08 February 2023 , 23:11
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We finally got a fresh look at some of the additions coming to the hotly anticipated Breath of the Wild sequel.
During the tail-end of today’s Nintendo Direct presentation, at the very end in fact, Nintendo dropped a brand-new The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay trailer. True, many of the sights, sounds and locations seen in the latest Tears of the Kingdom gameplay trailer were familiar, but also on full display were plenty of new ways for Link to get around.
In amongst the usual land exploration, the trailer showcased how Link will be able to grind on rails to get around certain areas, take flight using a hot air balloon and roam the sky via hovercraft. All these different traversal methods hint at just how much more time players will be spending up above the ravaged city of Hyrule when compared to much of the typical, ground-level exploration players were used to before in the original 2017 game.
Tears of the Kingdom pre-orders also officially went live during the showcase, hot on the heels of certain retailers making retail copies available earlier. This was our first look at the game’s Collectors Edition too, which will come complete with a steelbook case, art book, poster, and pins for players who want to celebrate the game’s release in a big way. The Collectors Edition will retail for $129.99 in the US, but no UK price has been confirmed yet.
A new Tears of the Kingdom amiibo will be available on May 12, 2023 when the game launches too, featuring Link in a cool pose raising his new mechanical arm. There was no mention as to what explicit functionality it'll bring into the game when scanned, although it was revealed that all prior Zelda-themed amiibo figures will be compatible to offer "helpful materials, weapons [and] paraglider fabric" that should be useful in-game.
Nintendo Direct February 2023: start time, where to watch and what to expect
Less exciting was confirmation that, in line with previous online speculation, Tears of the Kingdom will indeed be the first ever Nintendo first-party title to retail at $69.99 in the United States. Prior releases stuck to $59.99, but it seems that even the House of Mario is feeling the pinch of rising costs, lifting the price of a standard edition game to be more in line with rivals PlayStation and Xbox. Thankfully, there is no price increase for us this side of the pond as of yet, with the sequel currently up for pre-order on the UK Switch eShop for the usual £59.99, the price at which Breath of the Wild launched.