The final trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally gave us a proper look at the King of Evil: Ganondorf.
The three-minute look at the Breath of the Wild sequel was packed with new enemies, bosses, returning characters, and hints at some of the changes Hyrule has undergone in the time since the original.
While he hasn’t been named yet, the character we can only assume is Ganondorf shows up in this trailer. There’s also a character with flowing red hair that stares directly into a blood moon early on in the trailer, but this character bears closer resemblance to Skyward Sword’s Demise rather than Ganondorf.
The trailer also teased a mysterious new character with dark skin and long white hair. We don’t know who this is yet, but their facial expression was very sinister.
Nintendo also teased Zelda’s role in Tears of the Kingdom, but is still leaving most of it a mystery. We see Hyrule’s princess speaking with an unnamed character who appears to be Zonai in origin. Zelda is sporting her new haircut as well as some new jewelery.
The final trailer began in the sky, keeping in line with much of Tears of the Kingdom’s marketing so far. We saw some establishing shots of the Sky Islands before seeing Link skydive onto the land of Hyrule below. Very quickly, we see Link running through Hateno Village, a returning location from Breath of the Wild that was previously host to the Ancient Tech Lab.
Interestingly, the trailer then cuts to a shot of the fountain just outside of Hyrule Castle. There’s a settlement of new tents here, indicating that the rebuild effort mentioned at the end of Breath of the Wild is in full swing.
It also seems like Hyrule citizens are going to take matters into their own hands in Tears of the Kingdom. There are multiple shots of villagers taking arms against waves of Moblins, and scenes showing returning characters like Sidon fighting alongside Link. There’s also a new Rito character seen gliding alongside Link, and at one point Link is towing a cart of people on horseback.
Next, we see some sort of structure rising from the sand in the Gerudo area of the map. It’s still too early to call for sure, but this could be the classic dungeon many Zelda fans have been hoping for.
While the prerelease marketing has been heavily focused on the sky, this trailer took things underground. There are multiple gameplay sequences where it looks like Link is below the surface of Hyrule, including a minecart sequence where he’s seen fighting a Construct.
Other quick teases shown include a sailboat that’s flying in the air, a flying squirrel-looking outfit that appears to improve Link’s gliding ability, a large Construct emerging from a wall, Link riding a small rocketship into the air, and more.
The last time we saw Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo pulled back the curtain on some of the sequel’s new gameplay mechanics. Series producer Eiji Aonuma showed off four of Link’s new abilities: Recall, Ascend, Ultrahand, and Fuse, which instantly had the internet talking. For a deeper dive on last month’s gameplay, check out ten things we noticed in the Tears of the Kingdom gameplay demonstration.
We’re officially less than a month away from the next mainline Zelda game. Tears of the Kingdom will be released on May 12, 2023, alongside a ton of Zelda-themed products. In addition to the game, Nintendo is releasing a special edition Switch OLED, Collector’s Edition, pro controller, case, and amiibo.
Developing…
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.