Returning Items We Want In Tears of the Kingdom
Returning Items in Tears of the Kingdom?
Items are the most important things when it comes to playing the Legend of Zelda. Each game introduces new items to help Link solve puzzles, complete dungeons, and defeat bosses. Some items are exclusive to specific games such as the Spinner in the Twilight Princess or items that are featured in frequent games such as the ice rod. The Breath of the old introduced new item mechanics which allowed Link to pick up items, use them until they break then get a new one. This feature allowed link to use items that Link would use in prior games such as Hammers, Boomerangs, and magic rods, but did not include many fans favorite items. Which items should make a comeback to the Breath of the Wild Sequel and which ones will not?
An item in Link’s arsenal that gets overlooked is the Beetle. It is an ancient mechanical tool obtained in the Skyview Temple in the Skyward Sword. It can be freely controlled to aim at distant or hard-to-reach targets. Its small blades are sharp enough to cut stems and ropes. The Beetle also can pick up distant objects such as rupees and hearts. Not only can the item attack and pick up items but it can be used to do recon of enemy camps. BOTW introduced the Shekah slate which is multipurpose tool which includes many tools. The bombs had been modified to be used by the sheikha slate and the Beetle could be used just as so.
Not only can nets catch insects like bees, but they can also capture fairies and other surprising things. Breath of the wild introduced a hunter gathering mechanic to the Legend of Zelda world. We have seen link go fishing and catch bugs for side missions, but BOTW introduced hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering crops to be used in cooking dishes or making elixirs. Links trusty fishing pole which has been a frequent item in many titles did not make an appearance in the BOTW. This was done because the fishing mechanic had been altered. Link can catch fishes by swimming up to them or by electrocuting the water. The removal of the fishing pole made sense because it is rather useless with this new mechanic. The BOTW sequel should keep the fishing pole removed but bring back the Bug catching net. In many of link’s adventures he acquires a net and in other games a bottle is acquired to help catch and hold things. Bottles were also altered in BOTW, link only uses bottles to hold elixirs that he makes. This eliminates the bottle ad a usable item. The Net is different however, it allows link to catch insects at a greater distance. Catching insects is a huge part of hunting and gathering and this will make catching them a lot easier.
The mirror shield is the strongest shield in many Zelda titles. It allows link to guard against previously unblock able attacks. It can also reflect light and bounce back enemy beam attacks. Thile the Hylian shield is the most durable shield in BOTW the use of the mirror shield can bring back the sunlight reflection element. This can be used to solve puzzles which is something we have previously seen as well as something new. The use of the reflection could be used to blind or distract enemies in battles. In the BOTW Link has the ability to deflect incoming attacks with a parry. The mirror shield could offer a parry boost.
Breath of the Wild is all about exploration and looking for hidden objects and solving puzzles all around Hyrule. The Lens of Truth is a magical lens made by Sheikah, that can see through illusions revealing fake walls and hidden traps. Using this Lens in Ocarina of Time and Majora’s mask allows link to solve puzzles. This item could be interesting to use again in Tears of the Kingdom. It could be used as special lens that link puts on his telescope in the sheikah slate so it will take exploration to the next level.
In the Breath of the Wild Link has the ability to pick a bunch of weapons and use them as his primary attacking weapon. Link will come across swords, spears, axes, clubs and many other one handed and two-handed weapons. One we do not see is the ball and chain that has only been featured in Twilight princes. The ball and chain are a heavy metal ball at the end of a chain. It is so heavy that link cannot run while carrying it, but its weight means a single swing can destroy ice walls and send lighter enemies flying. There are few heavy weapons that Link can pick up and the ball and chain would be a great item to fight bosses such as the Stone Talos.
One of the most annoying things in Breath of the Wild was running around the Gerudo Desert. Traverse was slow unless you had the sand seal or the sand boots. An item that will help making traversing the desert easier would be the sand rod. This rod has the power to raise up sand. It is found in the sand place in the spirit tracks. In link between worlds, it can be rented from Ravio after clearing the thief’s hideout. In both games the sand rod has little use outside of the temples, but it was cool concept to add in the dungeons. This item is just like the sand spinner from twilight princess. They are cool items but have very little use outside of the dungeons. Bringing this item back in Tears of the Kingdom would be a good move because it would bring more exploration to the Desert areas.
A fan favorite item that will not make a return is the hook shot. It is a weapon that enables Link to aim at special targets and treasure bokes, then pull himself toward them. It is also useful in combat for stunning or injuring enemies. There have been many variations of this tool such as the claws hot, grappling hook, and whip, but they essentially all do the same thing. During development of BOTW there initially had been a hookshot. “We did consider using it to climb, and then you’d parasail down. But initially when we had the hookshot, it was always that you target something, and that was a game mechanic of itself. But that kind of defeated the purpose of what we wanted to accomplish in Breath of the Wild. With the hookshot, we always had to give it towards the end of the game, or else players could just go anywhere. But in this game, you could do that by climbing and parasailing.” – Eiji Aonuma
The Tears of the Kingdom will be releases on May 12 and will bring many new things to the world of Hyrule. In the trailer we see some new items, but new items always make a return, and we are only 6 months away from seeing what items make a return.
September 13, 2022
