The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, like Breath of the Wild before it, is a non-linear experience. The world of Hyrule is enormous, and outside of a quaint Quest Log, the game is packed with tons of small details and secrets that are never laid out for you. Discovering some of these for yourself is part of the adventure, but some can help during the early experiences you may find yourself in. This is a handy guide to some things Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t tell you or explain directly.
Related: Do You Need To Play BOTW Before Tears of the Kingdom?
Things Tears of the Kingdom Doesn’t Tell You
Tears of the Kingdom gives players a lot of free reign with very little handholding. Perhaps, too little at times. Many players are likely to find themselves happily running about Hyrule oblivious to quality-of-life features they may not know they can even do or unlock. Read on for some good tips to make your time in Hyrule a pleasant one.
You Can Take Selfies With Link
While Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t feature a traditional photo mode, you can use the Purah Pad to take selfies with Link. The Camera is one of the hidden powers you can earn, and it’s completely optional. While taking a selfie, you can use the right analog stick to pose and the ZL button to modify each pose. Speak to Robbie in Lookout Landing, and complete the Camera Work in the Depths quest to unlock the camera. You can also go to the options and enable the Pro HUD option. This will remove many UI elements and let you take clean screenshots.
Your Breath of the Wild Horses Are Back
Much to our surprise, when we first discovered a stable and completed the stable opening tutorials, you accessed your old horses into Tears of the Kingdom. Make sure you have a Breath of the Wild save file with your favorite horses, and when you play Tears of the Kingdom, they will be waiting for you to take them out into a new and improved Hyrule.
Fuse Is Your Friend
Fuse is one of the new abilities Link will learn very early on in the story and one of the best abilities any open-world game has seen in quite some time. Fuse is incredibly open for interpretation, but very little will be explained during the process. Here is a big tip for those players who want to fuse weapons and shields. The base shield or weapon’s durability and perks precede the attachment. For example, if you have the Hylian Shield, the most durable one in the game, and attach it to a standard wooden shield, it will break much easier. To prevent this, always use the better item as the base item to get the most bang for your buck.
Treasure Shines
Shrines have made a big return in Tears of the Kingdom, and you can find them across all three open-world environments. Most Shrines contain a hidden chest or two to discover inside, but they aren’t necessary to compete in each Shrine challenge. If you look at a Shrine on the map, it will have a small treasure chest symbol shown above to indicate that you have found every chest possible. If you beat a Shrine but don’t see the symbol, that location still has a chest you have yet to discover.
Link Hawk Pro Skater
Speaking of Fuse, Tears of the Kingdom allows Link to take his skateboarding efforts to new heights. If you come across a mine cart or a sled with wheels, attach them to a sturdy shield using Fuse. Then, follow the next steps to become a pro skater. Hold the shield out with ZL. Then jump with X. While in the air from the jump, press the parry button with A to have Link land on the shield. Since you use Fuse with a cart or a sled, you can grind on rails and easily cruise downhill.
Take advantage of some of these fun but hidden things to maximize your time in Hyrule and minimize the amount of cool stuff the game won’t tell you about in Tears of the Kingdom.
