The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Cost	¥7900 (download) $69.99 (standard), $129.99 (Collector's Edition) £59.99 (standard), £109.99 (CE) €69.99 $89.99 (standard), $174.99 (CE) $89.95 (standard), $189.95 (CE)
Related	Breath of the Wild Age of Calamity
Release
Platform	Date
Nintendo Switch	🌎 May 12, 2023
Credits
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Producer	Eiji Aonuma
Guides
Interactive Map

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild, released on May 12, 2023. Initially announced during the Nintendo Direct at E3 2019, the title and release date were finally revealed in the September 13, 2022 Direct.

Development

In the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity announcement video, Eiji Aonuma said:

"Regarding the [Breath of the Wild] sequel, in order to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development, so you'll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates."

— Eiji Aonuma, September 8, 2020

While this represented the first official mention of the Breath of the Wild sequel since the original announcement, no further details were provided.

In the February 2021 Nintendo Direct Eiji Aonuma announced:

"I'm sure a lot of you saw me and thought there might be news about the sequel to the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game. Unfortunately, we don't have anything to share right now. We apologize. Development is proceeding smoothly, and we should be able to bring you some new information this year. For now, we'll have to ask you to wait just a bit longer."

— Eiji Aonuma, February 17th, 2021

A new teaser trailer was included in the E3 2021 Nintendo Direct, which still did not include a title, but said they were "aiming for" a 2022 release date. The title was finally released at the end of the September 2022 Nintendo Direct, along with a May 12, 2023 release date.

A further trailer ended the February 8, 2023 Nintendo Direct, with no change to the release date. A "gameplay demonstration" by Eiji Aonuma followed on March 28, 2023 , and a "final" trailer on April 13, 2023 , with the full reveal of Ganondorf's return.

Story

Link and Zelda are searching for the source of the gloom afflicting Hyrule in the Depths Beneath Hyrule Castle. There, they find murals depicting Zonai and events recalling a battle with a demon king. Traveling further, they see a red-haired corpse held down by a strange Right Arm. A tear-shaped object falls from the arm - apparently weakening it - and as Zelda picks it up, Ganondorf revives. Still corpse-like, he ravages Link's health, ruins his right arm, shatters the Master Sword and causes a huge Upheaval which raises Hyrule Castle into the air, opening a chasm that Zelda falls into. Link jumps after her, but she is warped away, and only the mysterious hand saves him from the chasm.

Later, Link awakens on Great Sky Island, where Rauru's spirit explains that he nearly died, and that he had to replace his corrupted necrotic arm with the strange arm, as it was beyond repair. After finding the Decayed Master Sword, he travels to the Island's Temple of Time. However, he is denied access, and Rauru explains that the arm - which was originally Rauru's own - has weakened, and he must restore it with Lights of Blessing from the island's three Shrines of Light. Returning to the Temple of Time after receiving the Ultrahand, Fuse and Ascend powers; he receives a vision of Zelda which grants him the Recall power. Stymied by a second door which relies on his own strength, waning after Ganondorf's ravaging of his health, Link uses Recall to obtain a fourth Light of Blessing from another shrine, and trades them to a Goddess Statue for a heart container, restoring the first part of what he'd lost.

After exiting through the door, Rauru's ghost says goodbye and disperses into beads of light. At the end of a path, Link finds a mysterious light, and is bade by the Master Sword to place it in. The Master Sword is sent through time to Zelda, standing in the same place; while Link remains, hearing only a message from Zelda to find her. A dragon then disperses the Cloud Barrier keeping him from the Surface, and he dives down to Hyrule Kingdom.

Link then travels to Lookout Landing. There, he meets Purah, who is now physically in her twenties after partially reversing her age reduction, and has become the head of Lookout Landing. She sends him to meet Captain Hoz at the First Gatehouse, who is on a mission to find and recover Link and Zelda. Upon arriving, Link, Hoz and the others see Princess Zelda staring at them from afar, before she flies away, and disappears in a burst of light.

Confused, Link heads back to rendezvous with Purah, where he fills her in on the events that happened at the First Gatehouse. With this knowledge, Purah informs Link that several regional phenomena have been reported by each of the four main races: The Rito, Zora, Goron and Gerudo. After this explanation, Purah activates the Skyview Towers, the equivalent of the Sheikah Towers from the previous game. Purah then gives Link the Paraglider and sends him on his way.

Tulin of the Rito

Link travels to the Rito village and discovers that the area is in the midst of an unprecedented blizzard which has forced many of the Rito adults to leave the village in the hands of their children while they go out to collect food and resources. The local stable has been sold to former rumor researcher Traysi and converted into the headquarters of the new Lucky Clover Gazette. Link gets hired as a reporter and partnered with the Rito Finn. Their job is to visit Hyrule stables to gather intel on sightings of Princess Zelda. In the Rito village, Link meets up with Teba, who has taken over as the village elder upon the former elder's retirement. Teba is arguing with his young son Tulin, a gifted flyer who wants to investigate the massive storm cluster high above the village, which they believe to be the source of the region's heavy freeze.

TODO: Rest of story

Care to do so?

Graphics

This game largely uses assets from Breath of the Wild, as seen in the initial trailer. The art-styles are mostly identical from what has been shown so far.

Gallery

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  Key art

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  Key art (tall)

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  Key art (wide)

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  Key art of Hyrule from the sky

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• Purah TotK Illustration.png
• Rauru TotK Illustration.png
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  Logo (white background)

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  Logo (black background)

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  Collector's Edition box

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  Collector's Edition bundle

Screenshots

Trailer Screenshots

• E3 2019 Reveal Trailer
• E3 2021 trailer
• September 2022 trailer
• February 2023 trailer
• March 2023 gameplay demonstration
• April 2023 trailer

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• Press Kit screenshots
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  Tears of the Kingdom Link amiibo paraglider

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  Skyward Sword Zelda & Loftwing amiibo paraglider

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  Breath of the Wild Link (Rider) amiibo paraglider

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  Majora's Mask Link amiibo paraglider

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  Majora's Mask Link amiibo paraglider (night)

• Additional screenshots
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• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Mr. Aonuma Gameplay Demonstration
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Videos

E3 2019 Reveal Trailer ( June 11, 2019 )

E3 2021 Teaser ( June 15, 2021 )

Announcement of delay to 2023 ( March 29, 2022

Title Announcement trailer ( September 13, 2022 )

February 2023 trailer ( February 8, 2023 )

March 2023 gameplay demonstration ( March 28, 2023 )

April 2023 trailer ( April 13, 2023 )