My game of the year for 2023 is undeniably The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I played and beat many games this year, but I only ended up finishing a couple of titles that released in 2023. So, my choice boiled down to Tears of the Kingdom, Mortal Kombat 1, or World of Horror. Two large budget projects and a phenomenal Indie game. While I loved Mortal Kombat 1 and World of Horror, they didn't hit like TOTK. A game that had massive hype and anticipation going in and managed to over deliver in the process.
I finished Breath of the Wild a bit before TOTK in anticipation because I wanted to be ready for the follow-up on release. I was so captivated by the Hyrule Kingdom in BOTW that I wanted to know, "where do we go from here?" How do you expand on a world with a numerous amount of mystery? The easiest answer was to just expand.
The game world went from exploring all of Hyrule to discovering the wonders of the Sky and the underlying Horrors of the Depths. Three searchable sections means that you three different maps. When traversing through these areas you would have to worry about the conditions as well.
The Sky would often require warm clothing and building some sort of aircraft, a new mechanic to the game. Managing energy levels and ensuring the design of your aircraft was right for the task was vitally important. Many of the Sky Islands would have part vending machines to ensure that the player was well equipped. These would cost Zonai Charges or any item in relation, another new thing in the game. Other things to be found on the Sky Islands would be Shrines that would mostly just have chests with some puzzle Shrines sprinkled in. And other Islands would feature Boss fights against Flux Constructs, Zonai Automatons, or Gleeoks, three-headed dragons. Challenging fights that would always reward the player handsomely. A much different experience in comparison to Hyrule proper.
A familiar view and layout with some drastic changes. Hyrule Castle is floating in the air, there are holes scattered throughout the land, Kakariko Village is filled with ruins, there are Alien-looking crop circles, and many other areas are facing unnatural disasters. Navigating this Hyrule is much different from its counterpart. The central areas may still be present, but you have to uncover the mysteries surrounding them in order to explore to the fullest.
This game is massive. And this is not some exaggeration by any means. As seen with BOTW, there is just so much to do and find that people are still discovering things. And TOTK is no different, but do that and multiply by three. I would walk around a sky island and find a chest hanging off a structure by a vine. Like, do I have to just pay attention to every aspect of am islands structure? There might be a trinket I missed or something. So, I ended up spending over 190 hours in the game and I still have things to do. Especially in the Depths.
The other large land mass in this game is probably the most mysterious of them all. The origin of the problems that beset this world. Exploring the Depths was so immensely fun that I was stuck there at least forty hours. I would essentially clock in to my job at the Depths when I would load up the game early on. Ignoring the main story and upgrading things like the batteries that powered your creations.
To explain more on why exploring the Depths was so time consuming. The area is pitch black when you first get there. The visibility is extremely low and light sources are limited. Until you happen upon the Lightroots. Your beacons in the darkness that illuminate the blackened underground. The most interesting part of the Lightroots was not that it provided a light source, but that these were directly connected to the Shrines on the surface of Hyrule. So, if you found the Lightroot or vice versa, you found the other.
Other things that you find would be unique armor sets, weapons, schematics, and the ever important Mining facilities that would let you convert your Zonaite to energy cores. These cores would allow you to upgrade batteries. The Depths also had a unique layout and enemies sprinkled throughout. Not to mention some fun encounters. But the biggest annoyance came in the form of the new Gloom mechanic.
A sludge-like substance that was all over the Depths. Staying in it for a few seconds would block a heart. You would have to find a Lightroot or go to the surface if you wanted it back. To top it off, most enemies in the Depths were afflicted with Gloom along with the new and improved Phantom Ganon fights. The embodiment of Ganondorf and Gloom in one. Truly terrifying.
I don't want to go into the story of the game because I highly recommend experiencing it yourself. Yet I will say that this game defines the main trio so well that it's uncontested at this point. These are the best versions of these characters. No matter how much you may like the other versions of Link or Zelda or Ganon. These are the best and most in-depth we have gotten. Granted, they have two games under their belt. But the evidence is there. I am excited for the future of this franchise because of how well written the characters were in BOTW and TOTK.
I think that this can also apply to other characters like Riju, Sidon, and Yunobo. Sidon was already a fan favorite and Riju was well regarded. But I felt that Yunobo benefited quite a lot from this game's writing. He was more enjoyable to be around and a genuine help when fighting. Something he most definitely was not in BOTW. One of the many reasons why I think that TOTK is such an upgrade on the foundation that BOTW built.
The ingenuity that can be had in TOTK's building and crafting mechanics needs to be studied as well. There are so many ways to get to a solution or engage in combat in general that the world felt like a sandbox. Just go out there and do some crazy shit was the goal and it was nailed spectacularly. People are making the most wild creations that I might try in the future.
2023 was a special year for shipping games while Developers were raked over the coals. The mass layoffs make this year feel sour, even when we had so many special experiences. I hope that the success of things like TOTK improve the landscape, but that may be asking too much. The best Game in a sea of tens is something special indeed. I wish game developers a fantastic year.
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