Good news, everyone, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has completed development. The long-awaited game is ready to go. And to celebrate, Nintendo gave us a good look at the gameplay that awaits us when Tears of the Kingdom releases. Tears of the Kingdom brings us back into the gorgeous open world we first saw in Breath of the Wild, but, of course, this Zelda game also brings many changes for players to discover.
Let’s take a look at our best tease yet of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and its multifaceted gameplay.
The Tears of the Kingdom gameplay demonstration walks us through this Zelda game’s many new settings, abilities, weapons, enemies, and more. We especially love the beautiful golden trees that feature in the game’s Sky Islands. They remind us a bit of The Rings of Power‘s Lindon. But, of course, peril also awaits in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. So we can’t get too caught up in all the beautiful artistry. Instead, we’ll fuse weapons to take on strange foes and try out new skills. Our favorite new weapon is the long-stick pitchfork. Although the Tears of the Kingdom‘s puff-mushroom shield, which we saw in the gameplay trailer, is pretty good too.
In this The Legend of Zelda game, you can even craft your own transportation based on objects you find lying around. We now know that this ability is called Ultrahand. And don’t worry, it appears there is a way to easily recreate designs you’ve already created, as long as you have the necessary materials on hand. Honesty, we like this Tears of the Kingdom feature a lot.
Additionally, Tears of the Kingdom will have some exciting and diverse dungeons, a feature that Breath of the Wild did not emphasize as much as other Zelda games. In fact, they’ll offer experiences that weren’t available in the previous Zelda game. Developer Takuhiro Dohta shares in a recent interview, “We’ve made dungeons unique to their respective environments, so we think you’ll be able to enjoy the wide variety of regional characteristics.” And additionally, developer Satoru Takizawa notes:
Making a “wide variety” was pretty challenging. The four Divine Beasts were the dungeons in the last game, and they shared similar designs. This time, the dungeons are huge and each carry their own regional look and feel, just like traditional The Legend of Zelda games. We think they will provide a satisfying challenge for players. They were certainly a challenge to develop!
It certainly sounds exciting to us. You can see some of the game’s features and abilities in a recent tease from Nintendo.
In addition, the Nintendo presentation revealed another surprise. A brand new limited edition OLED Nintendo Switch celebrating Tears of the Kingdom. The console was released on April 28, slightly before the game’s release, and is now available for purchase. Not to mention, it sure is pretty. Additionally, a limited edition Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and carry case for the game will become available on May 12.
Overall, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s gameplay looks incredible. Honestly, after watching someone actually play, we want to get our hands on this game right now. But we’ll have to wait a little while longer for that. Tears of the Kingdom releases on May 12, and you can pre-order it today.
Originally published on March 28, 2023.