Earlier in the week, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma shared a look at the long-awaited Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The preview opened with Link riding a horse, as Aonuma mentioned the changes to the game’s map and asked how players would reach the new sky environments. As he does this, an object falls from the sky. When Link approaches it, he uses a new Sheikah Slate power called “Recall” to rewind time on the thing, which makes it fly back into the air. Tears of the Kingdom already looks like it will give the player even more agency and freedom within its world.
Once he reached the island in the sky, the first thing to jump out to me was the presence of human-made structures and natural vegetation like trees. Looks like the areas in the sky won’t be limited just to flying fortresses. On this island is a new enemy type, the Construct. These look to be basic enemies, but variety in enemy types was something Breath of the Wild was lacking, so it’s a welcome addition here in Tears of the Kingdom.
After dispatching the enemy, Aonuma shows off another new power called “Fuse,” which allows you to combine a piece of equipment and an object or two weapons. In the Tears of the Kingdom demo, Link fused a tree branch with a rock to make a crude club-type weapon with more damage and durability. He also could make ice arrows, homing arrows, and a shield that doubled as a smoke grenade when struck by an enemy.
Continuing, Aonuma demonstrated two other new powers: “Ultrahand” and “Ascend.” Ultrahand (a sly reference to one of Nintendo’s earlier products before they went into making games) was used to build a makeshift airboat and a rudimentary hovercraft. I fully believe this was brought on by the video of a player making a flying machine in the original Breath of the Wild by using a minecart and a box.
Meanwhile, Ascend allows Link to teleport through ceilings and pop out on the other side. Let’s hope he doesn’t wind up with Captain N again. This should eliminate some of the climbing needed to access certain areas. The key is that a ceiling is necessary, so you can’t just teleport to the top of a mountain for free. In the example, Aonuma used a cave within a hillside. The Tears of the Kingdom presentation ended once Aonuma was blown off the island and back to the surface by an enemy who also used a fused weapon.
After the presentation, Nintendo revealed three new products themed around Tears of the Kingdom. These include a brand-new Switch OLED system, which will launch a few weeks before the game at an MSRP of USD$360. It follows the same trend of Zelda-themed consoles having gold as a primary color, though this one has some pleasant green and white highlights on the Joycons. The game will not be included with the console.
A Switch Pro Controller and matching Switch carrying case were displayed alongside this. The controller and carrying case carry an MSRP of USD$75 and USD$25, respectively. These will be released on the same day as the game. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12th, 2023, with a price of USD$70.
While you wait for the game with us, check out some of our Zelda products. I highly recommend the 30th Anniversary Music Collection. So many lovely tracks and beautiful art from each iteration of the series!
