Best Zelda Games to Play Before Tears of the Kingdom

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyrward Sword

Breath of the Wild's long-awaited sequel The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is almost here, but there's still plenty of time to brush up on lore before then. While each generation of Zelda games can stand on their own, Breath of the Wild has a lot of callbacks for those who have played through previous titles. Tears of the Kingdom will be no different if its trailers are anything to go by, but there are a handful of previous adventures that seem to be the most important.

While playing Breath of the Wild should go without saying, the best way to start a story is going back to the beginning. As revealed in the Hyrule Historia, Skyward Sword is the first game in the timeline, detailing the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, her Chosen Hero, and the demon they are locked in eternal combat with: Demise. While Demise would later become Ganondorf, his power only seems to have grown with each reincarnation, and Tears of the Kingdom looks like a culmination of this growth.

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How Older Zelda Games Influence Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword Box Art

With the recent release of Skyward Sword HD, some players have speculated that another important character might make a return - the spirit of the Master Sword itself, Fi. Whether Fi makes an appearance or not, seeing malice corrupt the Blade of Evil's Bane will be all the more impactful knowing about the spirit that once inhabited it. From the Master Sword to the ruins in the sky, it's clear that Tears of the Kingdom draws a lot of inspiration from Skyward Sword.

The next game to consider would be Twilight Princess. While players could run around with Wolf Link in Breath of the Wild if they had the correct amiibo, Twilight Princess offers more than simple cameos. Locations from Twilight Princess feature heavily in Breath of the Wild; from the iconic Bridge of Hylia to Arbiter's Grounds buried beneath the sands in the Gerudo Desert. The extinct Zonai tribe played a subtle but important role in Breath of the Wild, and it has long been theorized that there is a connection with the mysterious Dark Interlopers from Twilight Princess.

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Twilight Princess' Connection to the Zonai

Zelda Twilight Princess Zant

While the Dark Interlopers would become the Twili after they were banished from Hyrule, there are also parallels to Zonai stories, magic, and iconography. Zonai iconography is found all over the floating structures in the Tears of the Kingdom trailers, with the structures themselves being reminiscent of floating islands in the Twilight Realm. It's currently unknown why Hyrule Castle is raised from the ground, or how islands above Hyrule suddenly appear, but alternate realms feature heavily in the Zelda series.

Tears and alternate dimensions have been a consistent theme since Twilight Princess. Link had to collect Tears of Light scattered about a Twilight-infested Hyrule to renew its guardian spirits, and this feature carried over into Skyward Sword, where Link had to collect Sacred Tears in the Silent Realm as a test by the goddesses. This concept will likely play an important role in Tears of the Kingdom, judging by name alone.

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The Seven Sages of The Legend of Zelda

The Seven Sages gathered in Ocarina of Time

Another recurring theme throughout the Zelda series is the seven sages. They made their first appearance in A Link to the Past and in the second trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, a mysterious glowing woman in an ornate robe appears and offers her hand to Link. While it is speculated that this character could be anyone from Zelda to Hylia herself, a recent leak from the Tears of the Kingdom art book shows a brand-new character in a similar outfit. They are reminiscent of the maidens in A Link to the Past, descendants of the sages, who use their powers to seal Ganon (the seventh being Zelda herself).

The next game to consider would be Ocarina of Time, as many of its themes are echoed in Breath of the Wild in a way that builds up to Tears of the Kingdom. The Shiekah were introduced in Ocarina of Time, though its story implies they existed long before the events of the game in a way that gets reflected through Skyward Sword. As devoted protectors of the royal family of Hyrule, this secretive race has done horrible things in the name of their oath. The consequences of their actions play a major role in Breath of the Wild through the corrupted Guardians and a rebel offshoot - the Yiga clan. Even in Ocarina of Time, Link can travel to the bottom of a well that doubles as a literal dungeon.

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Where Ocarina of Time Fits In

Young Link pulls out the Master Sword from its resting place in the Temple of Time

Ocarina if Time is also where Ganon's connection to the Gerudo begins. The Gerudo are a race of warrior-women who only have a male born to them every 100 years, so they instead choose to take husbands of other races. Prior to the events of Ocarina of Time, the demon king Demise was reincarnated as Ganon. As is tradition, Ganon became their king, and the Gerudo race has suffered ever since. This leaves many questions open for Ganon's return in Tears of the Kingdom - whether the Gerudo will split as a faction and choose to follow their undead leader, or finally take a stand against the monster.

From everything seen thus far, Tears of the Kingdom promises to be an ambitious game that ties together stories that came before. These theories, mechanics, and story beats only scratch the surface of connections between games, and more will undoubtedly be uncovered after release. While players can look forward to the game without having played previous entries, Tears of the Kingdom offers much more to those who have been long-time fans.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will release on May 12, 2023, for Nintendo Switch.

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