The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ends with Hyperlink and Zelda vowing to revive Hyrule’s majesty — bringing it “even past” what it initially was, Zelda says, although her energy is diminished. Although The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been described as a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, Nintendo’s been fairly secretive about the place and the way the story picks up. Nintendo even stored Tears of the Kingdom’s title secret for years, revealing it solely in 2022 as a result of the corporate stated its reveal may “give away an excessive amount of.”
Within the time since Nintendo’s Tears of the Kingdom announcement, the corporate has strategically launched new info by means of a collection of trailers. In analyzing these trailers, there is some info we are able to glean concerning the sport forward of its launch date. As we strategy the Might launch date, Nintendo’s dropping an increasing number of particulars, together with a ten minutes gameplay demo. Right here’s what you need to know.
When’s the Tears of the Kingdom launch date?
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is coming to Nintendo Swap on Might 12. It’ll price $69.99, the primary first-party Nintendo Swap sport to hold that higher-than-normal value. A $129.99 collector’s version shall be obtainable on that day, too. It features a bodily copy of Tears of the Kingdom, an artwork e-book, SteelBook case, an Iconart metal poster, and 4 pins.
When Breath of the Wild was launched in 2017, it launched on Nintendo Swap as a launch title in addition to Wii U. Tears of the Kingdom will solely be launched on Nintendo Swap.
The place can I pre-order Tears of the Kingdom?
We put collectively an entire information on the place you possibly can pre-order Tears of the Kingdom, whether or not you need the bottom model or the pricier collector’s version. Test that out for the total particulars, however listed below are a couple of hyperlinks for those who simply wish to pre-order now. There are a number of totally different pre-order bonuses, too, most totally different throughout nation strains.
Will amiibo work with Tears of the Kingdom?
Sure, though we’ve got a suspicion that Nintendo hasn’t shared the entire particulars on amiibo Tears of the Kingdom compatibility. We all know that scanning sure Zelda amiibo will change the design of your glider, however maybe there shall be different performance introduced nearer to the sport’s launch date.
Nintendo will even launch a brand new amiibo determine of Hyperlink as he seems in Tears of the Kingdom, and you may already pre-order it.
What’s the story of Tears of the Kingdom?
Relating to Zelda video games, Nintendo isn’t very forthcoming concerning the plot. The identical is true of Tears of the Kingdom, which Nintendo describes as an “epic journey throughout the land and skies of Hyrule.” Gamers will “harness the ability of Hyperlink’s new talents to combat again in opposition to the malevolent forces that threaten the dominion,” Nintendo says. A lot of the story is deliberately obscure, and trailers don’t reveal a lot. If something, a few of what Nintendo has proven looks like misdirection.
Visually (and tonally), Tears of the Kingdom is way darker than Breath of the Wild — no less than in components. Trailers for the sport present Hyperlink and Zelda in darkish dungeons, with malice forcing its manner into the world, but additionally present vivid lightness as Hyperlink glides between airborne islands. It appears to be a sport of steadiness, and we’ll see how the enjoyment of exploration, so important in Breath of the Wild, mixes with the brooding storyline.
In a trailer launched in February, we see what seems to be to be Ganon’s corpse, perhaps in its Ganondorf type, awakening. Malice spreads, pushing Hyrule Fort into the sky, and even attacking Hyperlink — his arm seems to be rotting with malice, all wiped out. The Grasp Sword is impacted too, corrupted and melted.
Who’re these new and returning characters?
On April 13, Nintendo shared a brand new trailer — the ultimate one earlier than Tears of the Kingdom’s Might 12 launch date — and revealed an entire bunch of recent characters. There are numerous characters you’ll acknowledge, too: Girl Riju, Prince Sidon, Ganondorf, and (perhaps) Tulin. However the brand new characters are intriguing. The trailer launched an elf-like princess who seems to be like Zelda, together with the identical jewellery. Then there’s a mysterious robed determine — perhaps a Zonai king? — and the potential debut of a brand new race of creatures.
Is the gameplay the identical?
Nintendo hasn’t proven a lot prolonged gameplay of fight or puzzles, however we’ve got seen new and expanded methods to journey by means of Hyrule. Hyperlink has a variety of new weapons in a collection of axes, swords, shields, and bows seen within the trailers up to now, used to combat each acquainted and new enemies. (Weapons could be fused collectively now, too!) In Tears of the Kingdom trailers, Hyperlink has a strong, glowing inexperienced arm — the one that appears burnt within the February trailer. Nintendo hasn’t proven precisely what his arm does or the way it works, nevertheless it does seem to have powers that may let gamers clear up puzzles, manipulate the atmosphere (and time itself), and use different particular talents, identical to Breath of the Wild’s Sheikah Slate and Runes did. As at all times, fans have theories.
Polygon evaluations editor Mike Mahardy went hands-on with Tears of the Kingdom in late March and toyed round with the bounds of sport; the alternatives to take advantage of and problem its techniques appear countless. There wasn’t a lot, if something, that Tears of the Kingdom stopped Mahardy from doing over the hour-long play session. The draw back to that, it appears, is that there are numerous techniques and controls to study, a few of which take time to get used to. All of Hyperlink’s new talents had been available throughout the preview occasion, which can not the the case to start with of the sport; it’s probably Hyperlink will earn every means one after the other, as is custom in video games like these, and so gamers can have a little bit of time to get used to every new mechanic.
What are Hyperlink’s new talents?
Nintendo’s March gameplay demo supplied an in-depth take a look at Hyperlink’s new talents — they usually may change every little thing. These talents impression each fight and traversal: Recall, Fuse, Ultrahand, and Ascend. Recall rewinds object motion, useful for touring to Hyrule’s sky islands; weapon fusing helps you to make new weapons out of objects, like fusing a stick and a rock to make a hammer; Ultrahand, which glues objects collectively, can be utilized to make autos; and Ascend is a device permitting Hyperlink to maneuver by means of ceilings.
Is Tears of the Kingdom set in the identical Hyrule?
It’s set in Hyrule, nevertheless it’s not fully clear what’s modified, or whether or not it’ll use the identical map and terrain from Breath of the Wild. What we do know is that Tears of the Kingdom expands Hyrule upward into the skies above the land. The primary trailer confirmed Hyrule Fort rising from the bottom, and the second confirmed towers crumbling as malice — like a poison — forces the fortress into the sky.
However earlier than the fortress erupts, Nintendo confirmed Hyperlink gliding, each together with his parasail and with out, by means of pillows of clouds. Chunks of Hyrule are pulled from the bottom as in the event that they had been carrots, suspended in air nearer towards Hyrule’s earth. There are fairly a couple of views of the modified world, exhibiting the expanse of Hyrule now disjointed into a number of totally different ranges.
How will Hyperlink get round?
Hyperlink will nonetheless journey by means of Hyrule by paraglider and horseback like in Breath of the Wild, nevertheless it seems to be like he has a couple of upgraded rides in Tears of the Kingdom. The third trailer exhibits Hyperlink on a land automobile that appears like an open-air automobile, a hovercraft that appears like an enormous drone, and a scorching air balloon. (Oh, and he’s additionally seen shredding some gnar on what seems to be to be his defend, utilizing it like a skateboard.)
Nintendo revealed throughout its March gameplay demo that these autos don’t essentially exist in Tears of the Kingdom. Utilizing a capability referred to as Ultrahand, Hyperlink can truly create autos, like that automobile or scorching air balloon. The alternatives for creating autos actually look to be countless.
These totally different strategies of transportation counsel that Tears of the Kingdom’s map shall be huge — maybe larger than Breath of the Wild’s map — and the air autos are useful to entry the sky islands above Hyrule.
Do weapons degrade and break in Tears of the Kingdom?
Yep, weapons break. Nintendo snuck the element into its March gameplay demonstration — a stick that Hyperlink picked up broke, and fairly shortly at that. It was a quick look, so we don’t know the small print. Hyperlink can mix weapons utilizing a brand new fusion means, which can improve sturdiness. Weapon sturdiness and degradation in Breath of the Wild is contentious. Weapons break lots — all weapons. Some gamers prefer it, calling it a boon to Breath of the Wild’s storytelling that retains gamers in contact with the merciless actuality of Hyrule. Others assume it forces gamers to check out an entire bunch of weapons, perhaps some they’d by no means choose up on their very own. However for others, fixed weapon shifting — and breaking within the midst of a battle — is grating, particularly when it’s a weapon you’ve labored onerous to amass, resulting in pointless weapon hoarding.
The brief reply right here is sure, weapons will break. However the particulars? We are able to’t say simply but.
Do I’ve to play Breath of the Wild earlier than Tears of the Kingdom?
It definitely wouldn’t harm, however you need to get began now — Breath of the Wild is a big sport! As a result of we don’t know a lot concerning the story, it’s onerous to say whether or not new gamers shall be confused or come right into a story in medias res. In the event you don’t wish to play Breath of the Wild, there’s no scarcity of YouTube movies outlining the sport and its story. However if you wish to velocity up your journey, try Polygon’s intensive guides for Breath of the Wild for some assist.
What’s Tears of the Kingdom’s file dimension?
Per Nintendo’s listing for the sport, it’ll are available in at 16 GB. Whereas there have been a number of Swap video games with far bigger set up sizes, this is likely one of the greatest video games that Nintendo itself has launched for the Swap. In different phrases, ensure you seize a microSD card for extra storage, for those who want one.
Replace (Might 2): The set up dimension for Tears of the Kingdom is now not 18.2 GB, as its eShop itemizing initially indicated. This submit now displays that it’s 16 GB in dimension.