9 'Oh Snap' Details In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Final Gameplay Trailer

Ganondorf's rehydrated, Zelda's got a new look, and Link's blasting off again in TotK's last gameplay trailer

PublishedApril 13, 2023

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Image for article titled 9 'Oh Snap' Details In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Final Gameplay Trailer — Screenshot: Nintendo

Usually, a few weeks before the release of a major game, you’ve probably already seen way too much of it. Nintendo, however, has kept its cards close to its chest when it comes to The Legend Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Sure, every trailer so far has contained some juicy nuggets, especially when it comes to lore and granular mechanics, but the final trailer for the open-world sequel goes all out.

It’s designed to wow, so of course the trailer is packed with a ton of stuff that’s left us wondering what’s in store for us when May rolls around. Here are some of the best moments, details, and things you might have missed from Thursday’s epic three-minute Tears of the Kingdom trailer.

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Are dungeons back?

Breath of the Wild broke the Zelda mold by providing bite-sized shrines dotted across its open-world map. There were a handful of larger dungeons, but you could basically ignore them if you wanted to. In this last trailer, we see glimpses of what may be shrines but appear to have a much larger scope and detail than anything we saw in Breath of the Wild. Dungeons would definitely be one way to shake things up again, because while the map we’ll be playing on is overtly the same, surely they’re not going to make us traverse the same levels? These dungeons could be located in the sky or within caves, based on this footage, which would explain why the basic Hyrule map appears somewhat the same.

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Who are the new Tears of the Kingdom characters?

Who is she? But like, literally. I’m getting regal vibes, here, so maybe whatever evil force is causing Hyrule to break apart happens to have its own princess or queen. See all the floating ominous bits in the background? That’s how you know we’re not in friendly territory, but this could be a red herring. We also hear some mysterious voices during the trailer speaking to Zelda, which some are speculating may be the never-before-seen Zonai tribe that fans are fixated on. Are we looking at a Zonai right now?

Actually, there are a couple of new faces in here. Anyone have theories, yet?

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When or where are we in Tears of the Kingdom?

Zelda sporting a new look is always cause for commotion, but mere design change this is not. Everything that Zelda is wearing has a rustic vibe that seems out of place with the clothing we see most people wear in Breath of the Wild. It almost seems archaic. My take: we’re in the past. This is a different Zelda, or our Zelda in an ancient timeline, trying to fit in. Given all the theories about time travel, which is a reoccurring theme in the Zelda games, it’s not impossible.

Otherwise: I won’t entertain the possibility Zelda is playable right now, but only because I don’t want to be disappointed. It would be nice, though.

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Does Link have companions in Tears of the Kingdom?

There are various points in the final TotK trailer where we see Link in a group, ready for battle. It’s very reminiscent of Age of Calamity, the musou game where you take down entire armies. There’s even a moment where we see Link riding a horse carriage that’s carrying a handful of people. In a few different areas, we witness Link with a single other character who looks more important than your run-of-the-mill human, perhaps flying through the air or, like he is above, tag teaming against an enemy. Breath of the Wild had segments where you did such things, like the boss battle with Sidon, but is it possible that we have a more robust companion system now that ensures Link won’t be on a lonely adventure all the time?

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Gleeok Makes A Return In Tears of the Kingdom

There are a few enemies who are making a comeback from prior Zelda games in TotK, but the most fearsome so far has to be Gleeok, a character that harks back to the original Legend of Zelda. Last we saw this guy in Phantom Hourglass, he only had two heads!

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Tears of the Kingdom enemies may fight each other

As noticed by the delightful Tristan Cooper, it seems like TotK enemies can turn on each other. The question, though, is: can Link control these enemies, Pokémon-style? I’d love to throw a Lynel against...basically anything. Breath of the Wild fans did figure out how to force enemies to attack one another before, but the possibilities are much richer when it’s an intended feature, eh?

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Link’s got new toys in Tears of the Kingdom

We already caught a glimpse of some of the contraptions that will be possible in Tears of the Kingdom, including vehicles and boats, but seeing these science experiments go up against other giant fixtures is something else. We also see Link shooting off into the great beyond while holding onto a rocket ship. Sorry, whatever thing needs saving in the main story. The distractions in this game look buck wild.

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Oh no, Ganondorf’s hot

Um, why is Ganondorf out here looking like a whole snack (that could destroy you)? Guess if his desiccated corpse had something going on, of course the rehydrated, buff body will look good, too!

What else did you notice in the trailer?

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