The highly anticipated Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel is titled Tears of the Kingdom, and promotional ads for the game so far have shown Link and Zelda traversing an underground cavern, Hyrule castle catastrophically disappearing into the sky, and a sobbing Zelda collapsing into Link's arms.
Now, the recent release of an official Tears of the Kingdom gameplay teaser shows exactly how Link will face the challenges Ganon throws him this time around. Although nobody will know for sure how things play out in Hyrule until it releases, there are a couple of enticing details the trailer hints at.
10 There's No Place Like Hyrule
At first glance, the land of Hyrule looks near-identical to Breath of the Wild's post-apocalyptic, Guardian-infested map. In the official trailer, you'll notice Link riding around on horseback in the tell-tale green fields of Hyrule's central region.
Item collection, enemy combat, and Link himself all look more or less the same (with some notable exceptions). There's even a stable with its recognizable equine head in the background.
It's encouraging that Tears of the Kingdom appears to have infused some of the most engaging elements from its predecessor, namely, Hyrule's massive, gorgeous, and highly detailed landscape.
No doubt dozens of Easter Egg references to other franchise entries lie in wait across Hyrule's many regions.
9 There Are Islands...In The Sky
Although the land of Hyrule looks familiar to anybody who played Breath of the Wild, the skies above are an entirely different matter. Similar to Nintendo's Skyward Sword, Hyrule appears to have a completely separate world all located within its cerulean blue atmosphere.
How this new map addition connects to Calamity Ganon and his destruction of Hyrule's ground-dwelling civilization in the first game remains to be seen. But the teaser clearly shows Link discovering new villains, foraging different materials, and exploring unique landscapes on several sky islands.
8 Traveling Is More Like Falling With Style
Link has apparently picked up a new hobby in Tears of the Kingdom: skydiving. With the addition of atmospheric land masses, Tears of the Kingdom also lets you travel via gliding in ways its predecessor didn't.
Starting from one of the sky islands, Link can leap to the surface and scan the landscape from a (literal) bird's eye view. Similarly, you can also target specific locations while experiencing the long fall to ground-level.
Once you've decided on a landing spot, the trailer demonstrates how you can speed up falls to get to where you're going in a convenient (if not entirely safe) way.
7 Link Can Pass Through Ceilings
Remember how Breath of the Wild made you cling to rainy mountainsides while trying to make sure your green stamina bar didn't run out? Well, Tears of the Kingdom offers another option. One of Link's new abilities with the Sheikah Slate is to phase through any space that has a roof via Ascend.
That's right: you can essentially take an invisible elevator right to the top of a mountain. Of course, Tears of the Kingdom will likely have high places that can't be so conveniently accessed, but any geographic feature with a cave (and no doubt many a dungeon) lets Link skip the climbing theatrics entirely.
6 Crafting Just Got A Major Upgrade
Tears of the Kingdom's Link can merge different items together with Fuse. And not just some items; at least if the trailer is any indication, pretty much everything within the interactive environment is up for grabs.
The gameplay demo shows Link attaching a tree branch to a rock and an abandoned pitchfork for long-range, more powerful attack weapons. Like Breath of the Wild's campfire-cooked potions and meals, this new Fuse ability will be a game-changer for how Link uses the landscape to his advantage. You can even craft arrows with special abilities. Keese eyeballs anyone?
5 Link Gets Fast And Furious
Guess what else Tears of the Kingdom lets you craft? Vehicles. Oh yes, Link can officially get Hyrule's version of a driver's license.
The new Fuse capability allows you to create boats, flying machines, and car-like contraptions using surrounding materials and your own imagination. Paragliding fans that got Link airborne in Breath of the Wild can now be attached to fallen tree logs for a custom river-crossing motorboat, as the gameplay video demonstrates.
No more waving palm fronds back and forth on a raft to create artificial wind: Hyrule just entered the industrial age.
4 Enemies Can Make Stuff Too
There's a downside to all these new Sheikah Slate abilities in Tears of the Kingdom: bad guys can use them. In past Legend of Zelda games, you could beat certain predictable antagonists by using specific weapons and combos in repetitive patterns.
With this update, the same types of combatants may fight differently depending on their Fused weapon of choice. A recurring theme in the Tears of the Kingdom trailer seems to be that players should expect a heightened need for creative problem-solving. That seems particularly true for in-game combat.
3 Time Travel Is Back
In Breath of the Wild, Link sees the ruins of the Temple of Time on The Great Plateau. Time travel, though, doesn't play much of a role in Link's quest to free the Divine Beasts and defeat Calamity Ganon.
Tears of the Kingdom seem to change that as yet another of Link's new abilities lets him reverse the motion of objects. Using Recall, Link can ascend into the sky islands by selecting a rock and reversing its downward motion.
Does this ability also hint at timeline manipulation on the level of Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, or A Link to the Past?
2 Link Isn't Wearing Many Clothes
Link's rocking some sort of prehistoric Stone Age look in the gameplay trailer. Not only is he more or less shirtless, but he also sports unbound long hair and noticeable arm tattoos that look very Sheikah-like. In Breath of the Wild, different outfits and equipment gave Link specific abilities that helped him survive certain environments and enemies.
The threat of extreme cold and heat seems to be making a return in Tears of the Kingdom - there's a scene in the trailer that shows dressed-down Link shivering in a freezing landscape - so likely wearable items will continue to play an important strategic role in gameplay.
But discovering why Link lost his clothes in the first place will be a mystery that only the game's imminent release can solve.
1 Hyrule Now Has...Scary Giant Flying Creatures?!?
And no, these aerial animals aren't the same as the graceful, sinuous dragons of Breath of the Wild (although they make an appearance in the demo too). At the very end of the gameplay trailer, Link rides past a creature that appears to be carrying some other living thing in its massive claws.
Is Hyrule getting European medieval-style dragons now? If so, does this mean that Link can get snatched into the sky at any time? Are beloved horse companions subject to this overhead threat too? Guess only time will tell.