Watch the full demo introducing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom>>>
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Official Gameplay Demonstration (Nintendo)
Nintendo steps up and releases a 10-minute gameplay video that reveals the new title in the Zelda series - Tears of The Kingdom, one of the biggest and most anticipated games for 2023. At the same time, it also announces a new Nintendo Switch console designed in the style of the game.
The demo started with Eiji Onuma, the creator of the Zelda series announcing to players that the game's development is finally complete, and now we're just waiting for the May launch day.
Onoma demonstrated and revealed for almost 14 minutes much of the content that TOTK brings with it.
Watch the Nintendo Switch console edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom>>>
Map exploration and a new ability
This demo answers a lot of player questions from the early trailers that were revealed, and we get a more extensive look at some of the islands floating in the sky of the map.
Onuma happened to them Sky Islands, and Hyrule will be full of them.
Just like in Breath of The Wild, the ways to get to those locations will probably vary from player to player and everyone will find their own way of playing.
It looks like Link won't be using the abilities with his Shiekah Slate, but rather with his strangely transformed hand that gave him the new powers we'll be using throughout the game.
One of the ways to get to those floating islands is a new ability called Recall, which actually turns the movement of objects back in time.
We have already been exposed to her in previous trailers, and currently she is getting a more extensive look and explanation, and Onuma demonstrates how she can be used to reach the higher areas in the sky of the map.
More in Walla!
The intriguing process of recycling metal packaging
In cooperation with the Tamir Recycling Corporation
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
Combination is the name of the game
From there we get gameplay on one of the floating islands and are exposed to a new enemy and a new ability to combine objects in the world (Fuse).
Onuma demonstrated how a branch can be combined with a rock to achieve greater durability for the weapons.
If there was one element that many players disliked in the previous BOTW game, it was the fragile durability of the weapons.
It looks like Nintendo didn't remove this mechanic from the upcoming title, but they definitely gave it an upgrade.
The rest of the demo demonstrated how a pitchfork and a paddle can be combined to create weapons with a much wider range of damage.
The combination does not only exist in weapons such as swords or axes.
Link's arrows will be able to combine with different accessories and items for different abilities.
Onuma demonstrated how players would not have to rely on special arrows with elements like ice or fire, and could create them themselves at any given moment as long as they had the necessary ingredients.
The arrow from the previous trailers that excited a lot of players (and me among them) is also shown here, and Onuma shows the "recipe" and the way to create it.
Much simpler than I originally thought.
After all, Keese's eye is not a rare commodity, there are those everywhere.
And of course you can't forget the ability to combine Link's shield with various accessories.
In his demo we are shown how to combine it with a smoke mushroom, so that the first hit from the opponent will cause a distraction that will cause the opponent to lose you and allow you to sneak up and catch him by surprise.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
Is it Zelda or Lego?
A new ability that is introduced is Ultrahand, and it is the one that will allow us to assemble the vehicles that we encountered in the previous trailers.
And it looks like such a fun mechanic that leaves a lot of room for experimentation on the part of the players.
Onoma presented how you can use wood to assemble a raft.
Really with an engine, and all the shebang.
It's amazing to see how Nintendo has taken elements it pulled from Speedrunners and its community and turned them into different game mechanics.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Photo: screenshot, Nintendo)
And that's not all
Towards the end of the demo we got a glimpse of another of Link's abilities.
Ascend.
A new ability that will save a lot of time exploring the world and will allow Link to launch himself from the floor to the floor above him through the ceiling.
This will greatly facilitate players who have not invested in their stamina meter, and want to climb a mountain top.
In his demo we see how one can find a cave and reach the top through a launch from the ceiling.
It's also a very useful tool in case you want to leave the cave.
Ascend in action (photo: official website, Nintendo)
From there the demo ended with Onuma abandoning the floating island and giving us an overhead view of the entire Hyrule map and the changes it has undergone since the BOTW era.
He promised that there are many more surprises that we haven't been exposed to yet and he looks forward to seeing the players explore the game world and adopt the new mechanics.
The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released for Nintendo Switch consoles on May 12.
The gaming channel
the magazine
Tags
Gaming
Zelda
Nintendo
nintendo switch
