After the blockbuster success of Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom might just be the Nintendo Switch’s most anticipated sequel.
Judging from new gameplay footage dropped by Nintendo, that hype is warranted. The Legend of Zelda sequel looks set to feature an even more expansive world, thanks to new geography taking to the skies.
Sky Islands now dot Hyrule, expanding the map upwards and beyond. Link also gets more abilities in his eternal quest to save Zelda, guaranteeing new open-ended interactions that will surprise you at every turn.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom promises even more ways to interact with everything around you
Link isn’t a stranger to the air, but he’s going to even greater heights.
The new Sky Islands means that Link needs new ways to get to and from high places. One of them includes a new ability to manipulate time with his new Recall. This lets Link rewinds the time of specific objects, like a rock that fell from a Sky Island, using it as an elevator to explore previously unreachable areas.
Fuse can combine objects to create new weapons. Link creates a stone mace in the shown footage by combining a tree branch and a rock, as well as a weapon over twice his height by combining a long branch and a pitchfork. It also works with arrows, like freezing an enemy from afar with a White Chuchu Jelly. You can even Fuse homing arrows by attaching an eye to an arrow.
Another example was putting a Puff Shroom on a shield, which triggers a makeshift smokescreen when an opponent hits it.
If the previous trailer had you scratching your head as to how Link became an accomplished mechanic, Ultrahand is the answer. It functions like an extension of the Fuse ability, letting you interact with items to build freeform objects. You can create rafts, cars, and even flying machines with parts scattered around the map.
Ascend lets you essentially noclip through ceilings — though the definition of ceiling seems to be pretty wide. It’s easy enough to see Link go through a pavilion, but he can also go through the roof of a cave and swim through three-quarters of a hill to end up on top of it. Perhaps this might even open up secret chambers deep inside landmarks around the map.
You can watch all 10 minutes of the glorious gameplay footage from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom here:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is set to release May 12, 2023.
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