In order to understand the story line and plot of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, you should play these Zelda games first.
If you want to play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but aren't that familiar with other Zelda games yet, playing it first without knowing about the plot background could be quite a challenge, but don't worry, because we got you covered.
In this article, we will tell you what exactly you should play before Tears of the Kingdom comes out.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – Release Date, Story, Gameplay & More
Games You Should Play Before Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the official sequel to Breath of the Wild, which was released back in 2017. Six years later, our journey can finally continue. For a newcomer, the whole franchise can get quite overwhelming. The whole Zelda storyline is incredibly complicated, doesn't always make sense and, on top, has several individual timelines.
Lucky you, we made a list of games that you should play in order to understand Tears of the Kingdom.
Although the following games might be the best selection to play, in order to understand the Tears of the Kingdom story we would highly recommend, also taking a look at other Zelda classics like Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Windwaker.
Ocarina of Time As A Mario Kart Track Is All We Ever Wanted
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Zelda: Breath of the Wild is canonically the direct sequel to Tears of the Kingdom and is therefore a must-play before the game comes out. Either way, it would be a shame not to have experienced this masterpiece of gaming history. Breath of the Wild was named 2017's Game of the Year, and not without reason. It is the first game to ACTUALLY feature a true open world map where you can enter any location, furthermore the gameplay and combat system are amazing and the first of their kind.
The plot of Tears of the Kingdom is tied to the events in Breath of the Wild. So, in order to understand the upcoming Zelda TOTK story, you should definitely play this game first.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Although this hack-and-slash game doesn't really belong to the list of Zelda games, Age of Calamity does contain a lot of content on the story that is picked up in Breath of the Wild. To prepare for Tears of the Kingdom, however, it would be enough to watch the cutscenes on YouTube.
Zelda: Skyward Sword
Other than Breath of the Wild or Hyrule Warriors, Skyward sword doesn't have that rock solid connection to Tears of the Kingdom. You could even say that it is more of a fan-theory. It is rumored, that Tears of the Kingdom is actually the prequel to Skyward Sword, which wouldn't make sense because Skyward Sword was always said to be the very first Zelda game in the timeline, the game that created the Master Sword and is said to take place at the very beginning.
However, there is a theory that the entire Zelda timeline is actually a loop, and that Tears of the Kingdom will be the end of the linear timeline but also the reset point, where everything starts all over again in Skyward Sword. Whether this is true or not, we can't say. Like we said, it's just a theory.
Nonetheless, Skyward Sword is a great game and you should definitely play it. You can even get it for the Nintendo Switch on Amazon.