The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the long-awaited sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, will be released on May 12, 2023. Despite how close we are, there are many things we still don’t understand. Nintendo is known for keeping details about their games secret before they are released, and this promised Zelda game and its plot, particularly, seem to be their top concern.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes place several years after the events of its predecessor, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Players will explore a new kingdom, meet new characters, and embark on an epic adventure to save Hyrule from a mysterious force. The game features improved graphics, gameplay mechanics, and new puzzles and challenges to overcome. Fans of the series can look forward to experiencing an exciting story filled with action, adventure, and mystery.
The game is set in Hyrule, a kingdom devastated by an ancient evil force. Players will take control of Link and fight against this evil force to restore peace and balance to Hyrule. Along the way, they will explore dungeons, solve puzzles, and battle enemies as they progress through the story.
Table of Contents:
Release Date
Nintendo revealed the release date for the follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at E3 2021. But afterward, it was changed to the spring of 2023.
The development team disclosed the game’s official launch date at the Nintendo Direct in September 2022: May 12, 2023. During that event, Nintendo also introduced the official title of the game: Tears of the Kingdom.
Nintendo also verified that the title should be read “/tir/” as in the liquid generated when sobbing. As a result, the melancholy title alludes to a country in grief or sadness and adopts the naming scheme of “bodily-function-plus-setting” from the previous game.
Regarding the precise time, Nintendo’s website indicates that digital games for the Switch that are also sold physically will “typically” be accessible beginning at 9 PM PT the evening before the game’s scheduled release date. If so, gamers can begin playing Tears of the Kingdom at 9 PM Pacific Time on May 11 and 12 AM Eastern Time on May 12.
Platform
Tears of the Kingdom will only be available on Switch, and not on PC or Console, in contrast to Breath of the Wild, which was published concurrently on Switch and Wii U. Since the first Breath of the Wild was infamous for having frame rate problems in some parts, many fans undoubtedly thought the reported Switch Pro would be available by the time the game was released. However, there has been no information on the status of the purportedly improved Switch model up to this point. It is improbable that Nintendo would introduce a new robust platform any time soon, given the release’s imminence and the current availability of a Switch OLED with a Tears of the Kingdom theme.
Story
We currently don’t have much information on Tears of the Kingdom’s plot. However, the new release is eager to provide that experience for those seeking something more linear than Breath of the Wild. According to the recent teaser, there will be more focus than in previous installments on friends, towns, dungeons, epic boss fights, and the connection between Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. The land also feels more alive than in the previous installment, and Link seems more interested, even if the game depicts Hyrule slipping into sorrow.
Gameplay
While the gameplay in Tears of the Kingdom appears to be mainly identical to that in Breath of the Wild, a few new aspects are sure to alter how players explore.
Producer of the Zelda series Eiji Aonuma demonstrated ten minutes of gameplay and four new skills—Recall, Fuse, Ultrahand, and Ascend—in Nintendo’s Tears of the Kingdom display. Link can choose an object and use Recall to turn back the hands of time. Link can board on a falling rock, reverse its direction through time, and then ride it up to where it initially fell. This can be helpful when trying to reach high regions.
On the other hand, the ability to fuse two things together gives players completely new opportunities to experiment with the design and improvement of weapons. Ultrahand and fuse are similar, with the main difference being that Link may use Ultrahand to combine many objects to make more intricate things, including automobiles. Last but not least, Link can easily overcome vertical obstacles with the Ascend ability, which enables him to phase through ceilings.
A recipe database, an additional quality-of-life feature culinary-minded players will likely adore, is an excellent addition to the game’s improved survival-crafting components. Instead of having to quickly Google, write down or remember how to prepare a specific dish, the game will remember the dishes you’ve prepared in the past and generate recipes for each that you can view in the game’s main menu.
Conclusion
The history of The Legend of Zelda has always been a little confusing because of all the different branches and universes. While it is clear that Tears of the Kingdom takes place immediately following Breath of the Wild and incorporates themes and settings discovered in Skyward Sword, how it ties into the overall plot of the series needs to be clarified. Once we get the time to complete the game, I can assure you that we will bombard you with more in-game news and tricks.
