The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild changed the series with its open-world physics-based gameplay and receive massive acclaim for it. Yet somehow Tears of the Kingdom, the long-anticipated sequel that is finally out on May 12, improves upon its predecessor in every way. It’s bigger and better but also longer, which is saying something. Here is how long you should expect to sink into Tears of the Kingdom before rolling credits.
As the first truly open-world entry in the Zelda franchise, Breath of the Wild takes nearly twice as long to beat as any other game in the series. According to Howlongtobeat.com finishing the main story alone takes on average 50 hours, but including sidequests and shenanigans, that time quickly goes up to 100 hours or more. That is a Persona-level playtime!
Hey, listen! While you’re here, check out our review of Tears of the Kingdom.
Well for Tears of the Kingdom, even more time will be needed to reach the end of Link and Zelda’s story. If you take the direct path through the game and solely focus on main missions then you can expect to spend roughly 60 hours running through Hyrule. Yet if you play the game more naturally, and get lost in the world, then you can expect to spend over a hundred hours playing Tears of the Kingdom. Doing everything in sight might get you toward the 200-hour mark.
The reason for this Sisyphean playtime comes down to the expanded freedom of Tears of the Kingdom and the expansive world. While Breath of the Wild was already huge, Tears of the Kingdom includes the entirety of Hyrule in addition to two entirely new levels of the world to explore.
The first comes in the form of Sky Islands scattered throughout the world which act as large puzzle areas that challenge the player to use mechanics to traverse these new locations. The second is an underground world, called the Depths, that rivals the size of the main overworld. The Depths acts as a hard mode for Tears of the Kingdom that tests the player with tougher enemies, life-sapping pools of liquid, and a pitched-black landscape which makes traversal that much harder. Just these in themselves effectively double the amount of space there is to explore.
These different areas of Hyrule are also littered with a near-endless number of activities that can distract the player from the golden path of the story. Returning from Breath of the Wild are shrines, towers, stables, and Korok seeds that all entice the player with the promise of different upgrades.
In addition to these tasks, the villages scattered throughout Hyrule are more populated than in Breath of the Wild, making them feel like they are actually bustling with life. Every town is packed to the brim with NPCs that all have their own side quests and stories to uncover.
All of this wrapped into the same package makes Tears of the Kingdom an absolute (divine) beast of a game to tackle. Even though you can hypothetically beat the game in roughly 60 hours, most players will have an incredibly hard time not getting lost in the world and sidetracked with all there is to discover.
Here are some more detailed breakdowns of all the side activities you will be spending your time accomplishing in Tears of the Kingdom.
How Many Tears of the Kingdom Dungeons Are There?
Tears of the Kingdom marks the return of traditional dungeons, but that doesn’t mean there are as many as in a game like Ocarina of Time. Without spoiling anything, we’ll say that there are seven dungeons total in Tears of the Kingdom.
How Many Tears of the Kingdom Shrines Are There?
While not a specific number, there seem to be quite a lot of shrines, just like Breath of the Wild. Tears of the Kingdom’s predecessor has 120 shrines and Tears of the Kingdom itself has roughly the same if not more to find and increase your stamina.
How Many Tears of the Kingdom Towers Are There?
Just like in Breath of the Wild, there are a total of 15 towers in Tears of the Kingdom scattered throughout Hyrule that will help defog your map.
How Many Tears of the Kingdom Korok Seeds Are There?
Perhaps the most exhausting collectibles in Breath of the Wild are the literal hundreds of Korok Seeds that players can collect. Korok seeds do indeed return in Tears of the Kingdom, and it seems like there are 900, the same number as in Breath of the Wild.
