 150 quests in total. Although all of this new gameplay is amazing for players, it can become a little bit overwhelming at times.
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The sheer amount of content and quests happening at once can be overwhelming, and there is not much direction in where players should take this and in what order to complete them. This overwhelming feeling and lack of direction make the game pretty challenging, as it is hard to keep up with all the things there is to do in Tears of the Kingdom. There is so much to do to obtain 100%, including 1,000 Korok Seeds.
4 The New Runes
Tears of The Kingdom also introduced players to four of the best new runes in replacement of the original four, Stasis, Cryonsis, Magnesis, and Remote Bombs. These four new runes are Fuse, Ultrahand, Ascend, and Rewind. Although the new runes bring benefits to their own, fans have been missing the game's original runes. Remote Bombs in particular was a beloved Rune that helped with more challenging aspects, as they were unlimited and dealt a decent amount of damage.
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Also, without Revali's Gale, players can no longer ascend cliffs, escape enemies and gain vantage points. Without Daruk's Protection and Urbosa's Fury fighting enemies becomes harder, and without Mipha's Grace, players essentially have less help. The absence of these features certainly makes the game that extra bit more difficult and alone.
3 The Depths
The Depths are an entire pitch-black world below Hyrule which can be entered through chasms, and players must use elixirs or certain items to light up the map. The darkness makes this area impossible to navigate and enemies much more of a threat. There is also gloom across the depths, a deadly substance that will quickly drain players of health within seconds.
Lighting up this area of the map is incredibly hard especially given the huge size of the area as well as the gloom and monsters lurking below. The game does include lightroots which players can discover to further bring light to The Depths.
2 The Shift Between Games
The vast majority of TOTK players would have played the previous entry, BOTW. Coming straight off of BOTW, where gamers will have earned good armor, mastered all the attacks, and have full weapon and arrow stashes, to suddenly having nothing, is a challenging shift.
It may feel unfamiliar for fans to be playing with the bare minimum supplies they are given at the game's beginning. The decayed weapons and lack of the old runes and abilities certainly take a bit of getting used to.
1 Health Damage
Tears of the Kingdom is a ruthless game when it comes to health. Many of the new enemies within the game will defeat Link in one hit, something that only a few enemies could do in Breath of the Wild. This adds a harder element to the game, however, the real difficulty in terms of health is the gloom. Gloom is a slime-like substance within the game that will lower players health and only specific recipes can restore said health.
This means that without the right ingredients or parts, players have to play with fewer hearts until they can be restored. Players can also restore health at the lightroots in The Depths, however, this means they have to of already found them. Gloom enemies such as the gloom hands can also do this kind of damage to players. Making gloom and health one of the hardest aspects of the game.
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
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