Mistakes You Do Not Want To Make In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

The emphasis on agency serves as one of the main appeals of "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" and its sequel, "Tears of the Kingdom." Players can progress through the titles in multiple ways, even ignoring the main questlines or rushing to face Ganondorf if they choose.

"When thinking of games in the past that we've worked on, where there was a puzzle to solve and only one answer, that's kind of the past way of developing games," series producer Eiji Aonuma explained to Game Informer. "Now, I'm happy that we've arrived at this method where we're giving people lots of options, and there are many answers to a single problem, and all of them can potentially be correct."

There may be many "correct" ways to approach any situation in "Tears of the Kingdom," but that doesn't mean all options confer the same advantages. Players can still make mistakes as they journey through Hyrule, resulting in unnecessary time sinks or missed opportunities. Many of these missteps may seem trivial on the surface but they can have a serious impact on a player's quality of life.

While exploring the surface, Depths, sky islands, and Shrines of Light, "Tears of the Kingdom" players will come across hundreds of wooden boxes. They should always split open these containers, as they often hide arrows within. Thanks to the new Fuse ability, arrows come in handy both in and out of combat, making it all too easy to run out at an inopportune moment.

Weapons might seem like the primary crate-busting tool, but using them in this manner will quickly wear down their durability. Rather than trading one resource for another, players should instead rely on Ultrahand for this task. Simply grab the box, lift it high into the air, and let go. The container will break once it hits the ground, unleashing its bounty in an explosion of wood almost as satisfying as finally cracking open a piñata at a birthday party. Players can also use Ultrahand to spot chests concealed in their surroundings easily, so it's an all-around great tool for acquiring helpful items.

Beyond expanding the original map, "Tears of the Kingdom" introduced a variety of new items and materials. The list includes Zonaite, a stone that players can mine from deposits scattered across Hyrule. While they have the option to sell zonaite for some quick cash, doing so will hamper their ability to upgrade their energy cell, the battery that powers their Zonai devices.

While it's certainly possible to complete the game without expanding the energy cell, it's not the most efficient tactic. Given how quickly the base battery depletes, players should consider the investment if they want to traverse the world more easily and get the most out of their Zonai vehicles.

To upgrade the energy cell, players need to collect energy wells, which they can get for 100 crystallized charges. Crystallized charges can only be obtained by exchanging large quantities of zonaite, so players would be better off saving all of the zonaite they find to put towards the lengthy process of fully upgrading their energy cell.

Because players have the freedom to basically do as they like in "Tears of the Kingdom," they may choose to ignore many of its core questlines. While certain individuals may have little interest in the game's narrative, instead preferring to simply take in all the sights, solve puzzles, or help out the locals, some of the central missions confer significant mechanical advantages.

Josha and Robbie both offer quests that players shouldn't skip. These characters first appear at Lookout Landing. Josha is the Head of Depths Research and will initiate two missions that lead to Link unlocking the Purah Pad's camera function and the Autobuild ability. 

Once the player finishes Josha's quests, Robbie shares that he wants to head to his Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. After fixing Robbie's hot air balloon, players can meet him at his workshop to unlock even more Purah Pad capabilities: Shrine Sensor, Sensor+, Hero's Path, and the travel medallion. These require completing a few tasks to obtain, but they make exploration, moving around the map, and finding shrines and specific resources much easier.