Today, Nintendo has shared roughly 10 minutes of gameplay for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Hosted by producer Eiji Aonuma, it revealed a series of brand new features in the hugely anticipated action-adventure title.
One power revealed is “Recall”, an ability that rewinds the trajectory of an object and, in turn, can grant access to the brand new Sky Islands. As you’d imagine from their name, these are giant floating land masses boasting trees, man-made structures and rivers.
The developers did promise multiple methods to reach the Sky Islands, with ‘Recall’ confirmed as one of the ways to access them.
We were also given a glimpse of a new enemy known as ‘Construct’, defeated in the released gameplay by a tree branch scavenged from the ground. When the branch broke, Link’s new ‘Fuse’ ability was revealed.
This enables players to combine various weapons and items to create new weapons with different profiles and advantages. For example, Aonuma showcased the potential of the Fuse ability by combining a stick with a boulder to make a hammer-like weapon. In another example, he fused a long stick with a pitchfork to create a makeshift ‘joust’ weapon of sorts, allowing Link to attack enemies from a safe distance. Elsewhere in the trailer, a mushroom was combined with a shield to create a smokescreen-emitting piece of defensive gear, while combining a Keese Eye with an arrow created a homing projectile to take down pesky, flying enemies.
It’s not just Link who can fuse different weapons and items together, though. Enemies can also possess their own fused weapons, lending some variety to the combat encounters players will face across the land of Hyrule.
It’s not just weapons however, with Aonuma fusing transport items like rafts and vehicles together to traverse the diverse landscapes.
“Fusing even the weakest weapon with something else could turn it into a useful weapon,” he explained. “There are even more gameplay options for sticking things together.”
Although the trailer didn’t reveal every combination, there’s bound to be a huge amount of possibilities thanks to the new ‘Fuse’ ability. The trailer encouraged players to explore all the options when the game drops, meaning players can look forward to discovering their own ways to play when it drops.
Finally, the trailer also revealed the ‘Ascend’ mechanic, allowing players to pass through ceilings and reach elevated areas without depleting stamina.
Barring any delays, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will release on May 12, 2023 for Nintendo Switch. A limited edition Tears of the Kingdom OLED Nintendo Switch was also revealed, which will release on April 28, 2023, though this will not come with a copy of the game.