The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom _ is still a ways off, but there are plenty of games similar to its predecessor, _Breath of the Wild , worth digging into in the meantime. Expanding on the much-loved formula of BOTW has already made TOTK one of the most anticipated games of the year. The sequel promises to incorporate new, inventive mechanics, while also improving on less popular aspects of the old ones. TOTK 's __ Ascend ability can fix BOTW 's climbing mechanic, while the Ultrahand ability allows for creative building to get around obstac

The Woodcutter’s Axe is one of the weapons in BOTW which has a dedicated secondary purpose. As the name implies, it deals extra damage against trees, making the axe an excellent choice of weapon for collecting wood as it can chop them down expeditiously. As an actual weapon, however, it is remarkably cumbersome to wield, and forces Link to attack with slow, sweeping blows. Should the item come back in Tears of the Kingdom , though, it would make more sense for the axe to become a proper tool. With little value as a weapon, a permanent inventory addition for resource collection fits the Woodcutter’s Axe much bet

Despite having been teased by Nintendo several times, the story of Tears of the Kingdom has remained mostly a mystery, with most of the game's short teasers, trailers, and gameplay showcases keeping many aspects of TOTK tightly under wraps. Whereas new powers, enemy types, and the game's floating sky islands have all been known features for a while, past trailers have provided only slight hints at the game's plot. With the release fast approaching, however, the final pre-release trailer for Tears of the Kingdom has at long last revealed more, including several popular characters returning from Breath of the Wi

Interestingly, however, despite indications that Zelda might be reprising her perennial role as a damsel in distress, the final trailer for Tears of the Kingdom seems to suggest otherwise, despite her separation from Link in what appears to be an early part of the game. Cutscenes, presumably from later in TOTK , Voice Memories feature separately show Zelda interacting with a currently unknown character, holding the Master Sword, and awaiting Link at an unknown location, suggesting that she has a larger role to play in the game's story than in B

Fans believe these are two different characters, but what if they’re the same person with a different soul or identity? It would make sense given the generational history of Link as The Hero of Time, and how who he is has been passed down from person to person for millennia. Awakening the power of the past in their time of need isn’t exactly ridiculous, giving Nintendo an opportunity to delve into lore and potentially turn Ganon into a sympathetic figure for once.

The addition of new tools in TOTK clearly has the potential to provide many quality-of-life improvements to the game when compared to BOTW . In some cases, there are tools that could greatly improve resource collection methods from BOTW should they be implemented. In others, Breath of the Wild ** ’s ubiquitous durability system means that what could be useful tools are instead weak weapons that come with limited uses in the open-world game. By making such items a permanent addition to Link’s toolkit, Tears of the Kingdom ** can solve several problems with its predecessor’s gameplay experie

While the Cobble Crusher (and its upgraded variation, the Boulder Breaker) are pretty solid for combat, its primary purpose is usually destroying boulders and other large objects. To make this handy weapon more viable for regular use, combine it with the Great Frostblade. This large, frigid sword should improve the Cobble Crusher's attack power while also embedding it with ice abilities, making it even more useful in the Death Mountain reg

Just under a month away from the highly anticipated release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom _ , a new trailer has shown off more of the game's story than any previous material, including several returning characters from _Breath of the Wild . A rare direct sequel in the Zelda series, Tears of the Kingdom continues the story of its predecessor, placing Link back in the same open-world, post-apocalyptic Hyrule, with what looks like a bevvy of major changes to keep the game fresh. First revealed in 2019, Tears of the Kingdom is shaping up to be a massively ambitious game, well worth the w

Breath of the Wild offers many hours of story content alone, with side quests and pure exploration leading many players to easily spend countless hours exploring Hyrule. As a result, BOTW is not the easiest game to quickly replay should players want to refresh their memory ahead of Tears of the Kingdom ; and the required commitment of both time and effort can be discouraging. Fortunately, the actual narrative of Breath of the Wild is relatively straightforward and lends itself well to a written plot synopsis for those who want an easily-digested summary of the g