Summary
After years of waiting,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildfinally got its sequel.Tears of the Kingdomis an impressive game, not only because of its own merits, but how it relates to its predecessor. Direct sequels are rare inThe Legend of Zelda, so having a new one was a shock to many fans. However,Tears of the Kingdomproved that it could intelligently build on top of the solid design and charming world thatBreath of the Wildset up, even if that meant not changing as much as some players would prefer.
So far, only a couple of otherZeldagames have received direct sequels on their release platforms likeBreath of the Wildhas. The oneTears of the Kingdomreminded many fans of wasOcarina of Time’s follow-up toMajora’s Mask. Throughout the lead-up to its launch, fans were already speculating about the potentialsimilaritiesTears of the KingdomandMajora’s Maskwould have. WhileTears of the Kingdomultimately proved to be more tonally similar to its predecessor than the strange and morbidMajora’s Mask, both games share many aspects that aren’t obvious at a glance.
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Majora’s Mask and Tears of the Kingdom Are Built On Heavy Iteration
Tears of the KingdomandMajora’s Maskare both sequels, but they share a preference for iteration over novelty. Both titles reuse assets and mechanics from their predecessors, altering them to meet their needs.Tears of the Kingdomis the onlyZeldatitleto reuse another game’s map, and will likely stay that way for a long time.Majora’s Maskdoes introduce Termina as an alternative to Hyrule, but it’s still bold enough to assign character models fromOcarina of Timeto entirely different people.
It’s not just a matter of looks, either, as the main features of theseZeldasequels are expanded elements from their prequels. Fast travel, time travel, magic music, and masks were all present inOcarina of Time, but took on new lives inMajora’s Mask. Similarly, the Sheikah Slate and its four primary Runes were all constant parts ofBreath of the Wild, whichTears of the Kingdomremixed into Link’s arm powers. Magnesis in particular became Ultrahand, a game-changing ability that provesTears of the Kingdomwouldn’t feel so revolutionary if it didn’t build onBreath of the Wild.
Link’s Journey Looks Remarkably Similar In Majora’s Mask and Tears of the Kingdom
Several other similarities exist betweenMajora’s MaskandTears of the Kingdom, and they aren’t limited to shared themes like time travel. Besides the open world shared betweenBotWandTotK,Tears of the Kingdom’s basic layout and progression actually bears the most similarities toMajora’s Mask. Each game has acentral hub, Clock Town and Lookout Landing, that lies between four map quadrants hosting dungeons themed around different tribes. Completing these dungeons affects the people in their respective areas and unlocks themed transformation masks or Sage powers for Link.
Not only is their main progression similar, but so is their side progression.The Legend of Zeldahas always included optional content, but none of it ison par with what’s inMajora’s Mask. Its side quests tell stories with such depth and variety that players would be remiss to skip most of them, and the masks they confer build to a suitably climactic reward.Tears of the Kingdommay not matchMajora’s Maskin this area, but its Side Adventures do give players a reason to explore Hyrule and complete chains of distinct content. With high completion rewards at the end of both,Tears of the KingdomandMajora’s Maskensure players feel rewarded for investing time in their worlds.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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