Since Nintendo won’t show us anything significant about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom other than it’s scheduled release date next May, I’m going to talk about the issues I had with Breath of the Wild that I hope Nintendo addresses for it.

Recipe And Crafting System

Tears of the Kingdom is fertile ground for Nintendo to create a deep and rewarding crafting system. I want to be able to craft everything from swords, shields, armor, clothing, bows, arrows, bombs, food recipes, potions, etc.

Breath of the Wild really could’ve used a Monster Hunter-style recipe book to keep track of the food dishes you discover during the course of your adventure. Make discovering recipes and trying out new dishes a game unto itself. Don’t make the player have to memorize the recipe when they discover a dish they like. Let them experiment, and then reward them by saving their discoveries in a book or log of some sort.

Since breaking weapons will likely make its return into Tears of the Kingdom, can we please give Link the ability to craft his own weapons? And repair them? In Breath of the Wild, it was ridiculous having swords and bows lying around everywhere for Link to pick up and use that were constantly breaking. Give Link more control over his arsenal by giving him the ability to craft and repair. He shouldn’t be at the whim of whatever he happens to find lying around during his adventure.

In Breath of the Wild, Link can’t make his own weapons, he can’t repair his own weapons, and he can’t buy his own weapons. It’s never explained why in the story, you’re just expected to accept it. Not to mention, there wasn’t one blacksmith anywhere to be found in the whole game. So Link was at the mercy of whatever he happened to find in treasure chests or could pilfer off enemies.  Just like with the recipe system, make crafting a game unto itself.

Nintendo incorporated crafting into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it would work in a Zelda game as well. Give the player a real reason to be collecting resources in the world. In Breath of the Wild, there were lots of resources to collect, but not a lot of uses for them. The reward for defeating enemies was usually resources you could use to make potions and upgrade Link’s clothing and gear at the fairy fountains. However, neither of those played a big enough role in the game for it to feel significant. Give the player more uses for all the monster parts, mushrooms, fish, flowers, bugs, and minerals they’re constantly picking up.

Improved Melee Combat

Overall, the melee combat in Breath of the Wild was lackluster. Most of the counters that Wind Waker and Twilight Princess introduced were gone. The only counter Link had was a flurry attack, which was great, but became less great when your weapon broke right in the middle of the attack (which often happened) and was cut short.

Not only should Link be able to craft and repair his own weapons, but one of the attributes in weapon-crafting should be weapon strength. So if a weapon breaks in the middle of a fight, it’s the player’s fault. More player-control and customization of Link’s weaponry plus better melee counters should be prioritized in Tears of the Kingdom.

Also, let’s give Link his agility back. He’s not as agile in Breath of the Wild compared to past games in the series. Although Link can still sidestep, backflip, and lunge as in past Zelda games, his overall ability to move during combat was nerfed. His lunges, jumps, and flips didn’t seem to go as far. It felt like Nintendo couldn’t decide if they wanted the sword-fighting to be like past Zelda games or Monster Hunter, so they tried to do both. It felt bland. If Link is supposed to be a great swordsman like the story of the game tells us, the combat should reflect that. He needs to be agile and nimble and not so rooted to the ground.

Not So Much Rain

Overall, I love the weather system that Nintendo made for Breath of the Wild, but the amount of moisture that falls out of the sky in the game is absurd.

It’s constantly raining, and not just casual rain either. We’re talking full-blown thunderstorms complete with lightning strikes. If Link has any metal swords, shields, or armor equipped, he gets the full brunt of the lightning and takes massive damage. Hyrule’s weather can best be described as erratic and dangerous.

The biggest annoyance that comes from all the rain is that it hinders Link’s ability to traverse the countryside. Link can’t climb if there are any droplets falling down whatsoever. It’s maybe the most bizarre design decision I’ve ever encountered in a Nintendo game, and was a major cause of frustration, especially when Link’s ability to climb almost anything was such a significant part of the gameplay. It would be great if Tears of the Kingdom portrayed weather patterns that are a little more grounded and realistic. Having weather play a role in the gameplay is great, but do it in a way that doesn’t frustrate the player.

Framerate

Breath of the Wild ran at an unsteady 30 FPS at times. The game downright chugged when you went to the Kokiri Forest. However, the game wasn’t developed exclusively for the Switch and had to take into account the Wii U’s limitations, which won’t be the case with Tears of the Kingdom. Sixty FPS from Nintendo in a game of Tears of the Kingdom’s scale is probably unrealistic, but it would be nice to get a solid 30 FPS with no dips or drops.

If Nintendo were able to get Tears of the Kingdom running at 60 FPS, it would be miraculous, but a consistent 30 FPS is preferable to an inconsistent 60 FPS. Just no more slide shows like we got in Kokiri Forest. It’s jarring to say the least.

So let’s see what Nintendo does. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is less than eight months away. Let the countdown begin.