It’s finally here. The long-awaited Tears of Kingdom has finally dropped and like most of you, we were super excited to play it. Well, the game doesn’t disappoint and we truly had the time of our lives playing it.
With the surge of its popularity, the game has attracted a lot of new players and like with most games, getting into a game that you know nothing about can be overwhelming, especially considering the size of this game. This is where we come into the picture. Today, we will be assisting new players in navigating the game for the first time with some beginner tips and tricks.
So, without further delay, let’s begin!
Focus on Exploring
The entire kingdom of Hyrule is available for you to explore, take your time and do just that. Most new players will be tunnel-visioned into wanting to complete the mainline quests immediately. While that is fine, if you rush the game, you’ll miss out on a lot of things.
What we recommend is for players to fill out the map and explore areas and places that they have not ventured into. If you are lucky, you might actually find some hidden secrets, masked inside this open-world environment. Climb towers, and activate shrines, there are just so many things you can do in this game to make your experience that much better.
Remember, this is a single-player game. Time is in your hands, there’s no one rushing you so do play at the pace where you can enjoy the game to its fullest.
Prioritise Hearts More Than Stamina
One of the more important upgrades you can get in Tears of the Kingdom is pumping up either your Hearts of Stamina. Both are essential in their own way but for beginners, focusing your upgrades on Hearts is generally more valuable.
Assuming that players are not familiar with Action RPGs, this game can get pretty lethal during the latter parts of the game. This is where having that extra Hearts can come in handy. Stamina is important, sure, but in the grand scheme of things, they are very easy to replenish.
This cannot be said for Hearts though. Once they are all gone, you’ll bite the dust along with it. So, if you are not confident in your reflex or gaming ability, upgrading your Hearts is way safer and a better investment.
Shrines Are Extremely Useful
Shrines are like checkpoints in other games. In Tears of Kingdoms, they challenge the players with some form of puzzle but even activating it will give you the benefit of fast travelling there. It is extremely useful for mobility. Seriously, you don’t want to have to walk all the way back to the place you’ve visited before. It is not how game immersion work and we are glad they’ve added this quality-of-life element.
Hence wherever you can, be on the lookout for these Shrines, even better if these Shrines are near some vital locations that you need to travel to often. Do take note that you don’t need to finish the puzzle to unlock the fast-travel, simply activating them will do. It is a low-effort action that grants its players invaluable efficiency.
Get Yourself a Horse as Soon as You Can
One of the first places you should visit in Tears of the Kingdom is the New Serenne Stable. Located in the northern areas of Lookout Landing, this is the place where you get to obtain your horse which will make your travelling journey so much easier. Yes, walking on foot in Hyrule is just not feasible unless you have an extra couple of hundred hours to spare!
Here you will meet interesting characters that will assist you in getting the Stable Association membership, allowing you to traverse with a horse freely. Riding a horse is arguably the best alternative way to travel before you get your hands on building Zonai devices.
Tinker With The Settings
We already know that players and we ourselves will be spending countless hours on this game. It’s long and you would want to have the best settings catered to your personal preferences. Before starting your adventure, make sure to open the settings and ensure that all the controls and bindings are to your liking.
An underrated setting that tends to be forgotten is the Pro HUD setting. With this setting turned on, the game’s HUD factors will be gone and you will then have the entire screen for your eyes. Tears of the Kingdom is a very visual-pleasing game so, having a distracting HUD in the way can be annoying for those who want to be transported into Hyrule completely.
Save, Save and Save
The common knowledge among gamers is to save before any huge event or boss fight. Well, we suggest new players take it one step further by saving their game more than that. Barring any unexpected bugs and crashes, Tears of the Kingdom is an open-world game and anything can come at you at any given time.
Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt to save your game from time to time. Trust us, we have experienced ourselves where we get too cocky and unexpectedly perish because of it. Don’t make the same mistake as us and save whenever you can!
Final Thoughts
Well, looks like we’ve made it to the end of the guide. Let it be known that this game has a lot of content and there might be a lot of things yet to be mentioned. This guide is meant to let newer players have an easier time settling in. All in all, the best way to go about this game is to play everything through the naked eye.
And if you have not purchased this game yet, be sure to do so using our Nintendo eShop Gift Card here! For other video game needs, you can also visit our stores using the ‘SHOP NOW’ button below!
