Tears Of The Kingdom’ Is The Best-Reviewed Game Of 2023

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is the best-reviewed game of 2023 according to review aggregator Metacritic.

The game is currently at 96/100 on the site, receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. The universal acclaim is brought down slightly by just one slightly negative review from Gfinity, which gave Tears Of The Kingdom a 6/10.

Critic Josh Brown offers up some solid criticism of the title, saying that it does too little to differentiate it from the previous entry, Breath Of The Wild, and that it commits the same chief sin as that game:

For long-time Zelda fans, the condensing of the traditional dungeon format for Breath of the Wild is ultimately what dampened the experience. And Tears of the Kingdom does too little to address those concerns. In fact, mere days before release, a poorly-worded (or translated) tweet referencing an interview-style discussion with the developers convinced hundreds of thousands that dungeons were larger than that of the last game. They’re not. In raw surface area maybe, but in terms of length and complexity? No. And that’s heartbreaking.

This is certainly bad news, and has been one of my biggest concerns with Nintendo releasing a direct sequel to the last game rather than trying something new. And by “new” I also mean, going back to the franchise’s roots where large, complex dungeons were a major part of gameplay. I do love the open world these games give us to explore, but you can have both.

I’m also sad that weapon durability (aka breaking weapons) has returned. I don’t like this mechanic in most games. It’s tedious and only really makes sense in the survival genre, or perhaps in some tactical games. I prefer Link to have his Master Sword and shield and set of tools rather than endless, breakable loot. This, of course, is all a matter of personal preference, but then that’s what reviews boil down to in the end.

MORE FROM FORBESWatch This ‘Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild’ Recap Before Playing ‘Tears Of The Kingdom’By Erik Kain

The rest of the scored reviews on Metacritic are very upbeat, with 80 being the next lowest and lots of perfect 10s. “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a masterpiece of a sequel that instantly joins the ranks of the best Zelda games of all time,” writes PCMag (10/10). “The greatest legend that Nintendo has ever told, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a shining beacon of wondrous brilliance in an enviably storied franchise,” Nintendo Insider gushes (10/10). It goes on and on like that. You get the gist.

I’ll be diving into the game this weekend (though balancing that against some Diablo IV beta action) and will report back with my impressions. I loved Breath Of The Wild and I’m sure I’ll love this game. I am sad to hear the dungeons aren’t what they could be, and of course I will continue to complain about the aging Nintendo Switch because a new Zelda game really deserves a more powerful console and better graphics and performance, but this sounds like a great big, fun sandbox to play in and I’m excited.

The other best-reviewed games of 2023 include Metroid Prime: Remastered (94), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt next-gen release (94), Tetris Effect: Connected (93), and Resident Evil 4 (93).

So many great games these days! You can watch a recap of Breath of the Wild’s story right here before you jump into Tears of the Kingdom. It’s been many years since that game released and a refresher never hurts!