Unleash Your Inner Adventurer: Zelda's Tears of the Kingdom Takes Shield Surfing to Thrilling Heights

Highlights

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom offers players numerous methods to explore the world, from hot air balloons to unicycles.

Shield surfing is an exhilarating and multifunctional means of traversing the game, enabling Link to move swiftly and with added flair.

In Tears of the Kingdom, the experience of shield surfing has undergone significant enhancements compared to its earlier version in Breath of the Wild. These enhancements encompass exciting additions such as the ability to grind and deploy explosives for combat.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom offers players a wide range of options for exploring its vast world. From hot air balloons to unicycles, there is no shortage of ways for Link to discover all that Hyrule has to offer. While many of these contraptions may not be practical due to cost or usability, the true enjoyment of the game comes from creating something that could potentially work, with practicality being an added bonus.

One of the most enjoyable and versatile methods of practical navigation is also the simplest: shield surfing. This traversal technique, first introduced in Breath of the Wild and now improved in Tears of the Kingdom, involves nothing more than Link and his shield. It has proven to be one of the game's standout features.

Tears of the Kingdom Makes Shredding Through Hyrule So Much Fun

Skateboarding is not officially featured in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but the Fuse mechanic creates moments that give the game a skateboarding-like feel. This is because players can fuse shields and carts together, essentially creating an improvised skateboard that greatly increases the distance that can be traveled. This feature alone makes shield surfing much more viable than it was in Breath of the Wild, but the concept was taken further to make Link feel like a skilled skateboarder.

In addition to the ability to create skateboards, grinding is also a prominent element in skateboarding and skating games, and Link excels at it. Many rails scattered throughout Hyrule can be used for grinding, further enhancing the skateboarding vibe in shield surfing. Players have even been able to complete shrines in Tears of the Kingdom by grinding their way to victory, showcasing Link's exceptional skills in a more exciting and unconventional manner.

Beyond the fact that Hyrule can be used as a large skate park, shield-surfing is a thrilling activity even without this notable feature. Tears of the Kingdom has an interesting glitch that allows players to engage and cancel shield surfing, causing Link to soar if he has a rocket-equipped weapon. Although unintended, it provides a humorous way to quickly gain altitude without the need for a completely new vehicle.

In addition to its recreational use, shield-surfing can surprisingly be an effective combat tactic. Like other items in the game, explosive devices such as the highly useful bomb flower can be attached to a shield. When Link attempts to shield surf, the bomb detonates under his feet, resulting in an area of effect attack. An added advantage of this strategy is that it propels Link into the air, enabling him to inflict even more damage by using a bow to aim while in midair and slowing down time.

Shield surfing in Breath of the Wild offered a faster alternative to walking when traversing slopes and hills. However, Tears of the Kingdom takes this concept to another level. Witnessing Link embrace his inner skater near rails may seem unusual at first, but it adds another dimension to the game, allowing players to experiment and create their own unique skateboarding style. Moreover, shield surfing has evolved into a versatile technique with numerous practical applications, encouraging players to explore and experiment with the game's mechanics. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can now be enjoyed on the Nintendo Switch.