Tears of the Kingdom: Fans react to Zelda sequel launch

Nintendo has released Tears of the Kingdom - its latest game in the long-running Legend of Zelda franchise.

The action-adventure series sees players lead hero Link across Hyrule's open-world to find Princess Zelda.

Fans have waited six years for a sequel to the hit Zelda game launched with Nintendo's Switch console, Breath of the Wild.

Tears of the Kingdom reviews have seen it gain "universal acclaim" with critics, per aggregator Metacritic.

The site is encouraging people to spend more time playing the game before leaving a review - telling them to "come back to review it" tomorrow evening (13 May).

In the meantime, fans have been sharing their initial takes, screen captures, delights and woes with the game, on social media.

Zelda fan and streamer @RachaelCamui said on Twitter the opening sequence of the game, and its music, had made her cry: "I love Zelda so much; it's literally why I'm a gamer."

Another Twitter user called the game "an absolute work of art".

Despite some concerns that the sheer size of the game might overwhelm newcomers, the expansion of Hyrule to include more environments and possibilities seems to be delighting fans.

"I have been playing the new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for over five hours and I'm still just in the beginning!" Twitter user @daveymilkshakes1 said.

"You can reach me again in about a fortnight," another joked.

"I feel as if I will never finish this game," Keza MacDonald, video games editor at The Guardian, wrote in her five-star review of the game. "Every time I think I've got a handle on it, it reveals a new expanse."

Meanwhile, speedrunners - who try to blitz through games at record speeds - have already completed Tears of the Kingdom in less than two hours, according to Video Games Chronicle.

Many queued at video game stores across the world to grab their copy of Tears of the Kingdom when it hit shelves at midnight.

And Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser made an appearance to sell a fan the first copy in Nintendo's New York store.

Breath of the Wild has a score of 97/100 based on critic reviews, and a user score of 8.7 out of 10 based on almost 20,000 reviews on Metacritic.

It has won several awards and is recognised by some as one of the best games of all time.

Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and the game's director Hidemaro Fujibayashi told fans in a video message on Friday they wanted to make Tears of the Kingdom accessible for new players, as well as enjoyable for Breath of the Wild gamers.

BBC's gaming correspondent Steffan Powell said as "a free-roaming roleplaying experience with a massive canvas for story-telling", the game is more than just a sequel to its predecessor.

He said to navigate Hyrule "you're encouraged to use your imagination to solve puzzles, craft weapons and battle to defend the land from Ganondorf - tribal chief and villain".

The Washington Post's games reporter Gene Park called it "the fullest Zelda story to date".