Breath of the Wild was a thrilling continuation of Link and Zelda's story, and gamers can look forward to a sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, in 2023. Breath of the Wild was praised for its innovation of the open-world genre, and with the upcoming sequel, fans are eager to see whether Nintendo will be able to perform miracles again. Though Breath of the Wild is a critically acclaimed game, there are many areas where Tears of the Kingdom could improve, including the combat. One of the best ways to do this would be to take some lessons from Horizon Forbidden West and expand the elemental combat.
Guerrilla Games' Horizon franchise and The Legend of Zelda often find themselves compared, mostly because Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn were released around the same time. Though the two franchises march along their own paths, there is a lot they can learn from each other. If Tears of the Kingdom took a few notes from Horizon regarding combat, it would be a better game.
Horizon and its Elements
The world of Horizon is beautiful yet dangerous one. Following apocalyptic events that almost spell the end for life on Earth, human societies have been flattened, leaving nature to reclaim the planet once again. As players explore this wild world, they come across a host of different machines, which are deadly robots that live off biomass. Most of the machines feature designs based off dinosaurs and other reptiles. For example, the Slitherfang resembles a cobra while a Thunderjaw looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Aloy is much smaller and weaker than the machines she encounters, but she does have one advantage over them - her brains. Using various tools and weapons available in Horizon Forbidden West, she can formulate strategies to weaken he machines and eventually take them down. At first, most players will opt for embracing stealth to avoid head-on combat which can be very difficult. Players will also rely heavily on regular arrows to slowly chip away at machines by knocking off their components. However, to really dominate the machines, it is essential to understand elemental attacks and how to use them advantageously.
Different machines have different elemental strengths and weaknesses. Using weapons that target a machine's weakness can be the difference between a battle finished quickly and one which has Aloy fighting for her life. For players looking for an added advantage, it is worth noting that certain components on machines have specific weaknesses. For example, hitting a machine's Blaze Cannister with a flaming arrow can trigger a spectacular chain reaction.
When it comes to elemental weapons, Aloy has an impressive large variety to choose from. There is the traditional bow and arrow, but she can also use slingshots as well as ingenious weapons such as the Gauntlet Shredders, Spike Throwers, and Boltblasters, to name a few. She can also lay down elemental traps and tripwire to trick unsuspecting machines. In addition to keeping an eye out for enemy weaknesses, it is also a good idea to focus on what elemental attacks different machines use. To protect herself, Aloy can throw on various outfits to protect herself against whatever may be thrown her way. By selecting the right outfit, players can prevent Aloy from getting scorched or frozen, allowing her to keep on fighting.
Understanding elemental attacks is important because they also come with status effects. If machines are hit with enough fire arrows, they will catch alight and lose health while they are burning. Machines that are hit with too many frosty arrows will freeze, making them brittle and vulnerable to attacks, while shock arrows temporarily paralyzes some machines. There are a total of six elements in Horizon Forbidden West - purgewater, fire, frost, shock, acid, and plasma - and understanding their effects is the key to outsmarting all foes.
What Tears of the Kingdom Can Learn From Horizon
Like Horizon, Breath of the Wild features various elements that affect both Link and the monsters he encounters. There are three main elements - fire, ice, and lightning - and they are incorporated into Link's various weapons. These elements also come with their own status effects, allowing players to, for example, freeze foes with an ice arrow. These effects can also be felt by Link. When he is struck by lightning, for example, he is temporarily paralyzed, and he may drop his weapon.
As one might expect, Link can use elemental weapons to target enemy weaknesses. For example, ice enemies such as the Ice Keese are best handled with fire weapons. However, with only three elements to toy around with, there is not much complexity to the system. Tears of the Kingdom could improve on this by adding more elements, which would also increase the range of elemental weapons players would have access to. Having more elements would also be useful for giving lightning a weakness, making the game feel more balanced.
Tears of the Kingdom could also take some inspiration from Horizon and feature monsters that have different parts that are weak to different elements. As seen in trailers, the Bokoblins of Tears of the Kingdom will have longer horns, and it would be a treat for skilled players if they were rewarded for knocking them off with the correct elemental arrow. Although link doesn't have a focus to scan enemies, his Shiekah Slate has a scope which could serve the same purpose. Though it is known whether the gadget will make a return in Breath of the Wild's sequel, whatever tool replaces it could perform the same job.
Trailers have shown that the upcoming game will take players to the skies of Hyrule, and that the malevolent Malice will make a return. A new kind of green magic is also present, and it is just one of many mysteries awaiting players. Though gamers may have their wishlist for Tears of the Kingdom, they can rest assured that Nintendo likely has another great adventure in store.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is scheduled to release on May 12, 2023, on Nintendo Switch.