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

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Leo said:
Okay, now this is my jam

I'm thinking now, how does Ascend work within dungeons? Would you be able to just immediately advance to the top floor? Must be hell designing dungeons with any kind of intended sequence that work with this mechanic, so it's hard to imagine the dungeons would be any more involved than the Divine Beasts.
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Anouma mentioned there's a way to block it and iirc the patent also mentioned a couple (like spikes or uneven ceilings)

Ascent is honestly the easiest thing to design a dungeon around since you can just say "no" to any spot you don't want someone to Ascend through

Now, Ultrahand? That's going to be hard to design around
 
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GamerInHeart said:
However the symbol shown on Link's hand when he uses that ability means "time" in Kanji. Isn't it weird if there's no time limit at all as long as the object has moved before?
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I don't think the concept of reversing an object's momentum and the concept of reversing time are all that incongruous. As for your question, I don't see that as being weird. In fact that could be really neat, if you find something like an ancient statue that was destroyed thousands of years ago and decide to try to recall it to see if it rewinds to where the statue was originally located thousands of years ago.

Conceptually that could make for extremely fun and intriguing puzzles, or even be a central part of the game's plot.
 
Can i just take a moment of your time and say how much i like and appreciate the little headtwist Link does after emerging from the ground after using Ascend?

It looks like he just emerged from diving in water and shakes off the water in his hair.

It's absolutely "useless", but it gives this whole ability such a nice little personal touch.
 
Cheesehead302 said:
I gotta think at 3 am, if this area is the tutorial area like seems possible, what are the "boundaries" of it? Like the requirements for completing it and leaving that area? Because it seems like you start with the glider and you'll probably wanna explore the sky, having an environmental barrier is a little hard to imagine. Hard to say. I also wonder how he acquired those abilities. Do you start with them or have to get them from something like shrines again? What if, there's some kinda force field or something prevented you from traveling out of its bounds, and here in this footage, he already met all the requirements to clear the tutorial and that's why we don't see it? It probably isn't that, because it seemed like he was just starting out and also that sounds a little unelagant. Hmmmm. Maybe it's got something to do with the underground area, really hard to say. Only other idea I have is mmmaaaaybe it's a water barrier potentially? Like you don't have enough stamina to cross without getting ability to craft a ship? That seems like it'd be difficult to restrict people with, though.
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If I remember correctly, botw trailers and footage showed Link with the glider on the Great Plateau, but we know we only get that at the end. Since totk shows a new glider, I think it is fair to assume that we don't start with the glider and only get it once we finish with the tutorial sky island. Before completing it, I can see it being surrounded by clouds like the Great Plateau is with a similar fall and respawn sequence. I get the feeling that Link will once again just wake up and not know where he is. Possibly right after getting the arm, it uses a lot of its power to ascend all the way up to that one sky island lol as for getting powers, maybe the hand talks to you lolol or maybe the friendly constructs let you know along the way
 
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Bonejack said:
Can i just take a moment of your time and say how much i like and appreciate the little headtwist Link does after emerging from the ground after using Ascend?

It looks like he just emerged from diving in water and shakes off the water in his hair.

It's absolutely "useless", but it gives this whole ability such a nice little personal touch.
Click to expand...
I like the water that rains down when you dive into water from the sky
 
What happens at the end of a Recall? Will the object inexorably continue back on its determined path, or can its future now be changed? I guess I'm asking, is the object still an object, or a simulation of the trajectory that object took?

Because then, what if you could upgrade it to use on people? Could you bring someone back from the dead and save them? Or would you just see them relive their death with no way to prevent it?

Necromancy? In MY Zelda?
 
Jencks said:
I like the water that rains down when you dive into water from the sky
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Though from the fall at the end of the gameplay demo, there should be waaaaay more water splashing. Dude literally impacted like a comet.

catonkatonk said:
What happens at the end of a Recall? Will the object inexorably continue back on its determined path, or can its future now be changed? I guess I'm asking, is the object still an object, or a simulation of the trajectory that object took?

Because then, what if you could upgrade it to use on people? Could you bring someone back from the dead and save them? Or would you just see them relive their death with no way to prevent it?

Necromancy? In MY Zelda?
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I want and need the recalled objects to move again, ie the rocks that recall up falling down again. Because i want to use that to kill an overworld boss enemy with.
 
catonkatonk said:
What happens at the end of a Recall? Will the object inexorably continue back on its determined path, or can its future now be changed? I guess I'm asking, is the object still an object, or a simulation of the trajectory that object took?

Because then, what if you could upgrade it to use on people? Could you bring someone back from the dead and save them? Or would you just see them relive their death with no way to prevent it?

Necromancy? In MY Zelda?
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The object becomes a normal world object once it's back to where it started or you reach the end of the recall gauge. I'm sure you can then do whatever you want to it to give it a different trajectory if you want.

I'm sure they won't let you use it on people or creatures.
 
I believe this is the only screenshot of sky island at night that we have so far? and my, I must say it looks beautiful! I personally can't wait to go skydiving during night time.
large.jpg
 
One of the more sardonic takes after the last trailer was that the core concept of the game was going to be vehicle building, and that the game's logo is even supposed to be a tire, but I think the game play demonstration showing how extensively the "fuse" ability runs makes me think the overall theme of the game really has to do with combination and connection, both from a game play and narrative perspective. From a game play perspective we're building weaponry, tools and vehicles through combination, effectively forging new possibilities. The logo of the game is two dragons connecting into each other. Meanwhile a lot of the game carries imagery associated that serves as an antithesis to remedy; Zelda gets separated from Link, disparate Sky Islands and debris disconnected from the world, landmarks like Korok Forest being torn away from Hyrule, etc. The PR blurb also mentioned earlier last year that Link and Zelda's devotion to one another would be key in saving Hyrule or some such.

I'm very interested how the story is going to play out with this in mind. BOTW was a very meditative game which game play wise felt rooted in a similar sense of self-discovery, not just about Link's backstory but about the player's ability to decide their own path and way to play. TOTK naturally has the Zelda and Link connection as the backbone, and it has a lot of potential since Zelda herself was the most compelling character of the last game, but there's a lot more they can dig into the world of Hyrule itself. I feel like building Tarrey Town in BOTW was almost like a precursor to this theme, it felt like you helped make a small part of the world into a better place. By connecting all these people from different parts of the world.
 
damondamon said:
I believe this is the only screenshot of sky island at night that we have so far? and my, I must say it looks beautiful! I personally can't wait to go skydiving during night time.
large.jpg
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Another view of the tutorial islands that shows no hint of Hyrule beneath it... I'm starting to be pretty sure that these islands don't exist in the same realm as regular Hyrule at first, you'll be pulling them into the world somehow.

That's how they'll prevent you from falling off of the tutorial island onto Hyrule before you finish the tutorial.


Also the islands in general look a lot like the early art of the Sacred Realm:

ALttP_Triforce_Sacred_Realm_Artwork.png
 
Skittzo said:
Another view of the tutorial islands that shows no hint of Hyrule beneath it... I'm starting to be pretty sure that these islands don't exist in the same realm as regular Hyrule at first, you'll be pulling them into the world somehow.

That's how they'll prevent you from falling off of the tutorial island onto Hyrule before you finish the tutorial.


Also the islands in general look a lot like the early art of the Sacred Realm:

ALttP_Triforce_Sacred_Realm_Artwork.png
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Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense.

Maybe for the tutorial area, you get stuck in the Sacred Realm, and bring those islands into Hyrule. Then, for the rest of the game, you are in Hyrule bringing islands from the Sacred Realm.
 
NewPueblo said:
Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense.

Maybe for the tutorial area, you get stuck in the Sacred Realm, and bring those islands into Hyrule. Then, for the rest of the game, you are in Hyrule bringing islands from the Sacred Realm.
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Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. No idea why or how but that would seem to make sense with a lot of what we've seen, including certain islands being in some footage but not in others.
 
Skittzo said:
Another view of the tutorial islands that shows no hint of Hyrule beneath it... I'm starting to be pretty sure that these islands don't exist in the same realm as regular Hyrule at first, you'll be pulling them into the world somehow.

That's how they'll prevent you from falling off of the tutorial island onto Hyrule before you finish the tutorial.


Also the islands in general look a lot like the early art of the Sacred Realm:

ALttP_Triforce_Sacred_Realm_Artwork.png
Click to expand...

Turns out, Link died in the opening of TotK when he jumped after Zelda, saving her at the cost of his life.

Drops in the Sacred Sky Island Realm, BotW'ds his way up to finally meet Hylia, who is totally annoyed and yells at him about what the fuck he's doing here. Further yells that he should be out there and kick Mummydorf's butt or at least make sure he doesn't end up late to his job at Bolson's.
 
Bonejack said:
Turns out, Link died in the opening of TotK when he jumped after Zelda, saving her at the cost of his life.

Drops in the Sacred Sky Island Realm, BotW'ds his way up to finally meet Hylia, who is totally annoyed and yells at him about what the fuck he's doing here.
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so this will be like Three Houses or something?
 
Bonejack said:
Turns out, Link died in the opening of TotK when he jumped after Zelda, saving her at the cost of his life.

Drops in the Sacred Sky Island Realm, BotW'ds up to finally meet Hylia, who is totally annoyed and yells at him about what the fuck he's doing here.
Click to expand...
Hylia was basically the original Zelda, she isn't a goddess anymore. I recapped some Skyward Sword lore while I was trying to nap yesterday and it seems like Hylia basically just gave up her godhood so she could use the Triforce, and never really reclaimed it. I don't think she's really involved in the game, beyond being Zelda's long ago ancestor.


Sacred realm isn't really supposed to be the afterlife, it's essentially another dimension where the Triforce usually hangs out. The interesting thing about it potentially being a major part of this game is that BOTW didn't involve the Triforce at all, at least explicitly. It seems like all knowledge of it is forgotten entirely.

But if TotK has you going to the sacred realm at any point I'd imagine it will finally be addressed. Interestingly enough, the right hand is where the image of the triforce appears on people who have a piece of it, so Link's right hand fusing with the green one might be how the concept of the Triforce is kinda reintroduced to the world and how he gets to the sacred realm to begin with.
 
Decoyman said:
One of the more sardonic takes after the last trailer was that the core concept of the game was going to be vehicle building, and that the game's logo is even supposed to be a tire, but I think the game play demonstration showing how extensively the "fuse" ability runs makes me think the overall theme of the game really has to do with combination and connection, both from a game play and narrative perspective. From a game play perspective we're building weaponry, tools and vehicles through combination, effectively forging new possibilities. The logo of the game is two dragons connecting into each other. Meanwhile a lot of the game carries imagery associated that serves as an antithesis to remedy; Zelda gets separated from Link, disparate Sky Islands and debris disconnected from the world, landmarks like Korok Forest being torn away from Hyrule, etc. The PR blurb also mentioned earlier last year that Link and Zelda's devotion to one another would be key in saving Hyrule or some such.

I'm very interested how the story is going to play out with this in mind. BOTW was a very meditative game which game play wise felt rooted in a similar sense of self-discovery, not just about Link's backstory but about the player's ability to decide their own path and way to play. TOTK naturally has the Zelda and Link connection as the backbone, and it has a lot of potential since Zelda herself was the most compelling character of the last game, but there's a lot more they can dig into the world of Hyrule itself. I feel like building Tarrey Town in BOTW was almost like a precursor to this theme, it felt like you helped make a small part of the world into a better place. By connecting all these people from different parts of the world.
Click to expand...
Kind of reminds me of the difference between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, where the emphasis in Ocarina is always on the ultimate goal of being the hero who saves the world. On the surface of things, Majora's Mask is obviously very similar - primarily because the moon is going to end the world in 3 days' time unless you, the hero, stop it, and it's there as a constant visual reminder. Unlike Ocarina, though, a huge chunk of MM's emphasis - whether that's the individuals who become masks, or the many side quests - is on saving the people who live in that world; sometimes from something mundane like burgalry, or from past regrets, or from aliens.

What's striking me now is the semantic difference between the titles of the two open world Zelda games: 'Breath of the Wild' and 'Tears of the Kingdom'. Both titles are anthropomorphic, but there's a big difference in emphasis between 'Wild' - the uninhabited wilderness - and 'Kingdom', the human/civilisational structure that inhabits or is imposed upon a space. So I do like this idea that TotK is going to be much more about the people in the world and about connecting them, and you could argue that, semantically, that's reflected in the title.
 
One interesting thing about the marketing for this game has been the fact that we have trailers all the way back nearly 4 years all showing off this one cohesive vision. It makes it difficult for a lot of people to remember the things we've seen already, especially thematically.

Like, the original 2019 trailer has Link and Zelda traveling through a massive underground cave system. This at the time heavily suggested there would be an expanded cave underworld.

Then in 2021 we saw sky islands, and people kinda forget we were expecting a massive underground. But the events of the 2019 trailer are still there in the newer trailers, so it's not like they scrapped that idea and started over. The whole game has likely been cohesively and purposefully planned out some time before E3 2019, and they've spent the next 4 years basically building on that original plan, not changing it.


It's just funny how we now have people saying "there's so much focus on sky islands, I don't think underground is happening" when between 2019 and 2021 all we knew was that underground exploration would be there.
 
damondamon said:
The camera angles of those 2 shots look so weird. At this point it should be obvious to everyone that Nintendo don't want us to see much of the game at all.
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There's a moment in the footage where the camera pans almost around Link, but specifically avoids showing too much behind him, where on the mini-map we can see that shrine like icon

So Nintendo still wants to hide even that (even though most have already guessed the Shrines will be the green spiral thingies)
 
The problem I have with the swirly egg things being shrines is that when they are not activated you can't see them much from distance. In BOTW you always saw shrine from far distance in the orange color and said "Yes, I want to go there!" this will not work here, even more when they are considerably smaller.

But with all this said, they are shrines no doubt to me.
 
What's the take on why the objects during Ultrahand cast these yellow shadows?

First, I thought that it would be possible for Ultrahand to stick objects to cliffs, but that maybe would be TOO limitless.

fEEuplm.png
 
Irene said:
What's the take on why the objects during Ultrahand cast these yellow shadows?

First, I thought that it would be possible for Ultrahand to stick objects to cliffs, but that maybe would be TOO limitless.

fEEuplm.png
Click to expand...

First one to Ultrahand enough fans to a sky island to make it move, wins.
 
LukasManak22 said:
The problem I have with the swirly egg things being shrines is that when they are not activated you can't see them much from distance. In BOTW you always saw shrine from far distance in the orange color and said "Yes, I want to go there!" this will not work here, even more when they are considerably smaller.

But with all this said, they are shrines no doubt to me.
Click to expand...

Isn't it the opposite, though? They're emitting green spiral energy when active. Then, when you complete them, the spiral disappears.
 
Skittzo said:
One interesting thing about the marketing for this game has been the fact that we have trailers all the way back nearly 4 years all showing off this one cohesive vision. It makes it difficult for a lot of people to remember the things we've seen already, especially thematically.

Like, the original 2019 trailer has Link and Zelda traveling through a massive underground cave system. This at the time heavily suggested there would be an expanded cave underworld.

Then in 2021 we saw sky islands, and people kinda forget we were expecting a massive underground. But the events of the 2019 trailer are still there in the newer trailers, so it's not like they scrapped that idea and started over. The whole game has likely been cohesively and purposefully planned out some time before E3 2019, and they've spent the next 4 years basically building on that original plan, not changing it.


It's just funny how we now have people saying "there's so much focus on sky islands, I don't think underground is happening" when between 2019 and 2021 all we knew was that underground exploration would be there.
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I think it was Zeltik who did a video comparing Breath of the Wild's various trailers and how similar the topography actually was over time, so it would match the development of the original if the actual concept was nailed pretty quickly but that building it and testing it and refining it still took plenty of time and effort.

Even that original open world Zelda teaser had the guardian, the rolling hills, NPC designs, Zonai architecture, and slow mo shooting.
 
LukasManak22 said:
The problem I have with the swirly egg things being shrines is that when they are not activated you can't see them much from distance. In BOTW you always saw shrine from far distance in the orange color and said "Yes, I want to go there!" this will not work here, even more when they are considerably smaller.

But with all this said, they are shrines no doubt to me.
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I think the swirlies are the uncompleted state, and the dormant ones are completed

You can't see the swirly one near the Dueling Peaks on the mini-Map but you can see the dormant ones on the tutorial island there
 
LukasManak22 said:
The problem I have with the swirly egg things being shrines is that when they are not activated you can't see them much from distance. In BOTW you always saw shrine from far distance in the orange color and said "Yes, I want to go there!" this will not work here, even more when they are considerably smaller.

But with all this said, they are shrines no doubt to me.
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Yeah I think the idea is they're swirling before you complete them, not after.
 
Irene said:
Isn't it the opposite, though? They're emitting green spiral energy when active. Then, when you complete them, the spiral disappears.
Click to expand...
NabiscoFelt said:
I think the swirlies are the uncompleted state, and the dormant ones are completed

You can't see the swirly one near the Dueling Peaks on the mini-Map but you can see the dormant ones on the tutorial island there
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Skittzo said:
Yeah I think the idea is they're swirling before you complete them, not after.
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Yes, thinking about it, that makes complete sense. Not sure why I thought the exact opposite here.
 
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The locations where you can see green swirls are where you get soft serve ice cream.

The lack of a green swirl indicates the soft serve machine at that location is broken.
 
I like to imagine the Zelda team creating the Ascend skill like that one Star Wars meme:

Game Designer 1: "How about we make a skill that lets Link pass through walls or ceilings?"
Game Designer 2: "So clipping? It's a bug. Turning it into a game feature ... is that even legal?"
Aonuma: "I will make it legal."
 
So they are also travel points but imagine you are on the ground and want to teleport to green swirl on the sky? How will that even work. Switching the maps?
 
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catonkatonk said:
What happens at the end of a Recall? Will the object inexorably continue back on its determined path, or can its future now be changed? I guess I'm asking, is the object still an object, or a simulation of the trajectory that object took?

Because then, what if you could upgrade it to use on people? Could you bring someone back from the dead and save them? Or would you just see them relive their death with no way to prevent it?

Necromancy? In MY Zelda?
Click to expand...

There was a moment in the gameplay where you can see it falling back down again after Link landed on the Sky Island and Aonuma showing the views.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
I think it's related to an ability we haven't seen yet.

The runes all seem to feature an eye, and the pool of liquid here is shaped like an eye. We had cryonis in BotW, some new way to control/manipulate liquids in this game could be a new ability.
Click to expand...

Aonuma really wanted to kill the QA team if he had the game designers include physics liquid manipulation on top on Fuse, Ultrahand and Ascend.
 
LukasManak22 said:
Anyone figured what the E3 2021 tear drop animation in reverse is? It's not Ascend.

image.png
Click to expand...

Most obvious guess right now is that it has something to do with Recall. The trajectory of the thing is being reversed and that's what happens there.

I think what is noticable about the naming choice of both Recall and Ultrahand is that they are more abstractly named than any of the other abilities. Magnesis, Stasis, Cryonis, Bombs, Fuse, Ascend are all very functionally named and clearly say what they do just by the name alone. It indicates to me that these two have more applications than meets the eye (and we already know that is the case with Ultrahand for example).
 
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balgajo said:
I was thinking if maybe it's the first time you get the ascend ability and it's trying to make an analogy with Link.

Though it's kind of unusual to receive an ability outdoors.
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Well at least we can figure out that this shot is most likely on the ground. It's funny how everyone assumed back then it's just the phasing through since the cut in the trailer tells you that. We don't know if it's actually in reverse or just in the trailer. This explanation however makes sense.
Awesomegames23 said:
I think it's related to an ability we haven't seen yet.

The runes all seem to feature an eye, and the pool of liquid here is shaped like an eye. We had cryonis in BotW, some new way to control/manipulate liquids in this game could be a new ability.
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To me it looks like crown and then tear, funny enough the name tears of the kingdom was hinted way back then. I feel if it was new ability Aonuma would show us, I find it unlikely they will reveal the new ones before launch apart from the small teaser in the final trailer. They haven't revealed any of the Champions abilities too.
 
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LukasManak22 said:
Anyone figured what the E3 2021 tear drop animation in reverse is? It's not Ascend.

image.png
Click to expand...
Some people think it’s an introduction to recall but it would be odd to not have the grayscale effect going on if that were the case. It’s obviously reversing time. The ambitious idea is that it’s from a cutscene showcasing a timeshift in an area. Timeshift stones but centralized to a large area and permanent.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
I think it's related to an ability we haven't seen yet.

The runes all seem to feature an eye, and the pool of liquid here is shaped like an eye. We had cryonis in BotW, some new way to control/manipulate liquids in this game could be a new ability.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember someone pointed out that of 4 abilities we saw in the gameplay:

Three of them are Fuse, Ultra Hand, and Ascend all have a Green aura but the Recall is a Yellow aura, maybe it's a hint to two sets of abilities?

Fsc5hQSaUAICZMc
 
Rubbersoul said:
Some people think it’s an introduction to recall but it would be odd to not have the grayscale effect going on if that were the case. It’s obviously reversing time. The ambitious idea is that it’s from a cutscene showcasing a timeshift in an area. Timeshift stones but centralized to a large area and permanent.
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Crazy idea related to the rewind and the whole idea of changing the world and the time back:

What if in the equivalent of the sheika towers in TOTK instead of unlocking large areas on the map, you transform that area of the map by moving it back in time? You will see towns that in botw are ruins, etc.
 
It's going to be a good animation when Link swirls into the shrine stone, like the transformation in Odyssey, Link will literally turn into green energy to go inside the stone.

image.png

NintendoSwitch_5F00_SuperMarioOdyssey_5F00_scrn01_5F00_E3_5F00_bmp_5F00_jpgcopy.jpg

super-mario-odyssey-capture.jpg
 
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