RELATED: Comparing How Elden Ring and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Present Their Lore Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Has The Philosophy of an Immersive SimĪ defining trait of many immersive sims is the freedom players have to interact with the world in unpredictable ways that the world responds to naturally, and much of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's popularity beyond its brand name stems from this very trait. Where the comparisons truly lie between Zelda: Tears and the Kingdom and games bearing the immersive sim moniker is in how players can interact with the world at large and how objectives are tackled. Some examples are that options in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can occasionally be limited, such as no method around locked doors without the key and most friendly NPCs not having any extensive interactions beyond giving quests. A big reason for this is that the latter game is missing a few staples often associated with the genre. Prey is classified as an immersive sim, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is not. This is a surface-level descriptor of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but it sounds incredibly similar to Arkane Austin's Prey from 2017 as that title also allows players the flexibility to tackle situations in ways the game allows while likely being beyond what developers envisioned.

The creativity and freedom players are given in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is unlike many games out at the moment, emphasizing players to use the tools given in inventive ways beyond what the developers expected.

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