The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the wilderness ends with Link and Zelda promising to restore Hyrule’s majesty – making it “go even further” than what it originally was, says Zelda, even though her power is diminished. although The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been described as a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, Nintendo has been quite secretive about where and how the story continues. Nintendo even kept it Tears of the KingdomThe company’s name has been kept secret for years and will not be revealed until 2022 as the company said the reveal would “give too much away”.
In the time since Nintendo’s Tears of the Kingdom announcement, the company strategically released new information through a series of trailers. In analyzing those trailers, there is some information we may collect about the game prior to its release date. As we approach the May release date, Nintendo is dropping more and more details, including a 10-minute gameplay demo. Here’s what you need to know.
When is Tears of the Kingdom release date?
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom coming to Nintendo Switch on May 12. It costs $69.99, the first first-party Nintendo Switch game with that higher-than-normal price. A $129.99 collector’s edition will also be available on that day. It contains a physical copy of Tears of the Kingdoman art book, a SteelBook case, an Iconart swatch poster and four pins.
When Breath of the Wild was released in 2017, launched on Nintendo Switch as a launch title and on Wii U. Tears of the Kingdom will only be released on the Nintendo Switch.
Where can I pre-order Tears of the Kingdom?
We’ve put together a whole guide on where to pre-order Tears of the Kingdom, whether you want the basic version or the more expensive collector’s edition. Check that out for the full details, but here are a few links if you just want to pre-order now. There are also several pre-order bonuses, most of them differing between countries.
Do amiibo work with Tears of the Kingdom?
Yes, although we suspect Nintendo hasn’t shared all the details about amiibo Tears of the Kingdom compatibility. We know that scanning certain Zelda amiibo will change the design of your glider, but other functionality may be announced closer to the game’s release date.
Nintendo will also release a new amiibo figure of Link as soon as he appears Tears of the Kingdomand you can already pre-order it.
What is the story of Tears of the Kingdom?
When it comes to Zelda games, Nintendo isn’t very upfront about the plot. The same applies to Tears of the Kingdom, which Nintendo describes as an “epic adventure across the land and sky of Hyrule.” Players will “use the power of Link’s new abilities to fight back against the evil forces that threaten the kingdom,” says Nintendo. Much of the story is deliberately vague and trailers don’t reveal much. At least some of what Nintendo has shown feels like a deception.
Visual (and Tonal), Tears of the Kingdom is much darker than Breath of the Wild – at least in parts. Trailers for the game show Link and Zelda in dark dungeons, with evil invading the world, but also showing bright lightness as Link slides between islands in the sky. It seems to be a balancing game, and we will see how the pleasure of discovery is so essential Breath of the Wildmingles with the brooding storyline.
In a trailer released in February, we see what appears to be Ganon’s corpse, perhaps in his Ganondorf form, awaken. Malice spreads, pushing Hyrule Castle into the air and even attacking Link – his arm seems to be rotting with malice, completely burned. The Master Sword is also hit, damaged and melted.
Who are those new and returning characters?
On April 13, Nintendo shared a new trailer – the last one before that Tears of the Kingdom‘s release date of May 12 – and revealed a slew of new characters. There are also many characters you will recognize: Lady Riju, Prince Sidon, Ganondorf and (maybe) Tulin. But the new characters are intriguing. The trailer introduced an elfin princess who resembles Zelda, including the same jewelry. Then there is a mysterious figure in a robe – perhaps a Zonai king? – and the potential debut of a new race of creatures.
Is the game the same?
Nintendo hasn’t shown off much expanded gameplay of combat or puzzles, but we’ve seen new and more expansive ways to travel around Hyrule. Link has a number of new weapons in a range of axes, swords, shields, and bows seen in the trailers so far, used to battle both familiar and new enemies. (Weapons can now also be fused together!) In Tears of the Kingdom trailers, Link has a powerful glowing green arm – the one that looks burnt in the February trailer. Nintendo hasn’t revealed exactly what its arm does or how it works, but it does appear to have powers that allow players to solve puzzles, manipulate the environment (and time itself), and use other special abilities, much like Breath of the WildSheikah Slate and Runes do. As usual, fans to have theories.
Polygon reviews editor Mike Mahardy got hands-on Tears of the Kingdom late March and played with the limits of the game; the possibilities to exploit and challenge its systems seem endless. There wasn’t much, if anything Tears of the Kingdom stopped Mahardy from playing for over an hour. The downside to that, it seems, is that there are many systems and controls to learn, some of which take some getting used to. All of Link’s new abilities were readily available during the preview event, which may not be the case early in the game; it’s likely that Link will earn each ability one at a time, as is tradition in games like this, and so players will have some time to get used to each new mechanic.
What are Link’s new skills?
Nintendo’s March gameplay demo gave an in-depth look at Link’s new abilities – and they could change everything. These abilities affect both combat and traversal: Recall, Fuse, Ultrahand, and Ascend. Recall rewinds object movement, useful for traveling to Hyrule’s air islands; Weapon fusion allows you to create new weapons from objects, such as fusing a stick and a stone to make a hammer; Ultrahand, which glues objects together, can be used to make vehicles; and Ascend is a tool that allows Link to move through ceilings.
Is Tears of the Kingdom set in the same Hyrule?
It’s set in Hyrule, but it’s not entirely clear what has changed, or if it will use the same map and terrain as Breath of the Wild. What we do know is that Tears of the Kingdom expands Hyrule into the skies above the land. The first trailer showed Hyrule Castle emerging from the ground, and the second showed towers crumbling as malice – like a poison – forced the castle into the air.
But before the castle erupts, Nintendo showed Link gliding, both with his parasail and without, through cushions of clouds. Chunks of Hyrule are pulled out of the ground as if they were roots, hanging in the air closer to Hyrule’s earth. There are quite a few renderings of the changed world, showing the vastness of Hyrule now disjointed in different levels.
How will Link move?
Link will still travel through Hyrule by paraglider and horseback as in Breath of the Wildbut it looks like he has a few improved rides Tears of the Kingdom. The third trailer shows Link riding a land vehicle that looks like an open-air car, a hovercraft that looks like a huge drone, and a hot air balloon. (Oh, and he’s also been seen shredding some knot on what looks like his shield, using it like a skateboard.)
Nintendo revealed during its March gameplay demo that these vehicles don’t necessarily exist in Tears of the Kingdom. Using an ability called Ultrahand, Link can actually create vehicles, such as that car or hot air balloon. The possibilities for creating vehicles seem truly endless.
These different transportation methods suggest that Tears of the Kingdom‘s map will be large – perhaps larger than Breath of the Wild‘s map – and the air vehicles are useful for accessing the air islands above Hyrule.
Do weapons degrade and break in Tears of the Kingdom?
Yes, breaking weapons. Nintendo put the detail into its gameplay demonstration back in March – a stick that Link picked up broke, and pretty quickly it did. It was a quick look, so we don’t know the details. Link can combine weapons using a new fusion ability, which can increase durability. Weapon durability and degradation in Breath of the Wild is controversial. Breaking weapons a lot of – all weapons. Some players like it and call it a blessing Breath of the Wild‘s storytelling that keeps players in touch with the brutal realities of Hyrule. Others think it forces players to try out a slew of weapons, perhaps some they’d never pick up on their own. But for others, constantly switching weapons – and breaking in the middle of a fight – is grating, especially if it’s a weapon you’ve worked hard to acquire, leading to pointless gun hoarding.
The short answer here is yes, guns will break. But the details? We can’t say it yet.
Should I play Breath of the Wild for Tears of the Kingdom?
It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but you should start now – Breath of the Wild is a huge game! Since we don’t know much about the story, it’s hard to tell if new players will get confused or end up in medias res in a story. If you don’t want to play Breath of the Wild, there is no shortage of YouTube videos outlining the game and story. But if you want to speed up your journey, check out Polygon’s comprehensive guides to Breath of the Wild for some help.
What is the file size of Tears of the Kingdom?
Per List from Nintendo for the game it comes out at 16 GB. While there have been several Switch games with much larger install sizes, this is one of the largest games Nintendo has released for the Switch themselves. In other words, make sure you grab a microSD card for more storage, if you need one.
Update (May 2): The install size for Tears of the Kingdom is no longer 18.2 GB as the eShop listing originally stated. This message now shows that it is 16 GB in size.