**Warning: this article contains semi-heavy spoilers for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and only trailer-sourced spoilers for The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Read at your own discretion.**
Zelda has been an amazing game series ever since its first release in 1987 with “The Legend of Zelda” (or “The Hyrule Fantasy: Legend of Zelda ” in Japan), striking wonder and awe into the hearts of children and adults alike. The games only grew better from there, releasing beautiful hits like “Ocarina of Time” and “Twilight Princess,” which quickly became classics in the gaming industry on account of their revolutionary graphics and entrancing narratives. Starting from the mere Game Boy Advance, and eventually journeying all the way to Nintendo’s newest console – the Nintendo Switch – the franchise shows no signs of dying out any time soon. In fact, its newest release, Breath of the Wild (or, “BOTW” for short), which came out in 2017, marked a new era in the Zelda franchise – breathing new life into the series and amazing players with the sheer amount of interactibilty and possibilities littered throughout the game’s massive open-world map. It was the newest game in 2-years, and brought hardcore fans back to the series with a return to the traditional and heroic Link they all knew and loved. In fact, it was so unbelievably popular that it sold 20 Million more copies than the franchise’s previously highest grosser, Twilight Princess, had. However, Nintendo wasn’t one to rest on their laurels– they’ve been hard at work on the newest installment of the series, and with their most recent trailer that came out on 4/13/23, it appears they aren’t going to disappoint.
“The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” is the newest installment coming to the franchise, acting as a direct sequel to the smash hit “Breath of the Wild.” With such a high bar to topple, I and many others were under the impression that this game would not be nearly as stunning – after all, it wouldn’t bring anything but some extra story, leaving most of the game the same, right? Boy, were we wrong. Off the trailer alone, one can see the leaps and bounds this game has taken from where it first began. No longer burdened to the earth, Link now explores the skies, hopping from sky island to sky island, vanquishing enemies and uncovering secrets, all while mastering his new set of skills. Originally, in the most previous game, you had a set of 6 abilities to utilize, 7 if you had bought the Champion’s Ballad DLC. Stasis, Cryonis, Magnesis, a Camera and two bombs provided plenty of maneuverability and options on how to make your way through Hyrule. However, Nintendo didn’t want to stop there – in the newest trailer, an ability wheel was shown depicting not one unfamiliar ability, not two, not even three, but SEVEN, all which, remarkably, seem extremely useful, necessary even, although we’ve yet to experience them. There is a time and place for each and every ability, all coming in handy for different scenarios. Take my personal favorite – the latest “Fuse” ability. This allows you to grab two items, such as a stick and a rock, smash ’em together, and get something entirely new. Now, I know this sounds pretty basic – something any survival game should have – but for Zelda fans, this is unheard of! To be able to craft your own tools and resources (beyond cooking, that is) opens up a whole other chapter of intractability and suspense, allowing one to feel the true aspect of what “Survival” means – fighting your way out of a situation with nothing but your wit and experience.
In addition to this, the aforementioned cooking/food preparation system has gotten a massive update as of late. In BOTW, culinary preparation was one of the most valuable and cherished parts of the games. It gave players a unique way to experiment with the world around them, allowing them to mix ingredients they found in fun and exciting ways. On top of this sense of experimentation, it also delivered on a certain prep-ability players had been craving, now being able to fight bosses with loads of meals already prepared in advance, which delivered boosts ranging from extra damage to fire resistance. However, one of the major flaws in this system was not being able to cook anywhere anytime. The player would have to find a pot somewhere in the wild, light it (if not lit already) and cook there. Tears of the Kingdom fixes this issue with one of their most overarching features – Zonai devices. Zonai devices are structures or objects that can be pulled out of Link’s inventory at any time, despite not seeming like they should fit in any of his rather small pockets. These range from steering wheels and tires, used for building travel devices, to offensive constructs, such as rockets and flame emitters. However, among these is the glorious, sacred item – the Holy Grail, if you will – known as the portable cooking pot. These pots, although only single-use, and only utilizable on flat surfaces, give Link a wholly unexplored range of places to cook – from the highest mountains to the deepest caves – allowing flavor and flame to boil up anywhere. In addition, unlike BOTW, every recipe Link successfully cooks/creates is saved in a recipe book of sorts, which reminds the player of not only the ingredients necessary to create these dishes, but the myriad of benefits they bring. This recipe book, however, is entirely optional, meaning hardcore fans can continue to commit their favorite recipes to memory, in the spirit of old-school-Zelda games, instead of relying on a guide to help them.
Furthering the already overflowing abundance of amazing changes being made, plenty of new (and some improved) enemies are coming to Tears of the Kingdom.In BOTW, another large critique made on the game was its lack of enemy variety – while the map was huge and the places you could go diverse, it always felt like one was fighting either the same enemies or slightly stronger versions of them. Tears of the Kingdom fixes that issue. The list coming from both the official trailer and the leaks from a supposed artbook is massive – from my notes alone, I’ve counted at least 20 enemies which will be making their debut, some returning and some just created. However, seeing as a list describing each and every announced enemy would be exhaustive and mundane, I will only be highlighting those which affect core gameplay the most. First on the docket, we have the Zonai Soldiers and other Zonai enemies. If you remember, Zonai devices were machines Link uses to innovate his way around problems in Tears of the Kingdom, and these soldiers have a very close relationship to them. Seemingly made out of the same materials and fitting the same motif, many theorize these “Enemies” are actually put in place as a kind of “Training system” for Link, to be used as practice dummies where new moves and weapons are tested out. They populate many of the sky islands, and come in a myriad of different forms, including farmers, spearmen, archers, and even the previously noted super soldiers, which are reminiscent of “Gohdan,” an enemy from “The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker,” who was also used to train Link for upcoming battles. After the soldiers, the most important additions are not additions at all, but rather updates to older enemies. Due to the nature of the already spoken on “Fuse” ability, many enemies have now been adorned with horns, such as the Lynel, which now sports horns reminiscent of a stag. When an enemy is defeated, these horns may be combined with other materials, using the “Fuse” ability, resulting in a stronger and more maneuverable weapon. In doing this, although Nintendo is going against the designs and creations which they embedded into the original game, a major improvement is being made for the future of the game, as it allows the “Fuse” ability to see more use and, to that extent, more usefulness, allowing it not to fall into oblivion and obscurity, as Cryonis sadly did in BOTW. However, horns aren’t the only changes made to the traditional enemies – additionally, some enemies appear to become what fans call “Malice Infused” glowing with what seems to be the same pink-purplish enemy that fueled Ganon’s “Malice” in the last game, turning him into the horror known as Dark Beast Ganon. These enemies appear stronger and more ruthless, able to take strong, powered-up strikes at Link, smashing through his defenses. As to the last one on this list, I was hesitant in making my decision. There were so many new and amazing enemies, with revolutionary combat styles and abilities, however, I’ll be giving them the silver medal, as when it comes down to brass tacks, old is still gold, and that’s why I’m highlighting the old and improved Taluses! Taluses are towering enemies made entirely of rocks, minerals, and metals, consisting of one large “Head” rock and several smaller “Limb” rocks. In order to defeat a Talus, Link must climb on top of it, striking the weak point at the top of its head, getting in only a few hits before he is shaken off again. Taluses already had plenty of variety in BOTW, coming in standard rock forms, Ice forms, Luminous forms, and even Magma forms, which had to be cooled using ice arrows first, lest they burn Link to a crisp. However, with the updates ushered in by Tears of the Kingdom, they’ve gotten nothing but better. For starters, they can now carry entire enemy bases on their backs, able to sustain life above while dishing out death below. They have a sort of symbiotic-relationship going with the Bokoblins who live upon their backs, tolerating their presence and utilizing them as cannon fodder. Along with this, Taluses now grow much larger, as demonstrated by the Magma Talus shown in the trailer being bigger than a mountain! I personally think Link will have to go on some kind of quest deep into the insides of the Talus, finding its weak point only after venturing into the very core of the Talus itself. Upon striking it, Link would need to escape as fast as possible, as the Talus came crumbling down around him. I for one cannot wait to see how each and every enemy plays offensively, and just how Link can counter their assaults defensively.
I could ramble on for hours about just how much effort has gone into this game and how excited I am for everything that will come with its release. From the cooking to the combat, Nintendo has made sure to improve upon every last detail, taking special care of any critiques brought up about BOTW, and improving them beyond fans’ hopes and dreams. Tears of the Kingdom comes out May 12th, 2023, and looks like it’s going to be, frankly, one of the best games of the decade (despite being only 3 years into it), marking a turning point in the way developers care for their fanbases. Nintendo has, from what it seems, outdone themselves with this one, and I can only hope that everything they release after may have a fraction of the glory this game holds.
