Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlikely represents the last great hurrah forZeldaon Nintendo Switch, and it ended whatBreath of the Wildstarted. Despite being the most direct example of a sequel in theZeldafranchise,Tears of the Kingdomdistinguished itself fromBreath of the Wildby expanding to the skies and the subterranean Depths, as well as reorienting itself around new mechanics like Ultrahand and Fuse. No one is going to mistakeTears of the Kingdomfor its predecessor, and it has earned its place among theZeldaseries’ most successful titles.
However, spending an entire console generation on one iteration of Hyrule has led to some exhaustion, so the nextZeldagame is officially moving on fromTears of the Kingdom’s setting. By the sounds of it, this will include a mechanical refresh as well, with evencelebratedTotKmechanics like Ultrahand on the chopping block. An open world will likely stay in play according to series producer Eiji Aonuma, but it’s too early to guarantee anything right now. Seeing the next reinvention ofThe Legend of Zeldais exciting, but there’s one ability that it should keep fromBotWandTotK: shields.
Shields Are The Unsung Heroes of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom
Breath of the Wild’s combat and weapon durability have sparked plenty of debates, but one of their more successful aspects is found in shields. Although shields exist alongsideBotWandTotK’s other weapon types, they have several qualities that help them stand out. For one, they only synergize with one-handed swords, giving that fighting style defensive advantages over the powerful two-handed swords, and ranged bows and spears. Shields and bows also have their own dedicated buttons, meaning a shield can still be used when Link has an incompatible weapon equipped but sheathed.
Advanced Techniques Made Tears of the Kingdom’s Shields Come Into Their Own
As expected, shields mitigate damage at the cost of durability, but it’s the two game mechanics unique to them that make shields so prominent. Blocking and pressing the action button will cause Link to attempt a Perfect Guard, a parry function that can deflect most attacks and spends no durability if successful. Getting good atreflecting Guardian beams is a classicBotWpastime, but shields have one other use in its, andTotK’s, traversal. By jumping while blocking and pressing the action button in midair, Link will begin shield surfing, a mechanic too cool to just be in twoZeldagames.
Shield Surfing Is Worth Bringing Back From Tears of the Kingdom
There are many uses for shield surfing, with the extra height in its activation alone enabling tons of speedrun strategies. Different terrain and shields affected the movement speed and durability loss of surfing, andTears of the Kingdom’s Fuse combinationsincreased that variety even further. Fused shields could incorporate bombs for high jumps, fans for gliding, and minecarts for better rolling, andTears of the Kingdom’s abundant rails for Ultrahand vehicles supported shield grinding just as well. A newZeldagame would probably lose some of this nuance, but shield surfing should still return.
How Shield Surfing Could Work In Another Zelda Game
If the nextZeldatitle introduces another open world, shield surfing would be a slightly quicker downhill travel option when horses or vehicles aren’t available. This could be especially helpful ifBotWandTotK’s controversial durabilitydoes not return, granting players freedom to experiment with shield surfing anywhere while doing various tricks. Depending on how deeply integrated shield surfing is into regular gameplay, Link could even use his weapons during it, like inTwilight Princess’ snowboarding minigame. This kinetic and player-driven movement option was the source of countless entertaining clips and useful tricks inBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom, so the nextLegend of Zeldawould be remiss to leave it behind.
