It feels like Zelda fans (myself included) are sitting around, trembling with excitement and anticipation The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition. The game isn’t even out yet, but judging by the trailers and our preview, it already looks great. Between its large cast of characters and the near-endless possibilities to create using its sandbox elements, it seems our adventure in Hyrule is packed with things to do.
Although the game won’t be released until May 12, Zelda enthusiasts have been busy preparing; there are Breath of the Wild Questlines to revisit and speedrunning tricks to practice. In anticipation of release, Polygon spoke with four Zelda content creators and pros about what they’re doing to prepare. Read on to see world-record speed demons and thorough theory editors brace themselves for Nintendo’s big release.
[Ed. note: These interviews have been edited for clarity and length.]
Player5the current world record holder for the fastest Breath of the Wild speedrun (random%)
What games, if any, do you replay and why?
I’ve tried to push the boundaries of Breath of the Wild to see how quickly I can beat it before shifting my focus to the sequel. Usually I am Any% will do speedruns until Tears of the Kingdom comes true, but I’ve worked on several informative videos Breath of the Wild speed runs and tricks so that I am ready to pre-create that kind of content Tears of the Kingdom. From what we’ve seen in the trailers, I think both the casual experience and the speedrun will be filled with new and exciting mechanics.
Will you be running specialized playthroughs?
I’ve been doing All Shrines speedruns recently, eventually exploring most of the map, but I’ve shifted my focus to the Any% speedrun in recent weeks. Any% has always been my favorite category, so I really want to try and push the boundaries of how fast Breath of the Wild can be beaten. All Shrines has a lot of exploration and clever use of glitches and tricks, and Any% has some really intense combat, like having to face the bosses with 3 hearts and no armor. And I think I recently did some All Kilton Medals speed runs that were pretty unique, because the goal is to kill all the mini-bosses in the game as quickly as possible. So there’s really been a lot of variety in the categories that I’ve been running to try and see everything that’s out there Breath of the Wild before moving on to the next game!
Is there anything you do besides playing games to prepare for? Tears of the Kingdom?
I avoided the narration and analysis videos. I’ve watched all the trailers, but I really just want to play the game and find out what it’s about. i fell in love with Breath of the Wild mainly because of the gameplay and exploration rather than the lore of the world.
What are you personally most looking forward to? Tears of the Kingdom?
I look forward to discovering new mechanics. I think fusing is going to be a lot of fun to play with and it should also factor into the speedrun by giving us really unique and powerful weapons. I can’t wait to fight Ganondorf with a really long stick.
Linkus7speed runner and streamer
What games, if any, do you replay and why?
I mainly focused on pick it back up The Wind Waker again. The speed demon of The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker is unique. It has some of the most intense speedrun tricks out there. These include Zombie Hoovering, where the player has to press the B button nearly 15 times a second to skip certain sequences, to saves, where you have to control super-swimming very precisely, while still making tons of frame-perfect inputs.
I’m also picking up again Breath of the Wild, to get back to the game’s speedrun tricks. Since Tears of the Kingdom shares the same engine as Breath of the WildI think there will be a lot of overlap between the two games when it comes to skill.
Will you be running specialized playthroughs?
When Tears of the Kingdom comes out first, I want to make sure I play through the game first so as not to ruin my casual experience by jumping into the speedrun too soon. But once I’ve completed the game, I’m ready to dive into the speedrun.
Is there anything you do besides playing games to prepare for? Tears of the Kingdom?
I am mainly concerned with the preparation Tears of the Kingdom by running fast and studying the mechanics of Breath of the Wildas the engine is shared and so much of the skill and practice will carry over Breath of the Wild Unpleasant Tears of the Kingdom.
What are you personally most looking forward to? Tears of the Kingdom?
I’m really excited about the speedrun aspect and the challenge runs, but honestly I’m so excited to just play the game. I put over 100 hours into my first playthrough of Breath of the Wild, and I’ve always wished I could get that experience back; I’ve seen the underworld and the new overworld [of Tears of the Kingdom], and it just made me so excited to play the game. I really hope they add Korok seeds back because I was one of the few players to collect all 900 Korok seeds, and I want more of those LOL.
HMKILLERZelda theory crafter and YouTuber
What games, if any, do you replay and why?
I am repeating Heavenward sword, Ocarina of TimeAnd Breath of the Wild. I’m going to play those because of their general importance to all things Zelda and their connections Tears of the Kingdom as well as giving the greatest context to Ganondorf and his lineage!
Will you be running specialized playthroughs?
Because I know my way around these games multiple plays, the runs will focus on lore exposure. While I play the games I tackle the stories, characters, enemies and more of each title. I wouldn’t call them speedruns, but since then Tears of the Kingdom is just around the corner, I will try to spend as little time as possible completing these three games.
Is there anything you do besides playing games to prepare for? Tears of the Kingdom?
Except making my own lore videosI’m reading up on all the official Zelda books again: Hyrule History, Art and artifactsthe encyclopedia, and Make a champion so that I’m ready for all the revelations and connections in this game!
What are you personally most looking forward to? Tears of the Kingdom?
Ganondorf and what happened to him from the past to the present. Ganondorf is such an important piece in Zelda’s lore, and his cognitive existence is bound to shed an incredible amount of light on the mysteries of Breath of the Wild And Tears of the Kingdom!
Turner86Zelda speed runner
What games, if any, do you replay and why?
My most important preparation starts Tears of the Kingdom is to be well practiced with the basic game mechanics of Breath of the Wildwhich I assume will be the same Tears of the Kingdom. i do what Breath of the Wild Any % Speedruns if part of my streams and also play the rest of the game offline to reacquaint myself with the world as much as possible.
Will you be running specialized playthroughs?
Other than the Any% speedruns mentioned, there are no specialized playthroughs I have planned.
Is there anything you do besides playing games to prepare for? Tears of the Kingdom?
I’m also re-familiarizing myself with the internal aspects of how things like enemy drop tables and cooking work (specifically for fast and offensive elixirs and dishes, as those are most likely to be useful).
What are you personally most looking forward to? Tears of the Kingdom?
I’m most looking forward to speeding it up. The time right after a new Zelda game comes out is always very exciting for speedrunning, as we are all constantly learning new things about the game, so speedrunning will vary a lot during that time. New strategies and optimizations will be constantly being discovered and the hustle and bustle of constantly falling times is both great fun and good for the world of content creation.