The setting sun dyes the sky a soft orange as Link glides through the air. Far beneath his dangling feet, Hyrule lies almost forgotten as my focus is fully set on the collection of islands scattered across the horizon. One in particular catches my eye – a small island adorned with a tower, which seems to hail from a lost civilization, and, lying at its feet, a pool of water. Carefully I manoeuvre Link above this pool and, when the time is right, send him diving down to the floating isle. Somehow, even high in the heavens, fish swim in the water.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomDeveloper: NintendoPublisher: NintendoPlatform: Played on SwitchAvailability: Out 12th May on Nintendo Switch
Tears of the Kingdom is unique in the Zelda series in that it’s the first time a new instalment has reused a Hyrule from a previous game rather than completely reinventing the country. Outside of the game’s trailers and a Bokoblin infested fort I invaded during a recent preview event at Nintendo’s European headquarters in Germany, we don’t know how much the Hyrule overworld has changed since Breath of the Wild. Yet, from what I’ve experienced, the sky islands help prevent this returned trip to a familiar Hyrule from feeling repetitive by bringing a new landscape to a world many of us have spent months exploring.
Some of the islands are landmasses, with cave networks and summits that reach a height where Link will need warm clothing or a trusty torch to survive. Others are smaller – possibly containing a puzzle or, in some cases, being a puzzle themselves. Nearly every island you visit, however, has remnants of a forgotten race whose architecture resembles the Zonai ruins from Breath of The Wild. How involved the Zonai are with the events of Tears of the Kingdom is yet to be seen – I’m sorry to say I know as much about the game’s storyline as you do. Their memory is alive though in the form of the talkative Zonai mining robots and far less friendly Zonai constructs.
The sky islands have also been designed in a way which allows you to travel easily between them, be it by offering you the opportunity to create an updraft for Link’s paraglider or by containing devices, like fans, which can be used to move the floating metal boxes or build custom flying machines. Many islands sit at different heights too, so you could be soaring through the sky completely unaware of the landmass passing beneath you. This not only brings a sense of depth to the sky, but promises to reward backtracking for, like the first time a Lynel nearly crushed you beneath its hoof in Breath of the Wild, there are challenges in the sky which require Link to become more powerful before he can overcome them.