It was no surprise that Nintendo waited until the end of their February 8th “Direct” to drop a new trailer for the next The Legend of Zelda instalment.

_{headline image courtesy of Nintendo}

While the fact that the new Zelda title will be the first game from Nintendo sprout a hefty $70 price tag was hidden under a 40-minute slog through some titles that most really did not care about nor did they live up to any hype, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom trailer saved us from falling asleep directly after the… Direct. With pre-orders now open as well as a snazzy Collectors Edition, the new title does everything we expect from a game – but the new trailer we got today was way more than us Zelda fans expected.

Although it was revealed back in June 2019, Nintendo have kept us in the dark about what we would come to expect from the long-awaited sequel to Breath of the Wild. Most of what we have seen has been related to a few time-powers, a heavy focus on the aerial aspects, and some hints towards Link’s arm – although we’re not really sure of that just yet. Today’s brand-new trailer showed us what looked like a zombie-version of Ganondorf (of earlier Zelda games), plus a few new vehicles for Link, as well as a chilling closing sequence between Link and Zelda.

We still have a long three month wait until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is released, but it seems as though we could be building up to an excellent game which could rival its predecessor – if Nintendo have decided to listen to its audience. The game will release on May 12, 2023, and it is highly unlikely that we will get any more information on it before then, but we are hoping to see a return to dungeons.

A few other honourable mentions from the Nintendo Direct include Octopath Traveller 2, Pikmin 4, and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land – while Mario Kart lovers can rejoice at a Double Dash favourite, Birdo, finally making its way into the current game. You can rewatch the February 8 Nintendo Direct below if you missed anything (skip to 30-minutes to avoid the needlessly long introduction).

A Nintendo Direct brings a brand-new trailer for Tears of the Kingdom