Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomonly released last year, so it will probably be quite some time before players can get their hands on the next entry in the franchise. Still, the next chapter in theZeldaseries is a rather exciting prospect, as Nintendo plans tomove away from theBreath of the Wildapproachto gameplay that has defined the modern era of the IP.
Right now,Zeldafaces a world of opportunity. The franchise is set to once again reset, offering a new style of gameplay, storytelling, and possibly even visual design.Breath of the Wildmarked a major shift forZelda, abandoning the more linear and dungeon-focused designs of its many predecessors in favor of totally unbridled freedom of exploration.Tears of the Kingdomiterated on this design philosophy by doubling down onBOTW’s emergent gameplay and immersive sim aspects, adding ingenious mechanics like the Ultrahand ability. It’s not an exaggeration to say thatBreath of the Wildis perhaps the most influential open-world game of the past decade, withTOTKbeing a significant upgrade, so it’s hard to imagine where the series could go from here.
How Gear Could Work In the Next Zelda Game
Breath of the Wild Set the Stage for the Future of Armor In Zelda
Tears of the Kingdomhas some great armor, as doesBreath of the Wild, which is among the more significant distinctions of the duology. BeforeBOTW, it wasn’t uncommon for aZeldagame to have alternate outfits for Link, but these were few and far between and often reserved for specific use cases. On top of this, armor was never modular beforeBreath of the Wild;it was always one complete set versus another.
Breath of the Wildborrows from more traditional action RPGs when it comes to armor, letting players mix and match different headwear, tops, and legwear, each with corresponding armor ratings and, sometimes, unique abilities. This approach to gear could be afeature that the nextZeldagame keeps, as it relates to aspects like defense stats, buffs, and customization, all of which pair nicely with a number of other design elements. Put simply,Breath of the Wild’s armor system is highly adaptable.
If the nextZeldagame were to revert to the franchise’s old style of gear, it could feel like a step backward. At least, it would run the risk of being a bit less interesting than the two games that came before it.
Building On Breath of the Wild’s Armor System
Tears of the Kingdomimproves armorin a number of ways, but it still feels like the concept has a lot of room to grow. From a customization standpoint, the nextZeldacould benefit from being even more modular, offering compartmentalized armor slots for things like gloves, shoes, and facewear. This would be more of an expansion than a complete reworking of the current system, but it could go a long way, especially if the nextZeldagame leaps ahead in terms of graphical fidelity or cinematics, as it’s rumored to be releasing on the Switch 2.
Armor’s impact on gameplay would depend onthenextZelda’s design philosophy. With the last two games putting exploration front and center, perhaps the series will want to hone in on a different gameplay pillar, like combat, with its next release. In this scenario, armor could offer more offensive benefits or maybe even introduce FromSoftware-style weight scores, with heavier armor impacting movement speed. Conversely, the next game could be even less focused on action, allowing apparel to serve a purely cosmetic purpose by either removing or downplaying stats. Either way, the series should build off how armor is implemented inBOTWandTOTK, rather than keeping things static or axing the system altogether.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
