This Tears of the Kingdom Feature Will Change the Game Forever
Tears of the Kingdom promises to bring a lot of new features to the beloved Legend of Zelda franchise. But there are two of these new features that will have more of an impact than the others.
Tears of the Kingdom is only about two weeks away from release and the excitement is overwhelming. The last few trailers have shown a lot to be excited about, to read more about what we know so far, check out this article. But there is one feature that stands out more than the rest: crafting. There are two main ways to do this in Tears of the Kingdom: the new powers Fuse and Ultrahand.
Fuse is the more simple of the two. Simply take two objects or items and fuse them together to create a new item. While the concept may be simple, the possibilities seem endless. The combinations can be anything from sticking a boulder on the end of a stick to creating a homing arrow.
Meanwhile, Ultrahand gives the player an incredible amount of freedom to basically stick objects together in the open world. Trailers have shown all kinds of amazing vehicles from fan-powered boats, to cars, and even a hot air balloon. While these modes of transportation are exciting, they likely only scratch the surface of what’s possible with this new ability.
Fuse
For players that loved the expansive world and exploration mechanics of Breath of the Wild, but maybe struggled with the fast-paced reaction timing of combat, Fuse will be your new best friend. Fuse opens up much more room for creativity and ingenuity, especially when approaching different combat scenarios.
The trailer showed Link firing homing arrows at small birds in the sky, but there is a new enemy that will be far more menacing. It doesn’t have a name yet, but it has the appearance of a wyvern soaring through the sky. If a player doesn’t have the right skills with a bow and arrow, this could be an intimidating opponent. But, players struggling in that arena can instead focus on collecting the items needed for homing arrows.
For more close-quarters combat, Link was shown in a gameplay trailer fusing a “puffshroom” to his shield. When an enemy struck the shield, the shroom exploded into a cloud of smoke, causing the enemy to lose track of Link. Players who have trouble fighting with a sword and shield can instead utilize this strategy to land a powerful sneakstrike on confused opponents.
Run out of weapons? Or, even better, don’t want to break your best sword on a weak enemy? Just fuse a stick and a rock together for a makeshift hammer. Or fuse a stick and a pitchfork for a makeshift spear. There are plenty of options and this is just what has been shown in a few short trailers. There will certainly be so much more to explore with this Fuse power when Tears of the Kingdom finally releases.
Ultrahand
The name of this power is slightly less intuitive, though it has just as many possibilities, if not more. While Fuse allows Link to take two items from his inventory and stick them together, Ultrahand can combine multiple objects together to create something entirely new. A couple of logs become a raft, add a few fans and it’s a boat. Stick some wheels and a steering device on a platform and now it’s a car. The potential here is massive, and from day one, creative players will begin pushing the limits of what they can do.
Ultrahand seems at least somewhat geared toward transportation, but that may not be all it can do. One particularly interesting moment from one trailer shows Link piloting a sort of makeshift tank. It appears to be several stone slabs stuck together with wheels, and possibly some kind of weapon on the side. The blocky tank is shown charging toward an approaching stone talus with a group of bokoblins on top. This moment begs the question: can an Ultrahand vehicle have a weapon? Also how durable are these contraptions? Will they fall apart when crashing into a tree or when a stone talus lands a punch? Hopefully they can at least handle a few hits.
This feature will be the one that continues to come back every now and then. The crazy design someone came up with that goes viral a year after the game has been out. Players will share designs and edit and improve upon them. There’s really no telling what creativity will look like days, weeks, and even months after release. With so many options on the table, it’s simply inevitable.
Conclusion
Fuse and Ultrahand are just two of the new features players will have access to in Tears of the Kingdom, but they may quickly become the most iconic of this new game. Part of the reason Breath of the Wild is still as popular as it is today is because of the freedom it gives players to explore and innovate. Tears of the Kingdom seems to be following that legacy.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases for the Nintendo Switch on May 12th, 2023.
What are you looking forward to when Tears of the Kingdom releases? What contraptions and vehicles will you build? What items will you fuse together? Leave a comment below letting us know your thoughts!
