The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild. While the two storylines have some significant connections, here is a short recap of everything you should know before playing Tears of the Kingdom.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is only hours away and we all can't wait to finally play it. To best prepare for the release, we not only should pre-order it in advance , but also make sure that we're up-to-date with the game's storyline. Since Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild, it makes sense to play that one first.
But since Breath of the Wild didn't have a super complex storyline to begin with, you don't necessarily have to play it in order to understand the plot of Tears of the Kingdom.
Here, we will tell you everything you must know before playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This article is also worth a read for any Zelda fan, who wants to get a refresher on their memories from BotW.
Note: Obviously this article spoils Breath of the Wild, so if you haven't played it yet and don't want to get spoiled, stop reading now!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild Story Recap
Breath of the Wild is set 100 years after a great calamity, where the land of Hyrule has been ravaged by the Calamity Ganon. Link awakens 100 years later and has to complete various quests in the gigantic post apocalyptic Hyrule, gather powerful weapons and abilities to eventually defeat Ganon and save Hyrule.
The only catch is that Link has lost his memory about the events from 100 years ago. Through the course of the game, the player will pick up “memories” in the form of flashbacks that fit together like pieces in a puzzle.
During the 100 years, Zelda has been inside the Hyrule castle, preventing Ganon from escaping and destroying Hyrule. Zelda possesses a unique power called the "Sealing Power," which is needed to seal Ganon away once and for all. On his journey to defeat Ganon, Link is aided by the Sheikah researcher Impa, and the four Champions of Hyrule: Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa.
Each of these champions were chosen to pilot one of the four Divine Beasts, which are gigantic machines, designed by the ancient Sheika tribe to weaken Calamity Ganon in the castle.
Link has to reactivate all of these four beasts in order to make his way to Hyrule castle, defeat Ganon and save Princess Zelda.
In the end, Link, the hero of Hyrule, enters Hyrule Castle with the legendary Master Sword in hand to face his ultimate enemy, Ganon. With the aid of the Champions and Zelda's power, he manages to weaken the beast and beat him in a final battle, saving the land of Hyrule once again.
After defeating Calamity Ganon, Zelda and Link plan to rebuild Hyrule and rule over the Kingdom together. But it seems that these plans were not for long. In Tears of the Kingdom, even greater challenges await us.
- If you haven’t pre-ordered Tears of the Kingdom yet, you can do so now on Amazon!
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Beginning
The latest trailers for the upcoming Zelda game reveal that Link and Zelda were separated while exploring a cave where the dried-up corpse of Ganondorf is buried.
The game begins with Link awakening on one of the newly formed sky islands over Hyrule, separated from his companion. Link's mission is to find the seven 'Tears of the Kingdom', with the assistance of the ancestors of the original champions – Riju, Sidon, and Tulin. These Tears are believed to be the key to locating Zelda and defeating Ganondorf, who has now awakened in his human form.
It's funny to see how drastically our view on this game has changed. Just two months ago we were afraid that Tears of the Kingdom might actually be a big flop... check out what we said back then, do you feel some of our criticisms?