Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomkept its lofty promises to be an advancement on 2017’s Breath of the Wild, and has easily solidified its place as one of the best games of 2023. Theintroduction of Zonai devicesmade the game’s creative freedom simply endless, and bolting on a worthwhile story that adheres to the series’ roots while offering something new to the rich history of Hyrule made it one of the definitive Zelda experiences.
That success means players are all too eager for more, but because Eiji Aonuma recently said there were no plans for DLC, the wait for something new will be a while. This may seem universally disappointing, but it’s not all bad, as it means that the time can be used to look further tothe future forZelda.
RELATED:Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Armor Upgrade System Should Have Leveled the Playing Field
Tears of the Kingdom Doesn’t Need More Things to Do
Though DLC is often used to flesh out a game’s story or world, the reality forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis that it is so dense with activities and curiosities that it’s hard to imagine added content moving the needle. Though the story can be blown through in a relatively short amount of time, players could easily spend hundreds of hours getting lost in Hyrule, and will usually be rewarded for their decision to do so. The latestZeldagame is perhaps not just the most expansive in the series, but one of the most content-packed singleplayer offerings of all time. It released during a 2023 that is full of exceptional games, butTears of the Kingdomcould practically fill 12 months by itself.
This means that DLC would be largely redundant, at least in terms of giving players more content and things to keep them busy. Going down any of the side quest paths can be seen as a sufficient addition to the game anyway because the optional activities feel far more meaty and rewarding this time around. If Nintendo was to createDLC forTears of the Kingdom, it would be unlikely to provide anything truly different, meaning the time could be put to better use trying to find a way to follow it up with the next chapter of the franchise.
Zelda’s Story Lends Itself to More
However, while the world and the gameplay doesn’t need any new content, the ambitious story could be further expanded upon, as it was amajor improvement onBreath of the Wild, but still not as substantial as other AAA offerings. DLC could give fans more than a glimpse at the Zonai, or even put them in the shoes of Zelda as she learns about her ancient surroundings. The story is great, but with its quality comes the desire for more, which would have been a perfect excuse for a separate downloadable component to justify diving back into the game’s impressive lore.
SinceBreath of the Wildincluded DLC post-release, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility thatThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwould do the same. However, while there could be a narrative benefit to it, the time and resources needed to make it work would arguably have been too costly, especially as the 2023 game is already overflowing with worthwhile things to do. It’s always a slight disappointment when one if the best games of the year has no plans for more content, but in the case ofZelda, it’s a near-perfect package as it is, and doesn’t need more to make it great.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:Tears of the Kingdom Missed a Trick Not Including one Skyward Sword Location
