The Legend of Zelda has a winning formula that it could squeeze more life from, and a half-sequel to Tears of the Kingdom could make use of it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an advancement of a format that has breathed new life into the veteran Nintendo IP. It’s an impressive feat of game design, adding more layers to the map Breath of the Wild created, and taking advantage of the space even more to craft memorable experiences in the now-aging land of Hyrule.
However, given Nintendo has said that a third game in the same vein isn’t happening as Zelda looks to the future, the winning formula needs a new way to be used again. A ‘half-sequel’ like Spider-Man: Miles Morales or God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla could fit Tears of the Kingdom like a glove, using its world-building and gameplay mechanics once again to keep players entertained until the next entry in the series, whatever it may be.
A half-sequel to Tears of the Kingdom can’t be expected to deploy a whole new map, nor can it recycle the old one if it wants to be truly memorable as more than just a DLC update, so putting exploration further into the background and the story more in the forefront could be a welcome compromise before the next Zelda game does something different. Breath of the Wild’s Ideas Have Proven to be Reusable
Tears of the Kingdom borrows liberally from its predecessor, 2017’s Breath of the Wild.
