Masochists. That's what the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom developer team is: a bunch of mean old masochists in their gloom-soaked ivory towers, laughing at my pain as I get downed in one hit by a Boss Bokoblin. Well, maybe that's not true, but they certainly had me fooled when I discovered the existence of armor upgrades a blistering 40 hours into my Hylian adventure.
Call me old fashioned, but when it comes to open world games, I like certain things to be made clear. Namely, where you go to upgrade your gear. The Witcher 3 has me trained to head for the nearest blacksmith or armorer for all my upgrade needs, while the soothing purple torchlight of Resident Evil 4's merchant is a one-stop beacon of organizational calm amid the chaos. Even the workbenches dotted across Dead Island 2 are a logical port of call. I know better than to expect a Zelda game to be that literal, of course, but I made my way through three-quarters of the main storyline before I met a Great Fairy and upgraded my armor. I didn't know whether I wanted to kiss her or burn her flower bud to the ground afterwards.
