Highlights

  • Ultrahand's retirement means Tears of the Kingdom will stay popular, providing players with limitless creative potential.
  • Nintendo will likely continue developing new abilities similar to Ultrahand to keep the franchise iconic and appealing.
  • Abandoning the standard set by Ultrahand would be a step backward for the Zelda series, and Nintendo's plans likely involve implementing fresh ideas in future titles to compete with it.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most successful Zelda titles ever made, thanks to bringing a host of new features and improvements to Breath of the Wild's already strong formula. One of its best features is the Ultrahand ability, which allows players to grab and move objects, and even build unique structures and vehicles with the right materials. The seemingly limitless capabilities of Ultrahand have taken players into a realm of unprecedented creativity in the Zelda universe, with many building some of the most magnificent and often outlandish creations ever witnessed in a video game. Unfortunately, the days of Ultrahand are over after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo has confirmed that it is leaving the Ultrahand ability behind as it moves forward with the Legend of Zelda franchise, and while this has been disheartening news for creative fans, it would be significantly challenging to incorporate Ultrahand in future Zelda titles without remaining in Breath of the Wild's Hyrule. There is one major benefit to Nintendo abandoning Ultrahand, however, as it likely means Tears of the Kingdom's legacy will live on longer than it might have originally been expected to.

palworld-tears-of-the-kingdom-game-rant
Related
Palworld’s Exploration Could Benefit from One Tears of the Kingdom Feature

Palworld's open world is massive, and one The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom feature would greatly benefit players while exploring it.

What Nintendo Abandoning Ultrahand Means for Tears of the Kingdom

The greatest benefit to Ultrahand being retired as the Legend of Zelda series moves forward is that it's likely to single-handedly keep Tears of the Kingdom alive for years to come. Much like players continue to return to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim thanks to its mod community's constant additions, Ultrahand provides nearly limitless potential for creative players, and it can only be found in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In light of that, Ultrahand, in addition to Tears of the Kingdom's massive open world, should keep players regularly coming back to the game for some time, at least until Nintendo develops another Zelda game with more attractive features.

Nintendo Will Likely Continue Developing New Ideas Similar to Ultrahand

For the longest time, The Legend of Zelda series largely saw the same abilities, tools, and weapons return in every installment — that is, until Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild changed The Legend of Zelda forever by making it an open-world action-adventure game with survival elements, along with adding several new abilities like Stasis, Magnesis, and Cryonis. Tears of the Kingdom expanded on that further by adding even more abilities, including Ultrahand. Ultrahand quickly became TotK's most popular ability, and that much continues to show itself as players showcase their creations on social media to this day. As such, although it makes sense to leave Ultrahand behind as the series moves on, Nintendo is all but behooved to develop more abilities like it.

The greatest benefit to Ultrahand being retired as the Legend of Zelda series moves forward is that it's likely to single-handedly keep Tears of the Kingdom alive for years to come.

Nintendo probably knows that to go back to Zelda's traditional formula now would be a massive leap backward. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have established new standards for the franchise, so to suddenly abandon those standards wouldn't make sense from a commercial standpoint. The full extent of Nintendo's plans for the Zelda series are currently unknown, but fans will more than likely see fresh ideas implemented in future titles, and the hope is that they will compete with Ultrahand. Regardless, fans will always be able to return to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and its captivating Ultrahand ability whenever they please.