Did you think the final launch trailer was the end of it? It turns out that wasn’t the case at all, as Nintendo has shared some new details for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
This comes from Nintendo’s official website, which you can view here. You should note if you are using Firefox, that it may not be able to load the website properly due to the heavy amount of elements it uses.
Unfortunately, this is a matter where you will have to use a Chrome based browser. You can use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. If you have an Apple device, it should run on Safari if you wait for it. You may also want to choose to reduce motion on the website if you see the option.
Now, these details aren’t as extensive as what we saw in the final trailer, but there are still a few things worth talking about.
There is a dedicated page for amiibo. We already know that there will be a new Link amiibo based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
But you can also use other amiibo that are The Legend of Zelda themed. This is what the website says:
“If you scan an amiibo figure from the Legend of Zelda series, you can receive helpful materials, weapons, or a paraglider fabric based on which one you scanned.”
The last detail is definitely a teaser of something bigger. If you’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you are already used to getting weapons and materials from amiibo. But paraglider fabric is new.
Why would you need more paraglider fabric? Can Link’s paraglider now be destroyed? Is this a new weakness to compensate for all of the new traversal methods Link has?
Here’s another description of Hyrule in a page explaining the game’s features:
“The sky isn’t the only thing that’s changed in Hyrule. Familiar locations have been dramatically transformed, with new towns, dank caves, and mysterious gaping chasms springing up across the world—all waiting to be explored.”
So we have seen some of the things described here in the final trailer. We know that Hyrule has gone through some degree of terraforming. It seems that the people of Hyrule have tried to rebuild since the events of the last game, but those efforts were ruined by the return of Ganon. Some of that terraforming was also because of the literal rise of the sky islands.
However, not all of them have a clear cut explanation. We saw Link use his ascend ability on a cave that seemed to have been built on top of something else. How did that come about? Is that Ganon’s power bringing back something from the past or building something new? We didn’t see any chasms in the game either. Is this in a part of the game that we haven’t seen yet?
Here’s another description on the same page, of what Link needs to do in the new game.
“Link must travel across the far-reaching land and skies of Hyrule to discover the origins of the mysterious gloom that is plaguing the kingdom.”
Hyrule’s mysterious gloom is apparently something that isn’t just explained away by Ganon’s reappearance. It isn’t just that Hyrulians are sad or in despair by his return – there is a mystery that Link has to investigate by going all around Hyrule. Could this gloom be related to a new gameplay element that we have yet to see?
Finally, we’re sharing some new official art, again from the official website. This art shows the fearsome new appearance the Moblins have in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Red Moblins have stacked arrowtips atop their heads. A bigger blue Moblin has a gruseome new appearance, a backwards axe atop its head, and his head crown is enveloped with what looks like a crown made of wooden splinters.
So it seems Link isn’t the only one who has the Fuse ability to make use of. Ganon has used Fuse on his minions, and this could mean more dangerous enemies all throughout. One wonders what augmentations fearsome enemies like Lynels and Molduga have that could be fatal to Link.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be releasing exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023.
