Note: If you’re hoping to go into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as blindly as possible, we’d suggest not reading any further as the below discusses some major new gameplay features.
Nintendo has been quietly publishing some great “Ask The Developer” pieces in the lead up to the release of the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, prodding some of the studio team, including the venerable Eiji Aonuma, for insight and information into the development of the game.
In the most recent edition, the folks from Nintendo EPD talk about the world of Hyrule in the new sequel, and in particular its skies and how they connect to the rest of the game, and the surface below. At the very end, the team reveals something that hasn’t really been spoken about in an official capacity before now but will no doubt be very exciting to long-time Zelda fans – dungeons.
When quizzed about the existence of dungeons, the team outright confirms them, saying that they’ve replaced the similarly-designed Divine Beasts with more regionally-unique dungeons this time around. You can read the full transcript from the Nintendo website below:
We’ve only discussed the skies, but this title has its dungeons too, right?
Fujibayashi: Yes, we haven’t talked about the dungeons yet. They’ve changed from the previous game. For example, there is a dungeon that connects directly from Hyrule’s surface. If you dive from the sky straight into the dungeon, you’ll trigger an event. We think this will be a new experience that wasn’t possible in the previous game.
Dohta: We’ve made dungeons unique to their respective environments, so we think you’ll be able to enjoy the wide variety of regional characteristics.
Takizawa: Making a “wide variety” was pretty challenging. The four Divine Beasts were the dungeons in the last game, and they shared similar designs. This time, the dungeons are huge and each carry their own regional look and feel, just like traditional The Legend of Zelda games. We think they will provide a satisfying challenge for players. They were certainly a challenge to develop! (Laughs)
For everything else The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, make sure to read our comprehensive Bargain Guide, check out our hands-on preview of the game, and get caught up on the story with Nintendo’s handy Breath of the Wild story recap video.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases exclusively on Nintendo Switch on Friday, May 12th.
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