The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas been confirmed to include amiibo support, which raises some concerns about the nature of the game and its features. Granted, several Nintendo games have features amiibo support in the past, andThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwon’t even be the firstZeldatitle to interact with amiibos. The concern comes from how they may affect the way the game rewards players and handles its bonuses. If the balance isn’t right, then the amiibos could easily be more of a hassle than an asset.
Amiibos are one of Nintendo’s more unusual offerings. Created to interact with certain games,amiibos have proven to be surprisingly valuable, with many becoming collectors items that can sell for the same price as a Switch game, if not more. They have offered different uses depending on the game. For example, inWarioWare Gold, they had the comedic feature of letting the player scan them so Wario would draw caricatures of them. For some games though, they would be far more integrated. The best example of this would probably be theSuper Smash Bros.amiibos, which allowed players to train a version of the depicted fighter.
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Tears Of The Kingdom’s amiibo Collectibles Are A Concern
Thus far, the main use that has been shown off for amiibos inTears of the Kingdomis a selection ofamiibo-exclusive paraglider designsthat are unlocked through scanning the respective Link amiibo. It’s a fairly minor detail, and some of the patterns are quite good, particularly the one that redesigns the glider to resemble Majora’s Mask from its titular game. However, there is also a concern that this could end up as the only way for players to get new gliders. If so, that could take a potentially fun mechanic and restrict it solely to those who have the proper amiibos.
It may sound like an unusual thing to fear, but pastZeldagames have hidden entire features behind amiibos before. For example,Skyward Sword’s Zelda & Loftwing amiibolet players transition from the sky and surface at will, greatly easing travel for them.Twilight Princess HDhad the Cave of Shadows, a dungeon that only Wolf Link could enter that players needed to scan the Wolf Link amiibo to access. EvenBreath of the Wildlet players spawn chests with rare items by using the appropriate amiibos. Generally, amiibos inZeldagames give users something very special that they likely couldn’t get otherwise.
Although the amiibo-exclusive gliders have been confirmed,Tears of the Kingdomcannot afford to abandon gameplay-based rewards in favor of paid bonuses. Earning extra content is satisfying, andNintendo’s main problem with amiibosis how they replace that element. From things such asOcarina of Time’s trading sidequest for the Biggoron Sword toWind Waker’s New Game Plus extras, the series is good at rewarding players for playing well and earning achievements. It adds to the adventurous charm of the games, and replacing these merit-based rewards with amiibos and DLC cheapens that. It’s not unfair for players to worry aboutTears of the Kingdom’s amiibos for that reason.
With any hope,Tears of the Kingdom’s amiibo additions will be minimal, or at the very least not take away from in-game rewards. While a couple of exclusives can be fun,Tears of the Kingdom’s collectiblesshould not be restricted to what extras the player owns rather than what they can earn via performance. Shifting too many of the game’s obtainable items to amiibos would leave little for the player to earn through playing the game itself, cheapening the experience to a degree. Even thoughTears of the Kingdomwill be locking some content behind amiibos, the developers need to show restraint in doing so.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwill be released on July 07, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch.
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