Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Armor Upgrade System Should Have Leveled the Playing Field

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was an advancement on its predecessor in so many ways. A multi-layered map to explore, a deeper and more interesting story, and a higher emphasis on customization with the plentiful Zonai devices made its already nonlinear design feel all the more free. All of these things make seeing Hyrule through a different lens more than justifying the game’s existence, as it takes the structure of Breath of the Wild and leans further into the idea of user-generated enjoyment.