Destructoid’s award for Best Switch Game of 2023 goes to…

It couldn’t have gone any other way, right?

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was a perfect crescendoed sonata of how to wow an audience. At first, I was just impressed with how magnificent and sprawling the sky islands were. By the time I had brute-forced puzzles with unique object manipulation mechanics and discovered the depths of the underground, I was completely enamored.

Breath of the Wild managed to sing a similar song back in 2017, but this felt considerably different. That’s worth talking about because at first, some were worried that Tears of the Kingdom would crib way too much from Breath of the Wild. I’ll admit, I was even curious to see just what Nintendo had in store for us here; not just from a freshness standpoint, but in terms of the greater reaction from fans.

Like Breath of the Wild, I reviewed Tears of the Kingdom in complete isolation, and I was in awe at the open-ended approach of how to approach nearly everything in this game. I went into a shrine and solved it three ways, knowing full well that one of my peers had a devilishly different take in mind. It hearkens back to the days of the ’90s and 2000s when people would share their quirky strategies with one other, and come to a collective conclusion that would then become canon. Millions of Tears of the Kingdom TikTok videos later, that theory is sound.

As someone who regularly returns to Zelda games, Tears of the Kingdom just permanently threw a wrench in my lifetime replay plan. Not only am I going to have to work Tears in going forward: but I’ll need to spend a considerable amount of time with it to see just how all of my life experiences up until that moment influence my next playthrough.

Tears of the Kingdom is the very definition of a lifestyle game, and that’s why it took the crown for Best Switch Game of 2023.

Here are the nominees for Destructoid’s Best Switch Game of 2023:

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Pikmin 4
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Paranormasight
• Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe
• Fire Emblem Engage
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeeme