The past two years saw the launch of two juggernaut open-world titles with FromSoftware’s Elden Ring last year, and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom this year. Both of them had a lot of hype, with Elden Ring being seen by many as the next step in the evolution of the open-world genre after 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom being the direct sequel.
I was one of many who were full of excitement for Tears of the Kingdom. Despite being familiar with the series for years, Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game I completed. Since then, I went back and played (almost!) every other entry in the franchise, going from a casual observer to a hardcore Zelda fan in just a few years. I had every confidence in Tears of the Kingdom before it was released, but once I got my hands on it, that slowly dwindled away.
The more I played, the more I felt a pit growing inside. I couldn’t quite explain it yet, but I just wasn’t having fun. The overworld wasn’t different enough, the new mechanics didn’t change up enough, and the progression was too similar to its predecessor. There were times where I’d even start to feel guilty, as my friends and family would talk about just how great of a time they’ve had with the game, whilst I couldn’t find much joy in it at all. Was I playing it wrong? Was I missing something? As my interest in Tears of the Kingdom dwindled and it became increasingly harder to pick it up, another game caught my attention – Elden Ring.
I’ve been a fan of the Souls games for a while, but I was waiting for the right moment to play Elden Ring given how big the game would be. As Tears of the Kingdom started to lose me, I began to feel these hours would be better given to a different game, and I made the jump on a whim. What started as curiosity would go on to become much more, as I fell in love. The more I’ve played Elden Ring, the more I’ve begun to realize how crushing a disappointment Tears of the Kingdom truly is.
Site of Grace
Before making any comparisons, we should start by acknowledging that Tears of the Kingdom is not a bad game, and I can absolutely understand why so many people would like it. The Ultrahand ability is a blessing for those with creative minds, and I’ve seen some seriously impressive inventions. Tears of the Kingdom also delivers more story than Breath of the Wild, which is one of the only issues I had with that game. Some of the puzzles were also a lot more interesting to me than in its predecessor, with the development team of Tears of the Kingdom clearly having a lot of fun with what they do.
There are also some objective differences between Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom that I’m not going to hold against the latter. For example, the performance of Elden Ring is considerably better than Tears of the Kingdom, even with Elden Ring’s sometimes troublesome performance. The Switch is a weaker system than any console capable of running Elden Ring, such as the PS5 or PC, and that’s no fault of the game. For what they’ve got to work with, Tears of the Kingdom delivers on a technical level.
As Elden Ring’s platforms are more powerful than the Switch, there are also obvious differences in visual quality too. Elden Ring can run at higher resolutions with sharper textures, better lighting and a more realistic art style. Despite its hardware, Tears of the Kingdom still looks great graphically, and is neither better nor worse than Elden Ring in its art style. It will always be completely subjective which style you prefer, and even my own opinion on that can change at any given moment.
Going forwards, I’ll be a lot more critical towards Tears of the Kingdom, but it comes from a place of love. The Zelda series has meant a lot to me and some of the most important people around me over the past few years. I don’t intend to hate on Tears of the Kingdom with this piece, but rather give constructive criticism using Elden Ring as a comparison point, a game I consider to be both very similar and far better. That being said, it’s time to begin our comparison adventure.
The Lands Between
Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom are both open-world games, with the world itself being a key gameplay element in both titles. The first sign that something was amiss with Tears of the Kingdom actually appeared before the game’s release, when producer Eiji Aounuma revealed that the same Hyrule map from Breath of the Wild would be used in its sequel. This remains a topic of heated debate, but I’m firmly in the camp of people who find it disappointing. Reusing an open-world map in a game that’s built on exploring the map seems like a huge mistake, even with the additional things added to the world.
Contrastingly, the first thing that struck me about Elden Ring was how original the world felt in comparison to the reused Tears of the Kingdom map, and to past Souls titles. The vast wilderness of the Lands Between are diverse, varied and highly explorable. The world of Hyrule was also explorable once, but when you’ve done it before, it becomes a lot less exciting. It’s not just the reuse of the map that makes it less fun to traverse, but also the fact that, for players of Breath of the Wild, the main locations and flow of the game is all too familiar.
Both Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom can be predictable in terms of the gameplay flow. When we get to a new region we know there will be a main dungeon to beat, and that doing so will progress the story in some way. However, Tears of the Kingdom places these dungeons in the exact same regions as in Breath of the Wild. The feeling of knowing exactly where you’re going and what to expect almost made Hyrule feel smaller to me. In Elden Ring I frequently get lost trying to figure out my way through new areas, whilst in Tears of the Kingdom I knew the roads and the towns like the back of my hand. Exploration itself is defined as “the action of exploring an unfamiliar area”, yet everywhere in Hyrule is familiar. Open-world games are built on their exploration, and reusing an entire map removes that feeling almost entirely.
Now, there’s also new content and locations in Tears of the Kingdom. These can broadly be split into three categories: sky islands, caves and the underground. Whilst I acknowledge that all of these are new and had a lot of work put into them, it doesn’t seem like it pays off all that much. The sky islands are entirely unique to Tears of the Kingdom, with no comparable examples to be had with Elden Ring. There are some sky islands with substantial additions, such as the sky labyrinths, but for the most part they mostly feel like just extra content that could be found on the surface. The labyrinths for example are returning features from Breath of the Wild, even with their unique twist. Whilst that is at least new to this game, none of it for me was particularly exciting thanks to just how unrewarding the game can be.
The caves of Tears of the Kingdom do have a direct point of comparison with Elden Ring, which also serves to showcase just how lacking in rewards Tears of the Kingdom is. Caves in Tears of the Kingdom are fun, but are very repetitive in their structure. Once you’ve beat a handful of caves, you know what to expect for the majority of them. There will be some enemies to beat, perhaps some environmental obstacles to overcome, and you’ll be rewarded with a weapon that will break, upgrade material, armor or rupees (and valuable items worth more rupees). The predictability of the caves in Tears of the Kingdom make them far less engaging than the surprising experience to be had with Elden Ring’s caves. Even though the caves in Elden Ring can sometimes repeat their structures, such as the catacombs, the boss and reward to be found at the end makes them much more engaging – as you don’t know what to expect.
Rewards in Elden Ring are much more varied, with weapons, special attack abilities, upgrade items, rare crafting materials, experience points (in runes), spells, lore items, keys and more scattered throughout and between every area of interest. It’s always worth doing something in Elden Ring because you never know what you’ll get for it, and where that may lead you. This is especially true with the caves, which can even lead to side quest NPCs, shortcuts to key locations and other special surprises. It’s so substantial and exciting, especially when compared to the relatively shallow and simple approach taken by the caves in Tears of the Kingdom. The caves of Hyrule feel formulaic, becoming a literal checklist experience, as caves that have had their Bubbul Gems discovered are ticked off on the map. Breath of the Wild went out of its way to move away from Ubisoft’s padded checklist approach to open-world exploration, but Tears of the Kingdom feels a step back from that in how it handles its caves.
The final new addition to the world of Tears of the Kingdom is its underground, which could not be more different from Elden Ring in its delivery. The depths of Hyrule, for me, were hugely boring. The same issue of unrewarding gameplay can be found in its camps and outposts, but this time it’s darker and much less interesting to look at. The depths are very similar to the overworld of Hyrule, but with a lot less variation and verticality. Trying to get through them was a slog, to the point where I’d just avoid those giant chasms of malice altogether because what waited for me below them was so dull. In Elden Ring however, discovering the underground regions is a show stopping moment. The underground areas are darker and more claustrophobic, yet are still vibrant in color and diversity. There’s a variety of enemies and locations that make the underground feel like its own living, breathing world that evolved independently from those on the surface and made this area their own. The crucial difference here from Tears of the Kingdom is how unique and interesting it still feels – Elden Ring treats its underground spaces with the same tender care as any Lands Between region, whilst Tears of the Kingdom merely presents the player with a wasteland of tedium.
Heroes and Lords
No matter where you are in Elden Ring or in Tears of the Kingdom, chances are you’re going to end up in combat with some enemies. Again, I find the experience of Elden Ring to be much more engaging and interesting when it comes to combat compared to Tears of the Kingdom. The first standout difference is the difficulty. Whilst I acknowledge that Tears of the Kingdom isn’t a Souls game, so of course it’s going to play differently compared to the established combat style of a Souls title, it’s still too easy for me. Enemy encounters are a breeze, especially if you know how to aim a bow. A headshot can temporarily incapacitate most standard enemies on the spot, allowing you to run in and slash your way to victory. Elden Ring is much more methodical and requires more patience with a standard encounter. This is especially true with bosses, which need to be learned and understood in Elden Ring, whilst most in Tears of the Kingdom have a signposted exploitable gimmick to get through.
The target demographic of Tears of the Kingdom is a fair excuse for why the game’s a lot simpler and easier with the combat, but I still feel it leans too far into making things as easy as possible at times. An example of this would be how both games approach healing. In Elden Ring, the player heals by drinking from a flask that has a limited number of uses, and is reset on death or when visiting a site of grace, akin to a checkpoint. The healing takes place in real time, with the character drinking from the flask during the fight, meaning you’re open to taking hits or being interrupted by the enemy as you heal. This adds an exciting risk-reward dynamic to even the simple task of healing, and is one way to make the combat more engaging without making it harder in terms of dexterity or physical ability. It’s sharply contrasted by Tears of the Kingdom, where healing can be done by eating on a pause menu. Not only does the entire world freeze for as long as you like, but there’s really no limit on how much of the food you can eat, meaning you can constantly replenish your HP if you have the easily obtainable resources.
This immersion-breaking mechanic could have been made much more interesting with the smallest of tweaks, like only allowing Link to only eat a certain amount of food. He could even have a fun animation where he rubs his tummy once he’s full! Adding an extra consideration to the healing process would have made combat more interesting for me, but as it stands in Tears of the Kingdom, it’s just a bit too simple. It’s an old complaint at this point, but it also doesn’t help that your weapons will break eventually, meaning any sense of progression in strength can be lost in an instant.
There are other elements of Tears of the Kingdom that are weaker than Elden Ring which could perhaps also be associated with target demographic, such as the approach to story. As I’ve thought harder about the topic for this article however, I’ve realized that isn’t really an excuse, so let’s talk about it. Whilst I agree Tears of the Kingdom is perhaps better suited for a simpler story with less eldritch horrors – probably not every kid’s favorite – the Zelda franchise has always been age accessible yet has often done better stories than Tears of the Kingdom has. From the dark twisted world of Majora’s Mask which offers something to spook anyone of any age to the nostalgic and dreamlike experience of Link’s Awakening, child-friendly stories have been effectively told many times in this series. For some reason though, Tears of the Kingdom dumbs that down even further, with a highly repetitive cycle of cutscenes after each dungeon that tells us that exact same thing that we’ve already been told happened several times before. Tears of the Kingdom can have a simplistic story, but must it keep repeating the lore in the same way in the exact same boring void? There’s nothing wrong with the story being accessible for children and younger players, but why can’t it still be exciting? At the very least, the climax of Tears of the Kingdom’s story is exciting, but it takes a long time to get there and offers a lot less in total than past entries.
Even smaller scale encounters can be tedious in Tears of the Kingdom. Before I made my switch to Elden Ring, I encountered a Gerudo individual walking through a swamp. I’d just finished exploring everything I could in Kakariko Village, looking at the ruins, completing side quests, and making the most of what was on offer. As I spoke to this woman, she started telling me about… the ruins at Kakariko Village. The only dialogue options I had were to ask more about the place I’ve already been so she could tell me stuff I already know. Tears of the Kingdom is a much livelier game than its predecessor, but the dialogue hasn’t become any more dynamic or interesting, leading to these awkward moments of being told things I already know.
Compare this to a story from Elden Ring. I’d just beaten a dragon, also in a swamp funnily enough, and was exploring some nearby ruins. I found an NPC, always a significant occasion in a Souls game, and was shocked on interacting with him to see reference be made to the dragon I just beat. This is of course a scripted occurrence, but having these specific references be made to things I’ve done made the game feel so much more alive, compared to more random encounters with NPCs dishing out generic dialogue that doesn’t add anything to the experience. There are still moments in Tears of the Kingdom where characters respond to what you’ve done, such as in a town after beating it’s respective dungeon, but the presence of more fluff-filled dialogue from throwaway characters does drag down the experience.
Links to the Past
I made reference earlier to past Zelda titles, and I don’t want to just dislike Tears of the Kingdom because it’s not like the other Zelda games. I appreciate this franchise that I love going in a new direction, but Tears of the Kingdom feels less like a step to somewhere new, but rather a standstill in progression. That’s the real problem. Breath of the Wild was a step towards something new for both the franchise and the genre, and was innovating with its design choices. Tears of the Kingdom changes some things and keeps others, in a way that creates an overall feeling of, at best an overly-familiar experience, and at worst a regression.
Take the approach to music in the last two Zelda games as an example. Breath of the Wild was criticized for its music, but I enjoyed it for what it was. The tracks are soft, quiet and airy as they guide Link through a post-apocalyptic world reclaimed by nature and infected with malice. Tears of the Kingdom adopts the same audio approach, but in a very different world. The Hyrule of the sequel is busier, livelier and in a state of a more immediate danger, so why does the music continue to be so subtle and quiet at many times? Why is the town theme for Kakariko Village exactly the same as it was in Breath of the Wild when it’s been rained on by ruins and had parts of it destroyed? Even if it is the same map, the change in the town’s presentation is at least giving some sense of progression to the world, but the music pulls it all back as a harsh and discordant reminder it’s all just the same thing. There are still some highlights in the soundtrack, but the approach taken remains an issue.
Elden Ring is the complete opposite of Tears of the Kingdom in that regard, as it catapults the Souls formula into a new direction in every way, and it sticks the landing. Almost every aspect of what made the Dark Souls games enjoyable is refined, the way you approach and traverse the world is completely overhauled, the environments are shockingly different and it pushes its genre forward. It’s hard not to feel like, after all that’s been discussed, Elden Ring took the torch that Breath of the Wild once carried in the race to evolve the open world experience. The end result puts Tears of the Kingdom in the dark, feeling lost, confused and almost outdated at points. I was upset to see that Tears of the Kingdom turned out the way it did, but it turns out the real sequel to my favorite open-world game I was looking for was already here waiting for me the whole time, and with all its highs, Elden Ring easily manages to outshine Tears of the Kingdom.
Have you played Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom? How would you compare the two, and which do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more thoughtful video game analysis and breaking news
Tears of the Kingdom is a great game. Bad article.
Your right Tears of the Kingdom is a great game, but Elden Ring is a better one.
Naw MBII is right
Thank you for writing such a thoughtful and even-handed article about this topic. I completely agree. I loved Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild, and played both of them for hundreds of hours, nearly 100%’ing them both (save for the korok seeds and farming for every last ultra-rare weapon in ER). I am also a life-long Zelda fan, having played every mainline console game and a few of the handheld entries. I’ve completed 3 of the 4 main dungeons in TOTK now, explored the entire overworld, the majority of the sky islands, and about 50% of the depths, and I am honestly struggling to pick it up and finish it. This is the first time I’ve ever really experienced this with a Zelda game, and I think your article is spot-on as to why. Overly-familiar, less elegant and cohesive than BOTW, too broad and repetitive, and not enough of an evolution or fresh direction, which is what the Zelda series signature used to be. It’s not a bad game, I am still enjoying playing it from time to time, but I think I’m deriving most of my enjoyment simply from re-experiencing the gameplay elements I liked from BOTW, rather than any of the new stuff they’ve added, and reusing the same map really made it feel more like a checklist experience than the true exploration BOTW delivered the first time I visited this land. No hate if you love this game, most people apparently do, but it’s refreshing to see a like-minded take for once.
I’ve not played neither of them but I’ve watched others experience them and I feel the creation aspect of TOTK is just too much for ER to overcome unfortunately. It’s like Minecraft meets Zelda lol. That’s also going to ensure TOTK is more successful when it’s all said and done. The Zelda team is on a whole different vibe now. ER looks great though.
L opinion
Oh no, its retarded
I have played both games, and I have to say, I played TotK for a solid 2 days, but I went to Elden Ring and I’ve played around 5+ days so far, planning on more.
Imo, Tears of the Kingdom is way better than Elden Ring. Building stuff and retreading old locations I’m familiar from 5 years ago is way more fun for me than getting one shotted by enemies in Dark Sou…. I mean Elden Ring
Only thing Elden Ring has going for me is that werewolf dude with the big sword
Elden Ring is intentionally more difficult and is not for everyone. I think it’s one of the better games ever made.
In short, you’re lying or simply don’t know enough about both games. You compare stuff that’s not really great to compare and make huge mistakes doing so. The review is really bad. As they compare the depths and caves in both games. However most of the arguments fall apart, as you can find lore, npc’s and new mission in dungeons in TOTK too. They also go on to say “You can find materials in TOTK but in ER you can also find RARE upgrade materials” so would be some of the materials you can find in TOTK be defined as RARE. Or weapons with unique traits like breaking every rock with just one hit etc. With the depths the map size more than doubled. Besides many areas on the overworld have changed or actually added meaning. A cool looking area in BOTW but nothing much to do there. In TOTK there’s probably a hidden cave with lore etc. So basically you’re blaming a game, which you yourself did not explore enough, for not having enough variation. Comparing the art styles???? Even if Zelda released on a last gwn 8K capable console real life art style would not fit Zelda. It is a completely different “vibe”. Also major issue with “realistic” JRPG’s how the f does running look so wanky and not right to how far you travel in the game. It litterally looks like you half floating/walking.
Lol someone is butthurt
Oh boy. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but yours… I can’t agree with even half of it. I’m not disappointed a DIRECT SEQUEL had the same map. It’s still Hyrule for crying out loud. I’m mad they had serious continuity issues with the story between the two games, and how heavily the ToTK story leans on these retconned issues. Game works based on distant past events, yet there is zero mention of any of this in botw, it’s “prequel”. That’s my only gripe. The depths weren’t just “formulaic and boring”. If they bored you, sorry. I absolutely loved diving headfirst into the dark unknown scanning the area for threats and encountering huge enemies in a big ol WHAT THE WHAT kinda moment. Best part of the game imo. While I enjoy ToTK gameplay just a bit more than botw gameplay, I enjoyed botw story much more. Your problem is experience. I haven’t played botw in a year or two, so ToTK felt fresh as can be.
I enjoyed TotK way more. It was a sequel yes, but Elden Ring didn’t offer enough new things for me. It’s the same ol Dark Souls.. same mechanics, same beautiful but lifeless worlds where everyone you encounter either attacks you or talks in riddles. Been there done that for how many games now.
Nice shill article for Elden Ring. Or is this rage bait? TOTK is one of the best games ever made.
I love TOTK much more better than Elden Ring, i don’t like creepy lifeless world to explore 😀
Your definition of “exploration” uses the word “exploring”.. not very useful. In general, though, this piece just reads as though you prefer games like Dark Souls over games like Zelda. You say a lot that is reasonable and thoughtful, but there isn’t much in terms of concrete reasons why one game is better than the other. You point out differences, but I’m not convinced that one is better than another. They just seem to be differences: Zelda-style gameplay vs Dark Souls-style gameplay. I think they are just fundamental differences that aren’t necessarily better or worse than another style; they’ve each carved out their own space, and each is good at succeeding in its own category 🙂
Link would like to know what you mean by not “not enough verticality” in The Depths, as he’s been downing stamina enhancing food like crazy and flying all kinds of machines to be able to reach all nooks and crannies to find colosseums, mines, rare armors, strange statues, crazy ass monsters and what not on his way to find me. 🙂
Wow, spot on imo! I have played both (well, all 3) extensively. 100%ing BotW in 185hrs and then dropping about 500hrs into Elden. Then in comes TotK and it just feels… lacking. I’ve put 140hrs into this one and gotten to 60%. The other games I had no problem going back to after defeating the final boss to go for 100%, but totk? I basically dropped it as soon as I was done. “Been there, done that” is the feeling I get from totk. It is billed as sequel so I suppose it’s hard to compare Elden to TotK, but Elden is far and away the better game for many of the reasons you discussed here, and more. I still LOVE Zelda and the entire franchise and will definitely play the next one, but for me, this round goes to Elden.
I completely agree with the author, Tears of the Kingdom is far superior to Elden Ring! Great satire!
I had COMPLETELY opposite feelings about Elden Ring and TOTK. TOTK may be in my top 10, maybe even my GOAT. Elden Ring started about a 6, got as high as about an 8, and by the time I had gotten all the achievements, it felt like about a 4 and I never wanted to touch it again.
Most overrated game I have ever played, unfortunately. I’d probably like it more had people not harped on so long and hard about how great it was. Overall was average for me, at best.
The reason I love totk and other entries by Nintendo is that as an adult, it can be hard for me to find rpg type games that don’t focus so hard on battle and darkness. I quickly get bored with fighting and am just not into it, and I play video games to escape darkness. So in my case, many of the things you mention as a negative are a big plus for me. One of the only other open world games actually made for adults that I love in a similar way is the Horizon series bc of its story mode option. I am way more interested in story and puzzles than fighting and most games are so fighting and blood heavy that they lose me.
The issue here is youre comparing apples to oranges. Totk is a sequel while ER is a new IP therefore a better comparison for world building or mechanics and all that would be ER vs Botw. Just because ER and TOTK came out closer isn’t good way to judge them. Also BOTW/TOTK both are established IPs that have a certain amount of things that must be included while ER gets more freedom which none of these issues were even considered here.