The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has some big shoes to fill. The previous game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, was practically guaranteed a sequel from the moment of its release in 2017, especially after it was voted the Best Video Game of All Time by IGN.
Yet, for years, there was no news. Breath of the Wild was a breathtakingly ambitious project — complete with a full open world system that pushed the boundaries of what was considered possible at the time — and any sequel would have to be even more so. Brief teasers would be unveiled here and there, but the development team was largely cagey about what, exactly, they were building, and when it would be done. We knew we were waiting for something stunning, but not for how long.
Today, we know.
At Nintendo Direct on Wednesday, the company unveiled an official gameplay trailer for the sequel, complete with details that will leave fans excited. We see Link diving through the skies (sign me up), charging into combat against ancient machinery (oh no!), and even seemingly crafting ancient devices of his own, including a makeshift car and quadrotor (shut up and take my money).
But none of that compares to the most exciting part of the reveal, a date: 5.12.2023. The long awaited release date, it seems, is only a few months away. Guess I’ll be buying a Nintendo Switch this summer…
By Declan Bradley