Voices of UX
Tears of the Kingdom: the value of not meeting user expectations
This installment of Zelda gives players what they need, not what they want.
In Breath of the Wild (BOTW), players were astonished by the level of detail packed into this open-world game. The appeal of the Legend of Zelda franchise, up until the game’s release, had never been known for having striking visuals . Instead, it was its challenging puzzles, mysterious (if not somewhat inconsistent) lore, and, if we’re being honest, its longevity. Zelda as a franchise was born in 1986 with its first release, so the nostalgia runs deep. Add a visually stunning, exploratory experience to the mix and you get BOTW, a world-renowned game that has sold over 29 million units and won multiple awards.
But where do you go from there?
Most players expected some expansion of the original world laid out in BOTW in its successor, Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK). Even the most dedicated fans were expecting minimal additions, whether that be the changing of the existing world through time jumps, development and restoration of civilizations after the events of the first game, or even a newly impending wartime scenario. Nay-sayers insisted that TOTK would be nothing more than “an expensive DLC” (which is extra downloadable content that expands upon an existing game).
What no returning players saw coming was the life that Tears of the Kingdom breathed into the kingdom of Hyrule, and the addition of two entirely new world levels: the sky islands above, and the depths below.
Zelda creators heard players’ hopeful chatter about new areas to explore in TOTK, and zeroed in on the idea. They employed concepts that every UXer can learn from — listening to what their users both loved and hated, and delivering surprising improvements to both. Instead of giving them what they want, why not give them more — what they don’t know they want?
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Now, with extra whimsy!
Leaning into the non-imperative, much-loved aspects of your product
The level of detail in BOTW is incredible. Very few places in the world feel “unfinished”, and players could find gems in unexpected places, like shooting stars that fall from the night sky, glowing blue rabbit-like creatures that appear among fairies at magical springs, and three flying elemental dragons, to name a few.
BOTW creators heard the players’ appreciation for these visually stunning features and took note. While the dragons, blupees, and fairies were part of few players’ hopeful theories for the new installment of the series, Nintendo knew that TOTK wouldn’t be complete without improving upon them.
New fairy springs
They’re just neat! Fairy springs really add to the experience of exploring the sky islands. Plus, who doesn’t love an extra few lives when going into a boss fight?
Additional Satori locations
Now, cherry blossom trees across Hyrule serve as places where players can summon the beloved Satori… And doing so actually serves a purpose now. While players, myself included, would have likely been happy with discovering new locations to interact with the Satori, now leaving him an offering triggers a cutscene where the Satori sends blue beacons up from the region’s cave entrances. This is extremely helpful when searching for the next hidden gem:
Bubbul frogs!
Bubbul frogs are mysterious (and might I say, glorious) amphibians that inhabit the surface caves in TOTK. Upon begrudgingly defeating them, you find that they are in fact blupees wearing a frog disguise… That’s my theory, at least. Defeated bubbul frogs drop Bubbul Gems, which can be traded for unique items and mystical armor at Kolton’s shop.
(Cooler) shooting stars
You can literally catch falling stars while diving from high places. That’s it. (I didn’t catch this one… But the opportunity was there.)
Dragon Taxis
Most importantly (to me), you can Ride. The. Dragons. Plus, there’s a whole, entire, EXTRA dragon that plays a major role in the plot of TOTK — the Light Dragon.
A favorite activity of some BOTW players was farming dragon loot by tracking the four beasts on their endless loops around Hyrule. To many players’ dismay, you couldn’t get very close to them without risking taking damage. However, it was a great way to collect valuable items and bask in their virtual glory. (I do go outside, I promise.)
In TOTK, instead of shooting the dragons from afar, the dragon experience is vastly elevated. Players can RIDE THEM AROUND AND COLLECT THEIR LOOT FROM ON THEIR BACKS. I couldn’t tell you exactly why I love the Legend of Zelda dragons so much, but they, like all the other “whimsical” inclusions, live rent-free in my head. My first playthrough time was heavily padded by riding the dragons around like my own personal very slow Uber, seeing where they go in their free time, and testing out what all you can do while riding them.
Here are some findings from my field research so far:
- Cooking on the dragons
As long as you BYOP (Bring Your Own cooking Pot), you can cook to your heart’s content atop these ancient beasts. They don’t even notice!
- Collecting dragon parts
Run down the dragon’s back to collect shards of dragon horns, and attack certain areas to break off pieces of scale, horn, and claw. More loot, more better.
- Observing dragon behavior
Unlock your inner magical biologist and simply see where these big sky-lizards go! 10/10, would recommend, as long as you have the right gear to endure the effects of the dragons’ respective elements.
- Camping on the dragons
No-go. Lighting wood with flame weapons or the classic wood+flint+weapon approach simply results in flaming wood, not a campfire that you can sit by to pass the time. Can wood even do that in other situations? TOTK developers seem intent on keeping us from resting our eyes on the dragons’ backs. What secrets are they hiding?
Now, enough of that. Obviously I’m pretty psyched for the whimsical, totally un-plot-related additions to TOTK.
But that’s kind of my point.
Part of what makes certain products stand out is the attention to detail given to non-imperative parts. Yes, products need to be functional in order to be desirable. Their main attractions need to be well fleshed out and tested. But they also need to feel special. When you’ve put genuine passion into your work, people can tell.
For example, have you noticed that during user interviews, multiple users mention how much they enjoy a certain part of your UI? Whatever it is that sparks interest, surprise, or emotion… dig deeper into that. Ask them why they like it. Expand upon it. Mock up ways that you can incorporate that into other parts of your UI. Whether it’s a visual illustration of something they’re creating or a customizable option, there’s a reason they’re singling it out as a good thing — and it’s our job to figure out how to spark that same interest in the rest of their experience.
For The Legend of Zelda, it’s magic and whimsy and the surprise you feel upon discovering something new. It speaks to the kid in me who used to collect fairy figurines, genuinely tried to convince herself that the Animal Planet documentary about dragons was real, and loved finding a good toad.
So, what is it for your product? Whose inner child or curious adult are you appealing to? What problem are you solving, what emotion should your users feel, and what makes them say “wow”?
Listening to your users (but, like, reaaally listening)
Addressing weapons system gripes with increased user autonomy
Sometimes, your users will dislike a feature and tell you exactly what they want you to do to fix it. With BOTW, players did just that, and complained at length about the weapons that broke shortly upon use. Some called this an “anti-fun” mechanic and asked for more durable, if not unbreakable, weapons.
While users did present game developers with a clear request, Tears of the Kingdom didn’t respond by doing away completely with the breakable weapons system. Instead, they gave users something better — but completely unexpected.
In TOTK, Link gains a slew of new abilities, including one called Fuse. With Fuse, players can attach all sorts of things to the weapons they carry — from monster parts, to forageable items, to crates and barrels and tree trunks. Plus, instead of hopelessly hunting for strong weapons or hoarding the ones they have for particularly dangerous moments, players can find ones that they’ve already collected and broken at mysterious ghostly statues in the Depths. This cuts down on the “anti-fun” weapon hoarding that BOTW’s mechanics forced players to employ, allows them to creatively fuse weapons, and encourages exploration of new world levels.
So, were players disappointed that their requests weren’t met exactly? Not really. When you’re presented with a solution that’s better than the one you wanted, it’s hard to be mad.
Meeting your user’s expectations isn’t always as clear as it sounds. In fact, what they tell you they want isn’t really what they want at all. I imagine if the weapons in TOTK were made unbreakable, we’d never hear the end of how easy this game was in comparison to the previous.
You’ll often learn more from listening to users complain about their pain points and watching them use your product without guidance than you will from actually asking them how they’d fix an issue. Is the issue really that weapons break too quickly, or is it more about the fact that players had no control over the weapons they were able to find, and how to use them?
So, the next time you’re interviewing users for a study, let the user lead. Let them stumble and get frustrated, and then give them room to voice the full picture of those frustrations. If they offer up solutions on their own, great — but you don’t necessarily have to use them.
It’s their job to have the experience; ours is to get to the bottom of how to make it better.
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