Highlights
- Tears of the Kingdom revolutionized The Legend of Zelda with the innovative Ultrahand ability, setting a high bar for future games to get over.
- Ultrahand is truly a game-changer, enabling limitless creativity and gameplay possibilities, making it essential for thriving in Hyrule However, implementing Ultrahand was challenging and when combined with the series' trend of reinventing itself, it's unlikely to return.
- However, its absence in future games may feel disappointing if an equally good feature does not replace it, which will surely be a tough task for Nintendo.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a game that stands as one of the very best releases of a stacked 2023. It raised the bar that Breath of the Wild set, despite many believing that it could run the risk of resting on its laurels by relying on the formula that worked when the Nintendo Switch launched. In reality, it was so much more, adding new features and gameplay elements that made an already amazing foundation even more enjoyable.
One of the big changes Tears of the Kingdom made was to change the abilities that Link is given from the get-go. Instead of Magnesis, Remote Bombs, and Stasis, players are handed Fuse, Ascend, Recall, and Ultrahand. They are all immensely useful and innovative, but the latter is something that blows the gameplay wide open and offers limitless entertainment. It's wonderful, but future Zelda games will have to replace it with something great, as it seems that Nintendo has no plans to revisit the idea. Given how stellar Ultrahand is, this will be easier said than done.
The Next Zelda Game's Loss of Ultrahand Could Be BotW Magnesis' Gain
While The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Ultrahand has been retired, Breath of the Wild's Magnesis ability now has a second chance to shine.
Ultrahand was a Tears of the Kingdom Necessity
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was an advancement on the formula that Breath of the Wild created, prioritizing user-generated enjoyment over linear progression. With the introduction of Zonai devices and more layers to the open world, it largely succeeded in improving upon its predecessors' foundations. The new abilities cemented the notion that the 2023 release was more than a glorified DLC, and brought with them a completely new way to conquer the otherwise familiar Hyrule.
Fuse and Ultrahand felt like essential pieces of the Tears of the Kingdom puzzle, with the latter being essential to getting the best out of the game's impressive mechanics. Creating makeshift vehicles, weapons, and other inventive designs made thriving in Hyrule that much more manageable right off the bat, and Ultrahand allowing Link to build anything the player desires was so liberating, giving Tears of the Kingdom limitless replay value.
Ultrahand is wonderful, but future Zelda games will have to replace it with something great, as it seems that Nintendo has no plans to revisit the idea.
Tears of the Kingdom's Revolutionary Mechanics are a Gift and a Curse
However, its success could also inadvertently become a curse, as Ultrahand in Tears of the Kingdom is a mechanic that feels revolutionary enough to be disappointing if it's not made available in all games moving forward. Going back to Breath of the Wild feels restrictive now, which is the precise opposite of how it felt right before its successor made its way to the Nintendo Switch. It's not likely to return, though, which means it has to be replaced by something equally great to fill the void that Ultrahand will inevitably leave.
Tears of the Kingdom physics programmer Takahiro Takayama said at GDC 2024 that implementing Ultrahand was tough in development, and would cause "daily chaos" for the team developing the game.
To give players something that unlocks infinite ways to engage with the environment, overcome enemies, and make life in Hyrule easier, only to not double down on it in the future is a tough line to tread, and might make the next Zelda feel lacking in content. The only option might be to completely revert to a linear, conventional format deployed by previous games, but as Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were so well received, this doesn't seem likely either. Clearly, Nintendo has a tough task ahead of it, as it has raised the bar very high for the next Zelda game.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
