A month and a half away from the release ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,Zeldaseries producer Eiji Aonuma came before fans to present the largest chunk of gameplay seen so far. It was an illuminating showcase, and it’s clear thatThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomintends to build on the open world sandbox thatBreath of the Wildcreated. Although the general landscape of Hyrule is shared between both titles, there’s more to the game world than just the surface, and seemingly a lot more to the toolsTears of the Kingdomhands to the player in the Sheikah Slate’s place.
Powers emanating from Link’s arm were the main focus of Aonuma’s gameplay showcase. These enabled Link to combine interactable objects together, rewind certain things through time, and ascend to and pass through nearby ceilings. Presumably, there are plenty more uses for them than what fans have seen, but they suggest a very high degree of player freedom. TheFuse and Ascend powerswere beyond anything thatBreath of the Wildplayers could use outside of glitches and exploits. The other powers, Recall and Ultrahand, are more similar to abilities inBreath of the Wild, though they may have rendered their counterparts obsolete.
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Tears of the Kingdom Has Its Own Take On the Sheikah Slate
InBreath of the Wild, the Sheikah Slate and its Runes served as the replacement for traditionalZeldadungeon items. Players spent the first few hours gathering Runes on the Great Plateau, before entering the larger Hyrule.Tears of the Kingdom’s Linkis shown with most of his arm’s arsenal apparently early in his quest, and the magic abilities in question parallel the Sheikah Slate in terms of applicability to Link’s adventures.Breath of the Wilddoesn’t have anything to match the new Fuse and Ascend powers, but the rest serve similar yet considerably expanded functions to the classic Runes.
The original Sheikah Slate employed four primary abilities. Two types of Remote Bombs offered plenty of opportunities for creativity, especially as explosives could be used for more than just obstacle removal and attacking enemies.Stasis was a surprisingly effective traversal tool, and the slightly more situational Magnesis still had a variety of obscure and useful interactions. Of the primary runes, Cryonis stood out as the most limited, and its lack of a direct parallel inTears of the Kingdomsuggests that the old Runes may have been traded out for a batch of upgrades.
Link’s Arm Does Everything The Sheikah Slate Can And More
Recall is a good example. This power is likely meant as a reinterpretation ofBreath of the Wild’s Stasis Rune, rewinding objects through time instead of freezing them. This also allows it to double as a movement tool like Stasis, though objects will now always move if able instead of needing to be hit. It’s a side step from the original Stasis, but the fact that they are so similar in function and theming may indicate thatSheikah Slate Runes have been replaced. The evidence for this only grows when comparing Ultrahand with the old Slate’s other moves.
Anything that could be done with Magnesis and Cryonis can now be performed with Ultrahand. This ability has the potential to be as flashy as its name suggests, as it is the source of Link’s vehicle crafting. It can also seemingly lift and rotate any physics object, a big step up from the metal items covered by Magnesis.Ultrahand’s spontaneousZeldavehicle buildingmay be intended to make water traversal more player-driven and thought-provoking than just making platforms with Cryonis. With Remote Bombs presumably replaced by explosive components used with Fuse, the old Sheikah Slate has taken on new life in Link’s magic arm.Tears of the Kingdomcould be defined by new elements replacing old ones, but nothing good with the old has been lost.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwill be released on Jul 28, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch.
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