How Tears of the Kingdom’s Lurelin Village Questline Compares to BotW’s Tarrey Town

Out of all the numerous changes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom made to Breath of the Wild‘s Hyrule, the comparison between founding Tarrey Town and restoring Lurelin Village showcases how Nintendo improved upon the games’ themes of survival and rebirth. Given that Breath of the Wild‘s narrative hinged on Hyrule’s devastation, with players left to explore the wilderness as they uncover the mystery behind its destruction, it was unclear what a direct Zelda sequel could offer following Calamity Ganon’s defeat. With time for Hyrule to recover and rebuild, Tears of the Kingdom was at risk of losing the wild immersive edge its predecessor had.

However, when Tears of the Kingdom was finally released, it quickly became apparent that the world players had left behind now faced even greater threats, as Ganondorf’s return only strengthened the monster forces ransacking what was left of Hyrule. In doing so, Tears of the Kingdom was able to pick up and expand upon where Breath of the Wild had left off between its narrative and themes. There is arguably no better demonstration of this than contrasting Breath of the Wild‘s Tarrey Town to Tears of the Kingdom‘s Lurelin Village, where world-building concepts take on a more engaging and interesting approach in the sequel.

Comparing Breath of the Wild’s Tarrey Town and Tears of the Kingdom’s Lurelin Village

At face value, it would be easy to connect the superficial story beats of working with Hudson to help him establish Tarrey Town to assisting Bolson in restoring Lurelin Village following its monster occupation. But while Breath of the Wild‘s questline only requires Link to recruit uniquely named townspeople from across Hyrule and little else, Tears of the Kingdom goes several steps further with how to both unlock and complete the Lurelin Village Restoration Project quest. By capitalizing on Tears of the Kingdom‘s new mechanics and features, Lurelin Village provides a more engaging story that Tarrey Town didn’t initially offer.

What Makes Tears of the Kingdom’s Lurelin Village More Engaging

For example, before players can even begin to rebuild Lurelin Village, they must first defeat one of Tears of the Kingdom‘s new Monster Forces occupying the bay. The interesting twist to this is that players can find and defeat these monsters outside the game’s missions, but Tears of the Kingdom still takes the opportunity to flesh out its new world. Alongside the Ruffian-Infested Village side mission, players can have encounters with NPCs throughout Tears of the Kingdom‘s Hyrule who will comment on Lurelin being overrun. Unlike Tarrey Town, players become emotionally invested in returning to the once-familiar Lurelin Village and saving it from the clutches of Ganondorf’s monsters.

From here, the Lurelin Village Restoration Project begins, first by tasking players with fetching specific resources before letting them choose which building they’d like to restore. As each building is completed, the residents return and allow Link to use their respective services once more, such as the inn or the restaurant. Though this does parallel how Tarrey Town and its services gradually grew, there is a noticeable difference in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s approach. Changes to the village occur right in front of the player, followed by each returning resident directly thanking Link and rewarding the player as per the table below.

But even beyond the player’s interactions with residents and their growing bond, rebuilding each part of Lurelin Village is an actual physical process the player needs to engage with. Thanks to Tears of the Kingdom‘s new Ultrahand ability, each destroyed building requires Link to clear away obstacles and maneuver palm tree logs into position so that Bolson can finish construction. As a result, Tears of the Kingdom‘s inherited themes of survival and rebirth can be felt through the Lurelin Village questline as the player becomes directly responsible for rescuing the village and rebuilding it as part of both games’ determination to rebuild all of Hyrule.

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Tears of the Kingdom Took Tarrey Town in a New Direction

While Breath of the Wild‘s Tarrey Town might have been eclipsed by Tears of the Kingdom‘s Lurelin Village and its more effective approach to figurative and literal world-building, this doesn’t mean that Tarrey Town has been overlooked in the sequel. After all, the final part of its questline in Breath of the Wild delivered one of the game’s most memorable stories: Hudson’s and Rhondson’s marriage. So, when players return to Tarrey Town in Tears of the Kingdom, though there are new additions to the town such as a Zonai excavation site and rail system, the biggest change may actually be Hudson’s and Rhondson’s daughter, Mattison.

This is where Tears of the Kingdom builds on Breath of the Wild to explore a part of Zelda lore as a series first. By completing Mattison’s Independence, players will see firsthand the emotional struggles when the daughters of Gerudo families get separated from their fathers. With players more than likely familiar with Hudson and invested in his story after helping him establish Tarrey Town, it’s an honest and impactful perspective on Gerudo lore and storylines that other Zelda games reference in passing or use only as a running gag with infatuated men obsessing over the Gerudo.

Furthermore, with Zelda now residing in Link’s former house, Tears of the Kingdom still improves Tarrey Town through its own mechanics and the leftover design of Breath of the Wild‘s modular buildings. Much like restoring Lurelin Village, players can use the Ultrahand ability to move and attach modules to ultimately build Link an all-new home as Tarrey Town’s latest citizen. Considering the town’s longevity between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, its diverse population spanning all of Hyrule, and Link’s newfound residency, Tarrey Town could reach the next level, surpassing Lurelin Village to become integral to future Hyrule kingdoms.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Franchise

The Legend of Zelda

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

May 12, 2023

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Genre(s)

Adventure

ESRB

Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes

How Long To Beat

59 Hours

Metascore

96