Introducing a slew of new, complex mechanics, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom forces fans to play through a rather lengthy tutorial mission before they're let loose on Hyrule once again. While Zelda: Breath of the Wild features a similar tutorial to Tears of the Kingdom, it's a little more streamlined and simple, with it just taking place across the game's Great Plateau. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, on the other hand, features an extensive tutorial level, taking some fans a few hours to beat.
Set on one of the new Sky Islands, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's tutorial gradually introduces players to the game's four new core abilities: Ultrahand, Fuse, Recall, and Ascend. Over the course of a few Shrines, a handful of environmental puzzles, and some combat encounters, players will come to grips with all of the game's core mechanics. But while this tutorialization is common in modern gaming, sequels like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor tend to take a slightly different approach.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Uses its Tutorial Differently From Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial level sees players take control of Jedi Knight Cal Kestis once more, this time on an undercover mission in the heart of the Empire itself, on Coruscant. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor makes the bold decision to immediately give players almost all of Cal's abilities from the previous game. This means that from the get-go, players have access to two lightsaber stances, a handful of Force powers, a double jump, and a few other abilities that weren't unlocked until Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's closing moments.
During the course of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial, players are shown the basics of combat and traversal and brought back up to speed with Fallen Order's late-game mechanics. On top of that, Jedi: Survivor's intro also teaches players a few new tricks along the way, including a brand new dual-wield lightsaber stance, a new time-slowing Force power, and a new traversal method in the addition of an Ascension Cable. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial throws a lot at the player, but in giving them so many abilities right out of the gate, it also gives them an immediate sense of satisfaction.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes the opposite approach. At the start of Tears of the Kingdom, players control Link as he and Zelda explore a mysterious cavern at the base of Hyrule Castle. Players have their entire health and stamina bars, appearing how they would in Breath of the Wild if players unlocked everything, and are wielding the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield, two of the best pieces of equipment in the previous game. But when Zelda and Link discover a new threat, players are transported to a new location, and are stripped of all of their gear and abilities. Tears of the Kingdom firmly takes players back to square one in its opening level, giving players just three hearts, one stamina wheel, and absolutely no equipment.
While some of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's tutorial level is dedicated to re-teaching fans the basic controls and mechanics of the game, the vast majority of it is focused on the game's four new abilities and how they can be used in the open-world setting. Though these two approaches are completely opposed to one another, with Tears of the Kingdom stripping everything away from the player, and Jedi: Survivor letting the player keep all of the prior game's abilities, they both work very well for their respective genres.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a 20-30 hour action-adventure game, and while it has open-world elements, it's quite a linear title, and the pace of unlocking new abilities is quite rigid. On the other hand, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has no limits, and it is a 50+ hour open-world adventure game that revolves around exploration and a constant sense of progression, making its approach make complete sense.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Switch.