In a few months,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis set to be released. There are no signs of a delay yet, so fans could finally get their hands on the sequel to the 2017 hitBreath of the Wild. It’s not a stretch to say thatBreath of the Wildwas one of the most impactful games on the Switch, and ranks among the most influentialZeldagames as well. Reimagining the old action-adventure franchise as an open world title,Breath of the Wild’s sequelTears of the Kingdomwill take place shortly afterward, and will continue Link and Zelda’s struggles against the forces of darkness.
That’s about all the fans know right now. Even this close to the launch ofTears of the Kingdom, Nintendo remains tight-lipped about what has changed with this game. Trailers have revealed that Link will get a new arm with special powers,the Master Sword will be wrecked, and Malice will surge through Hyrule once again. Link’s journeys will take him beneath the earth and into the sky, presumably to restore the Master Sword and confront what appears to be Ganondorf. Based on the common direction ofZeldastories, it’s easy to put these scattered details together, but it’s still conspicuous thatTears of the Kingdomhasn’t had its plot properly summarized in a trailer yet.
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Three months before the release ofBreath of the Wild, fans were swimming in footage of Link’s adventures on the initial Great Plateau. Some smaller clips were present to parallel those thatTears of the Kingdomgot, but Nintendo had made very sure that fansknew howBreath of the Wildwould play. Hyrule was established to be in ruins, and Link had to both survive in the harsh wilderness and help save the kingdom by retaking Hyrule Castle from Calamity Ganon. Some teases of Link’s past life with Zelda were also seen, but the major focus was on gameplay. It took until one month beforeBreath of the Wildwas released for a pure story trailer to release.
WhileTears of the Kingdomseems to be repeating these steps, its details are even more scant. There has been a cryptic air around all theTears of the Kingdomtrailers, with many feeling more like early teasers. Every gameplay snippet has been so scattered and short that it’s easy to miss the newer details. It’s still unclear how muchTears of the Kingdomhas changed fromBotW, how players will progress through it, and why. This confusion may have something to do with the lack of voiceover explaining what’s happening, something that was a heavily advertised addition toBreath of the Wild. Fans would be happy with anything at this point, but they shouldn’t need to wait long for more.
Nintendo Can’t Keep Tears of the Kingdom Hidden Any Longer
Rumor has it that a Nintendo Direct is coming soon. There have been February Directs for the past couple of years, and bothTears of the KingdomandAdvance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Campgot slight updates on their Nintendo eShop pages. Anticipation for a bigZeldablowout is high right now, and ifTears of the Kingdomis going to hit its May release date, it needs another trailer. There’s a good chance that the varied marketingBreath of the Wildhad in the year before its release will be mirrored inTears of the Kingdom’s lead-up.
A trailer covering story and gameplay with accompanying narration will likelyappear in the next Nintendo Direct, while a Nintendo Treehouse stream could air later to supply further details on howTears of the Kingdom’s mechanics and world have changed. Whatever the case may be, fans shouldn’t need to wait for much longer to get some answers regarding this hotly anticipated title. Soon enough, theZeldaseries will see its next journey begin.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlaunches May 12 for Nintendo Switch.
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