Spoiler The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Pre-Release Spoiler Discussion Thread (Tag Story Spoilers)

[balgajo]

One thing I like in the original Zelda is that it doesn't stick with any philosophy and with this it always surprises the player.

You don't have the formulaic every dungeon has an item that will be used to solve half of dungeon puzzles, kill the boss and help advance in the game.
It also doesn't spoil the player in the sense that sometimes you don't have the requirements to advance on a certain location. The game doesn't give a fuck for your expectations:

Sometimes the dungeon item helps with the boss, sometime it doesn't.
Sometimes the dungeon item is necessary to open more dungeons, sometimes it doesn't.
You can even finish the games without finding some of the dungeon items.

I'd like them to expand on this idea. I mean, entering a dungeon and discovering it has a souls like structure. Other puzzle focused. Others where there's only the boss room. Others with no boss. Some with items and others without them. Some reached through a story driven path and others where you discover by accident.

I hate the idea of knowing what to expect after a few hours in. Most of Zelda games are really predictable in this sense. And BOTW didn't improve on this. After the first dungeon you know how the others will be handled. I really enjoy, for example, when Wind Waker breaks your expectation and just give you Nayru's Pearl. I know they needed to ship the game without all the intended dungeons but after this point I had no idea of what to expect from the game anymore.

 

[Jencks]

Zora dungeon - in the sky
Rito dungeon - in the sky
Goron dungeon - in Death Mountain
Gerudo dungeon - in Desert Temple
Zonai dungeon - in the underground (entrance likely Forgotten Temple)

These are the dungeon we're getting + Hyrule Castle. In addition to the new shrines and caves.

I could maybe see there being another dungeon, depending on the story pans out.

 

[Phendrift]

Can we assume that that Sky Keep looking thing is part of one of the dungeons?

 

[maestrogeicho]

Yeah, there is deff a section of the fanbase are slowly demanding that Nintendo 'de BotW-ifies' the Zelda series. First it was "bring dungeons back", which is like, ok fine, now it's turning into "oh but make us do the dungeons before the final boss", which is more 'hmm', next will be "enclose the dungeons and make us do them in a strict order again", "is free exploration really important to Zelda?", "centre each dungeon around a specific item ", and then finally "I want my three hour arrow dungeon, followed by my three hour bomb dungeon, followed by..." and we're back to Twilight Princess again.

There are genuinely some people out there that would have the next Zelda be one giant 80 hour dungeon, with at least 20 of those hours dedicated purely to bombs.

Nintendo should ask Capcom to do another 2D Zelda, if only to keep these people quiet for a few years.

This is honestly an outrageous strawman of traditional zelda, and this is coming from someone who prefers the botw format. But really, what's wrong with the best of both worlds? You can have dungeons with unique themes, enemies and items and still have them designed with nonlinear gameplay in mind.

What made a lot of traditional dungeons like Arbiter's Ground or Ancient Cistern great wasn't their linear gameplay, but the feeling of diving into an unknown temple with unique enemies and bosses, unique items to find that change how you navigate the dungeon, and secrets around every corner.

And while being able to go straight to the final boss worked well with botw, it severely limited the story that could be told. It really would suck if this game was literally just "Ganondorf's back and you can go fight him right now. Oh? You thought you would need something special to beat him? You thought he would rise to power throughout the game like literally all of his previous appearances? No, the king of evil can be vanquished with nothing but some meat on a stick, right now."

Keep in mind that I don't think the go-straight-to-boss idea is inherently bad, but the reason it worked in botw was because the premise was "you've been asleep for 100 years, now is your time to finally destroy the calamity ganon that zelda has been holding for you this whole time". However, that came at the expense of having substantial story or progression in the present. I don't think TOTK is going to repeat this.

An open world absolutely can be compatible with a more linear story. There is a difference between allowing a player to do things in any order; and just straight up allowing them to skip the entire game.

 

[Selarmor]

Zora dungeon - in the sky
Rito dungeon - in the sky
Goron dungeon - in Death Mountain
Gerudo dungeon - in Desert Temple
Zonai dungeon - in the underground (entrance likely Forgotten Temple)

These are the dungeon we're getting + Hyrule Castle. In addition to the new shrines and caves.

I could maybe see there being another dungeon, depending on the story pans out.

The first 4 are guaranteed. I think if we get a 5th it'll be a Sheikah dungeon. This game's shrines will serve as the Zonai "dungeon".

I'm really hoping that we'll get a 6th, Korok themed dunegon as well, but I don't see that aligning with the 7 tears. The line "eliminate this kingdom and her allies" makes me think the 7 tears correspond to Hylians, Zora, Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Shiekah, and Zonai, with Ganondorf having taken the Zonai tear.

 

[Phendrift]

One thing I like in the original Zelda is that it doesn't stick with any philosophy and with this it always surprises the player.

You don't have the formulaic every dungeon has an item that will be used to solve half of dungeon puzzles, kill the boss and help advance in the game.
It also doesn't spoil the player in the sense that sometimes you don't have the requirements to advance on a certain location. The game doesn't give a fuck for your expectations:

Sometimes the dungeon item helps with the boss, sometime it doesn't.
Sometimes the dungeon item is necessary to open more dungeons, sometimes it doesn't.
You can even finish the games without finding some of the dungeon items.

I'd like them to expand on this idea. I mean, entering a dungeon and discovering it has a souls like structure. Other puzzle focused. Others where there's only the boss room. Others with no boss. Some with items and others without them. Some reached through a story driven path and others where you discover by accident.

I hate the idea of knowing what to expect after a few hours in. Most of Zelda games are really predictable in this sense. And BOTW didn't improve on this. After the first dungeon you know how the others will be handled. I really enjoy, for example, when Wind Waker breaks your expectation and just give you Nayru's Pearl. I know they needed to ship the game without all the intended dungeons but after this point I had no idea of what to expect from the game anymore.

This is the ultimate goal imo. The dungeons integrated so seamlessly than you can’t separate them and make a list like “here are the 6 dungeons that follow this formula”

BotW even started that. Thyphlo Ruins, Eventide Island, the Labyrinths… but it still followed a “formula” with its divine beasts

Being able to make a list of dungeons that follow a similar formula is really appealing to my OCD, but even I have to admit that this would be the ultimate game design goal.

 

[Rubbersoul]

Do we actually know that Ganondorf has the red tear in the present time? I think the only time we see him rehydrated and with his red tear is when he’s at the ancient great plateau.

 

[Jencks]

The first 4 are guaranteed. I think if we get a 5th it'll be a Sheikah dungeon. This game's shrines will serve as the Zonai "dungeon".

I'm really hoping that we'll get a 6th, Korok themed dunegon as well, but I don't see that aligning with the 7 tears. The line "eliminate this kingdom and her allies" makes me think the 7 tears correspond to Hylians, Zora, Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Shiekah, and Zonai, with Ganondorf having taken the Zonai tear.

Shit I forgot about the Koroks. Since the forest is seemingly gone, I could us having to find it and maybe there being a related dungeon.

 

[Selarmor]

Do we actually know that Ganondorf has the red tear in the present time? I think the only time we see him rehydrated and with his red tear is when he’s at the ancient great plateau.

This is a really good point. Just like with BotW, several of the cutscenes from this trailer are clearly from the past, and the one with Ganondorf screaming at the camera could be too.

The only counterpoint I would make is that we can see one of the Zonai shrines in that same cutscene, which I don't think the devs would put there if it wasn't taking place on the playable map.

 

[Rubbersoul]

Do we actually know that Ganondorf has the red tear in the present time? I think the only time we see him rehydrated and with his red tear is when he’s at the ancient great plateau.

Now that I think about it…if I were to seal an evil demon king for all time, I probably wouldn’t let him keep his magical maguffin that gives him power. It’s also worth noting that Ganondorf’s tear is red. Looking at tulin’s, sidon’s, and riju’s tears, each one of them matches up with the color scheme of the champion abilities from botw. Revali’s Gail is green so tulin’s tear is green etc. For the pattern to work, the goron tear would have to be red like Daruk’s protection. I think the red tear of Ganondorf is going to end up being the tear for the death mountain dungeon in the present.

 

[Chaos Theory]

This is honestly an outrageous strawman of traditional zelda, and this is coming from someone who prefers the botw format. But really, what's wrong with the best of both worlds? You can have dungeons with unique themes, enemies and items and still have them designed with nonlinear gameplay in mind.

What made a lot of traditional dungeons like Arbiter's Ground or Ancient Cistern great wasn't their linear gameplay, but the feeling of diving into an unknown temple with unique enemies and bosses, unique items to find that change how you navigate the dungeon, and secrets around every corner.

And while being able to go straight to the final boss worked well with botw, it severely limited the story that could be told. It really would suck if this game was literally just "Ganondorf's back and you can go fight him right now. Oh? You thought you would need something special to beat him? You thought he would rise to power throughout the game like literally all of his previous appearances? No, the king of evil can be vanquished with nothing but some meat on a stick, right now."

Keep in mind that I don't think the go-straight-to-boss idea is inherently bad, but the reason it worked in botw was because the premise was "you've been asleep for 100 years, now is your time to finally destroy the calamity ganon that zelda has been holding for you this whole time". However, that came at the expense of having substantial story or progression in the present. I don't think TOTK is going to repeat this.

An open world absolutely can be compatible with a more linear story. There is a difference between allowing a player to do things in any order; and just straight up allowing them to skip the entire game.

Damn yeah, I forgot in BotW that none of the ~30 million people who bought the game played any of it. They all just went straight to Hyrule Castle, beat Ganon and called it a day. The critics, who hate video games, loved the idea of skipping an entire game so much that it became one of the best-rated games of all time.

 

[Jencks]

Does mummy ‘Dorf have the tear on his head? Feel like that could answer the question

 

[Mango]

Zora dungeon - in the sky
Rito dungeon - in the sky
Goron dungeon - in Death Mountain
Gerudo dungeon - in Desert Temple
Zonai dungeon - in the underground (entrance likely Forgotten Temple)

These are the dungeon we're getting + Hyrule Castle. In addition to the new shrines and caves.

I could maybe see there being another dungeon, depending on the story pans out.

I don't think the Zonai are a separate race from the Hylians, everything we've seen the art book is presenting them as simply being super ancient ancestors of the Hylians/maybe all human races. Thus if the tears represent different races ala OOT, you'd have the Hylians, Rito, Zora, Goron, Gerudo, Sheikah, someone else. I currently think the Korok/Kokiri, as we still need answers as to where the Deku Tree went.

That said Im not sure what's going on with the dungeons, we seen underground Zora architecture in the art book, and presumably underground Rito architecture, so I almost want to say the "dungeons" of the game may be way more free-form and open ended than anything else, maybe each race/region has dungeon like areas above and below.

 

[Selarmor]

Does mummy ‘Dorf have the tear on his head? Feel like that could answer the question

He does not, but we only see a clear shot of it in the 2019 trailer. The game's plot could have changed a lot since then.

Edit: Okay, I'm now convinced that this is a cutscene from Ganondorf's battle against Rauru a million years ago, and that this is the form he takes after being revived.

He doesn't have the tear in the present.

The tears are clear:

They change color depending on who is using them. They aren't associated with a race, they're just entrusted to a member of each race. Sidon's is blue because he's a Zora. Ganondorf's is red because he's the demon king. He didn't steal the Goron tear specifically, he just took a tear.

I now think Zelda and Basket have different tears. Zelda's has the Recall symbol. We know there's a "Light" symbol, and Basket is shown using her tear to fire a light beam, so she has the Light tear. They're both yellow because they're both Hylian.

 

[balgajo]

Some of the posts feels like: I hate Zelda gameplay. So just give me an option to skip all that junk and go directly to credits and occasionally have some physics fun. This way the game will fulfill true freedom and I will have a good experience.

This looks like how I feel about GTA and I really fear Zelda becoming like this. A game
where I just care about the fun sandbox and don’t even bother about finishing or advancing on the story.

 

[Truno]

Shit I forgot about the Koroks. Since the forest is seemingly gone, I could us having to find it and maybe there being a related dungeon.

I've been thinking about this, and the artbook seems to tease Sky Island(s) and interiors related to a large forest:

Also the tower behind the Sky Island in the last picture looks a bit different from the one we've seen multiple times:

 

[Truno]

I've been thinking about this, and the artbook seems to tease Sky Island(s) and interiors related to a large forest:

Also the tower behind the Sky Island in the last picture looks a bit different from the one we've seen multiple times:

Also re: dungeons, remember that BotW had you teaming up with a tribe member in order to defeat their respective divine beasts before you could gain access inside them. I believe that the footage we see inside the Rito cyclone might be the dungeon quest, and the actual dungeon reflects the Rito architecture we see within the artbook.

 

[AranPrime]

Some of the posts feels like: I hate Zelda gameplay. So just give me an option to skip all that junk and go directly to credits and occasionally have some physics fun. This way the game will fulfill true freedom and I will have a good experience.

This looks like how I feel about GTA and I really fear Zelda becoming like this. A game
where I just care about the fun sandbox and don’t even bother about finishing or advancing on the story.

Make up your mind my dear fellow. Do we hate it or not? If we enjoy the sandbox, does it not mean we enjoy the gameplay? Or is it rather that you mistake gameplay for narrative propulsion; a series of interactions that get you closer to that precious finish line. It is because we love the gameplay that we do not want it bound to some regimented structure.

 

[Mango]

So...Rehydrated Ganondorf is in the present:

Spoiler: Ganondorf

notice the barely visible Zonai Shrine.

I also think Basket is in the present as well:

Spoiler: Basket

Basket is standing on the rebuilt/Zonai part of the Great Plateau, the place we first saw in the February trailer, we see another Zonai Shrine there as well as Ganondorf summoning monsters with fusable horns. There'd be no reason to see those types of monsters and the shrines if this was in the past, since both are gameplay elements that will be used by Link. Basket and Ganondorf both also seem to be standing on the Great Plateau due to the shared architecture, so I think both these scenes are part of one bigger story segment.

 

[joveroy]

Ignore.

 

[Horror Kid]

I would be fine with alternative endings or an extended game if you do everything and beat Ganondorf.
Go straight to him after the tutorial and kill him = short ending sequence. you could consider it the 'bad ending', credits roll - speedrunners can have fun with it.

And otherwise there is (much) more.


Personally I want as much freedom as possible but I also want an engaging story.
If there is a narrative reason why some dungeons have to be done earlier than others, it's fine by me.
For example, we only learn the ability to travel through time after collecting the 7 tears in the present and afterwards the game gets really big - like doing another 11 dungeons in the past...
Just dreaming

 

[ZeldaPY]

This shot at the beginning of the Art book of Link in the tunnel is probably where Link wakes up and get's his arm attached. Link is still in his underwear and has the broken master sword on his back.
The holes in ceiling match up exactly with this island and even the platform he is standing on. I am thinking we only have choice to jump off the platform he is standing on and directly below him will be the starting set of islands.

What's funny to me, is that I have looked at this photo a million times, we were even discussing the tracks above the circle a long time ago and I never put two and two together until now. I don't think Link has the glider to land on the beginning islands below and I think after we jump the stone bird catches us allowing us to land on the starting group of islands below.

 

[xtoc]

Some crazy idea, but could it be that there are 2 worlds. One in the past, and one now. Where link can switch between those 2 worlds with inserting the sword into that platform where zelda stands on (last part of the trailer 3 vid)

A bit like zelda oot, but instead, you can play with zelda

Related images

I dont have the exact image of the platform itself (visible in zelith analyse video), but you'll see that its like you can insert your sword into it.

(While im ok that i could play with zelda aswell, its not that its a must for me)

 

[ZeldaPY]

In the other thread we discussed the lines that are attached to the sky islands a lot. I know I thought for sure they were Malice coming up from the surface. But we know now that is not the case. At some point in the game, I think Gannon sends the purple Sharks up onto to several of the Sky Islands some how.

But I think the Sharks have function and a reason for being on the islands. I am just guessing but I think they are actually eating the sky islands from the inside out and causing them to liquefy and melt. The picture below I think best illustrates that the islands are melting or look like they are melting as we see a stream of liquid falling on top of another island and then continuing down on top of another.

 

[ZeldaPY]

Some crazy idea, but could it be that there are 2 worlds. One in the past, and one now. Where link can switch between those 2 worlds with inserting the sword into that platform where zelda stands on (last part of the trailer 3 vid)

A bit like zelda oot, but instead, you can play with zelda

Related images

I dont have the exact image of the platform itself (visible in zelith analyse video), but you'll see that its like you can insert your sword into it.

(While im ok that i could play with zelda aswell, its not that its a must for me)

I think it will be something similar to what you are describing. I actually think Zelda gets the Master sword in the past and is able to somehow communicate with Link in the present through the Master sword somehow. And if that's not crazy enough, I'm starting to think that Zelda leaves clues for Link via these shinning glowing balls we have to find on the Sky Islands and surface and Link is able to activate them either with the broken master sword or his recall ability. Instead of collecting Zelda memories type thing and getting a flashback of what happened, it activates a localized time bubble where Link can then explore the past in that area, kind of like the time shift stones in SS.

 

[RagnarokX]

In the other thread we discussed the lines that are attached to the sky islands a lot. I know I thought for sure they were Malice coming up from the surface. But we know now that is not the case. At some point in the game, I think Gannon sends the purple Sharks up onto to several of the Sky Islands some how.

But I think the Sharks have function and a reason for being on the islands. I am just guessing but I think they are actually eating the sky islands from the inside out and causing them to liquefy and melt. The picture below I think best illustrates that the islands are melting or look like they are melting as we see a stream of liquid falling on top of another island and then continuing down on top of another.

What's happening is each tribe has a dungeon with a boss that is causing a disaster:

The Ice Gohma of the Rito Dungeon is creating a massive storm above Rito Village:

The Gerudo Dungeon is creating sinkholes across Gerudo Desert:

The sludge Gyorg of the Zora dungeon is dumping its black sludge into Zora's Domain and polluting the waters:

The Goron Dungeon is draining the lava from Death Mountain:

 

[Horror Kid]

I think the nazca lines are rather unrelated to these classic 4 tribe-dungeons.

I agree that those 4 have to do with some catastrophic event in the present - polluted water for the Zora, vortex for the Rito, draining sand for the Gerudo and something under death mountain for the Gorons (probably drained lava as well).

And I think the 11 nazca line symbols shown in the map room and projected onto Hyrule are places where Link can enter time bubbles (created by Zelda?).
Might not be elaborated dungeons at all, but if they are, there could be at least 11+4+final dungeon (=16) in TotK


Edit: somewhere was discussed that Ganondorf is on the balcony of the temple of time in the past.
But in a cutscene he easily could enter a time bubble in the present as well (if this all works how I think it works).

 

[Phendrift]

Throwing it out there that not a single dungeon boss (any of the blight Ganons) was shown prior to BotW’s release

 

[Horror Kid]

Yes, I don't feel like the malice shark or the cube giant are bosses. Probably more like Fire Gleeok on the bridge (Mini bosses).

Ice dragon/insect/spider in the vortex feels like a boss though, but who knows.

 

[balgajo]

Make up your mind my dear fellow. Do we hate it or not? If we enjoy the sandbox, does it not mean we enjoy the gameplay? Or is it rather that you mistake gameplay for narrative propulsion; a series of interactions that get you closer to that precious finish line. It is because we love the gameplay that we do not want it bound to some regimented structure.

By Zelda gameplay I mean the OG gameplay loop where you get new tools/abilities to solve puzzles and reach places that weren’t possible before. It doesn’t depend necessarily on having a narrative.

 

[brainchild]

Zelda’s location spotted as the miniature suggest.

This channel is consistently on point with the 1:1 comparisons. It's really impressive!

I think anyone who doesn't think time/dimensional travel is in this game should watch this video. It's probably the closest we'll have to proof of the time travel theory before the game comes out.

 

[RagnarokX]

This channel is consistently on point with the 1:1 comparisons. It's really impressive!

I think anyone who doesn't think time/dimensional travel is in this game should watch this video. It's probably the closest we'll have to proof of the time travel theory before the game comes out.

BotW's Temple of Time noteably does not have the Master Sword chamber; the circular domed chamber in the back:

The circular platform Zelda is standing on is in the location in relation to the rest of the Temple of Time where the Master Sword chamber would be. The master Sword is laying on the pedestal in the center rather than being stuck in it:

I think this is the Master Sword's resting place in the Zonai era. Zelda is in a time before the islands were sent skyward. The Master Sword pedestal is in the sky in the present.

 

[brainchild]

BotW's Temple of Time noteably does not have the Master Sword chamber; the circular domed chamber in the back:

The circular platform Zelda is standing on is in the location in relation to the rest of the Temple of Time where the Master Sword chamber would be. The master Sword is laying on the pedestal in the center rather than being stuck in it:

I think this is the Master Sword's resting place in the Zonai era.

That could definitely be the case. It's hard to know what other changes have taken place between the two time periods, but what has been proven is that Zelda is in the same general geographical location as the area shown in Breath of the Wild, so that would indicate two different time-periods or dimensions, even if the precise location is not in the same structure (which it doesn't appear to be).

 

[Horror Kid]

I think it is the place where Zelda and Link communicate with each other (with the help of the Master Sword). Link is on the first sky island and Zelda in front of the Temple of Time (we have seen this balcony in the artbook already).

She visits places in the past (the interesting part is during gameplay or in a cutscene like the memories of BotW), manipulates these time wheels we saw in artwork as well as in the final trailer (probably somewhere under the temple of time) and sends her memory of a place to Link by placing the Master Sword on this altar. Link can now access these memories of places in the present.

We might have seen one scene of this communication in the delay announcement video.

 

[korok]

I'm going to do all the dungeons/main quests before the final boss no matter what, so I prefer that it isn't accesible from the start. At the end of the day, the vast majority of people didn't went to fight Ganon before completing the Divine Beats. It's not an issue for most players.

 

[manfromthedam]

As long as they offer multiple goals of varying sizes and significance that I can accomplish in any order I'll, be fine - and honestly, they're going so hard on the freeform gameplay systems that I can't imagine they'll go back to gating progression.

There are a lot of ways in which they could make the story and world interesting without completely gating progress. For instance, certain world events (monster invasions, new islands or malice holes, cutscenes, towns being built, Zelda In The Past Gameplay Segments ) can be tied to amount of dungeons completed - IIRC A Link Between Worlds already did this in a very basic way.

They could also go for a tiered open approach like ALBW did: 4 dungeons in any order at the start, major world event, 7 dungeons in any order at the end.

As far as the final boss is concerned, assuming he's in Hyrule Castle, you have to skydive from a certain spot to get there. They could think of an intended sequence break to get there: if you know where to get the batteries and components you are theoretically able to get there right away.

I don't think that the team that wrote so much unique progression-based dialogue in BotW is completely going back on this - you could even skip the Zora's Domain approach, which was the most railroaded segment, and be rewarded with unique dialogue from Sidon, king Dorephan etc..

That could definitely be the case. It's hard to know what other changes have taken place between the two time periods, but what has been proven is that Zelda is in the same general geographical location as the area shown in Breath of the Wild, so that would indicate two different time-periods or dimensions, even if the precise location is not in the same structure (which it doesn't appear to be).

What are your feeling about the game after this trailer? It looks like they injected a lot of old Zelda vibes back in this.

 

[brainchild]

What are your feeling about the game after this trailer? It looks like they injected a lot of old Zelda vibes back in this.

Very hyped for the game now! They've shown enough structured scenarios that I'm not worried about about the game only being a sandbox or a space where I have to invent my own gameplay motives. We could get into the weeds about what constitutes a dungeon but regardless of what we call them, what I saw in that trailer was exactly what I was looking for and was nearly absent in Breath of the Wild, so I'm happy

 

[BassForever]

I feel like the most recent trailer is probably a tease for how they'll incentivize the player to beat the dungeons before confronting Ganondorf. Ganondorf clearly has a one of the tears which makes him incredibly powerful, the other 6 likely go to Link, the 4 modern champions, and Zelda. We also know there's some kind of ability to train up and equip regular npcs to fight Ganondorf's monsters.

My guess is if you charge Ganondorf's castle at the start of the game, you go in with a no tear powered/restored master sword Link, no Zelda, no champions (or no tear powered champions), and no npc army. While it's probably doable, it'd be incredibly difficult and harder then challenging Calamity Ganon in BotW while underpowered. Inversely if you do the story missions, you charge the castle with a master sword tear powered Link, tear powered Zelda, tear powered champions, and your npc army.

 

[Horror Kid]

So collecting tears in these 4 main dungeons + Zelda has one + 2 other tears from somewhere else (maybe one from the Lost Woods area,...).

These 11 glyphs from the map room might only lead to specific items or upgrades (the glider,...?) that make you stronger.

And there might be 40 shrine like structures (these green swirls) for puzzle rooms that will be rewarded with one disc that goes to Link's belt (battery storage for powering up all these machines).

Spoiler: Artbook picture

 

[Deleted member 3433]

I think this is the Master Sword's resting place in the Zonai era. Zelda is in a time before the islands were sent skyward. The Master Sword pedestal is in the sky in the present.

Yeah, it should take place in the past. Zonai disappeared a long time ago, yet she meets up with their assumed leader. The Master Sword she's holding is also still intact. Zelda being at the Temple of Time kinda gives it away.

 

[Captain Falcon]

So...Rehydrated Ganondorf is in the present:

Spoiler: Ganondorf

notice the barely visible Zonai Shrine.

I also think Basket is in the present as well:

Spoiler: Basket

Basket is standing on the rebuilt/Zonai part of the Great Plateau, the place we first saw in the February trailer, we see another Zonai Shrine there as well as Ganondorf summoning monsters with fusable horns. There'd be no reason to see those types of monsters and the shrines if this was in the past, since both are gameplay elements that will be used by Link. Basket and Ganondorf both also seem to be standing on the Great Plateau due to the shared architecture, so I think both these scenes are part of one bigger story segment.

Wouldn’t the Zonai version of the Great Plateau be in the past though? I really doubt that the Hylians decided that the Great Plateau was the first place to rebuild and decided to go with a Zonai look. From almost all of the trailers, it’s clear that the rebuilding efforts are just getting underway.

 

[BY2K]

He does not, but we only see a clear shot of it in the 2019 trailer. The game's plot could have changed a lot since then.

Edit: Okay, I'm now convinced that this is a cutscene from Ganondorf's battle against Rauru a million years ago, and that this is the form he takes after being revived.

He doesn't have the tear in the present.

The tears are clear:

They change color depending on who is using them. They aren't associated with a race, they're just entrusted to a member of each race. Sidon's is blue because he's a Zora. Ganondorf's is red because he's the demon king. He didn't steal the Goron tear specifically, he just took a tear.

I now think Zelda and Basket have different tears. Zelda's has the Recall symbol. We know there's a "Light" symbol, and Basket is shown using her tear to fire a light beam, so she has the Light tear. They're both yellow because they're both Hylian.

He does have it in the February 2023 trailer.

 

[Selarmor]

The Master Sword she's holding is also still intact. Zelda being at the Temple of Time kinda gives it away.

They very deliberately do not show us any portion of the Master Sword that would be damaged whenever it's with Zelda.

He does have it in the February 2023 trailer.

It's hard to tell from this shot, but right after when he's upside down you can see what looks to be the tail part of the tear, yeah. It's clear though, not red.

Weird. You'd think they'd remove it from him.

 

[Mango]

Wouldn’t the Zonai version of the Great Plateau be in the past though? I really doubt that the Hylians decided that the Great Plateau was the first place to rebuild and decided to go with a Zonai look. From almost all of the trailers, it’s clear that the rebuilding efforts are just getting underway.

The shot where Ganondorf is reviving shows Zonai architecture right in front of Ganondorf and further out shows the modern day ruined walls of the Great Plateau. I'm thinking the Zonai parts of the GP are from the past but theyve been fused with modern day Hyrule. Maybe time itself is breaking down.

 

[Captain Falcon]

I saw this in an analysis video, but when Link is on one of the new Sheikah tower transport things, there is a robotic voice that sounds like it is saying “the future” as he’s riding it upwards. I know the speculation has been he uses these towers to go to the underground and that would seem to make the most logical sense. But is it possible that these are what he uses to travel to the past? It’s interesting that that Sheikah are completely absent from this trailer outside of this one scene and then the shot of a few of them standing outside witnessing the beginning of the upheaval. Where are Impa, Purah, & Robbie? What does the new Sheikah Slate and spool do? Seems like the Sheikah were purposely deemphasized in this final trailer and I wonder if that’s because of their connection to time travel.

 

[Edengamer23]

Ive been thinking about ultrahand and hoping that there isnt really many limits to it and you can build large structures(probably would take a while to build). I at least want to build a little house for Link lol

 

[Dark Cloud]

The tears are this game's macguffins. There are 7 macguffins. Zelda and Ganondorf each have a macguffin. You get Zelda's at the start, and likely "get" Ganondorf's at the end. That leaves 5, and 4 are clearly associated with the 4 races from BotW. That means 4 or 5 segments where you're accompanied by a hero of each race, beat a boss, and obtain a macguffin. Hence, 4 (or 5) dungeons, plus a final dungeon for Ganondorf.

Some architecture design from an artbook that comes with the game is far less compelling evidence than what this trailer has shown.

Your speculation of there being 4 dungeons means nothing

 

[Selarmor]

Your speculation of there being 4 dungeons means nothing

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, other than just being a jerk?

"The evidence to me suggests this game has 4 or 5 main dungeons, but I hope I'm wrong."

"Fuck your speculation."

???

 

[BassForever]

Can you imagine how fucking insanely massive this game must be if we have an entire ground, sky, and underground map both past and future versions

 

[Trevelyan]

Your speculation of there being 4 dungeons means nothing

What’s the point of this post?