With less than two months left to go before its release,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas finally delivered the gameplay deep-dive that fans have been pleading for for years. Though it was only 10 minutes long, and it certainly didn’t reveal too much,the recentZelda: Tears of the Kingdomgameplay showcasedid give fans a better idea of what’s in store for the long-awaited sequel and what actually sets it apart from its predecessor. Now, there’s a new mechanic that could end up revolutionizing the open-world genre yet again.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis widely regarded to be one of the most influential games in recent memory. Upon its launch in 2017,Breath of the Wildbecame an immediate sensation, with its unique approach to the open-world format being the game’s biggest selling point. Almost six years later,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlooks as though it’s going to repeat history, taking the core ethos ofBreath of the Wildand expanding on it in one major way.
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How Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Fuse Ability Could Revolutionize Open-World Game Design
The greatest element ofZelda: Breath of the Wildwas its high level of player agency and its constant encouragement for creative solutions to combat and puzzles. Rather than adopt an open-world design akin to games likeUbisoft’sFar CryorAssassin’s Creedseries, where the map is littered with a million different icons from the get-go,Breath of the Wildlets players discover their surroundings at their own pace, instead encouraging the player to pin their own points of interest on the map. On the way there, the player will likely come across a variety of encounters, ranging from enemy encampments to puzzle Shrines, all of which the player has discovered for themselves with no hand-holding, making them truly feel like the hero of the adventure.
Breath of the Wild’s open-worldis also sprinkled with intriguing environmental puzzles that blend seamlessly with their setting, making them feel like a part of the world as opposed to just another puzzle in an open-world video game. For instance, early on inZelda: Breath of the Wild, the player can encounter a large icy-cold lake in the mountains. A Shrine lies on the other side of the lake, but players soon find out that they can’t just swim across it as they’ll freeze to death. Rather than just give the player a specific tool to cross the lake, it’s up to the player to make their own way across it, by any means they see fit. Players can use a boat, chop down a tree and walk across, or climb their way around it if they have enough stamina.Breath of the Wildis full of these little moments, and it’s what made that game such a memorable experience for fans.
All these years later, it seems as thoughThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis not only embracing its predecessor’s high level of player-freedom, but expanding on it in one simple but extremely effective way. First glimpsed in the last trailer, and finally revealed in the recent gameplay showcase,Link will have a new ability called “Fuse” inZelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This new ability lets players merge objects together with just one press of a button. In the trailer, Link used this ability to attach a rock to a stick to create a makeshift hammer and attach a series of objects together to make a boat. Just this one ability has an incredible number of possible applications.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomseems like it’ll place even more control in the player’s hands. Now, with the new Fuse ability, the number of different ways a player can cross a lake has increased exponentially. They could craft a boat, create a flying contraption to glide over it, and just about anything else they could put their mind to. And it’s all incredibly easy to do, with the player just needing to drag two objects together and press one button - there’s no intimidating crafting screen to plow through here. With this one ability,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomcould revolutionize the open-world genrejust like its predecessor did all those years ago.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwill be released on May 12 for the Nintendo Switch.
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