Highlights
- Tears of the Kingdom pays homage to past Zelda games, with familiar elements and references to its 2D origins.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the latest installment in Nintendo's iconic fantasy franchise. Tears of the Kingdom takes after its predecessor, 2017's Breath of the Wild, which completely reformatted the Zelda formula for an open-world 3D adventure. As a result, it has become known as one of the greatest video games ever made, a feat its sequel surpasses.
Despite its loyalty to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom also contains allusions even further to the franchise's past. Many elements of the game, from unlockable outfits to elements of the gameplay new to this entry, will be familiar to fans of Zelda's 2D origins. These six parts of Tears of the Kingdom are among those elements that recall these games.
6 Gleeoks
One new miniboss that appears in Tears of the Kingdom is the Gleeok, a three-headed dragon that can be found roaming the lands of Hyrule. It comes in four forms varying in elemental abilities and is a devastating challenge to even the toughest players. However, these monsters weren't any less threatening in prior installments of the franchise.
Gleeoks first appeared in The Legend of Zelda for NES, playing a similar role as mini-bosses in some of the game's dungeons, although here they only sported two heads. More recently, a Gleeok also appeared as the boss of the Ice Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS, which introduced the monster's variety of elemental attacks.
5 Mask Of Awakening
Fans of the 2D The Legend of Zelda games were delighted when Nintendo remade Link's Awakening for the Nintendo Switch, complete with a new graphical design. As an homage to this Nintendo Switch title, Tears of the Kingdom contains an unlockable outfit known as the Awakening set which gives Link the same head as his design from Link's Awakening HD.
The outfit can be obtained in Tears of the Kingdom by completing the trio of side quests titled "Misko's Treasure of Awakening," which rewards players with each piece of the armor set. The set may also be unlocked by touching the amiibo of Link from Link's Awakening HD to the Nintendo Switch.
4 Armor Of The Wild
One armor set that was obtainable in Breath of the Wild, but returns in Tears of the Kingdom, is known as the Armor of the Wild. The pieces of the armor set can be found by exploring the Depths, and when combined will give Link a quite familiar appearance to longtime The Legend of Zelda fans, donning a green tunic with orange sleeves and shorts.
For the dedicated The Legend of Zelda fanatics, they'll recognize this armor set's design and color scheme as reminiscent of Link's original design from the original manual for The Legend of Zelda on NES. The only thing that Link would be missing to complete the look is a shield with a cross on it, though there are plenty of well-designed alternatives.
3 Koholit Rock
The names of towns and locations on the map of Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom are no accidents. Some are familiar with the Zelda franchise, including Kakariko Village, the Temple of Time, and Death Mountain. However, others have names that reference characters or locations from previous games, albeit with some slight alterations.
One of which is Koholi Rock, a plateau on Eventide Island, located off the east coast of Hyrule's central continent. The location, notably, has a similar name to Koholint Island, the primary setting of Link's Awakening. Furthermore, the Shrine Quest of Eventide Island challenges Link by stripping his weapons and armor, mimicking the start of the 2D title.
2 Hidden Cave Entrances
One new element of Tears of the Kingdom that sets it apart from Breath of the Wild is its reintroduction of caves into the Zelda franchise. All across Hyrule's overworld, entrances to caves can be discovered by blowing them up with bombs or swinging heavy weapons at them. Some of them even reveal unique enemies and treasures awaiting discovery.
This is an iconic part of the Zelda franchise dating back to its first entry on NES. Many important secrets to discover throughout the game, some of which are necessary for completion, require players to use their bombs on mountain walls to expose secret caves. This is just one of many ways Tears of the Kingdom takes the franchise back to its roots.
1 The Dark World
Many The Legend of Zelda games have contained alternate dimensions and versions of Hyrule that are sinister in nature. The concept of Dark Worlds originated with the SNES title A Link to the Past and has recurred in 2D Zelda titles including the Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess or Lorule in A Link to the Past's sequel, A Link Between Worlds.
In Tears of the Kingdom, this concept recurs yet again in the form of the Depths, an expansive underworld of Hyrule that doubles Breath of the Wild's map. It's a true negative version of Hyrule, as its layout is nearly identical to the overworld. The location of Lightroot Seeds that light the Depths is also parallel to the location of Shrines in Hyrule.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is currently available on Nintendo Switch.