A few details from the Tears of the Kingdom gameplay session that you might have missed.
Last week Nintendo showcased ten minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay and mesmerized everyone. This was also the first time we’d seen such gameplay for this game, and indeed it was fantastic to watch. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t help but watch it a few times and eventually picked up on a few details from the gameplay session.
So, I pointed them out even though most of you have already noticed them, particularly the Zelda fans. Even though Tears of The Kingdom is only one month away, these details might give us a good idea about the actual Tears of the Kingdom we will play—perhaps more. Let’s dive in.
The Zonai
The first point is obviously The Zonai. Honestly, I did not expect the Zonai to be confirmed as an actual present piece of Tears of the Kingdom in such a small way. Can you imagine all the theories, mysteries, and ideas regarding them since Breath of The Wild came out and then amplified by the existence of this game and its build-up, to be confirmed with just a tiny item drop from an enemy? It’s felt clear for a long time, but seeing the word Zonai in the gameplay itself is wild. It’s undoubtedly going to have massive implications for Tears of the Kingdom’s story.
The symbolism we’ve seen, technology, and even Link’s arm could all be connected to the famous and long-lost Zonai Tribe. Obviously, it’s hard to say if these mechanical constructs are The Zonai or just yet another marvelous work of theirs. It’s difficult to guess at this point, but learning more about the Zonai Tribe in Trears of The Kingdom looks a lot more likely than before. Also, those who have for literal years said the Zonai are not going to be in the game, and you can finally stop denying the Zonai. Let’s wait and see how much this is present throughout the game.
Shield Design
The detail of the shield Link was wielding is the next thing that I found interesting. This isn’t anything new, as we’ve seen this new shield design in a few trailers for the game already. What I found rather interesting is that when Link goes to fuse with objects, the shield comes up as an option to fuse with. It’s called the “Old Wooden Shield”.
Now it’s interesting because what exactly makes the shield old? This may sound subjective, but this looks like a reasonably okay standard wooden shield. Could this be hinting at time manipulation of some kind? Perhaps, time mechanics! Maybe something related to the main story and this new look of Link. This hints at time travel or a time jump, or maybe not.
The Vials
The vials on Link’s hip also caught my attention. We’ve seen these in artwork and previous trailers, but they are more apparent here. It’s also important to note that Link only has four hearts here. These two facts tell us some important information. The four hearts tell us this is early into the game, but not very early. Link typically starts with three hearts and also doesn’t usually start with abilities a gear like this. Nintendo has purposefully hidden Tears of the Kingdom’s opening, unlike the showing off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before its release.
Secondly, the lack of vials here also indicates this being early into the adventure. But the fact that he has one here tells us that he has probably accomplished something significant already. A few ideas have been brought up regarding these; one is their being connected to dungeons within the game. The almost a vials would fit the typical rough amount of traditional dungeons for a Zelda game. It’s not too far-fetched of an idea. It, however, begs the question, what has he already completed to receive it?
Well, this could be the tower shown in the gameplay, and the islands around it, which we see Link exploring in the gameplay, could be an opening dungeon and tutorial segment to teach us the basics. Perhaps in the gameplay, we’re actually revisiting it. With Link already having done it. It’s a guess still, of course, but this detail makes it more likely that these are a form of progress marking, hopefully with them being retrieved from dungeons.
Cave Markers
Then comes the mini-map cave markers. You don’t have to look closely to see the icons on the map for cave entrances. We can confirm this as one is exactly where Link is as he enters this cave. Some have a tick mark next to them. Presumably, meaning that they are completable caves. And this is just one section of the Sky Islands. There appear to be tons more across the lands, which also hints further at more being below the actual surface. An underworld. These small details indicate potentially so much. Why would they need to be marked as complete?
Well, this means there is a task to be completed within. Similar to how the Sheikah Shrines from Zelda: Breath of the Wild marked the completion and full completion. These caves may serve as mini-dungeons, with a puzzle or two and an enemy or two. Then again, there could be more in Tears of the Kingdom. The fact that they have completion markers must mean more than just exploration. There might be more to the cave than we currently know. Probably these might have lifted up from deep below Hyrule. We’ll have to wait and see.
Tracking Numbers on the Map
We saw a few new details on the map in the new and improved user interface. There are now numbers to track latitude, longitude, and altitude. In basic Hyrule gamer terms, these measures how high or low we are to sea level. The video shows that it varies slightly the lower or higher up Link gets. Now, this is minor at base value, but a point I’d like to be considered here is that there will be underground.
We’ve seen an underground, which must be a part of the map. It’s very much possible. An idea I’ve also seen mentioned by many is that the underground map could be similar to how Hyrule Castles was displayed in Breath of The Wild, but we’ll only guess for now.
Well, in the end, Tears of the kingdom looks absolutely stunning. These ten minutes or so of gameplay have made us all more excited for the game than we already were. The Overworld looks changed up enough to be entertaining. The Skylands look more than filled with all sorts of content to play, and there is still a mysterious underground to be shown off, as we as whatever else the game might have in store.
This game is definitely not just DLC to Breath of The Wild; it will be insanely massive. This gameplay session has tons of little details, secrets, and mysteries. We’ll be covering as much as possible in the coming days. So, stay tuned.
