The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomintroduces many new features to the franchise, but the most exciting one is Link’s new right arm. This new arm gives players an assortment of wild abilities to mess around with during theirThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomadventures, and many players have already created some crazy contraptions with it. These abilities help give the game life, and are far more than simple puzzle solving mechanics.
Zelda: Breath of the Wildalso gave players an assortment of abilities to experiment with, but these abilities were mostly used to solve shrine puzzles. While they could be used in the open-world, there was not much use for them while exploring.Tears of the Kingdomhas made them an integral part of the open-world, and that has given the game limitless potential.
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Link’s Right Arm Offers Limitless Fun
Atthe start ofTears of the Kingdom, Link’s arm gets corrupted by Ganondorf and his items are destroyed. He survives, but his arm gets replaced by a magical new limb. This arm is completely powerless at first, but it slowly gains abilities as players progress through the starting area. They first discover Ultrahand before going off to acquire Fuse, Ascend, and Recall. As players collect these abilities, they quickly learn just how powerful they can be,
Players will utilize the Ultrahand abilityto construct an assortment of contraptions as they adventure throughTears of the Kingdom.This feels like an upgraded version ofBreath of the Wild’sMagnesis, but with far more power. Players can move all sorts of objects littering the open-world and construct whatever their heart desires. It is a vital part of navigating and can also be used to solve various puzzles throughout Hyrule.
The otherTears of the Kingdomabilities are also very useful throughout the open-world.Tears of the Kingdom’s Fuse abilitylets players connect whatever they want to their weapons, thus giving those weapons new abilities and making them stronger. Ascend lets players move through whatever is above them to reach greater heights, and Recall lets players turn back time on various objects to reach their goal. Each ability can be a lot of fun to use, and some players have already accomplished some fantastic feats with them.
Tears of the Kingdom’snew abilities feel like the natural progression ofBreath of the Wild’s Sheikah Slaterunes, but with one major difference.Breath of the Wild’sabilities were mostly used to solve the shrine puzzles that dotted the open-world. Players could use them wherever they wanted, but most were not very useful outside of puzzles.Tears of the Kingdomapproached these abilities very differently, and it led to a fun and unique experience.
Players will constantlyuseTears of the Kingdom’s abilitiesas they explore Hyrule. The entire world feels like it was constructed with these abilities in mind as objects dot the landscape and giant dispensers are waiting to give players even more tools. From the very beginning of the game players must construct boats or gliders if they want any chance of getting around. Along with that, combat takes on a whole new meaning with the new Fuse ability, and Ascend feels vital for navigation.
Nintendo made a smart call when it madeTears of the Kingdom’sabilities a core part of the game world. While they are still vital for puzzles, they are also so much more than that. Players will no doubt be spending years tinkering with these powers to see just how far they can stretch this fantastic open-world title.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Switch.
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