Tears of the Kingdom sees Link using Skyward Sword’s best ability

It has its imperfections, but it is still a great country. The Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword It had moments of delight, especially in the huge space between its sky islands. Flying Link’s Loftwing was fun, yes — but leaping Off Loftwing was a term that refers to the area above a large land mass suspended thousands of feet high. It is quite intoxicating. Tears from the Kingdom Seems like everyone embraces the thrill of that feeling wholeheartedly.

During Tuesday’s Tears from the Kingdom gameplay demonstration, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma showed off a plethora of Link’s new immersive-sim abilities, including a “Recall” power that lets him ride chunks of rock back to the floating island they fell from. Link is later shown fighting an opponent using a wooden club as a weapon. When swung, the plank sends a gust of wind Link’s way, and our hero is knocked backward, over an edge, and into the sky. Link soon recovers from initial shock. Then he goes into his spread eagle skydiving posture and nosedives smoothly into the water. (According to the UI, Link could have deployed his trusty glider at any moment during the fall, but Aonuma, in his vast wisdom, knew that Hyrule’s water physics wouldn’t pancake Link as he fell back toward firm ground.) Watch the gameplay video or see exactly what happened.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Link skydive in Tears from the Kingdom’s gameplay demonstrations. However, it served as another demonstration of all the physics systems in action, which was a great focus. The Wild BreathThe sequel will feature a bigger gameplay element, with a stronger pillar. Skyward Sword’s flying and diving mechanics offered their thrills, but you could only fall to specific points in Hyrule below — you were essentially jumping off of one island and aiming at another. Tears from the KingdomTrue to its predecessor,, appears to be about freedom of movement. The most recent demonstration was proof, with Link gracefully returning to Hyrule, landing wherever Aonuma directed him.

Nintendo also took today’s video as a chance to announce a Tears from the Kingdom OLED Switch is scheduled for release on April 28th. You can still order OLED Switch until then. Tears from the Kingdom’s May 12 release date, you can catch up on everything Zelda-related with Zeldathon, Polygon’s year of celebratory Zelda stories.