Nintendo has just revealed a release date and new footage for The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 – except, it’s not actually called that. In a curveball, the game will actually be titled The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, although it is still very much be a successor to BOTW in every other sense.
We also now have confirmation of a Tears of the Kingdom release date, with the game hitting Nintendo Switch in May 2023.
The short but sweet trailer opens with some story teasers in the form of cave drawings. We see a large monster (potentially an all-new big bad or just a new form of Ganon) and an army of Bokoblins and Moblins. We also see a figure, potentially resembling Zelda, levitating in a ‘oh no, I’m getting my life source drained from me’-style pose. The final drawing shows this same character locking hands with a character who is obscured off-screen.
Then follows a series of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them flashes of gameplay, which appears to once again show some of the serious verticality we saw in the game’s initial teaser last year.
Link appears (in what is likely the opening moment of Tears of the Kingdom) from somewhere that is in a high-up, floating area above the clouds, but leaps off to fall down towards the main open world below.
In various other shots, floating rocks and platforms can also be spotted at various heights.
You can watch the trailer in all its glory below.
While the vibe is unmistakably Breath of the Wild, the new name of Tears of the Kingdom has certainly caught people off guard and got fans of the Zelda games talking. This was always going to be one of the most anticipated upcoming Switch games, but with some story hints and some gameplay to enjoy, that anticipation has just been cranked up a notch.