Summary
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomoffers players a lot of freedom in how they approach the game, which some players have used to create their own challenges to make the game more difficult. WhileTears of the Kingdomhas a lot to do in its open world, it is far fromElden Ringin terms of difficulty. More experienced players may find that, even though the game can be a lot of fun,Tears of the Kingdomisn’t very challenging to get through.
To increase thedifficulty ofTears of the Kingdom,players will typicallyrestrict their access to certain resources or actions. This can mean removing certain advantages from the game that make Link more powerful. Otherwise, it could mean imposing a strict set of rules the player needs to follow, adding to the list of things players need to do during each in-game day.
One Year Later, How Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Legacy Compares To BOTW’s
It’s been one year since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was critically praised. Why don’t we talk about it like BotW?
10Relying On Realistic Travel Can Make The Game More Difficult
No Fast Travel Elongates The Game
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas a massive map, evenbigger thanBreath of the Wild’s. This makes fast travel a welcome inclusion. Otherwise, players would be forced to trek long distances across this huge map, often retreading the ground they already covered. Because fast travel is so useful, restricting its use is a great way to make the game much more challenging to get through. As suggested by Reddit userThunder_Dragon30, taking away fast travel altogether can make for a very serious challenge.
Trying to get throughTears of the Kingdomwithout fast travel is a slog. This isn’t the type of challenge that is going to make the game more fun, or even on the face of it, that much more challenging. Though Thunder_Dragon30’s suggestion of only cooking in towns does add a bit more of a challenge in terms of gameplay, the real difficulty of this challenge comes from a player’s ability to stick with it and not get frustrated. It does, however, encourage players to get creative with Ultrahand, as custom vehicles will become important for traveling quickly.
9Not Using Link’s Paraglider Makes Hyrule Harder To Navigate
This Challenge Doesn’t Let Players Glide For Long Distances
Link’s paraglider is one of the handiest tools in the new era ofZeldagames. It is made even more important inTears of the Kingdom,when players will often find themselves at very high altitudes. That makes thisReddituser’s suggestion a pretty big ask for players. By removing this single item, Link’s journey across Hyrule not only gets much longer but also becomes a lot more dangerous.
Like inBreath of the Wild, Link’sparaglider inTears of the Kingdomcan be used to cross distances at a higher speed, granted players have enough stamina to glide that far.The item is also a huge safety net for players as they explore lands above the clouds, as it can be used to protect players from fall damage. Players likely don’t even realize how much they rely on the paraglider because its use becomes second nature after a while. Once it’s gone, players will certainly notice its absence.
The paraglider is given to Link by Purah in Lookout Landing, but it’s possible to beatTOTKwithout speaking to her. Declining to retrieve the paraglider ensures it won’t accidentally be used during this challenge run.
8Restricting Link’s Food Options Takes Away Some Major Advantages
Players Aren’t Allowed To Eat Meat
Food inTears of the Kingdomcan be a very helpful resource in a variety of ways. Items like Spicy Pepper Steak can help with exploring different regions in the game on top of healing Link. Other recipes like Enduring Fried Wild Greens can grant Link a temporary stamina boost. Most of the best recipes in the game call for a variety of different foods, which is what makes Reddit userfaustarp1000’s vegan rules so punishing inTears of the Kingdom.
This challenge doesn’t allow players to eat or even kill animals. While faustarp1000 doesn’t specify in their post, if players wanted to do a true vegan run, they also wouldn’t be allowed to consume animal products. That means no milk or eggs, in addition to no meat.Theserestrictions remove a lot of the game’s best recipes, which usually involve some type of meat or animal product. Players will want to craft a lot of Vegetable Curry if they are going to attempt this run.
7Not Upgrading Link’s Stamina Makes The Game A Big Challenge
Link’s Stamina Is Used For Many Essential Actions
Stamina is one of the most important resources inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Arguably, for players who are adept at combat,stamina upgrades are far more usefulthan upgrading Link’s heart containers. If players truly want to impose a challenge on themselves inTears of the Kingdom, they can try to make it through the entire game without upgrading Link’s stamina past its starting point.
Less stamina means several important things.Playerswon’t be able to climb or glide as far, which will make traversing Hyrule much more difficult. Stamina is also used for running, which means travel will also slow down significantly for players, and they won’t be as agile during combat. Certain enemies are also easier to defeat with the use of the glider and will become more difficult when players can only use it for a short time. This challenge forces players to re-evaluate both fighting and exploring the world.
6Treating Link’s Inventory Like A Real Storage Space Puts Major Restrictions On Players
Players Can Only Use A Few Inventory Slots
Looking at Link’s design inTears of the Kingdom, it’s pretty clear that he wouldn’t actually be able to carry all the items players can fit into their inventory. Realistically, players would need several large bags to carry all the food, weapons, and other items that Link lugs around with him all over Hyrule. This seems to have inspired Reddit userLoot_Bugsto come up with a unique challenge for the game: treating Link’s inventory space realistically.
This challenge forces players to only carry one, maybe two, small items that would likely fit inside Link’s small satchel. That meansno stockpiling of different types of weapons, no crafting materials, and no large reserves of food. This will force players to constantly use what they find immediately, or else simply forget they ever found it. This can also make combat much more stressful before players obtain an unbreakable weapon like the Master Sword.
5Tears Of The Kingdom Can Be Turned Into A Survival Game
Players Need To Eat & Sleep Regularly
Some open-world games offer players a more challenging way to play by treating their characters like real living people. This means players need to eat, drink, and sleep regularly to keep their in-game character healthy. WhileTears of the Kingdomdoesn’t have a built-in mode like this, players like Reddit userLapras_Lasshave found ways to come up with their own rules for one.
This challenge takes the no-fast travel rule and expands upon it to make the game even more immersive.Playersneed to eat regularly and sleep once a night(sleeping in this case is simulated by sitting near a fire for an allotted amount of time). This playthrough will give players more of an appreciation of just how grueling a journey like Link’s would be if he had to constantly be finding food and shelter each day, and actually had to travel everywhere in real-time.
4The Three-Heart Challenge Is A Zelda Tradition
Players Aren’t Allowed Extra Hearts In This Challenge
LongtimeZeldafans will likely have heard about the three-heart challenge for at least one of the games in the series. This challenge tasks players with completing aZeldagame without having more than three hearts. However, it isn’t strictly possible to playTears of the Kingdomthis way, since players are forced to gain an extra heart during the game’s tutorial section. However, there are ways around this if players don’t mind getting a little creative with the rules.
Extra hearts gained from eating will not contribute to opening the Temple of Time door; players are required to gain a fourth heart to complete Great Sky Island.
Once players have the fourth heart, they can simply pretend it doesn’t exist. This means, as soon as players lose their third heart, they allow whatever enemy or obstacle that is injuring them to finish them off. Once players have advanced far enough to find the Cursed Statue,players can sell a heart container to it. This will set their actual count back down to three hearts, allowing them to complete this classic and difficultZeldachallenge.
3Heading Straight To Ganondorf Gives Players A Tough Battle
Ganondorf Is Tough With No Upgrades
Similar toBreath of the Wild,Tears of the Kingdomhas a short tutorial section that takes place on Great Sky Island. Once players have finished this section, however, they are free to do anything they want in the game. This includes heading straight to the final boss without any preparations or upgrades. This is exactly what Reddit userIcy-Border-7589recommends for players who are looking for a challenge inTears of the Kingdom.
Players will have to travel all the way from the starting area to the Hyrule Castle Chasm without the aid of a paraglider if they are serious about heading straight there with no stops. Then, they will befacing the final boss of the game without any additional hearts, stamina wheels, food, or weapons. If players can pull this off, it is actually one of the quickest ways to play the game, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.
2Only Using Logs To Build Makes The Game’s Puzzles More Difficult
This Takes Away Many Of The Player’s Crafting Options
The biggest innovation that setsTears of the Kingdomapart fromBreath of the Wildis Link’s new Zonai arm. This allows Link to combine materials he finds in the wild with one another into structures, vehicles, and weapons. This offers the players a lot of flexibility when it comes to approaching puzzles or enemies. One way to makeTears of the Kingdommore challenging is by limiting the types of materials Link is allowed to build with.
One way players can do this is to only use logs. Logs are common enough and have enough different uses thatplayers can use them for a decent amount of the game’s puzzles. However, it will be more challenging than using the full range of materials available to them. This is the type of challenge players will want to save for a second playthrough, since it does take away a lot from the game’s main draw. However, it can be a fun challenge for a subsequent time through the game.
1Navigating Hyrule Can Be Tough If Players Don’t Fill In Their Map
Players Fill In The Map At Skyview Towers
Across Hyrule inTOTK,players can find Skyview Towerswhich they can activate to fill in their map. This makes navigating Hyrule much easier, as players have a much better idea of where things are. In a sprawling game likeTears of the Kingdom, it can be easy to get lost without this type of guidance. Conversely, players who want an extra challenge can forgo activating the towers, and leave their maps blank to make navigating extra difficult.
Playing without a filled-in map will force players to remember landmarks to find their way around or else get lost and spend ages traveling between destinations. While this challenge may be difficult, it will also give players a better appreciation for the game’s world, since they will have to pay much closer attention to it. Players who try to tackleTears of the Kingdomthis way will end up knowing Hyrule better than most by the time they finish.
Source:Thunder_Dragon30/Reddit,outer_fucking_space/Reddit,Loot_Bugs/Reddit,Lapras_Lass/Reddit,faustarp1000/Reddit,Icy-Border-7589/Reddit
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the anticipated follow-up to Breath of the Wild, released in 2017. A rare occurrence in Zelda titles, Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel instead of loosely connected. In Tears of the Kingdom, Link will take to the skies and learn about a mysterious kingdom in the clouds.
