Greetings fellow gamer folk! Here’s a post I’m pulling out of my… er. I mean, here’s a feature article where I discuss a screenshot from a video game I’m playing/played (or watching someone else play)! Today’s piece is called The Blood Moon Rises from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Important Note: Strength in Sarcasm is of the belief that every gamer deserves to have a spoiler free journey through a video game if they so choose. The excited mass of screenshot sharing online (especially on social media platforms) can and does ruin epic gaming moments for people.
To prevent this, the actual screenshot and my babbling about it is hidden under the accordian block below! DO NOT expand it if you’d like to avoid any spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Only you can prevent spoiler fires! Or something.
CLICK TO SEE SPOILERS!! Last warning
Oh, Nintendo’s beloved Legend of Zelda series. I was once a super fan of Link’s multigenerational adventure. Unfortunately, I’m one of those gamers who isn’t the biggest fan of the direction the series took with Breath of the Wild (Yes, I suck. Fight me or whatever). It was a total letdown when I heard Tears of the Kingdom would be following the same design pattern (breakable weapons specifically can go get rekt).
Watching a friend Gaming Omnivore stream the game on launch day intrigued me enough to give it a chance. Worth noting is that since my initial BotW disappointment I’ve played the first Dark Souls game to platinum trophy completion. Why is that relevant? Honestly, the modern Zelda XP feels a lot like a Souls game, especially combat difficulty wise. I feel more confident in that gaming area which has helped increase my enjoyment of the new formula. But I digress. I like it and let’s get on to the screenshot!
Everyone’s favourite creepy phenomenon from BotW makes a return in TotK: The Blood Moon! On rare nights, the ground will start oozing redness and a terrifying blood moon will storm across the sky. A cutscene (which was really cool at first but is now instantly skipped) with Zelda being all ominous about it plays. This lunar lunacy also respawns all the enemies you’ve defeated in the land… yay.
This screenshot was taken when I was rudely blood-mooned while exploring the ruined ground level Temple of Time in southern Hyrule. The visual effects of blood moon event are so hauntingly pretty! I had also found a cool Royal Shield in a chest just prior to this. Might as well take a screenshot with my sweet shield before it breaks. Sigh.
Sources: This is a screenshot we took with the Nintendo Switch from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Zelda and Nintendo Switch belong to and are trademarks of Nintendo.
