The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is pretty damn awesome.
I don’t mean in the same sense that Majora’s Mask is unnerving the whole time, and there certainly isn’t a moment like it that cutscene in Twilight Princess. But even now with my ridiculously overpowered Link full of heart, Tears of the Kingdom keeps me on the edge of my seat more than any other Zelda game.
The Hyrule of Breath of the Wild was barren and desolate. The first real danger many of us probably faced was trying to get to Hyrule Castle and being attacked by the Guardians. Now that it was pretty terrifying – the piano music and the beeping of the Sheikah robots as they docked is etched in my mind.
Tears of the Kingdom lulls you into a false sense of security. The first place on the surface you visit is Hyrule Field, and it’s completely different, no longer populated by those extremely dangerous creations. You’ll spot Bokoblins and Moblins out there, but that’s about it. Except for Hyrule Castle hovering behind Lookout Landing and massive amounts of red and black fungus oozing from the ground. And all the caves. And that immense feeling of powerlessness was raised to 20.
Quick note – I’ll dive right into it some gameplay spoilers heremostly just Enemies and locations which I remember the most. I won’t touch the story at all. However, if you don’t want the above-ground surprises (or scares) ruined, feel free to gallop away…
An awful lot
Not having a paraglider on Great Sky Island exposed my overconfidence. I reacquainted myself with the controls pretty quickly, but every time I was faced with a gap that I thought I could paraglide over, I didn’t have it. You’d think I’d learned not to blindly jump off ledges, but I haven’t, so when I did got
Tears of the Kingdom lets you discover the wonders of the world at your own pace, but it also means you can encounter the horrors of Hyrule. And the game doesn’t really hold you when you do.
Horriblins are terrifying. The way they crawl on the ceiling, sneak up to get close to you and the weird noises they make are really disturbing. The first time I encountered it, I was just wandering around the cave, smashing rocks, and then this big creature came charging towards me. They kept their weapons glued together, and in the hiding place lay pieces of meat. I don’t want to know what they were up to, but they really freaked me out. I hate their grunts when you walk into a room, and I especially hate fighting five Black Horriblins at the same time.
I dislike
One creature from the series that has received an ‘upgrade’ is the Like Like. These were already weird enough in Ocarina of Time, but did anyone expect them to be as big as they are in Tears of the Kingdom? You can see one of these for the first time in a cave on the Great Sky Island and I sighed audibly when I came across these long creatures. They make a terrible noise, as if they were preparing for a feast, and I am never pleased to see them.
Aside from being out in the open, other terrifying creatures lurk around the surface of Hyrule, ready and waiting for you. The first time you meet a Gleeok feels like an event – at least mine was. In the Tabantha Tundra, I was trying to sneak past a Frost Gleeok, who was flying proudly around some ruins in the middle of a field. I failed and started running when the ominous music started. Before I could get my bearings, he fired an ice beam at me and I was dead in one shot.
Three heads, each with one eye, stare down at me from the sky, the Gleeoks making me nervous in a way that the Guardians never did. Now I enjoy their challenge, but their sheer size and ferocity is still enough to make me question myself, especially if you come across the strongest variants. There’s something particularly unnerving about a Thunder Gleeok in the Colosseum or a Flame Gleeok on the Hylia Bridge — the limited range means you have to think on the fly, and when you’ve got a three-headed and three-eyed dragon trying to kill you, that’s not easy.
Gloom and doom
I mentioned gloom above, but this substance is basically the answer to all my nightmares in Kingdom Tears.
The first time I went deep it was suffocating. What an amazing area to get lost in for hours. The foothills of Hyrule are engulfed in eternal darkness, only permanently lit by the Light Roots you find as you randomly roam the void and helplessly toss Lightbloom Seeds in front of you. It’s addictive, but for a long time it made me incredibly claustrophobic.
With patches of darkness covering parts of the ground and dark-infested monsters—more powerful than those on the surface or in the sky—overpowering me in a hit or two and temporarily taking away my max heart count is enough to make you panic. I certainly did, abandoning all rational thoughts like the possibility of fast traveling away from danger or even, you know, retreating back to the safety of the Surface. Instead, I just died and decided I wasn’t going back there until I got stronger.
I wouldn’t even say dispelling the darkness solves many of the horrors of the Deep. Frox, a new type of enemy, can inhale you and immediately spit you out. They’re like a watered-down underground Hinox, except they’re really fast and really big. Stalnox, Hinox, Gleeok and Flux Construct all have dark versions. Combine all this with the oppressive music in Depths and somehow, despite the powers at (and in) your fingertips, Tears of the Kingdom manages to make Link seem smaller than ever before.
Hands up
I deliberately left the worst for last, because I don’t think anyone will ever forget their first encounter with Gloom Spawn — better known as Gloom Hands.
The first time I was outdoors was in broad daylight while collecting materials from the ground in a small forest. I thought the blood moon was rising until I realized what time of day it was and that great patch of darkness suddenly five hands moved to grab me. I’ve never run faster.
Even as I fight them now, armed to the teeth with bomb flowers and ice fruit, the distorted vocals and music playing send chills down my spine. As with Horriblin and Frox, it’s about the speed at which these things move and the fact that they can just pick you up like you’re nothing. That feeling of restriction and panic is unmatched in a Zelda game for me. And as for what can happen when you defeat some Gloom Hands… well, have fun.
I’ve spent so much time in Hyrule, and strange, terrifying things keep happening to me. The horse god Malanya is still a bit creepy, and I love the Stalhours, but seeing them in the depths was a little weird. Not to mention heights.
But Tears of the Kingdom blends wonder and fear to incredible effect – for every special thing you spot, there’s bound to be something disturbing waiting for you somewhere. Expect the unexpected, all the time.
Do you think Tears of the Kingdom is pretty scary? What was your scariest moment or scariest encounter so far? Vote in our poll below, then feel free to comment, but keep it light on spoilers!
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