Eiji Aonuma gives best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tips after beating the game 20 times

Eiji Aonuma have given fans his best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tips after beating the game 20 times ahead of its launch, telling players to take detours and explore the game’s vast open world. 

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally upon us after a long six-year wait, and it seems to be well worth the patience. In Dexerto’s own 5/5 review, we praised its evolution on Breath of the Wild and the creativity its new systems afford. But before you jump into Hyrule again for yourself, producer for the game Eiji Aonuma has a few pieces of advice for the community. 

In a recent interview published by Nintendo, Aonuma, who had finished the game 20 times while developing and debugging it, gave one very important tip to players: Take a lot of detours. 

“I’ve played this game from start to finish about 20 times, and I can say that it’s more fun with detours,” he began. 

“When testing the game, I sometimes needed to rush ahead to clear the story, but later on, as I started to go off on side paths, I realized, it’s a whole different game!” he further explained. 

Tears of the Kingdom’s predecessor, Breath of the Wild, made heavy emphasis on its vast open world. As the game subtly led players to explore various parts of the map which weren’t part of the main story. 

In fact, Aonuma too got quite engrossed in its vast open world. “I even discovered something new the other day while shooting the gameplay demonstration video,” he said. 

“So, it may take some time, but as you take detours and try out whatever you can at the time, I think you’ll be able to enjoy the game in your own way. So don’t head straight for the ending!” Aonuma said of how players can get the most out of their time in Tears of the Kingdom. 

Even assuring players that they will never get bored in the game, saying, “I’ve cleared the game many times myself and never felt bored once. You have my word!”