As Tears of the Kingdom approaches its long-awaited release, Nintendo is likely to reveal more of the game's underlying systems, with the end of the gameplay demonstration promising that the game still has more to show. Releasing on May 12, 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom _ promises to be an exciting new addition to the series, and a major expansion on the already impressive _Breath of the Wi

Until recently, the only information that could be used to glean anything about Tears of the Kingdom and its plot was contained in the trailers, alongside some other details that have been announced. It's known that the story will feature Hyrule once again being thrown into an apocalyptic situation, as it is seen crumbling under an energy that is eerily similar to that wielded by Calamity Ganon in BOTW . In addition, Link has a glowing arm in TOTK that appears to be a significant part of his arsenal in the new game. However, the biggest hints so far may have come from recent alleged Tears of the Kingdom leaks of the artb

Once his preparations are complete, Link storms the inner sanctum of Hyrule 60fps gameplay Castle. As he does so, Zelda’s strength finally fails her, allowing Calamity Ganon to break free as a twisted combination of corrupted Sheikah technology and Breath of the Wild ’s sludge-like Malice , a substance that seems to be pure hatred in corrosive, physical form. The Divine Beasts fire their enormous energy weapons, severely weakening Ganon and helping Link defeat him. However, Ganon quickly reforms as the boar-like Dark Beast Ganon, and a still-incorporeal Zelda warns Link that Ganon has abandoned any hope of reincarnation in order to focus all of his stren

Part of me wants to believe that it’s a past iteration of Link or a version of Ganon from before darkness corrupted him. Zelda is also seen with shorter hair and wielding the Sheikah Slate in new character art, convincing me further that she is not only saved by Link’s new power, but comes to play a far more prominent role in the full adventure. Whatever evil they face, she is convinced it can’t be stopped, but is now far more than a passive bystander holding off evil as her companion does all the work. Both characters are given more agency here, which should allow Tears of the Kingdom to breach narrative boundaries this series has never toyed with before.

Tears of the Kingdom 's vehicle construction already looks to be one of the game's big gimmicks, but sailing could act alongside that, potentially with self-constructed boats. Not to mention, a flood overtaking Hyrule could be what the title Tears of the Kingdom refers to, as Hyrule is flooded by a deluge almost like the tears of the goddess falling onto the land. It's possible that the title could have been foreshadowing such an event all al

In Kakariko Village, an elderly incarnation of Impa provides Link with a blue Champion's Tunic and tells him he may be able to recover his memories by tracking down significant locations, hinted at by photographs stored on the Sheikah Slate (which once belonged to Zelda). Through these memories, it is revealed that Zelda struggled to awaken her powers and was initially resentful of Link for easily drawing the Master Sword and his obvious skills. However, the pair slowly grew closer, thanks in large part to Link protecting her from assassination attempts by the Yiga clan; a disaffected Sheikah who felt betrayed by the royal family and decided to follow Ganon inst

Among the weapons included in Zelda , Bombs might be the most situational due to the time delay between taking one out and the actual detonation, although Breath of the Wild combines Bombs with Arrows to make Bomb Arrows, which can deal high amounts of damage to distant enemies. Ocarina of Time also had a variation of Bombs called Bombchus, which would move forwards until they exploded. While the Bombs are the only way to defeat certain enemies depending on the Zelda game, they can serve more purposes beyond being a wea

As the sequel to Breath of the Wild , there are high expectations for Tears of the Kingdom to follow up on the sense of wonder that BOTW provided with its open-world map. The ambitious changes from the developers could make Tears of the Kingdom better than BOTW , and there's some speculation that more classic elements will be returning to TOTK such as traditional Zelda dungeons. Yet even with the game __ expanding on the world created by BOTW , there are iconic weapons from other Zelda games that Tears of the Kingdom needs to incl

Similar to the Hookshot, the Boomerang is a weapon that sacrifices some damage for the sake of utility. The Boomerang can generally be used to defeat or stun enemies, activate distant switches, and bring items to Link. Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess , which still don't have Switch ports, Increased the usefulness of the Boomerang by allowing players to lock onto multiple targets at once instead of just a single target. Breath of the Wild even included the option to use the Boomerang as a more direct weapon, letting the player brandish it like a sword and perform melee atta