‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ – Fans Go Wild for Link’s New Fuse Abilities

Link’s abilities have expanded for the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild.

The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s oldest gaming franchises and for good reason. The first in the series was released in 1986 and was about a young man named Link who must save the Kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon to save Princess Zelda. The series has gone in many directions since then with one of the weirder timelines of a game series because of it. The series reached what many argue is the end of the Zelda timeline with Breath of the Wild.

Released in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild became a huge hit and an instant classic in the eyes of fans. It brought fresh new ideas and built on much of what came before it in games like Skyward Sword. The series took place in a world where Hyrule had fallen to a powerful evil known as Calamity Ganon and only Link and Zelda can stop him. The game’s world was given a prequel called Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in 2020 and a sequel was announced in 2019. We have since gotten a couple of different trailers for the game showing off some sneak peeks at new things, but we recently got the most info on what’s new for the game.

via Nintendo

Tears of the Kingdom Gameplay

Nintendo had a special Zelda presentation hosted by series producer Eiji Aonuma where he showed off more than 10 minutes of the game. The gameplay demonstration showed off that the game was more than just re-using the world, the gameplay, and a new story. Link will be given brand-new abilities and new enemies who can do some of the same things. The trailer also showed off that the mini-map will have coordinates built into it. This will be a great feature for any person who wants to relay where they found something or use a guide with that information on it.

Fuse

The weapon degradation from Breath of the Wild is back and any weapons will break like they once did before. Players can now keep this from happening longer with a new ability called “Fuse.” This means you can grab weapons and add random things to them to make them last longer or act differently. The gameplay shows off things like attaching rocks to sticks that cause them to be much more powerful than if you had just used a regular stick. Aonuma let players know some enemies have this ability as well, so keep an eye out for anyone with sticks and stones that will break your bones when they are taped together. 

FUUUU-SION, HA!

Aonuma showed off the ability to add picked-up items to the bow like the Keese eyeballs to make arrows into homing arrows. He also showed off adding a Puffshroom to a shield that can cause a smokescreen to appear when attacked by enemies to give Link an advantage. This will let players experiment in many, many ways to create the ultimate mixture of weapons.

Some gamers already have some ideas:

Ultrahand

An offshoot of Fuse, “Ultrahand” is something that was greatly hinted at during the last trailers with the different flying vehicles Link was riding. Turns out they are all created by fusing pieces of the world together in the shape of something rideable. Gamers were already doing this sort of thing by adding stuff to rafts to make them flyable, so it seems Nintendo took inspiration from that.

via Nintendo

Aonuma showed off this ability by making a raft with 3 logs and then turning it into more of a propelled boat with other pieces. He also teased that the player can make anything they are able to come up with at any point of the game that their upgrades allowed for.

I can already see the possibilities:

Ascend

This power is a very interesting one in that it lets Link jump up to a roof and come out the other side. “Ascend” will be incredibly useful for getting around the world as well as letting you leave areas you feel stuck in. It cannot be used to go through walls and can be used to solve puzzles like getting stuck in a cage. 

via Nintendo

I can also see it being a great asset to get out of particularly hot areas, like say a couch in a Christmas party:

Recall

Last, but not least is “Recall.” Recall is a move that lets you rewind things back to where they were before. This is incredibly useful if you are trying to do a traversal trick or puzzle that you dropped something crucial to succeed. 

via Nintendo

It’s a lot like having the Infinity Time Stone from Dr. Strange in a Nintendo game to help you defeat evil or at least reach areas.

REVERSE!

My favorite thing in the trailer is absolutely Fuse and Ultrahand. The possibilities are endless and with an open world, this is going to make for a very fun time.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases on Nintendo Switch on May 12th

“Hya hyaa HYAAAA!” – Link

Author: Spider-Mike

Spider-Mike is a staff writer who is a regular co-host on the let's play channel Rage Select and regular contributor to One of US.net for over 5 years. Born in Austin, but raised on the border of Texas and Mexico. He has been gaming since the NES and jokes that he has a Masters in Spider-Man, Superman, and Dragon Ball.