Summary
The Legend of Zeldais a franchise that thrives on both tradition and innovation simultaneously. While mostbig franchise sequelseither decide to break the mold completely and go in a completely new direction, or stick to the same old formula it’s used to,The Legend of Zeldafinds a perfect balance of both, with most entries trying their hardest to push the boundaries of the time while also keeping the same core identity of the entries that have preceded it.The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis absolutely no exception to this long-standing franchise formula.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdominnovates in a vast number of ways, from its groundbreaking new abilities to its pushing the technical boundaries of the Nintendo Switch to its very limits. ButTears of the Kingdomdoesn’t forget its past in the process. A lot ofZelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s core mechanics, settings, characters, monsters, and themes have all been in the series pretty much since the beginning, though now they’ve evolved with the times. Archery is one such mechanic, andThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas changed it forever.
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How The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Has Changed Archery Forever
The Zelda Series Has a Long History with Archery
Archery has been a staple ofThe Legend of Zeldafranchise for over 35 years, appearing as a core mechanic all the way back in1986’sLegend of Zeldafor the NES. Found in an early-game dungeon, the first bow inZeldahistory can’t be fired without separately bought arrows, and each time the player fires the bow they’re charged an additional one Rupee. This stayed pretty much the same for about a decade, withZelda: Ocarina of Timeswitching things up by introducing the element of 3D as well as horseback archery.Ocarina of Timealso introduced multiple arrow types such as fire, ice, and light.
In practically everyLegend of Zeldagame since the very beginning, the bow isn’t just used as a weapon, but also as a tool for solving puzzles. Whether it’s shooting switches from afar or shooting down platforms,Zelda’s archerywas a great way to deliver some distinct puzzles back in the day, and it’s still being used in similarly innovative ways today. InZelda: Breath of the Wild, there was an even greater emphasis placed on archery than ever before. With multiple different bow and arrow types, players could not only use archery in combat and puzzles, but also traverse the environment in unique ways, such as firing an ice arrow at a lake to make an icy platform.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Fuse Ability Has Revolutionized Archery
WhileZelda: Breath of the Wildpromoted the bow from just a singular item to a whole weapon category containing multiple variations,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomtook that even further with the introduction of the Fuse ability. One of five ridiculously overpowered Zonai abilities, Fuse lets players combine weapons with practically every object inTears of the Kingdom’s open-world. This means that a branch could be joined with another branch to create a pole, or a sword could be combined with another sword to make a long spear, or a shield could be combined with a bomb flower to make a form of rocket booster.
While Fuse has almost limitless combinations, it’sZelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s archerywhere it really shines. Every single type of arrow inTears of the Kingdomcould be combined with just about any consumable in the entire game, with each one giving the arrow some kind of special effect. These effects can vary from giving the arrow ice or fire powers, to turning it into a homing arrow. While a lot of items had similar effects on the arrow, each one gave it a distinct look and feel, meaning thatTears of the Kingdomessentially has hundreds of arrow variations to discover and use, revolutionizingThe Legend of Zelda’s archery forever and setting an absurdly high bar for whatever comes next.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
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.
