Fear of the unknown is a powerful motivator to, well…stand still. Very, very still. That’s the first thing I did upon entering The Depths in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As Link, I just stood there, surveying the empty sea of seemingly nothing that lay beyond the lit circle of “safety” where he had landed. And yes, I do mean “landed,” for one of the ways to enter The Depths is via one of the many chasms leading to it on Hyrule’s surface. Falling alone is poor way to travel to the Depths, though apparently that’s how the Yiga Clan’s Master Kohga ended up there. (This clan of assassins don’t like Link very much.) Falling and using Link’s paraglider is safer, and using a makeshift hot-air balloon or other flying device is safer still. This is all to say that the act of getting into The Depths before establishing fast travel routes is harrowing in and of itself.

If the name wasn’t enough to go by, The Depths in Tears of the Kingdom is a vast, underground world that mimics Hyrule’s map in shape and size. It’s filled with above-ground features, like lakes, forest, mountains, valleys, temples, enemies and enemy encampments, and lots and lots of Gloom. As if the darkness wasn’t bad enough, puddles of Gloom, a dark ooze that sucks the life out of anyone who touches it, are nearly everywhere. Without sufficient lighting (more on that in a moment), one can easily stumble into Gloom upon setting out in any direction. That’s exactly what happened when I first tried to navigate in the dark. I zipped back into the light before you could say “Master Sword,” and I just stood there, very, very still, again.

Thankfully, The Depths aren’t all bad news. For one, it pays to have torches and/or a hefty supply of brightbloom seeds, which Link can stick to arrows and fire off into the distance. Once the arrow strikes a surface, the seed lights up the immediate area. (The bigger the seed, the more light is provided.) This solution is good for getting around until Link finds a Lightroot. Lightroots, which correspond to Shrines on the surface, are giant structures that, once activated, significantly illuminate a portion of The Depths. They also provide relief from Gloom, as the light replenishes any hearts lost to it, and they serve as fast travel points – very useful if you prefer to not huck Link of the edges of chasms all the time. (Again, that sense of infinite falling is not cool.)

As it goes, The Depths are not avoidable and must be traversed at certain points in the game. There are also secrets in the game that can only be found in The Depths, of course. I presume that once all its Lightroots are found, considering that the spaces they each light up overlap, The Depths are then much brighter and easier to navigate.  I say “presume” because I’ve not done that, because I don’t like The Depths. It’s scary and treacherous and still very dark in my game. I’ve only uncovered a handful of Lightroots, primarily ones that Link’s pointed to during quests, and I possess an irrational fear of Link falling off some dark cliff forever and ever. Just him falling through darkness for all of time. That is simply a horrible way to spend eternity.

I’ve yet to beat Tears of the Kingdom, and I’m sure that I’ll return to the game at some point to tackle just that. And I’ll return to The Depths, too. Maybe. If I have too. Like Hyrule, The Depths is a huge place that contains interesting exploration opportunities. Nothing about it is physically scary, but a fear of the dark combined with the fear of the unknown makes it a place less travelled. Overcoming that challenge, however, is sure to be rewarding. When the motivation is strong enough, I’m sure I’ll delve into The Depths once more.

All images captured by author during gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (©Nintendo).