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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom preview breakdown

Several Tears of the Kingdom previews are now live, giving eager players a closer look at one of 2023’s biggest games. Here are some of the details we noticed.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom previews: Link runs towards the viewer, away from a Hinox

We’re absolutely champing at the bit for any information on the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild, as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now tantalisingly close. So close in fact, that several outlets recently played the title at Tears of the Kingdom previews, and are spilling a few key details in the process. So, we’re putting together several of these previews and going over some of the details you might miss.

Before we para-sail into the rest of this guide, we’ve got more great pieces of content than Hyrule has shrines, so be sure to check it all out. We’ve got articles covering Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom fusion, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom enemies, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer breakdown, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom: Zonai, and much more. You can also check out our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review to get the full deep dive.

Let’s take a closer look at everything revealed in the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom previews.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom previews

First up, we’re gathering up some of the most informative previews all in one place, so you can easily watch them all right here.

IGN

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Nintendo Life

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GameXplain

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Good Vibes Gaming

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Zeltik

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New Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom preview information

We’re busy pouring over every single second of new footage on Tears of the Kingdom and are picking several key new details we’ve spotted, that you otherwise might have missed. You can find them all below.

  • The Travel Medallion returns from Breath of the Wild’s DLC, and serves exactly the same purpose. This customisable fast travel warp point means Link can return to sky islands with ease
  • Link makes exciting new creations by using the Ultrahand ability and items known as Zonai parts. A fun new gacha-like sphere drops new parts when Link brings it a Zonai charge which the new enemy known as Zonai constructs drop when killed
  • Footage reveals that those blue vials at Link’s hip are to be charged for a battery meter, which powers your Zonai creations. We don’t know how to increase this battery charge yet, but footage reveals Link with different amounts, so he must gain more somehow
  • There’s a second map now with the addition of the sky map. This new addition helps Link chart the land high above Hyrule, and keep track of the many different sky islands. Though we’re not sure how we reveal the map just yet, or if it’s like the Shiekah Tower mechanic from the original Breath of the Wild
  • When Link picks up a weapon with a full inventory, you’re now given the option to drop a weapon immediately. In Breath of the Wild the game forces you to go back into your inventory before opening the chest again, so this is a huge timesaver
  • We now have a recipe book, so Link remembers meals he cooks, and presumably can cook them again if he has the ingredients. Another simple change that saves a lot of time
  • You can now throw any item, much like tossing weapons in Breath of the Wild. Alongside the elemental items such as the various chu chu jellies, this means Link can unleash an attack without wasting any weapons
  • The new Ascend feature not only allows Link to travel through solid objects from below and peer out into the world above, but it also freezes time. This means if Link uses ascend in a cave, but uncovers an enemy camp high up above, you can choose to quickly dip back down and save your skin
  • Link’s new abilities such as Fuse and Ultrahand are selectable with a radial dial, much like choosing weapons in Skyward Sword. This is much easier than the menu from Breath of the Wild, plus, footage reveals at least two additional slots for abilities, so there is more to discover in the full game

Alright, folks, that’s all we have on the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom previews for now. Make sure you remember to pre-order the game so you can get it on day one:

Be sure to check out our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom pre-order guide for more details on the game