Exploration of Zelda: Tears of the Ocean Kingdom of Airborne Islands

[ad_1]

The sun sets the sky a soft orange as Link glides through the air. Far beneath his dangling feet, Hyrule is almost forgotten as my focus is entirely on the cluster of islands dotted across the horizon. One in particular catches my eye—a small island adorned with a tower, which appears to hail from a lost civilization, and at its feet a pond. I carefully maneuver Link above this pool, and when the time is right, send him plunging down to the floating island. Somehow, even high in the sky, fish swim in the water.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Played on Switch Availability: Out 12th May on Nintendo Switch

Tears of the Kingdom is unique to the Zelda series in that it is the first time that a new installment has reused Hyrule from a previous game rather than completely reinventing the country. Outside of the game’s trailers and the infested Bokoblin Castle it conquered during a recent preview event at Nintendo’s European headquarters in Germany, we don’t know how much the Hyrule overworld has changed since Breath of the Wild. However, from what I’ve experienced, Islands of Heaven help prevent that trip back to familiar Hyrule from feeling repetitive by bringing a new landscape to a world many of us have spent months exploring.

Some of the islands are landmasses, with cave networks and peaks reaching a height where Link will need warm clothing or a trusty torch to survive. Others are smaller – perhaps containing a puzzle or, in some cases, being a puzzle itself. However, almost every island you visit has the remnants of a forgotten race whose architecture resembles the Zonai ruins from Breath of The Wild. It’s yet to be seen how involved Zonai is with the events of Tears of the Kingdom – I’m sorry to say I know as much about the game’s story as you do. Their memory is still alive though in the form of talkative Zonai mining bots and less friendly Zonai constructs.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Official Trailer #3

Sky islands are also designed in a way that allows you to easily move between them, whether that’s by giving you the opportunity to build a soaring glider for Link’s parachute or by containing devices, such as propellers, that can be used to move floating metal boxes or build custom flying machines. Many of the islands are at different elevations as well, so you can levitate through the sky completely unaware of the land mass passing beneath you. Not only does this bring a sense of depth to the sky, but it promises the reward of undoing, like the first time Linnell nearly crushed you under his hoof in Breath of the Wild, there are challenges in the sky that require Link to become more powerful before he can overcome them.

Fortunately, your airborne travels have been made easier by the return of the Travel Medallion, perfect for traversing the skies. Put it on an island and it allows you to quickly get back there whether it’s falling into Hyrule below or making a wrong turn. If you fall in after forgetting to put the medallion in, there are other ways to get back into the sky – though we can’t go into specifics – so don’t worry about having to go back to one specific location.

The design of Sky Islands also implements Link’s new abilities for both transportation and puzzles for you to solve. My favorite puzzle from the preview event is included with Ultrahand. Ultrahand Link gives the ability to pick up just about everything you come across, from explosive barrels to Koroks. During my time in the sky, I came across a group of three islands, and on the first, I sat a device that looked like the middle island. Using the Ultrahand, I was able to move this device around, and in doing so, shifted the angle of the center island to whatever degree I wished so as to create a path between the three. A spark of delight ran through me when I discovered this mystery; Not only because I have something interesting to solve, but because his presence suggests there are more mysteries interwoven in Hyrule’s landscape and skies awaiting me.

As I turned the moving island, I noticed a box hanging beside a vine from one of its lanes, and then began my task of figuring out what angle the island had to be to make the box reachable. What I love about this puzzle, though, is that it invited a level of player expression that the old Zelda games had lacked, offering multiple solutions — such as creating a simple path or using Link’s climbing abilities — rather than a definitive answer.

This is the device I used to move the island.

Besides Ultrahand, you get to experience three of Link’s other abilities. Ascension is a useful power both in and out of combat; It gives you the chance to sneak up on enemies and avoid any unnecessary climbing. Fortunately, if you climb into a situation you’re not ready to deal with, like a sudden drop in temperature or swinging an ax at Link’s head, you can quickly descend back to your original position. Summons, meanwhile, give you the power to control the flow of time – turning back the clock on enemies and objects alike. While I haven’t been able to experiment with Recall as much as I’d like, it has the potential to give you control of the battlefield once you master it and can, hopefully, engage you in some very interesting puzzles. At the time of writing, we have no idea if Link’s Breath of the Wild abilities will return, but, even if they don’t, Link’s new powers will easily keep you occupied, especially the lead, Fuse.

Rise and call into action.

Fuse has two main purposes – fusing things into weapons and crafting vehicles – and the amount of range it gave is fantastic. It’s hard to avoid getting lost in the excitement of fusing random objects into weapons just to see what they’ll do, especially since, in my experience, almost every object is fusible. Some, like rocks, simply increase a weapon’s attack power, while others give weapons a new ability. For example, smelting topaz with a sword allows it to fire electric bolts. Stocks can also contain a group of items that are easily combined before shooting. I enjoyed combining ChuChu jelly with arrows since, depending on the color, they grant an elemental ability, such as the arrows of White ChuChu jelly that freeze enemies. Meanwhile, apples are much less effective unless your opponent has scurvy.

Smelting also increases weapon durability, which is very useful when you find a weapon that you want to keep for a while. However, it’s important to remember that you can only fuse one object into a weapon or shield at a time. Fortunately, the controls for merging both weapons and arrows are quick to master allowing you to easily use the ability in combat. However, if you incorporate an explosive keg into a sword, I’d recommend throwing your new weapon rather than swinging it or else you could find yourself stuck in a rather fiery backlash…

A new group of items called Zonai devices are essential to the Fuse ability. These gadgets range from fans and portable stoves to rockets and flamethrowers. You can find Zonai machines through a variety of means, but the most notable is what can only be described as a fanatical gacha machine. Fire some Zonai charges and, in true gacha tradition, pray that you will get what you are looking for in return. Zonai devices can of course be combined with weapons and armor. My personal favorite is how to turn a missile into a shield into a jetpack, and if you choose to incorporate a flamethrower instead, it turns your weak wooden shield into a flamethrower. However, the main use of many Zonai devices is to create vehicles.

Missile shield and Zonai gacha machine.

Using Fuse to build vehicles works in conjunction with Ultrahand, which you’ll use to position and choose the angle of the device you combine with the foundation of your new transport mode – whether that’s a log or a bird-like glider. It’s important to make sure your device is positioned correctly, because if a propeller or missile is pointed incorrectly, you’ll find yourself moving away from your destination rather than toward it. Not to mention ensuring all the hardware is placed evenly so your creation doesn’t tip over and that it has enough Zonai battery power to sustain your ride. It is very helpful that the Zonai fuse is disconnected, so, if you make a mistake, the fix will be quick. While I can’t go into specifics, eventually you’ll gain an ability designed to simplify building, which is ideal when you don’t want building the vehicle to distract you from your current goal.

Tears of the Kingdom wants to fill players with a passion for creativity and experimentation in the same way that Breath of the Wild prompted exploration. I could easily see myself spending hours building the perfect death machine, one that would crush enemies without me having to unscrew a sword. Even after building a glider using several missiles and flamethrowers, it’s as if I’ve barely seen what the Fuse ability can offer and I’m looking forward to discovering what it can do outside of combat and transport. You’ve already combined Korok into a buggy – what else can he do?

Despite being a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom feels more like a spiritual successor to Majora’s Mask. Not in regards to cow-stealing, toilet ghosts and impending doom by the moon, but in how Majora’s Mask transforms the formula the previous title excelled at into a wonderfully unique journey without losing players what they originally fell in love with. From what I’ve experienced, Tears of the Kingdom embraces creativity, giving players the chance to indulge their imaginations, without sacrificing the adventurous heart of its predecessor. Much of the game is still a mystery – we’ve yet to see a dungeon and don’t know what Hyrule Zelda is up to – but we do know it’s going to be a heroic project and that Link can do in his underwear.

To view this content, please enable targeting cookies. Manage your cookie settings

[ad_2]