After years of waiting, we finally know The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom release date. Alongside this, we got a small trailer, a new title and hints at what the game could be about. Fortunately, much more than this has come out over the last few months.
As well as going over the release date, trailer and name, we go over how this may tie into Breath of the Wild and where The Legend of Zelda will go in the future. Needless to say, the following year is looking pretty interesting for Nintendo.
If you're interested in the game, here's our coverage of the first main delay it went through and here's why we thought they delayed the game. If you want a little bit more information on the first game, here's a comparison of Breath of the Wild's map vs Age of Calamity's.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom release date
As per the Nintendo Direct streamed on September 13, 2022, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom release date is set for May 12, 2023. There was initially some confusion regarding the American formatting of the date, but the Nintendo of Europe Twitter account soon clarified the timing.
This comes after years of leaks, rumours, and months of delays. Though it was originally planned to come out around the end of 2022, the team seemingly needed a little more time to get it into the right place for launch.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma announced the revised Spring 2023 release date back in March of 2022, with the recent Direct confirming the specific day.
It seems like this is a Nintendo Switch release but the delay could point at a more advanced Nintendo Switch model coming closer to the launch.
Many have guessed that current trailers are running on a much more advanced version of the Nintendo Switch, capable of things that the current model cannot do. It could just be incredibly well-optimised but we'll have to wait and see.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Story
Like all The Legend of Zelda games, Tears of the Kingdom seems like it is about the cycle of life, a baddie always coming back to wreak havoc, until a brave soldier stops him.
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Though we don't know this is official just yet, many of the game's symbols and themes point to the return of Ganon and a change to the world we explored in Breath of the Wild. Hopefully, we'll see more soon. It wouldn't be unusual to expect a future Nintendo Direct to focus solely on this new adventure.
Does Tears of the Kingdom follow on from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity?
The story involved with Age of Calamity, seeing certain characters return thanks to a miniature guardian machine named Terrako, will likely not affect Tears of the Kingdom.
The new game will follow on from Breath of the Wild, and not the Hyrule Warriors title, as it was essentially a story set in the same universe, but not canonically related in terms of story events.
Is Tears of the Kingdom a sequel to Breath of the Wild?
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, taking place in the same world, with the same Link and many of the same items. It was previously known as Breath of the Wild 2, but the name change was made official during the September 13, 2022 Nintendo Direct.
This being said, it is a much more vertical game, allowing Link access to the clouds above just like Skyward Sword. He has a flying machine and climbs way above some of the views of the previous game.
It seems like it will be a much bigger game but not just in width. It appears to be a much taller game, playing on the size of all those mountains you can climb.
If you're looking for a little more information on Breath of the Wild, here's how to keep the bow of light. Here's a ray tracing mod for Breath of the Wild and here are the Legend of Zelda games ranked. That last one is a little old now, but it's not like we get a new Zelda game every year.