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A fresh Tears of the Kingdom playthrough feels different when you change the rules, not just the route. Pick a new priority—such as exploring the Depths first, progressing through shrines, or solving problems with one ability—and Hyrule’s surface, sky islands, and underground become a different kind of journey.
Choose a new way to explore Hyrule
The game spans three connected layers: the surface, floating sky islands, and the Depths. Nintendo describes the experience as exploring “the land, sky, and depths of Hyrule like never before” (Nintendo’s game overview). A replay can make one layer your priority instead of treating all three as places to visit along the usual route.
1. Make the sky your first expedition
Spend your early exploration time on sky islands and aerial routes, leaving most surface sightseeing for later. Look for ways to travel between islands and use Recall to ride certain fallen objects back upward. Nintendo’s overview highlights the “mysterious islands floating in the vast skies above.”
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Make chasms, underground routes, and Lightroots your main map. Return to the surface when you need supplies or reach a story requirement, then head back below. This flips the usual sense of the map: the Depths become the place you are charting, rather than an occasional detour.
#1 Best Overall
- Enhanced performance and visuals exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2.
- Explore the skies, caves, and vast lands of Hyrule in a massive open-world adventure.
- Wield new and returning abilities to craft solutions, vehicles, and weapons.
- Discover the mystery behind the spreading gloom threatening the kingdom.
- Use the ZELDA NOTES app to share, compare, and earn daily bonuses.
3. Swap your regional order
Choose a different sequence of regions from your first run and finish each region’s local objectives before moving on. Because the game supports a player-directed path, changing the order changes which landscapes, challenges, and story beats shape the early adventure.
4. Take a no-fast-travel pilgrimage
Travel on foot, horseback, glider, or vehicles you build, and use towers and shrines as landmarks rather than teleport points. The restriction makes routes part of the challenge: a trip across Hyrule may involve planning for terrain and deciding when a vehicle is worth building.
Change how you progress
5. Let shrines set the pace
Make shrines your main progression loop and delay major story objectives when the game allows it. Nintendo describes the scattered shrines as challenges or puzzles; treating them as destinations gives exploration a clear purpose without making the main story your only measure of progress.
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6. Turn regional quests into milestones
For each region you visit, complete its local objectives before moving to the next one. This pairs well with a swapped regional order: instead of racing through the map, you make each area feel like a self-contained chapter of the replay.
7. Build a collection goal into the run
Pick a collection or exploration target and use it to decide where to travel next. Keep the goal optional rather than letting it become a checklist that crowds out the main adventure; its purpose is to give your detours a theme.
Rank #2
![The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51PuJ83o9KL._SL160_.jpg)
- Ultrahand: Using the new Ultrahand ability, Link can pick up, move, and rotate almost any object, and can even attach objects together to create bridges, vehicles, and more!
- Fuse: Magically fuse almost any object to Link’s current weapon, shield, or arrow to increase durability, damage, or even add a new effect. Experiment with lots of different combinations to come up with surprising—and sometimes hilarious—results!
- Ascend: Add a new dimension to your exploration with Ascend, which gives Link the ability to pass through solid objects above him. Rise up through ceilings, hillsides, and even certain enemies to create seemingly impossible shortcuts.
- Recall: Use Recall to make objects in motion move backward through time, letting Link ride fallen boulders skyward, recover thrown weapons, or send projectiles back where they came from.
Set rules for abilities, weapons, and building
Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend, and Recall offer different ways to approach obstacles. Nintendo describes the abilities as tools for making weapons and creative ways to travel, so a self-imposed limit can change how familiar situations play out.
8. Make one ability your signature tool
Choose Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend, or Recall and use it as your defining ability. Avoid solving a problem with the other abilities when a fair alternative exists. The point is not to make every obstacle impossible; it is to see how often your chosen tool can provide a workable answer.
9. Use a themed Fuse loadout
Set a fusion palette before you start—elemental materials, monster parts, or utility objects, for example—and fuse only within that theme. A consistent rule gives your weapons a recognizable identity and makes you think about which materials fit your approach.
10. Take on an Ultrahand engineering brief
Before building, set a specific design brief: make a cheap land vehicle, a stable flyer, or a rescue platform. Judge each machine by whether it meets the brief, not by whether it is elaborate. Nintendo’s guide covers Ultrahand construction and Autobuild’s ability to recreate structures previously made with Ultrahand.
11. Make Autobuild designs your only blueprints
After you obtain Autobuild, allow yourself to use only designs you have saved or discovered with it. Each new design becomes a milestone: you can recreate a known solution, but you cannot freely invent a fresh build for every situation.
Rank #3
12. Use Recall to shape your routes
Whenever it is practical, use fallen objects and Recall to gain height or recover a route instead of relying on ordinary climbing. Nintendo describes Recall as moving objects backward through time. This turns the ability into a mobility rule rather than a tool you use only when a puzzle calls for it.
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Give resources and amiibo a role
Make monster-part crafting your preparation loop
Use monster parts as the core of your preparation: fuse them to weapons and use them in elixirs, while selling or ignoring stockpiled alternatives if you want the rule to matter. Nintendo documents both uses for monster parts. This is a resource constraint, not a guarantee that every encounter will suit the same loadout.
Add an optional amiibo collection ritual
After unlocking the amiibo rune, scan a compatible amiibo as a daily collection ritual. Treat any rewards as optional bonuses, not required equipment or progression. Nintendo confirms compatible amiibo can be scanned after the rune is unlocked.
Pick a combination that suits your replay
You do not need to combine all twelve ideas. Choose one rule from each category that sounds fun, then leave the rest of the game flexible.
| If you want… | Try… |
|---|---|
| A different map experience | Sky-first, Depths-first, or no-fast-travel exploration |
| More deliberate progression | Shrine-only advancement or completing regional objectives before moving on |
| More problem-solving constraints | One-ability play, a themed Fuse palette, or a construction brief |
| A reason to revisit crafting | Monster-part fusions and elixirs as your main preparation loop |
| A light collection habit | Amiibo scans after unlocking the rune, with rewards kept optional |
For a cohesive run, pair one exploration rule with one tool or resource rule—for example, a Depths-first expedition with a monster-part crafting theme. If a restriction stops being fun or makes an objective impractical, adjust it; the aim is to change your priorities, not turn the adventure into busywork.
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