The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a sequel to the 2017 videogame The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Tears of the Kingdom retains many aspects of its predecessor, including the open-world environment of Hyrule, which is expanded to allow for more vertical exploration.
Metascore is a popular ranking of games, movies, shows and music based on a weighted average of the world's most respected critics.
This market will be resolve one week after the game's release on May 12, based on the game's metascore on May 19: https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom
Close date updated to 2023-05-19 4:59 pm
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Legend of Zelda (1987/2004): Metascore - 84
(technicality: Metascore reviewed the Game Boy Advance re-release, not the og)
The Adventure of Link (1988): Metascore - TBD
A Link to the Past (1991/2002): Metascore - 95
(technicality: Metascore reviewed the 2002 GBA release, not the original NES game)
Link's Awakening (1993/2019): Metascore - 87
(technicality: Metascore reviewed the Switch version of the game)
Ocarina of Time (1998): Metascore - 99
Majora's Mask (2000): Metascore - 95
Four Swords (2002): Metascore - 86
The Wind Waker (2002): Metascore - 96
Minish Cap (2004): Metascore - 89
Twilight Princess (2006): Metascore - 95
Phantom Hourglass (2007): Metascore - 90
Spirit Tracks (2009): Metascore - 87
Skyward Sword (2011): Metascore 93
A Link Between Worlds (2013): Metascore 91
Tri Force Heroes (2015): Metascore - 73
Breath of the Wild (2019): Metascore - 97
Out of 16 reviewed games, 8 games got a 91 or higher score (50%). 55% (6/11) games in since 2000 have gotten a 91 or higher score. The average score of all rated games is 90.5. The median score of all rated games is 91.
@LukasDay I feel like its: is it basically a better breath of the wild, if so it might get >=97, but at the same time maybe it's a "should have been a $40 DLC to BoTW" game
@rush That's a perfectly valid approach to the question. Based off the trailer, while there are several similar enemies/landscape/mechanics from the BoTW (which would count in favor of it a "DLC to BoTW"), I feel I saw enough new mechanics to quantify as more than DLC. Also, what critics might consider "should have been a DLC" could be significantly different from what the general public considers "should have been a DLC" which is one reason I'm also considering past rankings.
Also, tbh I've only ever played Skyward Sword and BoTW. I personally felt that Skyward Sword was meh, but the critics gave it a 93. So as long ToTK isn't too much worse than Skyward Sword, I anticipate it to rank >=91
Also, the listing of rankings was because I saw someone comment that there was no new Zelda game in the last 20 years that didnt rank below 90 so I decided to fact check then post the results because I hate to see good-ish research go to waste
@AngolaMaldives I agree. There would be a chance for something at the high 80s if it changed too much of the formula from Breath of the Wild in an unsuccessful manner, but it appears if anything it will be too similar and reviews do not punish sequels as much for being unoriginal.