The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally drops on May 12, and many players can't wait to enjoy Link's latest journey. Nintendo has cultivated a great deal of hype around the game and has revealed plenty of upcoming features in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for players to look forward to. In order to avoid any snags in their day-one experience, eager fans should make sure they are set up for success ahead of time.
After years of development, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes to the Nintendo Switch in mere days. Following in the footsteps of 2017's Game of the Year, this sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild has some major shoes to fill. According to preview events and trailers (as well as a couple of leaks), Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom appears to take everything that fans loved about the original and expand it even further, and many criticisms from fans seem to have been addressed. However, before players can find out for themselves on day one, they'll have to take some steps in preparation for this next adventure.
How to Prep for Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Launch Day
Players planning on grabbing physical copies of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom this weekend have a bit less preparation to worry about, but they should make sure they double-check and confirm their preorder status to avoid any possible disappointment. They can use the remainder of their wait to check out the new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom merchandise launching with the game this weekend. For those that have opted for a digital download in order to ensure their earliest possible experience, it's vital that players have all their ducks in a row before the big day.
Players that have preordered the digital version of the game are currently able to preload Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom onto their Nintendo Switch. Nintendo's official site and the eShop list the game's download size as a massive 16.3GB, the largest of any first-party Nintendo Switch game and taking up over half the onboard data storage for standard Switch models. With the high amount of traffic the Nintendo eShop is bound to receive on Friday, it's recommended that players take full advantage of this option so that they don't suffer through slow download speeds on the day of launch. In either scenario, players should make sure they have enough storage on the Switch or inserted microSD card before Friday to accommodate such file size.
As it is a first-party title, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's time of release has the benefit of launching simultaneously across all time zones. For those in the United States, players will be able to play the game starting at 12:00 am EDT which extrapolates over to the West Coast as 9:00 pm PDT the night of Thursday, May 11. Though some fans won't have to stay up nearly as late, this ensures that everyone is able to access to their digital download of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at the same time.
Games Necessary to Play Before Playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda series of games has mostly existed as a sort of anthology series with games rarely having a direct impact on one another. There is deep lore in its universe and there are ever-expanding threads that weave throughout the franchise's history, but such information has either been unimportant in the general enjoyment of a game or able to be simply relayed to new players when necessary. Players have long suspected that this will all change with Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and recent confirmation from Nintendo drive home the importance of its preceding story.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes as a rare direct sequel in the Zelda franchise, so players will want to play through or familiarize themselves with the first part of the saga in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Luckily for fans that haven't been able to play the game, Nintendo has released a Zelda: Breath of the Wild recap video detailing what they feel to be vital to the understanding and full enjoyment of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. There has been no official confirmation on how much time has passed between the two games, but regardless, it seems as though players will still feel the impact of the events in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Though it's technically regarded as a spin-off, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity fleshes out the world of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and gives players a better look at some of the characters with less screen time in the latter and a look at Hyrule one-hundred years prior. The game mechanics of the Warriors franchise isn't for everyone, so finding a video online similarly recapping its story might be the preferred method for some fans. Additionally, with slight spoilers for Age of Calamity, time travel splits the game into a parallel timeline separate from the mainline games. Therefore, the game as a whole could end up being wholly irrelevant, but the possibility that Age of Calamity plays a part in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's story, however small, still remains.
Most recently, players may have recently picked up The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD when it came to the Switch. Though there has been no true confirmation, a great deal of symbolism and motifs from the game were seen in many of the trailers for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The re-release of the game might indicate some importance on Nintendo's part, and it wouldn't hurt fans to familiarize themselves with the game's general story before Friday. With a multitude of floating islands and the latest trailer showing a Master Sword in need of repairs, Zelda: Skyward Sword could play a large part in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Whether Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a player's first foray into the world of Zelda or another entry in a long play history, it's important to be prepared for such a momentous launch day. It's crucial that players and their Switches are set up for success before the big day if they plan on diving in as soon as possible.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases this Friday, May 12, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
