Feature: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Trailer - Every New Detail Revealed

Image: Nintendo Life

After literal years of waiting, we have finally had a look at some extended gameplay for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, introduced by legendary series producer Eiji Aonuma no less.

Unlike the trailers that we have seen over the past few months, this was all about some of the new features that we can expect to come across in the Breath of the Wild sequel. This is a Hyrule that will look familiar, it is true, but it certainly seems like there have been a number of changes between the two Switch titles.

If you made it to the end of the gameplay trailer and found yourself instantly stuck for exactly what you just saw — "there was some kind of little Guardian-type guy and, uh, Link has sticky hands now, I think?" — then you have come to the right place. Below, we have laid out all of the new details that we were able to pull from the latest showcase, including Link's new abilities, fresh enemies, and just what is happening with those weapons.

There's much more besides, so read on to find out every new feature and detail revealed for Tears of the Kingdom.

On this page:

1. Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Trailer - Every New Detail Revealed
   • Map Coordinates
   • New Areas - Sky Islands
   • Yellow Trees
   • New Enemies - Constructs
   • More Signs Of The Zonai
   • Weapon Degradation Returns - Yay!/Nooooo! (delete as applicable)
   • Fuse (New Ability)
   • Recall (New Ability)
   • Ultrahand (New Ability)
   • Ascend (New Ability)
   • Sky Diving
   • Tears of the Kingdom-Themed Switch OLED

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Trailer - Every New Detail Revealed

Map Coordinates

Image: Nintendo

Yes, one of the first things that we noticed in this trailer might also be one of the most pedantic, but it looks like the map finally has coordinates!

Just check out the lower edge of the mini-map in the bottom right corner and you will spy three ever-changing numbers and Link moves. No more will we be describing a location in Hyrule to our friends by vague landmarks — "it's just over the hill and next to that one tree, you know?" — we have precise longitude, latitude, and altitude to play with now.

New Areas - Sky Islands

That's right, we just said "altitude" and for the first time since this game was announced, we actually feel like we have some idea of what we're talking about.

The trailer gave us a whistle-stop tour of some of the game's Sky Islands showing off some what we can expect to see up there. We'll go into more detail on the things we spotted in just a moment, but from the brief look that we got this is ultimately looking like BOTW's Hyrule just on another level. Highrule, if you will... we're sorry...

Yellow Trees

Image: Nintendo

We won't lie, the yellow trees on the Sky Islands probably would have passed us by if it wasn't for Aonuma flagging it up: "you won't see many of those yellow trees on the surface".

Do these trees hold some purpose that those measly normal trees on the surface do not? Maybe! There certainly seems to be a lot of them up there, so we can't imagine anything too special.

New Enemies - Constructs

Image: Nintendo

A brand new enemy introduced in the gameplay trailer, Constructs have something of a Guardian-like appearance about them, only much smaller and a little less intimidating.

We couldn't help but notice what seems to be one of these Constructs in a state of decay a little later on in the trailer. While we might be reaching a little here, seeing all of those robot parts on the floor really reminded us of Skyward Sword's Robots from Lanayru Desert (in their crumbled, 'future' state, of course).

A mere coincidence? Probably. But there's no denying a certain rusted robot reference there. It even looks like some of the Constructs are an all-around friendlier bunch, maybe pointing towards more Lanayru connections than might immediately meet the eye.

More Signs Of The Zonai

Image: Nintendo

We're assuming that the Constructs are made of Zonai tech based on the items that they drop when destroyed. Notice the 'Zonai Charge' that Link collected after dispatching each of them? A lot of our speculation about the game so far has circulated around these mythical creatures (not to mention the two tail-gobbling ones in the game's logo) so might they have something to do with these new baddies?

Weapon Degradation Returns - Yay!/Nooooo! (delete as applicable)

Image: Nintendo

This might not be the news that everyone wanted to hear, but yes, weapon degradation is back in Tears of the Kingdom.

Just a few swings of that stick in the gameplay trailer was enough to send it splintering into, uh, splinters, but it looks like not all weapons will be going down quite so easily this time around...