Highlights
- Greater enemy variety could have made the Sky Islands in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom more unique and challenging, adding to the lore of the Zonai people.
- The Great Sky Island tutorial area was unnecessarily large and padded the beginning of the game, making the pacing feel off.
- Changes to the paraglider, such as removing stamina requirements, would enhance exploration and allow for bigger and more expansive gliding trials.
For the most part, fan reception to the inclusion of the Sky Islands in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been very positive, with many people still being amazed at how much they add to the world and its rich lore, but that isn't to say that Nintendo didn't miss out on a few opportunities that would have made them even better.
Because Nintendo had decided to remain fairly tight-lipped on Link's new abilities leading up to the release of the game, it was instead the Sky Islands that were at the front-and-center of the marketing for this game with them being shown in almost every trailer and even making an appearance on the official box art.
Despite this though, not everyone has been thrilled with how the Sky Islands are actually designed in-game, especially compared to the Depths which actually remained absent from the trailers, despite being such a massive part of the game. The Sky Islands are still incredibly fun to visit and play a surprisingly big role in the story being told, but these are a few ways Nintendo could have made them even more enjoyable to explore in Tears of the Kingdom.
6 Greater Enemy Variety
While most of the Sky Islands found throughout Tears of the Kingdom do have a few interesting enemy archetypes who provide a nice break from the Horriblins and Bokoblins on the surface, such as the menacing Kingdom Flux Construct minibosses who are tasked with protecting Zonai areas from any intruders, it feels like there could have been plenty more whacky and weird Zonai creations which would make the Sky Islands feel more unique as areas.
Considering just how many new and interesting enemies are littered throughout the surface and the Depths, such as the fearsome Gloom Hands and creepy Everman Trees, it would have been nice to also see this level of variety in the Sky Islands with potentially a greater variety of devices and machines that were built by the Zonai, not only to increase the challenge but also to add a little more to the lore of the Zonai people too.
5 Smaller Great Sky Island
The Great Sky Island tutorial area has been met with somewhat of a mixed response from fans. While some enjoyed taking their time exploring every inch of this gigantic mysterious island, there are also many who feel that it was needlessly big and simply padded the beginning of the game out a little too much.
There's no doubt that the Shrines themselves provided a great introduction to Recall, Ultrahand, Fuse, and Ascend, but stretching the Shrines out to each side of the island which itself is already very big did feel a little unnecessary, especially since the player doesn't yet have access to a paraglider or Zonai Charges to help them get around faster, so making the area a bit smaller could have really helped with the pacing of the game in the first few hours.
4 Paraglider Changes
Despite this being a change that some fans have suggested for the paraglider, this would also improve the Sky Islands and some of the challenges and trials they offer. Some have suggested that if the paraglider didn't use up stamina, it would allow Link to travel much further distances rather than having to dive almost directly down without much room to maneuver when he's ready to leave a Sky Island.
It's easy to see how this small tweak to the paraglider would encourage exploration since it could allow players to scout out their surroundings from the Sky Islands before then peacefully gliding to that area using the paraglider, which would certainly make for a visually stunning way to explore Hyrule. On top of this though, it would also allow the gliding trials to be far bigger and much more expansive which would, in turn, would also encourage exploration of the map.
3 More Content
One of the biggest complaints fans have had about the Sky Islands is that many of them are fairly limited in regard to things the player can actually do on them, with them mainly only being comprised of Shrines, minibosses, and Zonai Dispensers, but other than that, the player doesn't really have too much more to seek out on these islands.
Being able to journey across a map entirely based in the sky is still certainly enjoyable in and of itself, but after a while, it can feel like the islands are only being visited when they need to, whether it's as a part of the main storyline, or to acquire some brand new Zonai devices to attach to a weapon or shield. A little more content would have gone a really long way here, whether it be in the form of more unique minigames, secret Zonai documents, or even just more Zonai weapons and armor to uncover.
2 Easier Navigation Between Islands
Considering that many of the Sky Islands in Tears of the Kingdom are a decent distance away from one another, it can make it a little tricky to visit one of interest if it is at the same altitude as the island the player is already standing on. Admittedly, Link can get his hands on a Wing device which will gently direct him through the air without dipping too much, but the major downside is it only lasts for 1 minute before falling apart.
This is a real shame as it would have been the perfect way to hop between the different Sky Islands in a way that didn't break the game. For example, an idea that had been raised by a few fans was to have some sort of companion who could transport Link while he's in the sky, similar to Zelda's Loftwing in Skyward Sword, which would have made sky exploration much easier since they wouldn't need to stop or break down randomly.
1 More References To Zonai Lore
Considering the Sky Islands are supposed to represent the Zonai people, their culture, and their way of life, there isn't a whole lot that references them, which is a truly missed opportunity to flesh out one of the most important groups in the game's story. Of course, these islands wouldn't exactly be in the best condition considering the destruction caused by Ganon, but it still would have been nice to get some indications as to how these people lived, and especially their use of technology and how it had the potential to help, but also harm people, which is a very big theme of the game.
The Sky Islands share fairly similar stone structures and architecture which doesn't really help in revealing the smaller details about the Zonai. For example, having a few broken down houses with Zonai ornaments inside, or even landmarks of significant Zonai figures like King Rauru would have helped to humanize the Zonai a lot more and really give the feeling that the player is re-treading through a lost history, but what we get is unfortunately pretty surface-level visual storytelling which could have been expanded a lot more.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.