The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Was Developed To Ease Newcomers Into The Game

The Legend of Zelda is a massive franchise that spans decades. With several video games released over the years, chances are you’ve at least played one of them. But if this next installment to the beloved franchise will mark as your first entry, you’re completely fine. So don’t worry about returning and playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild if you’re itching to get into the next big game for the Nintendo Switch library. 

A new post from Nintendo has been released online for their Ask the Developers series. This is a collection of posts that interviews the development team to help provide a little more context or answer some general questions for their upcoming games. The ninth volume centers around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, in which the development team alerts readers about what to expect. 

Again, if this is your first time venturing into the IP, you’re going to get an action-adventure game with plenty of puzzle-solving. Meanwhile, it’s noted that this is a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as the developers wondered if they could make it possible for players to continue exploring the world after reaching the game’s ending. 

However, the topic of newcomers came up when discussing making a new game set within the same world that was previously crafted for Breath of the Wild. The developers felt that the game is packed with new ideas that can be solved intuitively, so first-time players should find this game easy to get into. Fortunately, it’s not just the gameplay mechanics that the developers took note of for newcomers. Instead, the developers made the storyline easy to understand for new players in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. 

The developers wanted to make the storyline comfortable for first-time players and those who had previously played through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. One of the means to also help players get familiar with characters is the newly added Character Profile feature. This can be brought up to highlight more information about the characters you interact with in the game. Of course, even if you have played through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this Character Profile feature might help refresh your memory. 

Currently, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is set to release on May 12, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch. You can also find that Nintendo provided a recap video to showcase the events from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That might also be helpful in catching up with newcomers or veteran players to remember the major plot points from the previous game.