Further developing a certain Armor set from the Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom could lead to an incredible feature in the next Zelda game.
SUMMARY
TOTK's armor sets offer new ways to explore and fight in Hyrule, supporting different playstyles and helping Link face various situations.
The Glide Armor in TOTK could serve as the basis for a wingsuit in future Zelda games, allowing for improved mobility and true flight.
The potential for a wingsuit in a new Zelda game is significant, as other games have shown the appeal of flying and the mechanics can be implemented through technology or magic.
Among the plentiful armor sets in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, one offers a glimpse at what features the next Zelda game could include. Between their base effects and the bonuses unlocked through upgrades, TOTK’s armor sets enable new ways to explore and fight in Hyrule.
By extension, it is clear that expanding on this functionality even further could have an incredible effect on the gameplay of the next title. There are close to forty complete sets of armor in TOTK, and plenty of single-piece items as well. These offer an immense variety of options when playing, supporting a wide variety of playstyles and enabling Link to face many different situations with ease.
Naturally, these effects can be mixed and matched, to the point that combining TOTK’s armor with cooking and potions is generally the key to survival in Hyrule. A large part of this is due to the fact that the environment can be just as big a threat as any monster, something which necessitates careful planning throughout Link’s journey.
TOTK’s Glide Armor Could Lead To A True Wingsuit For Link
In some cases, however, the sheer utility of an armor set can not only offer countless possibilities within the game itself, but also shows what future Zelda titles could build upon. The Glide armor is invaluable in exploring TOTK’s Sky Islands, but it could be so much more.
The Glide armor provides vastly improved mobility whilst diving through the air, effectively offering an alternative to the paraglider when great heights are involved. The Glide armor’s upgraded set bonus is also incredibly useful, negating all fall damage. But if a future title features the Sky once again, then the Glide armor could also become the basis for a full wingsuit.
Here's how to get the Glide suit in Tears of the Kingdom.
A wingsuit, in this context, would allow for even greater horizontal mobility than the current Glide armor, to the point of allowing for true flight rather than the Glide armor’s tendency towards a mostly downward trajectory.
In addition, it would be possible to extend the maximum travel range of such armor even further; it would be simple to allow players to both catch propelling gusts of wind and swoop in order to regain altitude. This would create a fresh experience that is very different from that of the more mechanical Zonai Devices, which offer a few methods of achieving flight themselves.
Whether or not the next Zelda title is a true sequel to TOTK, if continues the open-world design of the most recent games, then mobility will obviously be a key part of gameplay.
By extension, the way that Link travels throughout the world will obviously be of great interest, especially as this has formed the focal point of several past games; for example, the sailing featured in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. Giving Link the ability to fly under his own power would be a particularly excellent way to build upon TOTK, especially if either the Sky Islands make their return or even a new airborne environment is introduced.
A Wingsuit Has Great Potential In The Legend Of Zelda
The potential for a wingsuit in a new Zelda game is hard to understate, especially as other games have already proven the feature’s viability. Most recently, some people are ignoring the Fast Travel feature in Spider-Man 2 in favor of slower travel options like the new Web Wings, purely because they wish to enjoy the experience of moving around New York City.
For many, the convenience of Fast Travel is simply not as appealing as swinging and flying across the city. Moreover, this reaction to the general mechanic is far from unique; the wingsuit that appears in Just Cause 3 is another incredible example that has enjoyed plenty of praise.
There are many ways that a wingsuit could be implemented in the world of The Legend of Zelda, but the most obvious is to have it utilize Sheikah or Zonai technology, or even a mixture of both.
This would maintain continuity with BOTW and TOTK, something especially likely if the game is a sequel, but otherwise this would still utilize the incredible amount of world-building that the last two Zelda games have introduced to the series.
Of course, it is equally possible for Link to achieve flight through some entirely new method, most likely involving some degree of magic.
On the other hand, rather than a technological wingsuit, it is also worth keeping in mind that magic is also an important part of Hyrule. It could easily become relevant that Link is associated with the Courage aspect of the Triforce, and by extension the goddess Farore. Farore herself is commonly connected to a variety of concepts, the most notable in this case being wind.
If the Golden Goddesses return to prominence in future titles, then a blessing from Farore could also easily see Link taking to the skies. Similarly, a more minor spirit could lend him its power, such as the Fairy of Winds empowering Twilight Princess’ Gale Boomerang.
A True Flight Mechanic Has Precedent In The Legend Of Zelda
Of course, by far the most memorable way in which Link has interacted with the sky, at least before Tears of the Kingdom, is by riding his Loftwing in Skyward Sword. Although the enormous birds appear to have gone extinct long before Tears of the Kingdom, the flight mechanics that the series introduced with them could easily be used as the basis for a new wingsuit.
Of course, there are also many ways in which these mechanics can be improved, such as the inclusion of new combat options or special aerial maneuvers.
Having a wingsuit in the next Zelda game would open up the Sky to smooth and easy exploration, something that is more appealing than ever given the current incarnation’s vastly expanded scale compared to that of Skyward Sword. Such a feature would have been a welcome addition to TOTK if it had been given DLC, but in such content’s absence it only makes sense to look forward to how the game could influence the next title.
In that respect, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has much to offer the wider series, but the immense potential of the Glide armor is certainly one of the most notable concepts.
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