The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - gameplay demonstration, limited edition Switch OLED
Nintendo has given fans a long-awaited update on the status of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As of today, development has wrapped up, meaning the game is on track for its May launch. The ten minutes of gameplay shows some exploration of Hyrule, new powers that Link has, and the new Sky Islands. Weapon degradation makes a return, but you can now fuse random items together to create weapons with better durability; enemies can do this as well. Arrows can also be fused to have new elemental effects, and homing arrows can be made as well. "Ultrahand" is an ability that lets you stick items together--for example, you can stick three large logs and two fans together to create a boat, with seemingly lots of crafting potential to play around with. Another new gameplay element called ascend allows you to rocket up to a ceiling and go through it to the top of wherever you are.
Nintendo also used the opportunity to reveal a Tears of the Kingdom limited edition Nintendo Switch OLED console. Like most Nintendo limited edition systems, it does not come with the game, though it releases just a little earlier than Tears of the Kingdom, with a release date of April 28th.