Everyone loves to say lightning never strikes twice but let’s be real: Nintendo makes lightning happen, and even when they do catch a little help because everyone’s suddenly stranded at home when their latest Animal Crossing title hits, they hardly need it. Ever since the Switch took the world by storm, there've been lightning strikes everywhere you look, and Tears of the Kingdom was bound to be more of the same.
But really. Did we think that after Breath of the Wild basically reshaped the landscape of gaming by redefining things like exploration and open worlds Nintendo didn’t have the time since then to hit us again with an even more exciting sequel?
Tears of the Kingdom has been captivating people worldwide since minute one. Forbes is agape in wonder that it’s even real, Mashable is putting together amazing America’s Funniest Home Video Style bloopers everyone can enjoy, and Ars Technica is helping you hack your way to better frame rates on Switch so you can capture it in all its magnificence.
As we’ve been diving in and initial reviews have been coming out, we can see that Tears of the Kingdom is proving one of those rare sequels that reminds you of all the things you loved about the first game and then gifts you with the beauty of all new things to blow your mind.
So while you can’t really predict these sort of things, you can make educated guesses.
We had a feeling Tears of the Kingdom would break records in scores and sales, and it’s been proving true at every turn, including the most recent report from Nintendo itself to BusinessWire that the game had sold 10 million copies worldwide in only THREE days. That makes it the fastest selling Zelda game in the series.
But that’s not all. A little search led us to this: With some notable exceptions on the list of best-selling video games found on Wikipedia, like Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V which top the list, in a moment that will again surprise no one, this record in particular is usually held by Nintendo and then broken by them. From Animal Crossing to Wii Sports, Mario Kart 8, Tetris and Smash Bros, only to be broken again a few years later by Nintendo.
We’d argue it’s part of the Nintendo Magic, though there’s plenty of detractors that’d just roll their eyes at the statement. It’s easy to get the love/hate relationship people have with Nintendo - we often feel both - but it’s hard to ignore something like this. Our take? Exploration is the best way to find anything out - and that’s what Tears of the Kingdom is all about. Jump off the edge and explore it, and we suspect you’ll enjoy your journey.
And that’s what great games are all about.