Our wildest dreams for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is just around the corner as we get to the May 12 release date. Although Nintendo released the game’s final trailer on Thursday morning, there’s still a lot we don’t know.

We know what some of the new characters will look like, and what some of them are friends with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild make a return. Nintendo also revealed details about Link’s new powers and breakable weapons in Eiji Aonuma’s recent gameplay demonstration. A lot of it though Tears of the Kingdom remains a mystery.

While many fans are content to rationally theorize about what’s next, it can also be fun to dream big.

In anticipation of release, the Polygon staff has decided to compile a list of features, capabilities, and quality of life improvements that we hope will be implemented The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. These range from the return of certain characters to… hummus. It is a real hodgepodge of wishes. Let’s dive in!

Hummus

I think Link should be able to make hummus. You can do a million things with hummus. You can flavor it with sour fruits, herbs or vegetables – anything Link already collects. Have Link bring a veggie/hummus dish to his boss’s fight with Ganon. Let me collect a dozen varieties of beans, Nintendo.

I have no further use for this argument. I just think it would be fun. —Susana Polo

Let’s all ride Prince Sidon more

Image: Nintendo

On Thursday, during Tears of the KingdomIn Nintendo’s latest trailer, Nintendo revealed that Prince Sidon will return in the sequel. Now that he’s confirmed to be in the next game, I hope we get to ride him more.

The regal Zora captivated me from the moment Link met him with his wide, sparkling smile. The man has the best golden retriever energy of any Zelda character I know, and teams up with Link in the best possible way: Link literally gets to ride Sidon as the two battle the divine beast Vah Ruta. While some savvy glitch hunters have figured out a way to drive Sidon everywhere, I hope Nintendo will add the capability as standard. —Ana Diaz

Instantly interchangeable armor and weapon sets

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild contains a deep cabinet with equipment to arm Link. If you’re going to be navigating certain regions, such as the snowy mountains in the Hebra region or the lava-lined Death Mountain, it’s extremely helpful to acquire specialized gear that protects Link from the elements. Unlike other gear, such as your bow, sword, and shield, changing your armor set forces you to go to a different menu and switch what Link is wearing, one at a time. It’s a bit cumbersome when teleporting from place to place, trying to complete missions, or discovering more shrines, so I hope this gets addressed in the sequel. -ADVERTISEMENT

Playable Zelda

Image: Nintendo

Fans have been asking to play as Princess Zelda for years, but it’s never happened in a mainline Legend of Zelda game (although it’s possible in the Hyrule Warriors games and Smash Bros.). Zelda has had some pretty cool adventures in the past, and way too many of them have happened offscreen. I do not expect Tears of the Kingdom to be the game that finally fulfills this wish, but there’s no harm in hoping. It almost seems possible this time, since this is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wildand sequels offer the chance to expand players’ perspectives on a world that already exists.

That all said, Breath of the Wild‘s story was very much about Zelda; she and Link felt like dual protagonists, even though the former was unplayable. That’s often the case in my favorite Zelda games, such as Ocarina of Time, in which Zelda’s skills and help often come in handy for Link. I expect something similar will happen in Tears of the Kingdombut it would certainly be nice to be in the shoes of the princess for once. — Maddy Myers

Hero’s Path

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

I’d like to see the Hero’s Path feature return Tears of the Kingdom. It was introduced alongside some DLC for it Breath of the Wild as a new skill for your Sheikah Slate. Even when the tiniest piece of that content dropped, it made for a really fun way to look back on your journey.

With Hero’s Path enabled (by pressing X while looking at the map), you should be able to see a highly simplified icon of Link drawing a green line around the map, reflecting your movements since you initially woke up on the first plateau. It shows every place you walked, in what order, when you died and when you moved to a new place. Besides being fun to watch, it’s an amazing feat to have so much granularity preserved in your save file.

Not essential? Yes. But it’s one of those icing on the cake that I’d like to see Tears of the Kingdomas well as in any other open world game. —Cameron Faulkner

Musical instruments

Image: Nintendo

We all know that the music of the Legend of Zelda games is legendary, and Breath of the Wild was no different. But what it lacked was a way to bring that music into the gameplay itself. Sure, sure, sure, I loved catching the faint hum of accordion on the wind as I explored Hyrule, knowing I could follow it to Kass for another puzzle. But what if i do you want to play the accordion?

Since Ocarina of Time (let alone Majora’s mask And twilight princess), Link has used music (OK, OK, or wolf howl) to reveal secrets, open doorways, tame wild animals, warp time, change the weather, and cleanse evil spirits. I’m not saying I have to do all that Tears of the Kingdom. But to me, one of the enduring joys of the Zelda franchise is the connection between music and magic; the feat gained from learning songs like spells, storing them in my own brain, and actually performing them to work miracles.

And, also just play along on a small instrument to see what sounds I can make. I want to experience that joy again in a new Zelda game, and the precision and flexibility of the Switch’s inputs only make it more tempting. Let alone Tears of the Kingdom‘s Demonstrated Kludge Mechanics: Let me smash a stick and some monster entrails together to make a stringed instrument and strum open a magic door. Let me stack wolf skin on a block to make a drum, and jam with Hestu and his maracas!

Okay, okay, fine. Just make the Sheikah Slate a melodica or something, but bring music playing back to Zelda. —SP