Zelda Fans Can't Help Clowning On 'Depressing' Tears Of The Kingdom Ad

Nintendo hasn't been shy about rolling out the red carpet for "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" in the weeks leading up to its release. Gameplay trailers, story trailers, and marketing shorts have revealed a lot about the new "Zelda" game, but what about the people who play it? Perhaps that's why just a few days before release Nintendo released a trailer that focused on the game's ability to inspire wonder in its players. The new short, titled "Rediscover Your Sense Of Adventure With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," highlights a middle-aged man's experience with the game.

The short is obviously intended to inspire emotion in the viewer, many of whom might relate to the subject's love for all things "Zelda" as a form of escapism from a humdrum life. But despite this, a lot of fans are instead laughing at how dark and depressing the ad portrays this poor man's life. It's a real curveball of an ad, especially when other recent trailers hyping fans up for "Tears of the Kingdom" had a completely opposite – and much more positive – atmosphere.

Though a number of fans have said they liked the ad for its focus on how it makes players feel, most shared the sentiment that it's one of the most hilariously sad gaming ads ever made. One user even went as far as to say that the man was "barely hanging on to the last bit of hope in his life."

The ad begins, of course, with the Switch logo and snapping sound effect, then abruptly cuts to a middle-aged man taking his seat on a crowded bus. He sighs, and looks outside, expressionless, then we see him get home and sigh again. He appears to have gotten home late, as a woman comes up to him and wishes him goodnight. Then, we see the man pick up his Joycons and turn on "Tears of the Kingdom," when he smiles for the first time in the trailer – one can almost see tears well up in his eyes. He mumbles to himself over some gameplay footage, gets back on the bus the next day with his Switch in hand, and smiles at the passing clouds.

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[New Ad] Rediscover your sense of adventure with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
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One fan compared the slow, sigh-filled sequence to a Darren Aronofsky movie – like "Requiem For a Dream" or "The Whale" – and added that it was "one of the most devastating things I've ever seen." The depressing surroundings of the ad led one user to compare it to the home from "Parasite," where "Zelda" is apparently the only joy in his life. In a similar vein, another fan posted an edit of the trailer that simply added the Gary Jules version of Tears for Fears' song "Mad World," as made famous by the film "Donnie Darko."

I earnestly mean it when I say I cannot thank you enough for this. https://t.co/hK9KD4mHpS

— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) May 9, 2023

According to Kotaku Australia's Ruby Innes, an anonymous person who worked on the ad said that it was inspired by a real-life Japanese review of "Breath of the Wild." Innes says that after doing some detective work, they may have actually found that review. Read it and weep!