I imagine that if you haven't played a Zelda game before, inlcuding Breath of the Wild, then you will like what this game has to offer story-wise, at least on a basic level. The story of Tears of the Kingdom (which I'll be referring to as just Tears from now on) is easily the worst in the entire Zelda franchise, being a reworked version of the Ocarina of Time story but told in a mostly non-linear fashion. The game's story revolves around the Zonai, an ancient race, and Ganondorf, the Demon King, in a struggle over Hyrule that has existed for longer than anyone really knows. Far longer than 10,000 years, dating all the way back to the very founding of Hyrule itself. Ganondorf swears fealty to the King of Hyrule, who is a Zonai and the founder of Hyrule, and then betrays him, killing his wife and waging war on Hyrule (which becomes known as the Imprisoning War). Rauru, the King of Hyrule, sacrifices himself to seal Ganondorf away in the hopes that Link will defeat him in the future once the seal wears off. Through some time travel shenanigans, Princess Zelda from the modern era is here, and it is her duty to restore the Master Sword back to its former glory so that it can help Link defeat Ganondorf once and for all in the modern era. To do this, she turns into a sacred dragon of light and carries the Master Sword around with her, waiting for Link to find it. Eventually, he does find it, and goes on to defeat Ganondorf alongside the rest of the new Sages, who have all acquired ancient Zonai "secret stones" that grant them powers that they can use to help Link. As a dragon, Zelda cries tears that contain her memories, which Link can use to gain insight on the events of the past that Zelda had influenced.

You can see the similarities between Ocarina of Time very clearly, however I think it is done worse this time around.

Ganondorf is not as menacing, his presence not being as threatening and taking more of a back seat role. I chalk this up to the story not happening in realtime. My expectations may be partly to blame for this, but I and many others were wanting to see Ganondorf, as a man, really interact with Hyrule much more. He does to a certain degree, through Puppet Zelda, but the execution of that is also extremely weak. Instead, we just get a Malice-replacement called Gloom that has slightly different mechanics, but affects Hyrule in much the same way.

The Sages have less of an air of finality and ultimate divine power. They seem much more akin to the Champions from Breath of the Wild, and most of them are just the Champions' successors. Great warriors with some cool abilities. This falls a little flat when compared to the Ocarina and even Wind Waker Sages, who are generally more mystic in nature, giving Link more of a passive support than an actively direct and combat-oriented one. They also use these "secret stones" from the Zonai to extend their power, which aren't called "sacred stones" for some reason, whereas the Sages of old used their innate power alone, and as a team. It is through one of these secret stones that Ganondorf gets all of his power as well, which is also in contrast to Ocarina Ganondorf's Triforce of Power. Speaking of the Triforce, it doesn't make an appearance in Tears at all, where it at least got a little bit of screen time at the end of Breath of the Wild. It all just feels a little flat when you have had a taste of what these things with common terms used to be like. So much more whimsical, mystical, and divine. Mysterious forces that are beyond our comprehension all coming together to repeat a cycle. That's not the feeling you get playing Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo wants to distance Zelda so far from the rest of the timeline that the very mechanics of the world are completely shifted, but they seemingly don't have it in them to call it a complete reboot of the franchise. This is where the major issues with the lore start rearing their ugly heads. Breath of the Wild and Tears take place so far after everything else in the Zelda universe that we don't know what timeline they're on (which is extremely muddy in every argument), and all previous games are now considered to be distant myths and legends. We must assume that, at some point, Hyrule was completely destroyed and eventually refounded by the Zonai, who had no knowledge of Hyrule but still somehow decided on that name. It seems extremely unlikely that the Goddess Hylia was still worshiped enough to have the people who inhabit the land call themselves Hylians, while still having no idea that a place named Hyrule once existed. Unless everyone has been wiped clean of that memory and history somehow, the only logical explanation is that this is a retcon or retelling of the actual, original founding of Hyrule, which takes place right after Skyward Sword. However, this also raises some serious continuity issues in regards to Zelda and Ganondorf, as it would have been recent enough for the people to know about the events and people of Skyward Sword, and one Ganondorf (Demon King) being sealed by Zonai powers while two more exist later is also strange. Of course, there is also no light dragon hanging around, and Hyrule Castle moved around so many times that they would have had to circle completely back around by the end of the timeline to inhabiting the original one again (because Ganondorf was being held underneath it). So then, we have to assume that this really was so far ahead that people had forgotten Hyrule was ever a kingdom, but now we have come back to the original problem.

Then you have the issue of things like The Imprisoning War. There is already an Imprisoning War in the series, but this one is just called the same thing even though it is a completely different event. Lets not even talk about Rauru being the same name as the Sage of Light from a bygone era. This makes me lean even harder into the "it's a reboot" camp.

I get it, I get it. Nintendo isn't known for having perfect stories. They are more known for their polished gameplay. We'll get to that. The problem is that Zelda is Nintendo's game that does have story incorporated into it the most, an ongoing one that has been in the series since A Link to the Past, at least. It has been steadily increasing in scope and complexity over the years, and completely on purpose. It got to the point where we have full voice acting in these Switch titles. You can't tell me not to focus so much on the story when the existing story of Zelda is so rich, and the current presentation is just begging me to get invested in the story! If story isn't a huge deal, then why even make a direct sequel? Clearly, Nintendo wants Zelda to be their franchise that is the one focused on story, but for some reason they just have not taken the rest of the series into account when writing the story for Tears. Or, they have, they just don't want anyone else to take it into account on purpose because they want to go in a radically different direction. It's for that reason that I have to say there's no other option than for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to actually be a reboot of the series, and not even a soft reboot. It is its own entirely different thing, and I think the only reason they have said the previous games are now known as legends and myths are so that they can still name locations after old characters and put in other easter eggs for players to either smile at or think way too hard about (can you guess which one I am?).

So, there are definitely some issues with the game's story if you are really into Zelda lore. However, there are also some serious problems for continuity even between this game and Breath of the Wild. Whatever happened to all of the old shrines, towers, guardians, and Divine Beasts? They are all completely missing, with the only signs that guardians once existed being one old one stuck on Robbie's lab. We are left with only the assumption that they must have been dismantled and reused for other technological endeavors. You are never clued in on any of this.

This starts to bleed into the rest of the issues with the story, which would exist even for someone that has never played a Zelda game before playing Tears. The ludonarrative dissonance is extremely strong, particularly when it comes to matters regarding Link himself. It is very rare that you'll find an NPC who knows who he is, which seems strange considering that they all seem to know Zelda. Link is Zelda's knight, the one who is around her all the time so he can protect her, and you mean to tell me that nobody knows him? Let alone the fact that he's the guy who was asleep for 100 years and then saved Hyrule just a few years ago. Everybody talked about him in Breath of the Wild even though they didn't know the dude was standing right in front of them, because they probably weren't even born yet. So how is it that they now just have no clue who he is?

One of the worst aspects of the story in this game is the way that the Sage stories play out as soon as you reach the little lead up sections to their respective Temples. They hear a voice, distant and muffled, and they see Zelda walking in a direction, beckoning them to go to her. It turns out that this is Puppet Zelda, a minion created by Ganondorf to mislead people. You go through the rest of the Temple as normal, and then they get their secret stone from the spirit of one of the old Sages. No matter how many Sages you have helped out and how many Temples you have completed, the story is always exactly the same. Literally exactly the same. Copy and pasted dialogue with different voice actors. Link never mentions, "hey that's not actually the real Zelda" or "that's the voice of an old Sage calling out to you." We can't use the excuse of Link not talking because he does talk, ALL THE TIME, we just don't get to hear it because we're meant to put our own voice to him. Link is borderline braindead, actively making things harder for everyone and himself by not speaking up. Then to be greeted with the same exact dialogue (that you are unable to skip, by the way), turns what could be an awesome finishing note to the end of a Temple to leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

The strange thing is that, while each Sage quest does not ever acknowledge anything else you have done in the game, there will be completely random NPCs who are reading newspapers about your escapades, or will even bring up stuff happening. If they could give random NPCs a bunch of variable dialogue depending on game progress, why couldn't they have done even just the bare minimum with the main story quests? It would have made it feel so much more unique to even just have a couple of changed dialogue pieces in there, and they'd end up maybe having to record like 40 more lines or something in total. It's just such a major disappointment.

The whole Puppet Zelda thing in general also goes to show how totally braindead they make Link seem. We'll be solving puzzles with him and building crazy machines in one scenario, to him being told "Zelda" came and did something weird for the tenth time and he doesn't ever bring up to these people once that it isn't the real Zelda, and he should know because he's the real Link. The amount of headache it would solve for everyone involved would be ridiculous. He doesn't even bring up anything that happened to Paya, who wants to examine some ruins but "Zelda" told her not to. It just comes off as incredibly lazy writing.

Then there are the dragon tears. These are memories that you can see that have caused glyphs to form in the landscape all around Hyrule. To cut to the chase, they spoil each other if viewed in the wrong order. Whereas Breath of the Wild's memories felt like piecing together a bunch of forgotten moments for Link to remember the details of who he was, Tears tries the same formula but with a much more linear story structure, and because of this there is a certain viewing order for them that should be observed. However, the only semblance of a viewing order you are given is in the most subtle way possible, in the form of engravings in a circular room with a map of Hyrule and where all of the glyps are. I had to inform my friends, who started playing after me, that they should take careful notice of those engravings, and they still managed to view some of the tears out of order, thus spoiling the flow of the story. This crosses over into the current, modern era story as well, since you find out from the tears that Zelda turned into the light dragon that now holds the Master Sword. Depending on when you see that tear cutscene where she talks about turning into the dragon, or when she does turn into one, it can change the entire dynamic of the actual act of acquiring the Master Sword. On the player's side, at least. On Link's side it changes nothing, because he remains just as emotionless and expressionless as he does throughout the rest of the game unless he's cooking.

I frequently found the smaller side stories to be much more engaging. Stories that altered the way NPCs behaved and changed the world. Things like the Misko treasures, or the traveling group of musicians that you have to bring together, who then play at every stable, or the rebuilding or Lurelin Village. There are so many amazing little details like that that exist as completely optional content that I really do enjoy, and that's part of why I got stuck doing so many side quests. They actually felt like they had an impact on the world, but the main story may as well have been completely detached not only from the rest of the game, but from the itself.

Once you have amassed your troupe of all of the new Sages, you go to Hyrule Castle to take down Ganondorf. However, he's not at full power yet, so he retreats after fighting a losing battle. You then go to get the final Sage, an old one named Mineru, who inhabits a new construct body. It would have been much more in line with the rest of the story's themes to have someone from the modern era become a new Sage. I would have liked to see the final Sage be a Sheikah, like Purah or Paya. Now, where we used to have seven sages, we have lost two in Rauru (Sage of Light) and Mineru (Sage of Spirit). We're supposed to have all seven, so I can imagine that causing issues in the future, as we now only have five. Again, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are all about deconstructing what Zelda is and reformatting it, which is incredibly confusing and aggravating for longtime Zelda fans, but also shows some cracks for newer players.

In the end, you fight Ganondorf as a revived king, then he transforms into his Demon King form. This form looks a little bit like Demise rather than the Beast Ganon we're used to seeing Ganondorf transform into, further cementing that this is indeed an entirely different Ganondorf. Upset that Ganondorf isn't able to beat Link, he swallows his secret stone (which was stolen from Sonia) and turns into a dragon, which then turns into a battle between the Demon Dragon and the Light Dragon with Link riding on top. It's a fairly good climax to the story, with epic proportions and, of course, an epic explosion at the end of it all.

Here's the weird part, though. Somehow, Sonia is able to visit Link with Rauru from beyond the veil, and together the two channel their power through Rauru's arm that Link was equipped with to change Zelda back into a Hylian. Rauru appearing is fair enough, since we know he is literally a part of Link at that point in time. Mineru being around is explained as well, since her spirit was stored in the Purah Pad. What about Sonia? How did she appear? The only explanation that Zelda gives is that she felt love and awoke from her draconic state. Mineru says that through Sonia's time magic and Rauru's light magic, they were able to restore Zelda to her previous form, but also says that it's only a theory. This really feels like some god-tier deus ex machina, and it does take away some of the impact from Zelda's sacrifice. Becoming a dragon causes one to lose their sense of self completely, ascending to a higher state of being, but Zelda did decided to do it anyway since there was no other way of getting the Master Sword to Link in a repaired state. The story is lacking a lot of impact and this is one of those situations.

The time travel aspect of this story gets incredibly confusing the more you think about it, and is far more complex than Ocarina of Time's. In fact, trying to wrap my head around it and commit those thoughts to text is nearly impossible for me to do. Believe me, I've been sitting here for a while trying to figure it out and have deleted this paragraph over and over again. Zelda and the Master Sword going back in time just messes with so much stuff, in a way that the only explanation is that not only Tears of the Kingdom, but also Breath of the Wild, do some major timeline hopping without anybody realizing it. What we experience is the best case scenario of all timelines, which is perhaps something that Zelda as the Sage of Light converged together to avoid cataclysm in every possible outcome of her time travel. If Zelda is a dragon carrying the Master Sword, she cannot help Hyrule in Breath of the Wild. There are no champions, Divine Beasts, or Link. There is no Master Sword, because she has it instead of it being in the care of the Great Deku Tree. There is no Hyrule in this damned future because Ganondorf easily crushes them. We know that, in relation to the modern era, Calamity Ganon was fought by a hero 10,000 years ago with the aid of the Master Sword, so if he doesn't have the Master Sword then is he even able to protect Hyrule then? Did he remove it from the Light Dragon and then place it back or something? I hope you see what I mean when I say that this is some really confusing stuff. It's not even necessarily bad, as I have seen far worse examples of time travel, it's just difficult to process how this could have all come together cleanly.

I think it is safe to say that time travel is far easier to pull off when the main character is the one that is time traveling, like in Ocarina of Time. You can directly see how Link's actions in the past change the ones in the future, and how his knowledge of the future can help solve issues of the past to further change the future. Even Skyward Sword's use of time travel is far easier to understand, because we as Link get to experience it. There is a disconnect in Tears, because Link is only seeing glimpses of the past and how it has changed his current time, but we don't even know what current time Link is in. The only logical explanation is that we have not even been playing in the same timeline's Link, hopping from one to the next while somehow sharing the same memories, alongside all of the other people in the land of Hyrule. This is why I think it is likely that, although not explained, Zelda has fixed the flow of time to provide a favorable outcome to Hyrule throughout the entirety of the time that she isn't there.

I think that about sums up what I wanted to say about the story. It is very deeply flawed in every aspect. The execution being bad is one thing, but the whole foundation may as well not exist. The material they're using to build the story is of high quality, but without someone to put the pieces in the right order and deliberately decide to not use some of it, the end result is an architect's worst nightmare, barely resembling a house. The various amenities are all intact, but it is still unlivable, with tight corridors, no windows, and twisted ladders that lead to several basements instead of simple stairs and more breathing room. The story simply isn't functional, and everything it does right has been done better in other Zelda titles. The mysticism of games in the past is replaced with confusion, which really makes me believe that whoever did the writing doesn't really understand what made the stories of games like Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker so great. They are stories that are very simple to understand, but ones that are shrouded in mystery that can only be solved if you connect the dots from the subtleties laden throughout the land of Hyrule and other games in the franchise. Even if you don't know about the rest of the games in the series, you feel their impact and it arouses feelings akin to those felt while telling stories around a campfire. Since Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are dead set on being wholly seperate iterations of Hyrule, including its lore and its people, there is far less information at our disposal to understand what is going on. That isn't helped by its story and lore additions, and there is just not enough they could have done to make such a massively scoped game make sense or give that same unique feeling of a story truly ancient and mystical in nature. This game is truly too big; too ambitious for its own good.

I guess I can briefly talk about characters. A lot of the main ones are reused, including Impa who should probably be dead by now and her inclusion makes no sense. The game's a sequel, so I'm not complaining that most are reused, and we do get a handful of new and heavily revamped ones as well, which is especially true when you go beyond main characters and into side characters. I do generally like the characterization on display here. They're all memorable, even the side characters. The NPCs also really make you feel like the world is lived in, which is unfortunately a feeling that is absent in the main story. I just have one question... WHERE IS KASS? The dude has completely vanished, which is a really odd exlcusion considering he could have been playing music at the stables alongside the other musicians. He was a really great character that they just sort of threw out. I can't think of any other characters in the game that are like that. I mean, they kept Impa for heaven's sake!