The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been a blast to play through so far, and it is easily one of the contenders for Game of the Year this year. We firmly believe that the game will be enjoyable even for newcomers to the franchise. If you are looking to jump into the game, here are ten tips to help you get started.
Don’t Forget to Visit All The Sky Islands
There are countless Sky Islands spread throughout Hyrule that try to divert your attention from your current path. You should absolutely go to every Sky Island that you see because they have tons of cool things that you can obtain.
From armor sets to treasure maps, you will find plenty of useful items that will help you on your journey. The exploration is what makes Tears of the Kingdom so fun for a lot of players and you should indulge in every little distraction that comes along your journey.
The Ultrahand is Your Best Friend
The Ultrahand is an important tool for exploration and you can get it fairly early during the campaign. You can grab chests, or move objects around and do a lot of creative things with it. But what I absolutely adore about the Ultrahand is how easily it lets you bypass game mechanics.
Think of the Ultrahand as a cheat that is limited only by your imagination. It is by far the best feature of Tears of the Kingdom and I am constantly amazed at how many fun little interactions the Ultrahand enables for players.
Collect Zonai Devices
Every time you go near a Zonai Dispenser, make sure that you grab a few Zonai Devices for your journey. If you are stuck on a puzzle and can’t get past some mechanics, chances are you will be able to use the devices to make past obstacles.
If you are defeated, anything you created prior to your defeat will be reset so you will need to have a steady supply of Devices because of such situations. The traversal Zonai Devices are the most useful but I am personally a fan of the Hover Stones and Stakes.
The Fuse Mechanic is a Lot of Fun
You will obtain the Fuse mechanic as you play through Tears of the Kingdom. Using your radial menu allows you to select the Fuse ability and combine essentially anything in the game to create new items.
From fusing tomatoes with swords to powerful hammers, the Fuse ability lets you explore your creative side with no limits. If you accidentally fuse an item you can just go to Pelison at Tarrey Town who will charge 20 Rupees to un-fuse any item.
Make Enemies Go Kaboom
Bomb Flowers are incredibly powerful and if you feel like you are going up against tough foes, just pull out a couple of bomb flowers and throw them at enemies. It will allow you to deal massive damage to enemies and make fights a whole lot easier.
The flower can also be used to bombard rock walls that block your path. While there are multiple ways to break these rocks, the easiest way is to just blow up the walls and be on your merry way.
Get More Stamina
The stamina system in Tears of the Wild can feel like an annoyance at first but once you get a few upgrades, you should have no issues at all. Some of the later quests in the game require you to have high stamina levels so you need to either stock up on stamina potions or upgrade your stamina bar.
Stamina Vessels can be collected from Shrines and they allow you to move around the map more freely. There are four Shrines in the open world that you can complete and offering a Goddess Statues four Lights of Blessing will allow you to upgrade your stamina bar.
Unlock Fast Travel Points
The Skyview Towers in Tears of the Kingdom allow you to traverse the world of Hyrule quickly. You need to trigger each of the Skyview Towers to access new areas and the best part is that they are really good for gliding. You can just fast-travel to one of the points and glide to nearby areas, which can be a lot faster than using other means of traversal.
Learn New Recipes
Tears of the Kingdom has hundreds of recipes that you can unlock to boost your stats, heal yourself, light up areas, and more. Feel free to experiment with items that you discover during your playthrough and toss them into the pot to see if you end up with something new.
Unlike a lot of other games where you have to purchase or earn recipes, Tears of the Kingdom allows you to discover new recipes all by yourself. We recommend making Sunny Veggie Rice Balls and Bright Fish Skewer to help you on your journey, but we will leave out the recipes to let you discover them yourself!
You Can Never Have Enough Arrows
The Fuse mechanic allows you to craft all kinds of powerful arrows and you should always stock up on arrows that you find useful. Carry a few elemental fruits to make fire, ice, shock, and splash arrows.
Against tougher foes, Puffshroom arrows can be a lot more potent as they can blind enemies that come in contact with the gas. If you are going up against large groups of enemies, Muddle Bud arrows can take out multiple foes at once.
There are Secrets Everywhere
There are secrets everywhere in Tears of the Kingdom. From suits that remove fall damage from the game to a mask that makes finding Korok seeds a whole lot easier. I’m sure there are secrets that no one will discover until weeks later so you might be one of the first to uncover something no one else has run into.
Tears of the Kingdom stands on its own merits and it is easily one of the best games to play on the Nintendo Switch right now. If you are looking for a solid open-world RPG, this is definitely the one to play this year.
