Alas, poor Lurelin!

Alas, poor Lurelin!  We knew you well, and you’re not what we remember. 

It’s been a minute since we last posted, we know.  We’ve been busy playing Tears of the Kingdom, but for various and sundry reasons, not playing together.  (No, we haven’t broken up!)  Demelza’s been doing what she does – hunting and gathering and cooking, meticulously upgrading armor, and, since she has no choice but to forge ahead without Itzal, finding and completing shrines to build up her Link’s inventory, health, and stamina. (Back when we were able to play together, shrine-solving was Itzal’s province, as was wantonly eating the meals Demelza had prepared, without thought of how much work had gone into them, she might add.)   

Itzal, on the other hand, has been playing the way he always does:  ham-fisted fighting and throwing controllers when aught goes awry.  He has a decided lack of pants, and even the armor he does own is not much upgraded.  And his weaponry? It’s but one step from the Stone Age of the Great Sky Island:   most of his weapons remain rocks attached to sticks.   

Recently, we were excited to get a day’s play together, during which we tackled saving Lurelin Village for Itzal. (Demelza notes for the record that she earned the everlasting gratitude of Lurelin’s villagers weeks ago.  Demelza, Itzal notes, is very annoying in this post.  Even if she is right about his pants.) 

Rousting ruffians

For those who’ve yet to read spoilers on the Internet, cover your eyes or allow us to spoil it for you:  Lurelin Village, the relaxing tourist mecca of Breath of the Wild, has in TOTK been infested by ruffians (a delightful and much unused word, btw).  

Of all the changes to Hyrule wrought by Link’s and Zelda’s unfortunate foray under the castle, Lurelin’s plight was the one that most distressed Demelza.  In BOTW, she had gathered countless scuttling crabs and mighty bananas in Lurelin!  Alas, the tiny village was a haven no more in TOTK.  She made its restoration one of her first orders of business in her own game and then regaled laggard Itzal of its resulting wonders.  

Itzal, who still had a day job at this point, nodded approvingly and then threw his controller across the room each time he died trying to roust the ruffians. 

Confronting the monster force

Thus, on this first day’s play together since the TOTK debut weekend, Lurelin’s rescue in Itzal’s game was our highest priority.  As soon as Demelza finished tsk-ing and tutting over the state of Itzal’s larder, closet, and weaponry, she oversaw several minutes of cooking.  Hearty meals, to be sure!  And a few meals with either increased defense or increased attack power. The former were more important, however, since the day’s strategy was one of strike and retreat, or perhaps more accurately, muddle bud and cower.  

Zelder Tip #1:  In large groups of enemies, the humble muddle bud is your friend.  Shoot or throw a muddle bud at an enemy, the larger the better, then dash away and allow the enemies to fall upon themselves.  You’ll know an enemy is muddled if, after the initial purple haze is released, pink flower buds swirl around its head.  If the muddling wears off, toss another bud until there’s but a single enemy in the group for you to finish off.  

Zelder Tip #2:  Muddle buds are often found around large trees in the Depths.  They can also be purchased with poes from bargainer statues.   

Zelder Tip #3:  Don’t waste a muddle bud against a solitary foe; you’ll be the only prey in sight.  Not that we know this from experience.  (Itzal notes he did not know this and thus, reader, j’accuse Demelza.) A puffshroom could be used to disorient a single enemy.

There are several pockets of ruffians in Lurelin.  First, there’s a group on the eastern edges of town, dancing around porgy roasting on fishing harpoons.  A couple more pockets infest the middle and west of town.  Then there’s the pirate ship, with one exceptionally large enemy, in addition to the usual assortment of Lizalfos, et cetera.  Muddle them all! Lastly, there’s a solitary Bokoblin, of the upgraded variety, inside the Lurelin village well.  You could muddle him, but, well, see Zelder Tip #3.  (Demelza discovered this Bokoblin by accident, when in one of her earliest attempts at village savior, she dove into the well to escape attack.  Out of the frying pan, what what.) 

Restoration

When you’ve dispatched all the enemies, Bolson, he of the pink pants and earring and the contractor on Link’s house in BOTW, will “assist” you to repair the village.  (Itzal found this assistance sorely lacking as HE did all the work and HE got yelled at for not doing it right.)  

You’ll need to fix the casino, the inn, the restaurant, and some villagers’ homes. When that’s done, you can eat at the village restaurant for free once a day or so (the owner tried to charge us the first time for the special of the day, but not after the village was fully restored.) You’ll also sleep in the inn without charge, unless you spring for the somewhat dodgy rock salt spa treatment.  

And the casino!  Demelza, it must be noted, may now have a slight gambling problem.  She goes to the casino every day, sometimes two or three times a day (it resets faster than the restaurant), and she brings lots of roasted porgy with her.  Why roasted porgy, you ask?  It seems the casino operator will let Link play only once, unless he happens to have roasted porgy in his pockets.  If you’re porgy rich, it’s possible to get all three casino prizes in a single visit.  

There’s also a treasure chest near the roasted porgy stand which proffers five or 20 or sometimes 50 rupees.  But wait!  There’s more!  No, not steak knives[1], but also near the roasted porgy, a couple of rusty armaments will respawn. Demelza eschews them, but not Itzal, he of the Stone Age weaponry. 

Shopping in Lurelin

Lastly, one can open a shoreside merchant boat, admittedly of limited inventory, but whatever the shopkeeper has, it’s free to Link. To open the market, talk to Garini, the erstwhile fishmonger, in Lookout Landing.  He’ll hotfoot it back to Lurelin, where he’s disappointed to find his boat has gone missing.  Again, YOU do all the work.  

Once you locate a vessel on Tenoko Island, just pilot it back to Lurelin; after which Octorok eyeballs, armored porgy, and crabs are yours for the taking.   

There’s more to Lurelin’s revival – boat racing and village flag building – but the main charm of saving this seaside village are the resulting freebies.  In addition, one can once again traipse along the beach unmolested gathering mighty bananas, hydromelons, and crabs.  

Suggested cocktail

And now to the most important issue:  what to drink while ousting ruffians.  In honor of our floral ally, the muddle bud, we’ve opted for a muddled berry mojito.  When you’re muddling the fruit to create that signature pinkish/purplish color, remember the grateful citizens of Lurelin Village!

[1] Younger players may not understand this reference. Too bad.  Now you know how we Zelders feel about TikTok.

Day One on Great Sky Island

After a very long wait, Tears of the Kingdom finally made its debut on May 12.  For the first time, we, Itzal and Demelza, were there from the start!  We didn’t take up the game four years after the rest of the gaming world, as we did with Breath of the Wild; we didn’t wait even four days.  

Preparing for a return to Hyrule

First off, we had pre-ordered the game just shy of two (2) years in advance.  Later, we pre-ordered the TOTK Amiibo and master controller.  

As Z-Day grew closer, we watched a video of Eiji Uonuma playing the game. We absorbed the BOTW recap offered on the Nintendo News channel. We read Zelda Tips: Part 1, also on Nintendo News.  (Demelza took particular delight in Tip 4: “Prepare for fights beforehand.” Itzal, a self-avowed fan of ham-fisted, reactive flailing, alleged that she had conspired with Nintendo to include this tip.)  

The day before, Demelza shopped furiously for snacks and cocktail ingredients.  A discussion ensued as to what to do about Demelza’s spouse, whose birthday inopportunely fell that same weekend; we decided to decorate with Zelda-themed Happy Birthday materials and then confine said spouse to an extra bedroom.  (We let him out for meals.)

That morning, we drew up an over-under list of Expected Comments, Criticisms, Shoutings, and Recriminations.  To wit:

Save!
Pause!
Take a screenshot!
You’re doing it wrong!
You’re shouting!
This game was designed by sadists!
My drink has spilled!

Not long into the game, the results were in.  Take a screenshot was the clear winner, clocking in after a single minute of play.  My drink has spilled (code for finishing one’s cocktail) was not long behind, coming in at just over 10 minutes.  Ahem. We might have been a little eager, both about the game and our cocktails.

Save and Pause were neck and neck once we had – spoiler alert – left the Great Sky Island, followed shortly thereafter by considerable shouting and allegations of sadistic game design. 

And, then, an unexpected entry emerged, one which wasn’t on the list at all:  I think you’re right.  That one?  Three years.  Not minutes, not hours.  Yes, it took three years for Itzal to utter this phrase to Demelza.  She will remember it forever.

We endeavor not to spoil

Speaking of spoilers…when we started our blog, we offered a half-hearted spoiler alert, because it was, after all, four years since the release of Breath of the Wild; we clearly weren’t tip of the spear, edge of the knife.  No, we were more like caboose of the train.

Moreover, we submit, anyone reading a blog such as this, or even glancing through the interwebs with Tears of the Kingdom in the search engine – well, you’re just asking for spoilers.  That said, we apologize if we spoil anything for anyone. 

The adventure begins

The game begins with Zelda and Link exploring beneath Hyrule Castle.  Mind you, Zelda’s father had long ago warned her precisely against this.  Naturally, then, exploring the underside of the castle is exactly what she does! That cautionary note aside, we noted with approval the vast number of hearts Link (us) had at his disposal, as well as armor and, of course, the indomitable Master Sword.

Zelda discussing Purah Pad

Zelda was preoccupied with taking photos during the underground foray.  The device she used, a Purah pad, resembled a Nintendo Switch. We’re sure that’s not intentional, but no doubt Link was tempted to shout “screenshot” along the way.

Zelda also lectured incessantly about the Zonai, an ancient race that once lived in the sky and may have had, erm, relations with Zelda’s forebears. Itzal grew bored and decided a sidebar about Zelda’s hair was in order. (As Zelders, hair is increasingly a point of notice and contemplation, you see, as it becomes less abundant.)  In the opening scenes, Link has his hair tied back in manner of Brad Pitt or Jason Momoa, while Zelda is sporting a bob rather than her usual flowing locks.  Why is Zelda’s hair short?  Theories abound.  Maybe she was simply tired of the upkeep.

Back to the story.  In the course of their exploration, Link and Zelda come upon the Demon King, who does terrible things to Link’s right arm, and oh by the way, Zelda falls backward, reminiscent of her opening scenes fall in Skyward Sword.  Perhaps she should have heeded her father’s admonitions?

After Link awakens – albeit not after a 100-year slumber this time – he finds himself in the aptly named Room of Awakening (there is need of entire room for this purpose?). Our hero is alive, but not undamaged.  His right arm looks like cyborg material.  And all those hearts he had before?  Down to three.  Also, he’s in his skivvies and barefoot.  What is it with Nintendo starting Link in every game like Shoeless Joe? He’s often been sleeping, too.

Link in underwear, with nothing but a Decayed Master Sword

The glorious Master Sword has been demoted to Decayed Master Sword with an attack power of precisely 1.  We were terrified that it would break with a single swing, but we had no choice but to hack our way out of the Room of Awakening. 

Despite Link’s lack of clothing and hearts, we were ready for adventure! We first meet Rauru, whose character description is….well….odd. Rauru, Source of the Right Arm.  Is that really what he highlights on his resume?  Turns out that Link’s new right arm used to be Rauru’s, though. Maybe his title is warranted.

Our first mission

We have tasks, of course; doesn’t Link always?  First, we must seek out Zelda.  That one is always going missing! She could give Waldo and Carmen Sandiego a run for their money. Along the way, there’s a door to be opened – the door into the Temple of Time. 

Link inspects door to Temple of Time on Great Sky Island.

Rauru encourages us to visit Great Sky Island’s shrines, which, he is certain, hold the key to bolstering Link’s strength to open the door. 

And so we begin exploring our environs, which quickly draw parallels to the first day on the Great Plateau in Breath of the Wild.  True, TOTK opens in the sky, but the fact remains that we couldn’t get off the sky island, just as one couldn’t leave the Great Plateau, until shrines had been discovered, new skills learned (more about them in a separate post), and puzzles solved.  Just as in BOTW, one shrine was in a cooler region, requiring Demelza to dust off her cooking skills and rustle up a warming mess of chili peppers and fish, which served to dispel the chill until we discovered a pair of cold-weather greaves.

The completion of each shrine afforded us a Light of Blessing, TOTK’s equivalent of spirit orbs.  Along the way, we encountered mechanical creatures called Constructs – including the Steward Construct, which handed off Zelda’s Purah pad to us.  We even found a couple of Koroks in hiding, which afforded us our first Korok seeds of the game!

After three shrines were under our belt, we were able to enter the Temple of Time, which naturally then we wanted to leave – but we had insufficient strength to open yet another door. (We know the feeling, IRL.)  One more shrine and a visit to a goddess statue afforded us a fourth heart and the wherewithal to exit.  Our task, should we choose to accept, was to Go, and bring peace to the world.  We couldn’t have started with something a little less grandiose? Another reminder of BOTW.

In a final cutscene to complete the opening of TOTK, Zelda reclaims the Decayed Master Sword.  (At least we no longer had to worry about breaking it.)  She then urges Link to find her – always we are looking for Zelda! –and so we plunged bravely off the sky island, headed for our next objective: The Kingdom of Hyrule.

What drink are we spilling?

But, you ask, what about your blog shtick?  As per usual, you haven’t given us much in the way of advice, let alone walkthrough; what about cocktails?  What should the avid reader and Zelda enthusiast drink when loading up Tears of the Kingdom for the first time?

Not-Quite Dead Last Cocktail (amid Zelda-themed birthday decorations)

We suggest a Not-Quite Dead Last cocktail, in honor of our having started the game at its release.  It’s true we won’t finish TOTK before most other people do, not even before Itzal’s son, who for the love of heaven has a job and three children under the age of four, yet he’s STILL ahead of us – and yet, for once, we aren’t quite dead last in the Zeldaverse.  

We’ve encountered the Dead Last cocktail in a couple of places online. We will credit Liber and Company, where we saw it first.  Our version is not exactly the same as Liber’s, as we subbed peach liqueur for apricot; nonetheless, we consider a lightly changed version in keeping with our Not-Quite theme. 

Why the Kingdom Cries

Today, we were excited to watch Eiji Aonuma demonstrating Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo’s YouTube channel.  But no sooner than three minutes in, Itzal quipped:  “Now we know why the kingdom is crying.”

The twelve-minute video focuses on new skills that Link will, ahem, enjoy in TOTK. There’s Recall, which, by way of example, enables Link to clamber aboard a recently fallen object and rewind its trajectory. With Ascend, our hero is able to pass through ceilings, be they natural or constructed. We can definitely imagine the possibilities. Next, Link can use Fuse to meld together certain items to create new items and uses. And that brings us to Ultrahand, which seems a fancier version of Fuse but not limited to weapons.  

In the end, it was Fuse and Ultrahand that caused Itzal’s crying quip.  A whine soon followed: “This looks like a game for you, Demelza, all crafting and gathering and thinking.  Where’s the flailing and mindless running about and the opportunity for ham-fisting?”

And he’s got a point.  In one scene, Link calmly scrolls through a plethora of materials looking for just the right one – in this case, white Chu Chu jelly – to attach to an arrow, making it cold enough to freeze an enemy.  That’s all well and good, but what about just finding or buying ice arrows, as we did in BOTW? In another example, Link glues a mushroom to a shield and subsequently confounds his would-be attacker. In our experience, we rarely have the time or the presence of mind, and certainly neither together, to scroll through anything, la di da, while an enemy waits patiently for us to make our decision and get on with things.  

Then there’s the Ultrahand so-called skill.  In the demo, Link slaps together three logs and attaches fans to construct a boat and cross a river.  How fortuitous that these fans happened to be lying about. We, in contrast, never seem to have a fan at the ready.

The kingdom is our oyster. . .

Aonuma enthuses about the world of possibilities bound only by one’s creativity. Weapons need not be earned by defeating enemies, one can make them!  Right.  We have visions of accidentally fusing a Zapshroom to Link’s foot and electrocuting ourselves.  At this point in the video, Demelza, too, began to whine, and suggested we might want to use Amiibos to get special weapons rather than playing at Hyrulean Caveman, cobbling together sticks and stones. And speaking of weapons: Aonuma can crow all he likes about the ability to create them, but they appear to still break.   

You mean we’re expected to Ultrahand this? It’s not found in a treasure chest?
…and the sky’s not the limit

As expected, the sky will be a big part of TOTK.  We’ll get two, two worlds in one!  The sky islands vary in size, from expansive ones with trees and mountains and rivers to tiny ones that we are destined to teeter on magnificently before falling off. But! says Aonuma, worry not!  If you fall, you simply glide down to the world below.  Indeed, he offers excitedly, you can use the skies to scan for a likely destination on the surface and then deploy your paraglider to land precisely there. 

Here, Itzal’s eyes finally lit up; he does so like to explore.  Enemies?  Run away!  Quests?  Ignore them!  Gathering materials?  Boring!  But give him an unopened area, and he’s laser-focused on planting his flag.  After that, he may have little interest in, you know, defending Hyrule, but by gum, we have a map.  Satisfied and now bored, he hands the controller over to Demelza to do the cooking.[1]

In a few short weeks, we anticipate many tears to come, for us at least, if not for the kingdom. We have visions of falling off sky islands.  Dying spectacularly while we putter about trying to Fuse a weapon together.  Coming to a bad end after confusing Ascend with Recall. 

But we’re oh-so-ready to shed those tears and cry into our martini glasses once more!

[1] As noted in a blog post long, long ago, our gameplay roles are not defined by outdated gender stereotypes but rather on temperament.  Demelza has patience.  Itzal does not.  

If Elden Ring Met Tears of the Kingdom

During the current, albeit happily soon-to-be-ending Zelda drought, we’ve spent considerable time playing Elden Ring.  We’ve dispatched Godrick the Grafted, Rennala, Radahn, Morgott the Omen King, Rykard, a host of smaller albeit still “great” enemies, and even now we have Godfrey, First Elden Lord, in our sights. 

True, it’s been no speed-run, nor even a speed-walk. Our eyes now skitter past the time-played meter, as we fear we may be approaching the world record for Elden Ring hours by someone who’s yet to beat the game. (Itzal would like to point out that Demelza’s rune-farming accounts for most of those hours.) (Demelza counters that without her rune-farming, we would still be trying to vanquish Margit the Fell Omen.)

Ahem.  Suffice it to say we’ve had plenty of time to consider Elden Ring and how it compares to our usual fare, Legend of Zelda.  With a scant two months until the release of Tears of the Kingdom, we present our musings over what we like and don’t like in the Lands Between, and what we’d enjoy seeing transferred to Hyrule.

Thumbs up on weapons

First and foremost, we applaud the durability of weapons in Elden Ring.  Not only do they not break, they can be improved.  (Unfortunately, gathering the upgrade materials generally gets us killed a time or two.)  Here’s hoping that TOTK’s weaponry, even if not upgradeable, is more sturdy than that of BOTW.  

Moreover, there’s considerable variety in Elden Ring‘s arsenal. Indeed, we are partial to the game’s offerings of staffs and magic spells, the better to attack at a distance, rather than getting up close and personal with things we’d rather not. In contrast, we miss certain useful Hyrulean tools, such as the Hookclaws or the Cryonis skill.  We most especially bemoan the lack of a Paraglider in the Lands Between.  No, instead we go SPLAT when we misjudge the depth of a drop to a ledge below in Elden, or we miss the ledge entirely and plummet still further and get the message YOU DIED.

(Speaking of YOU DIED, we are hard-pressed to decide if we prefer that emphatic, unsympathetic announcement to Zelda‘s kinder, gentler GAME OVER.)

You Died (often) in Elden Ring
Game Over (too soon) in Breath of the Wild.
Names and places

We wish names were not so very similar in Elden Ring, with certain entities having more than one alias.  Consider Margit, Morgott, and Mohg, the latter including both Omen and Lord of Blood varieties… and don’t get us going on Renna, Rennala, Ranni, and Lenne. (And no, Ganon and Ganondorf does not begin to compare.)

On the other hand, we are delighted by the voices and dialogue in Elden Ring.  Well played, FromSoftware!  

We miss having safe spaces in the Lands Between. In Elden Ring, Roundtable Hold is as safe as it gets, and even there we’ve been attacked by invaders. Please, Nintendo, let us retain our Kakarikos and our Lurelin Villages, or their reasonable facsimiles, in Tears of the Kingdom!  (Nor would a friendly neighborhood canteen be unwelcome.) 

Given the above, we delight – Itzal in particular – in finding Sites of Grace in Elden Ring. In BOTW, there are shrine warp points, true, but not nearly as many as we wished we had; in addition, there is something heady about careening through a dangerous Elden area – cue the redundancy complaint – with foes hot at our heels, and suddenly spotting the lifesaving, golden wisps of an undiscovered grace.

Our kingdom for a bank

In BOTW, we collected rupees and sold mushrooms and whatnots to build our wallet.   And yet, other than those greedy Great Fairies in BOTW and the occasional armor purchase, money was not much of an issue for Link.   In Elden Ring, in contrast, we constantly covet more runes to upgrade our characters, and have we mentioned THERE IS NO BANK.  You die, you lose your runes, unless you’re brave enough to go back for them.  At least in Breath of the Wild, GAME OVER didn’t mean MONEY GONE, bwah haha.

No pause for Zelders

That brings us to one Elden characteristic we hope is never adopted by Nintendo:  the inability to pause the game at will. [1]  And before Elden enthusiasts rise up in outrage, yes, we recognize that the game is designed to be demanding! Or, if you must, we recognize we are wimps!  But still.  Sometimes you want a quick huddle with your sofa sidekick to share strategy (or panic) before a coming battle.  Sometimes you want a break to get a snack or a cocktail.  In Elden Ring, there is no pause; there is only die or not die.

Where there’s help, there’s hope

If we had our druthers in Zelda, we’d have Elden Ring‘s ability to summon NPC allies to our side.  If not for the Sorcerer Rogier, Stormveil Castle might yet be un-stormed (by us). Imagine if we had a Mimic Tear, a carbon copy of Link, to help us bring down a Lynel! (Itzal opines that it would take a herd of Links to make a Lynel fair game, but, it must be admitted, he is prone to hyberbole.)

We haven’t had many play dates together during our Zelda drought.  We started Elden Ring together, but geographic distance and work commitments meant less time for joint forays.  Recently, however, we’ve attempted co-op multiplayer.  

Demelza’s Astrologer, with which we first started, is far advanced from Itzal’s late-entry Warrior, but we’re still able to adventure together as long as Demelza doesn’t mind having her health and magic and endurance bars cut in half when she enters Itzal’s world.  And she doesn’t, although it is true that occasionally she forgets she’s been nerfed and forges forward as if she still had Vigor and Endurance to spare. Indeed, at the ripe old age of, um, ripe, Demelza has even taken to sending her signal out into the world, where she has had a modicum of success helping other Tarnished.  

Not dressed for success in Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum.

(We will not speak of the time she was in the middle of changing out her equipment and armor after a foray into the Lake of Rot and was summoned to help defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood.  Nonetheless, she answered the call to duty wearing mushroom armor and with little else but a staff, bravado, and bravura.  Thankfully, Mohg’s Shackle was the one useful item she had equipped, so she and the host prevailed. Nonetheless, she now knows to turn off her summons when she’s dressing. And as an aside, why is fungi deemed helpful against rot?)

In our perfect world, we’d be able to play co-op in Tears of the Kingdom.  And Zelda would be a playable character.  (Perhaps there’s still some hope for the latter, Nintendo?)

And oh, those vistas
One of the more beautiful, but still deadly landscapes in Elden Ring

Elden Ring is challenging and addicting and frustrating and gorgeous – and more violent than we’re accustomed to in Zelda play.  But dare we say it?  After so many hours in the Lands Between, we are better gameplayers, in no small part owing to Elden’s unforgiving nature.  

We don’t profess to be excellent, mind you; never will we traipse around Caelid wearing only our skivvies and a pot lid. But still. Perhaps we’ve improved just enough that when we delve into TOTK, we’ll spurn Amiibos and online guides. 

You Died – with a cocktail in hand

In keeping with our blog’s theme, we can’t leave this post without commenting about cocktails.  

When we play Elden Ring, we do enjoy the occasional adult beverage, but we don’t try to pair our libations with the day’s play, as we do with Zelda titles.  Had we so attempted, we would quickly have exhausted the selection of drinks that include Corpse Revivers or similarly death-inspired options.  We’re looking forward to having a greater variety of selections to pair to gameplay in Tears of the Kingdom! 

[1] One alleged workaround, accessing the menu explanation screen, is not at all the same as a true pause.

Tears of the Kingdom

Habemus nomen! At long last, we have a name for the continuing adventures of Link and Zelda. No more bemoaning the whereabouts of BOTW2 or using its lengthier, but more Nintendo-correct identifier, “the sequel to Breath of the Wild.” Now, we’re crying Tears of the Kingdom!

The September 13 Nintendo Direct had been rumored to be “chock-full of Zelda.” And yet, as the program drew to a close, there was no evidence of two of the most popular rumors, the release of Twilight Princess or Wind Waker for the Switch. And as for BOTW2? Oh, there were teasers at times – mention of a hero who’d been asleep for a thousand years (nope, not Link, for all his tendency to take long naps); mechanical heroes (not Divine Beasts, but instead DLC content for Xenoblade Chronicles 3); and even a passing reference to putting an end to Calamity (Harvestella).

And a couple points in the Direct were just plain cruel: “there’s one more game we should mention” turned out to be Goldeneye 007. No aspersions being cast here, and Goldeneye is a classic, but still, if there’s one more game to be mentioned…

Eventually, Shigeru Miyamoto appeared, raising hopes. Said hopes were promptly dashed, however, when he left after talking about Pikmin.

By the time the program was winding down, many were indeed in metaphorical tears over the dearth of Zelda news. Could the silence portend another delay?

But in the program’s dramatic closing, we received snippets of scenes from the long-awaited sequel, followed by the grand reveal: Tears of the Kingdom would be its name, and it was coming to our consoles on May 12, 2023. (We had a moment of dismay, watching the Twitter feed, when Nintendo Europe offered a date of 12.05.2023, and we read it the Americanized way. December 5! Say it isn’t so! And it isn’t.)

Screen capture from Nintendo Direct

The Zeldaverse is already fast at work speculating about the scant couple of minutes video in this latest trailer. Mind you, much of the clip consisted of scrolling, bronze-hued Hyrulean runes and Zelda-glyphics. We’d have loved more action scenes, like the one with Link perched atop what looks to be a stone loftwing.

Nonetheless, while smarter Zeldaphiles than us analyze the trailer (no doubt someone, somewhere, is scouring those runes to figure out what the symbols represent), we are content to have a date certain and a title. We have eight months to research new, high-flying cocktails to pair with gameplay!

Editor’s Note: The photos in this post are the clear property of Nintendo, albeit captured on our computer screen; please don’t sue us (or the thousands of others who have also done so on social media), we’re just enthusiastic!