The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out this month, and I’ve recently started my adventure. Much like I did with Breath of the Wild, I plan on posting updates on my progress. As you may know, I tend to take my time with Zelda games; I don’t rush through. Also, I’ve avoided spoilers as much as possible, including many of Nintendo’s own tweets about the game. So a lot of things that you may know, will be surprises to me. So follow along and you’ll see these things through my eyes. 👀
Story-wise, the game starts out after the end of Breath of the Wild. Link and Zelda are investigating under the castle. Even though I just defeated Ganon in BOTW and saved the world, Zelda panicked after I encountered three measly little bats. Give me at least a little credit, princess. 😛
But there was real danger lurking, and Link did get hurt a bit later on (after they made an interesting discovery). Link was injured, but fortunately, a mysterious stranger was around to lend a hand.
I ended up on a tutorial-like floating island (the Great Sky Island), where I eventually met Rauru, who is apparently a goat now. Well, a goat ghost, it seems. And I was surprised at his title… 😛
He told me about the shrines on the island, and I started seeking them out. Each one taught me a new ability.
Ultrahand
This is not to be confused with Nintendo’s Ultra Hand toy (which was also featured in its own Wii game). The Ultrahand ability lets me grab and move items, much like Magnesis in Breath of the Wild…but without needing the objects to be metallic.
But more importantly, Ultrahand lets you attach items together to make things. Combine logs to make a raft or a bridge, or use other items you find to make tools. By combining a hook with this plank of wood, you can slide on these railings to another sky island.
I also used the ability to help out my first Korok. His backpack looks like it weights about 50 times his own body weight. Not sure how he gets anywhere. (Or maybe he doesn’t; that’s why he needed my help.)
Fuse
The Fuse ability lets you attach objects to your weapons or shield to make them stronger. It may look silly to walk around with a boulder fused to your sword, but it is effective.
I’m just worried it may end up being tedious having to look for things to attach to your weapons throughout the whole game. This may be my least favorite of the new abilities so far.
Ascend
The third shrine took me a while to find, and I think I may have gone around the island in the wrong direction. 😛 Because when I finally made my across this wide river, I found a robot guy who was telling me I could use his rafts to get to the other side…the side I had just come from. Oops. So I backtracked and found what I missed.
In the third shrine, I learned the Ascend ability. It lets you pass through solid objects directly above you, and come out on top of them. It almost looks like you’re swimming through solid rock. 😛 But it certainly comes in handy, and it’ll really help out when exploring the world!
Recall
With three shrines complete, I headed to the Temple of Time to meet up with Zelda. She shook my hand and taught me the Recall ability, which can reverse an object’s movement through time! So if a log falls from a mountain, you can reverse its movement so it goes back up! Of course, it’ll eventually fall again, but you can use this ability in some helpful ways.
I didn’t have the strength to open a large door at the temple, but Rauru told me there is a 4th shrine on this island that I needed to complete. He marked it on my map, and I headed there and quickly completed it, using my new ability.
I then returned to the Temple of Time, where I saw a brief cut scene before diving down to the mainland…Hyrule Kingdom. I explored a bit, but I’ve barely scratched the surface. (Literally, since I’ve only just landed on the surface.) 😛
First Impressions
I’m still very early into the game (about five hours), so my journey is just beginning. With the abilities being different from those in Breath of the Wild, it’s going to be fun exploring the world in completely different ways.
The Ultrahand ability is probably the most significant change so far, because creating tool (or even vehicles?) with it is going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to let us be creative in the things we make, how we use them, and how we overcome various obstacles.
I’m already enjoying the game a lot, and I’m sure my interest level will grow more. I always seem to have a “warming up” period with any new game, before I reach a point that I don’t want to stop playing. So I’m not totally addicted just yet, but that may be coming soon. I’m looking forward to exploring, making some fun machines with Ultrahand, (hopefully) getting a sailcloth, and finding some proper dungeons.
I’ll probably be playing Tears of the Kingdom for many months to come, if not years. I hope you’ll return for future updates, and future videos as well. See you next time!