Tears of the Kingdom is in many ways a game that feels like it's trying to correct some of the faults of Breath of the Wild while improving upon the parts that made it great. In other ways, it feels like a dramatically different game with an entirely different vision of what it hopes to achieve.
Taking Link beyond just the surface and even the Sky, Tears of the Kingdom introduces the Depths, a closely guarded secret of the game. Across the world are new chasms that lead you into the Gloom-infested darkness, and there's more than a handful of frightful sights down there.
9 The Descent Down A Chasm
One of the most awe-inspiring events in Tears of the Kingdom is when you discover a new location, be it a little cave tucked away under a hill, or diving from the sky above onto another island. The Depths have a similar goal in exploration, though the discovery feels dramatically different.
Your very first descent down a chasm will be terrifying because you simply don't know what to expect. Diving slowly into the darkness, not even being able to discern where the floor is. You reach the bottom, and suddenly the darkness consumes the very chasm you entered through. The worst part is the creepiness never ceases.
8 The Pitch Black
Unlike the surface and the sky that reward you with vast horizons and a literal bird's eye view of the world, the Depths are not so generous. Once you drop in, you're consumed by darkness on all fronts, having to create your own light to reasonably navigate.
It's cruel because the game truly will not hold your hand here. You might see a light in the distance and dash towards it, only to realise there's a massive valley separating you that was concealed in shadows. It's truly hard to fathom the lack of light and the things that wander within it.
7 Unfathomable Heights And Depths
Even more unsettling about the Depths, however, is that even with light they don't become any less unsettling. As you activate Lightroots, sections of the map will be brightened, though only the immediate surroundings.
This gives way to a new form of existential dread, however. The Depths are terrifyingly massive. Even filled with light, it doesn't reach far enough to show you where the ceiling is, or how far a deep drop will take you. It's like discovering how deep the ocean is.
6 The Giant Bargainer
In Breath of the Wild, hidden in plain sight outside Hateno Village, was a simple statue that when spoken to would offer you a bargain - in exchange for either hearts or stamina, it would strengthen the opposite. It was a disturbing mechanic, though one you were free to engage with.
In Tears of the Kingdom, these Bargainer statues have much greater prevalence, scattered throughout the Depths as a collective network. Every word they speak feels as though it is wrapped in curses. The most imposing of these Bargainer statues is the absurdly large one hidden deep beneath the central abandoned mine.
5 Glowing Enemies In The Distance
Within the depths, the only guiding forces you have are your wits and the few limited sources of light, the majority of which have to come from you or Lightroots. Horrifying things linger in the darkness, awaiting their chance to strike at you.
Most upsetting though are the enemies you can see glowing from a mile away. These enemies are encased in Gloom, any hit from them sapping your very hearts away. It's nice of them to be visible, and they usually loiter around Zonaite mines, but you'd better be prepared for a fight literally drains your life.
4 The Abandoned Mines
To the many people of Hyrule, the Depths are a new discovery. They are a remnant of the Zonai, or maybe even a shared culture between them and the people of Hyrule. Either way it has been long buried, and its purpose long-forgotten.
Found in every corner of the Depths are abandoned mines, their structures in ruins and remains of equipment left to decay. How long they have been left unused is anyone's guess. Even hopping in a minecart and riding down the rails is a chilling experience, the silence of the mines as you screech down the tracks.
3 Yiga Hideouts
The fine people of Hyrule are not the only people to have recently rediscovered the Depths, unfortunately. Mingled with the dark denizens of the deep are the Yiga Clan. Following their Master's literal descent in Breath of the Wild, they've set up camps and outposts in their new home.
Coming across deadly creatures and bottomless pits is bad enough, but the Yiga only add to the horrors. Their outposts glow, bandaged together using salvaged Zonai devices. They make the light seem frightening, death machines constructed to destroy anything that comes their way.
2 Spirits Of The Past
For as much as the Depths is unsettling and spooky, you have to realise that much of that comes from the darkness. It had a practical purpose, to mine Zonaite. It's only because of the Gloom and forgotten nature of it that it's become so unpleasant and spine-tingling.
Until you see the ghosts. Not just the Poes, but the spectral warriors brandishing their untarnished blades. They speak not a word, only solemnly offer you their weapons. You can't help but shiver, not knowing why they still persist.
1 The Towering Statues
All ancient history is scary when it's not understood. Even in the original Breath of the Wild, the Zonai ruins throughout the Faron region were unsettling for the fact that they remained while their creators simply vanished without a trace.
The Depths, of course, take that feeling to the extreme. Everywhere within it, you find statues. Some are ornamental, while others point towards destinations. Some, then, may appear to simply be formations of rock. An easy mistake to make in the darkness. yet when light is ushered in, and you take a step back, you quiver at the sheer size of some of these statues and what they could have possibly been intended to depict.