Summary
- Despite the tone of early trailers, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom failed to deliver a darker story than its predecessor.
- Characters in TOTK are largely thriving during the Upheaval, and it feels as though the dire circumstances in Hyrule have any tangible effects.
- Exploring the possibility of character deaths and a darker atmosphere could create a more dire situation, having a significant impact on the world and characters of Hyrule.
The next addition to The Legend of Zelda has a chance to make use of a narrative direction which Tears of the Kingdom shied away from. The latest entry in the Zelda franchise has an impressive story told with a wide array of unique characters. However, TOTK also arguably wasted several opportunities, which its successor is now perfectly poised to incorporate into itself.
It is difficult to be directly critical about Tears of the Kingdom’s story, as it is undoubtedly an incredible experience. Nevertheless, some parts do seem more notable for the absences they highlight rather than what they actually include.
For example, one memory seemingly sets up a boss fight which then never occurs by teasing Twinrova, which can be incredibly frustrating for those who recognize the characters involved. Beyond this, it can be disappointing that for a game which follows Breath of the Wild in referencing so much of the wider Zelda lore, TOTK also seems to ignore certain long-running traditions and lore details.
TOTK Did Not Take The Opportunities It Had To Tell A Darker Story
Although TOTK’s plot has some notably dark moments, for the most part its story is a hopeful one. Link resolves the Regional Phenomena and helps the Sages awaken with no long-term negatives, and even the Draconified Zelda is restored at the game’s conclusion after so much emphasis is placed on the process being supposedly irreversible.
However, this does run counter to the initial impression given by TOTK’s trailers; the Upheaval and creeping Gloom of Ganondorf were as mysterious as they were ominous, and seemed to promise a much darker narrative than what ultimately came to be.
Excluding enemies, very few characters die in TOTK. Ganondorf’s death is, naturally, both a foregone conclusion and a victory for the heroes, but Sonia and Mineru’s are more saddening and unexpected. However, Sonia’s death is essentially backstory for the main plot, and it is possible not to see the memory detailing it at all depending on individual gameplay.
Meanwhile, Mineru’s own passing on is easy to interpret as a relief – after millennia spent as a spirit, she can finally be reunited with her family after helping to avenge them and protect Hyrule.
Tears of the Kingdom could have easily been a much darker Legend of Zelda game, with Ganondorf’s powers easily being able to claim the lives of Link’s friends and allies. Even if the Sages all survived, there are so many ways in which lives could have been shown to be lost;
Link could have encountered grieving NPCs, witnessed monsters succeeding in killing civilians, and so much more. Beloved figures from BOTW could have been revealed to have died during the Upheaval as well, whether through cutscenes or word of mouth.
It is worth noting that one BOTW character does seem to have vanished without trace in TOTK, Kass the bard. However, without evidence of his death, it is hard to say that Kass is not still roaming the world, perhaps even searching beyond Hyrule’s borders for new songs.
Instead, the people of Hyrule are all seen to be simply doing their best to cope with the new threats against them. The Hylians themselves are often a particularly notable source of levity, such as the fashion-conscious travelers sporting mushroom-inspired designs. Ultimately, they seem barely aware of any threat against their kingdom.
The next Zelda game could easily take a very different route in this regard, to show the people of Hyrule (or even a setting beyond The Legend of Zelda’s main kingdom) intimately and universally suffering. Again, there are many ways in which this could be presented:
visibly terrified NPC’s cowering in their homes, refugee camps full of people fleeing from a steadily advancing monster army, or even simple widespread death and destruction are just a few possibilities. Doing so would immediately create a very different atmosphere for the game, and make the situation seem much more dire.
A Hyrule Struggling To Survive Would Have Tremendous Impact
It has long been made clear that there are parts of Hyrule’s history full of violence and tragedy, even beyond the constant battle against the forces of evil. For example, Ocarina of Time’s Shadow Temple is evidently an old torture and interrogation facility originally run by the Sheikah.
But the period of Hyrulean history it apparently belongs to, a civil war that took place before Ocarina of Time, has never been directly depicted. Similarly, although Age of Calamity seemed to be leading to the tragic deaths of the original Champions a century prior to BOTW, Terrako’s intervention leads to their survival.
Truly dark Zelda games are few and far between, and the franchise has recently clearly been avoiding opportunities to produce them. But this also means that a title that fully plays to this type of story could now easily have an incredible impact simply from the radical change in tone. Furthermore, a Hyrule pushed to the brink could also highlight new aspects of the world and its culture, with the potential to reveal so much about the people who call the kingdom home when that home is actively being assaulted.
Twilight Princess is another grim Zelda title, with the encroachment of the Twilight Realm leading to widespread misery across Hyrule.
A ruthless story for The Legend of Zelda would be a radical departure from recent titles, and, admittedly, would not be to everybody’s taste. However, it would also be able to work with the franchise’s base material in a way that Tears of the Kingdom failed to capitalize on, despite the clear and unmistakable references and opportunities it had to do so.
With the technical possibilities having grown so much since games like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess were released, a darker Legend of Zelda game could also be one of the most impressive to date.
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