Pre-Release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Pre-Release Discussion Thread

[Dragoncaine]

About 20 hours into BOTW after I got it on launch day, I acknowledged out loud that I was playing one of the greatest games I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Hadn't felt that way since Bioshock Infinite (which has now slipped in my ratings but I still think is great), and the only new release to evoke such a sense of awe from me since was Inside.

 

[ILikeFeet]

It would kinda be frustrating to have so much lore but never used. So much mysteries in Botw, we need this direct sequel to address some of them.

Sometimes mysteries should stay mysteries. Over-explaining things ruins a lot of the mystique

 

[Kartina]

Alright Fami, it's time for another one of my superficial conversation starters that I won't be able to contribute to myself right away because of work! But for those of you who can...I challenge you to list your favorite and least favorite Zelda titles - as in, the actual name of the game - and why.

Breath of the Wild is perhaps the most perfect title imaginable for that game, so while it may be recency bias, it's up there. Ditto for Twilight Princess, in hindsight. I love the name A Link to the Past but the relevance is okay at best.

Least favorite is easily Adventure of Link, followed by...maybe Skyward Sword? But Adventure of Link is too easy a target. If I'm limiting myself to subtitles with key items or mysticism, my least favorite probably is Skyward Sword or Wind Waker, but there isn't a god-awful one in the bunch.

Weirdly, I think Tears of the Kingdom will become one of the best in context, and I'm glad Nintendo didn't use a cringe "______ of the ______" title

Ocarina of time is the best name, it's classy and cool, it conveys the central theme of time and gives top billing to one of the most iconic items in gaming, also ocarina sounds really good to say and OoT is a great acronym.
Honorable mentions for a link to the past and a link between worlds, that's a great pun and I respect that

For the worst I think spirit tracks, it's kind of a lame title, the tracks are what gets referenced instead of the train, also it get's shortened to SS which first of all not cool, and second we also have another zelda SS with skyward sword but skyward sword it's actually a cool name.
Also if you count it Triforce heroes is super lame and definitely the worst zelda name.

 

[Awesomegames23]

About 20 hours into BOTW after I got it on launch day, I acknowledged out loud that I was playing one of the greatest games I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Hadn't felt that way since Bioshock Infinite (which has now slipped in my ratings but I still think is great), and the only new release to evoke such a sense of awe from me since was Inside.

I didn't spend long on the plateau, I thought it was pretty cool but a bit boring. I didn't watch any E3 2016 gameplay and only watched the BOTW trailers. When I got to Kakariko village I was impressed, but I wasn't blown away until I went to Zoras domain afterwards and saw Vah Ruta, the 1st divine beast I went to.

 

[Okayge]

I have to say that there's still a little part of me that thinks Zelda is going to be a playable character and they're waiting for the big reveal sometime early next year to show us. Will it actually happen? Probably not, but damn would it be so cool to witness.

 

[Hosermess]

I'm sure that time is a central theme both gameplay and story-wise.

What I don't understand yet is how come we see all these fallen island rocks in the overworld that Link can likely use to ascend to the sky islands and perhaps restore them by doing so. Why and when did they fall in the first place if they weren't there in BotW?

And assuming TotK takes place right after the events in BotW, how come the Bokoblins have these long horns all of a sudden? Seems to me that they must either stem from the distant past or future.

Long horns like these? I would go with distant past. There a number of things that seem more primal than what we see in BotW. TotK may start out right after BotW ends, but that doesn't mean it has to stay there. It's pretty clear we've only been given a tiny glimpse of a very narrow part of it.

7 tears and 7 ridges on the dragon's back (or whatever they end up being) - though there are 10 in the green logo background. So probably nothing.

This is the only other living thing present in the trailer. I'm going to guess that the black and white portion of the game is only a smaller part of it and not a whole part of the world, sort of like the Silent Realms in SS. (though Link also gets a similar power to rewind objects, like we've seen, just on a smaller scale) Perhaps you need to gather remnants and rebuild the skylands (as has been suggested already) and you need do this each time to clear up a new sky region and make it accessible (in the past and/or the present). Maybe his new toolbelt thing is the power source that enables this skill and requires levelling up. Who knows.

 

[Heron]

Link's Awakening. You think "huh, kinda bland, whatever".

Then you beat it and you're like "damn". Koholint Island was too good for this world...

Also love:
Link to the Past (satisfying series of syllables to say and clever use of Link) and
Ocarina of Time (nothing else in the world is called "Ocarina" and its' instantly evocative of music and time travel)

Hate:
Phantom Hourglass (sounds like a lame carnival item)
Adventure of Link (bland as plain yoghurt)

 

[Dragoncaine]

Will a Zelda game ever have the emotional depth, intimacy, compelling rewards, and immersive character dynamics in its side quests as Majora's Mask again?

 

[Deleted member 540]

Sometimes mysteries should stay mysteries. Over-explaining things ruins a lot of the mystique

The hope is that whatever lore is added leaves us with more questions than we started with.

For the worst I think spirit tracks, it's kind of a lame title, the tracks are what gets referenced instead of the train, also it get's shortened to SS which first of all not cool, and second we also have another zelda SS with skyward sword but skyward sword it's actually a cool name.
Also if you count it Triforce heroes is super lame and definitely the worst zelda naname.

Why would Spirit Tracks be abbreviated to SS?

They're probably more important than the train as they are the chain sealing away Malladus and need to be restored.

 

[Deleted member 2181]

The hope is that whatever lore is added leaves us with more questions than we started with.

Finally. Someone understands.

 

[Stinky Horse]

Long horns like these? I would go with distant past. There a number of things that seem more primal than what we see in BotW. TotK may start out right after BotW ends, but that doesn't mean it has to stay there. It's pretty clear we've only been given a tiny glimpse of a very narrow part of it.

7 tears and 7 ridges on the dragon's back (or whatever they end up being) - though there are 10 in the green logo background. So probably nothing.

This is the only other living thing present in the trailer. I'm going to guess that the black and white portion of the game is only a smaller part of it and not a whole part of the world, sort of like the Silent Realms in SS. (though Link also gets a similar power to rewind objects, like we've seen, just on a smaller scale) Perhaps you need to gather remnants and rebuild the skylands (as has been suggested already) and you need do this each time to clear up a new sky region and make it accessible (in the past and/or the present). Maybe his new toolbelt thing is the power source that enables this skill and requires levelling up. Who knows.

I don't think the black and white is any different to the effect in the 2021 trailer, that's just how the world looks when it's activated.

 

[Beelzemontheworld]

LURVING the 7 regions = 7 tears = 7 dungeons idea. Link's hip vial holder has place for 8 vials though...

It’s possible that you might end the opening portion of the game with 1 before the rest of the world opens for you to explore the other 7 regions. Or it could be one that you obtain at the end when confronting the final boss, probably tied to the castle/central Hyrule again in some way.

 

[TheCongressman]

I'm sure that time is a central theme both gameplay and story-wise.

What I don't understand yet is how come we see all these fallen island rocks in the overworld that Link can likely use to ascend to the sky islands and perhaps restore them by doing so. Why and when did they fall in the first place if they weren't there in BotW?

And assuming TotK takes place right after the events in BotW, how come the Bokoblins have these long horns all of a sudden? Seems to me that they must either stem from the distant past or future.

Long horns like these? I would go with distant past. There a number of things that seem more primal than what we see in BotW. TotK may start out right after BotW ends, but that doesn't mean it has to stay there. It's pretty clear we've only been given a tiny glimpse of a very narrow part of it.

The longer horns could easily be attributed to the presence of more malice. When Ganon was still cocooned, trying to reform physically while Zelda was holding him back, his army likely appeared less fully formed as well. But here, malice is now spewing out of the ground, Ganon's influence is much stronger here.

This is the only other living thing present in the trailer. I'm going to guess that the black and white portion of the game is only a smaller part of it and not a whole part of the world, sort of like the Silent Realms in SS. (though Link also gets a similar power to rewind objects, like we've seen, just on a smaller scale) Perhaps you need to gather remnants and rebuild the skylands (as has been suggested already) and you need do this each time to clear up a new sky region and make it accessible (in the past and/or the present). Maybe his new toolbelt thing is the power source that enables this skill and requires levelling up. Who knows.

The black and while effect is what happens when you use the rewind ability. You can also see it in the second teaser.

 

[Vash]

Because Champion Tunic Link is perfection

Idk these new long hair toga link got me kinda

 

[Hosermess]

Hm, I remembered the ability, not that it was the same colour scheme.

And I assume people have already pointed out the synchronicity between this and Zelda falling in the other trailer? I'm probably out of my league in this thread ha.

 

[Cerlinho]

I can't wait to finally experience Twilight Princess when I finally emulate it early next year! I would've bought the Wii U ports if they came to Switch, but oh well. What about your favorite and least favorite Zelda subtitles, like the name itself?

Oh I think I missread the question.
My favorite tittle:
Breath of the Wild
I think it's clever, it was a curve ball when It was revealed! AMAZING

My least favorite:
(Very hard to choose. I will edit this later)

 

[Cerlinho]

Hm, I remembered the ability, not that it was the same colour scheme.

And I assume people have already pointed out the synchronicity between this and Zelda falling in the other trailer? I'm probably out of my league in this thread ha.

I think this is Ganondorf. It's different from the "Zelda" one holding hands. It's like we will broke Demise's curse in this one.

 

[takriel]

Tim de Man, if you are reading this thread (are you?), I would forever be indebted to you if you somehow found an elegant way to connect the musical pieces we got so far into a single, beautiful main theme.

 

[Serif]

Hm, I remembered the ability, not that it was the same colour scheme.

And I assume people have already pointed out the synchronicity between this and Zelda falling in the other trailer? I'm probably out of my league in this thread ha.

I thought it was Ganondorf, it's the same pose he was sealed in, but the Ganondorf mummy has round ears and this looks like it has pointy ears. And the clothing doesn't match 1:1 but the engravings are so heavily stylized that it's hard to tell. The other figure shown later on is definitely Zelda.

 

[Phendrift]

This little clips of music is already legendary lol.

The beginning has FFXII vibes

Still haven’t been wowed by the music like I was with BotW’s debut trailer though. Hopefully the debut full trailer for TotK will be that

 

[Christo750]

Okay 2 days later, I'm still a little sour that there's still such a drip feed, but now that the name and date are out there, the ground is set to start revealing stuff.

I'm eyeing the Game Awards to be the next spot for a big trailer.

 

[BY2K]

Okay 2 days later, I'm still a little sour that there's still such a drip feed, but now that the name and date are out there, the ground is set to start revealing stuff.

I'm eyeing the Game Awards to be the next spot for a big trailer.

The fact that we know when it will come out makes the wait a lot more bearable.

Like God of War Ragnarok, we'll get a full-on epic trailer closer to the release. Maybe 2 months prior. Which coincidentally, is around where we should be getting the next Direct, February/March.

 

[Christo750]

The fact that we know when it will come out makes the wait a lot more bearable.

Like God of War Ragnarok, we'll get a full-on epic trailer closer to the release. Maybe 2 months prior. Which coincidentally, is around where we should be getting the next Direct, February/March.

Man I cannot wait for the TOTK Direct. It's gotta get one sometime in March.

 

[BY2K]

Man I cannot wait for the TOTK Direct. It's gotta get one sometime in March.

I doubt TotK will get its own Direct. We played BOTW, we know what mostly the sequel is about. We don't need a deep dive like BOTW got at E3 2016. Just announce a special edition or collector's edition alongside the release of the final trailer and we're good.

 

[balgajo]

Oh I think I missread the question.
My favorite tittle:
Breath of the Wild
I think it's clever, it was a curve ball when It was revealed! AMAZING

My least favorite:
(Very hard to choose. I will edit this later)

Me too...XD


I dislike the long ones like ALTTP, ALBW, BOTW. I also dislike AOL as it's a very ordinary name.
Though I reminded about Skyward Sword, that's probably the worst one imo.

Can't choose between Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess as the best one.

I didn't even need to get used to Twilight Princess as I liked the title since the reveal(twilight movie didn't exist by that time).
At first I thought that Zelda was the Twilight Princess and when I knew she wasn't it got even more interesting.

Oot is really descriptive about the game and really unique at the same time. Bring back a lot a memories about the melodies.

The other ones I like:
Wind Waker, Link's Awakening, Oracle of Season and Oracle of Ages. The remaining ones I don't have any particular feeling.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

 

[Erimgard]

Definitely some connections here, although I will say the imagery in this game is a bit different. With the logo, it's two snakes eating each other's tails. And on the big door, it's a single snake with two heads.

 

[Awesomegames23]

Definitely some connections here, although I will say the imagery in this game is a bit different. With the logo, it's two snakes eating each other's tails. And on the big door, it's a single snake with two heads.

I agree, it's very similar to an ouroboros but not quite one, so the symbol/logo in TotK might have a bit of a different meaning than an ouroboros.

 

[Kartina]

The hope is that whatever lore is added leaves us with more questions than we started with.



Why would Spirit Tracks be abbreviated to SS?

They're probably more important than the train as they are the chain sealing away Malladus and need to be restored.

you know what? I'm stupid

 

[Magic-Man]

I went back and watched the second teaser and I totally forgot that Link skydives from an even higher island than all the rest. Jesus Christ how high does this go?!

 

[Awesomegames23]

I went back and watched the second teaser and I totally forgot that Link skydives from an even higher island than all the rest. Jesus Christ how high does this go?!

So high they should probably bump up the release a few weeks to April 20th

 

[BY2K]

I agree, it's very similar to an ouroboros but not quite one, so the symbol/logo in TotK might have a bit of a different meaning than an ouroboros.

I've been trying to find out if the presence of two snakes/dragons in an Ouroboros symbol means anything but I can't find anything.

 

[Cerlinho]

Is there a symbol to represent when various timelines link together?
Because we have two dragons, a infinite cycle, it's really interesting

 

[prizna]

Is there a symbol to represent when various timelines link together?
Because we have two dragons, a infinite cycle, it's really interesting

I've been thinking something like this, the logo is two snakes eating each other's tails (instead of one like a typical Ouroboros) coz the game represents two separate cycles merging into each other and creating one new cycle.

 

[Erimgard]

The Legend of Zelda: Twin Snakes

 

[Cevan]

I think it's worth remembering that the number of sages got messy in Botw. The 8th heroine represents a lost sage, either cast out or forgotten for some reason.

The canisters holster holds 8 vials, so if those are for tears, maybe there's 8 tears for 8 sages.

if we're judging by the murals from the recent trailer, then there's likely eight tears in total - seven in this shot, and another on either side of this shot depending on how you look at it

from my perspective i'm lead to believe seven tears belong to the new deity-like creature / the sky kingdom and the eighth belongs to zelda / hyrule. the second mural is depicting some kind of union between the two nations which is why one of the tears are represented facing the opposite direction

 

[Nickle]

Y'all are forgetting the 3 dungeons you have to complete before Link finds out that he needs 7 doodads to defeat the bad guy

 

[Awesomegames23]

Exhale of the Wild

 

[Vash]

 

[Psyborg]

Y'all are forgetting the 3 dungeons you have to complete before Link finds out that he needs 7 doodads to defeat the bad guy

There's only 7 of them??

Whoa, we got some rare doodads right here.

 

[BY2K]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

 

[Mr Doggo]

On the brim of defeat rehydrated ganom violently teleports himself, link, zelda and the area to space, with the last battle happening in 0 gravity.

 

[Serif]

I've been thinking about how the underground, sky, and surface all play into each other, piggybacking off Kevin's post from earlier about restoring the Sky kingdom. My speculation is after Ganondorf reawakens due to the seal being broken, he spreads Malice throughout the Hyrule underground which seems into the surface and wreaks havoc, and either he or the deity reveals the cloud barrier.

Link is taken up to the Sky Kingdom ruins to recuperate from the Malice attack, obtain his new gauntlet and be informed by either the deity (spirit arm), Zelda, or some other NPC that because of Ganondorfs Malice weakening the magic seal, pieces of the Sky Kingdom ruins have fallen to the surface.

Link is able to use the new rune to reverse the flow of time of an object, and can use it to pull chunks of the islands back up. Once the ruins of a certain area have been put together, he can use a more powerful version of that ability to rewind it to a previous ancient state, which may end up being a new location like a dungeon, city, or landmass with shrines. Within this could be green energy which can combat Malice, possibly in a highly concentrated and potent 'teardrop'.

Link can then use his surface phasing rune to dive underground, or he can pull chunks of Hyrule to the Sky to reveal caverns going underground. By entering these underground passages he could destroy a Malice "nest" (I'm thinking Doom) with a partially restored Master Sword or green energy.

Progression could be determined by ridding the land of Malice and restoring the original Sky Kingdom. I also think Ganondorf will attempt to resurrect himself to his original living body, and will get more difficult the longer you take to reach him since he's further along his resurrection.

But also I have so many questions, like why Ganondorf was even kept around in the first place under Hyrule Castle generating Malice. Was it to prevent his reincarnation? Or is something sinister going on?Calamity Ganon seems to have been a puppet the whole time.

(I need to go to bed)

 

[ZeldaPY]

The glider we saw, I don't think it's something you call. I think the reason it's so large is so it's easier to see and land on while skydiving. I feel like it's probably on a set path. But it may not be specifically for transportation either. You might need to use it for a puzzle or something, kinda like a korok challenge. Like shooting targets while you're on it. Or maybe you have to activate it from an island, then land on it before it gets to a certain point.

I think the glider is actually a fail safe mechanism you can trigger when falling or like a do-over button. Let’s say you are trying to get from one island to another using the paraglider, jumping or what ever and you miss your target destination. Since it appears to be a seemless transition from the sky to the ground what are your options? Fall all the way to the ground, run over to how you got it up there in the first place and go all the way back and try again? Or just keep falling all the way to your death?
OR press the B button and have your glider pick you up and transport you back to where you were, probably via loading screen like fast travel so you can instantly try and another attempt at getting over to the next sky island. If not by this method, there will have to be a mechanic for this scenario otherwise it would get old quickly if it takes forever to get back to where you were.

 

[Deleted member 341]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

of course there are things they aren't showing us. We really still don't know anything about the game besides the basic gameplay premise.

BotW was just as mysterious.

As of now the Sky Islands we saw don't look like they would equal enough new gamespace.

 

[Magic-Man]

We're going to space aren't we?

 

[Rareware]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

I just had a thought about this… What if the ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ is actually referring to, say, the heavens where the goddesses reside? The tears themselves are representations of sorrow that the goddesses feel at what the world has become after their departure.

I know there’s been a lot of speculation that “does it mean Link is going to space or something?” Well… not exactly. What I propose is that we’ll actually be going to the heavens and meeting the goddesses themselves! Din, Nayru, Farore, and of course Hylia.

So the tears we’d be collecting would eventually allow us to enter those heavens to seek the help of the goddesses. Or, maybe we go there somehow beforehand and they’re the ones who send us on the quest to collect the tears?

Just something to think about that.

 

[lexony]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

 

[Dark Cloud]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

What do you mean what do we think? We think what it says. It means there’s more than sky islands and the grounds of Hyrule. Of course Nintendo hasn’t shown everything. Idk why you ask these types of questions from 3 teaser trailers lol

 

[LukasManak22]

What do we think about this?

Is there still something Nintendo isn't showing us? Is it why the trailers are still so short? Is it the underground? Do we visit older Hyrules by time traveling?

We know this since March. Aonuma said it in delay announcement.