Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s final trailer is absolutely packed

Companions, villagers, and the return of a king

Nintendo aired the final pre-launch trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom today, and it was quite a doozy. From more story context and mechanical teases to the confirmation of a longtime series villain, there’s a lot to unpack.

While the general story set-up still feels a little unclear, we do know one thing for sure: Ganondorf is back. The king of the Gerudo appears a few times in today’s trailer, and also seems to be speaking over the trailer at a few points. Zelda also looks to be lost, in some way; we catch a glimpse of Link failing to catch and save her, and then again, her calling for Link to come find her.

Even further, we see Hyrule alive in a pretty spectacular way. Not only are there towns popping up in the ruins of the land, but we see villagers fighting enemies, and companions teaming up with Link. Heck yes, Sidon and Link can fight together!

The kingdom closes in

This is the third official trailer, and also the last one before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches next month. Compared to previous games, even its predecessor Breath of the Wild, it’s felt like we haven’t seen a ton about this entry. Then again, that’s mostly been working, in my opinion.

The recent gameplay showcase did spotlight Link’s new abilities, seemingly linked to his arm. Today’s showcase went even further in though, showing all the wild ways in which they can be used. Cars and flying machines are one thing, but in the trailer today we see Link carting around villagers with a horse-drawn carriage and fighting a walking bokoblin fortress.

Add in a bunch of wild machinery and possible Zonai influence, and I feel like I’ve got even more questions now. All in all, a pretty solid video to pick apart in the last month leading up to Tears of the Kingdom‘s launch on May 12.

Eric Van Allen

Senior News Reporter