God of War creator David Jaffe has criticized The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by calling the game "bland" and "old looking." David Jaffe is best known for his work on the Twisted Metal and God of War franchises. He served as the game director of the original God of War game and was the creative director of the sequel.
Jaffe has been playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom recently, and if the game's early sales numbers are any indication, so have millions of others. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been a massive hit so far, smashing franchise sales records and earning widespread critical acclaim. In fact, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now one of the highest-rated video games of all time.
No game is without flaw, however, and Jaffe recently pointed out some of his gripes with Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Jaffe first stressed that doesn't care about "amazing production value+visuals," but said it's "staggering" how Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can look the way it does and "not get at least a little dinged by reviews." Jaffe followed up these initial comments by clarifying that doesn't care about realism in video games and that he doesn't think the game is bad. "But this game is pretty bland and old looking IMO and given how important visuals seem to be to others, it seemed worth discussing."
Jaffe isn't the only one who has criticized Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's graphics. Others online have also pointed out that the game's graphics are lacking compared to modern blockbusters, whereas others still have pointed out how Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom occasionally struggles with frame rate. However, it seems that most critics weren't bothered enough by these drawbacks to lower their scores for the game, feeling as though the rest of the game is so good that the pros simply outweigh the cons.
Others may have been more lenient when it comes Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom than games made for PS5 or Xbox Series X because Zelda is running on outdated hardware. The Nintendo Switch is over six years old at this point, so many weren't expecting Tears of the Kingdom to be some kind of visual spectacle or technical masterpiece. It's possible critics would have been more hard on Tears of the Kingdom's graphics and performance had it released on the next Nintendo console, but we'll never know for sure.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.