Video games rarely come out on the other side of development unscathed, as ideas that initially seemed plausible, doable, and intriguing end up being cut from the final version of the game. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one game that was unable to avoid the editing scissors, just as it is with any other game. Thankfully, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom turned out to be a massive success anyway, which speaks well of Nintendo’s decisions in the end.
Surprising as it may be, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ended up with several pieces of cut content before all was said and done. Some of this content is rather insignificant considering everything that did make it into the final game, but there are likely a few cut pieces that players might have wanted to see survive the cutting room floor. Included in the cut content for Tears of the Kingdom are additional cooking and armor effects, additional mountable horses that could be registered at a stable, unused items that are indicated by missing names and present icons, and unused rooms in Tears of the Kingdom‘s Hyrule.
Several Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Features Ended Up on the Cutting Room Floor
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Initially Had Additional Cooking and Armor Effects
One of the less significant portions of cut content for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom involves some additional cooking and armor effects that never made it into the final game. The two unused cooking effects, TwiceJump and EmergencyAvoid, currently exist in name only, with no indication left of what their effects entailed. However, it can be assumed that TwiceJump allowed Link to double-jump for a brief period, and perhaps EmergencyAvoid initially allowed Link to automatically evade a fatal blow while the effect was active.
An additional armor effect for Tears of the Kingdom also never made it into the final game, although it was present in Breath of the Wild. The effect, AncientResistance, was applied to Breath of the Wild‘s Ancient Armor set, which granted Link considerable damage resistance against Ancient weaponry. As Breath of the Wild‘s version of the Ancient Armor set is not present in Tears of the Kingdom, there is no reason for the effect to be implemented.
However, should players find and complete
all 152 shrines in
Tears of the Kingdom
, they will receive the Ancient Hero’s Aspect for their efforts, a single piece of armor that closely resembles the Ancient Armor set from
Breath of the Wild
.
Players Were Originally Allowed to Mount and Register Additional Horses in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Perhaps the most significant portion of content that never made it into the final cut of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is that players were originally allowed to mount and register additional horses in the game. Firstly, in its current format, players can mount a Stalhorse in Tears of the Kingdom but are unable to register it at a stable. This is unfortunate, considering Stalhorses allow players to ride over Gloom without being harmed by it, but it also might have made the Depths a bit too easy to navigate.
Additionally, the Lord of the Mountain was originally a mount that could also be registered at a stable before the whole idea ended up on the cutting room floor. It was possible for players to mount the Lord of the Mountain in Breath of the Wild, although they couldn’t register it. In Tears of the Kingdom, however, players can only summon the Lord of the Mountain by offering fruit at one of the Satori Trees scattered throughout Hyrule. It then appears in a cutscene but cannot be mounted.
Unused Icons and Names Suggest Some Items Never Made It Into Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Another portion of cut content simply comes in the form of unused icons and names that suggest some items never made it into Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s final build. Firstly, there is an unused Zonai Device Dispenser for Tears of the Kingdom that had a 20% chance to drop a Beam Emitter, a 20% chance to drop a Sled, a 30% chance to drop a Mirror, a 15% chance to drop a Fan, and a 15% chance to drop a Small Wheel. Secondly, a missing item called “Energy_Material_02” suggests there was originally a Medium Crystallized Charge that provided a charge between the Regular and Large Crystallized Charges.
…the Lord of the Mountain was originally a mount that could also be registered at a stable before the whole idea ended up on the cutting room floor.
An item called “Item_Ore_K” is missing from Tears of the Kingdom, but it’s unclear what it might have been. There is also an unused icon for Item_Ore_N depicting a bundle of green-and-gold ingots that resemble Zonai technology. Furthermore, given what is missing from the list, at least five of Tears of the Kingdom‘s Paraglider fabrics never made it into the final game, but it’s impossible to know what they were.
Several Rooms Went Unused in the Final Cut of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
There are several unused rooms that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom glitches and mods have granted players access to. At the top of Hyrule Castle’s main tower, players can glitch through a closed door to find an unused room. There’s also an unused room behind the Fashion Passion Shop in Gerudo Town in Tears of the Kingdom. Despite both of these rooms being unused in Tears of the Kingdom, however, they were both present in Breath of the Wild and have retained their original models in the sequel.
There’s also an unused cave in Tears of the Kingdom that was present and usable in Breath of the Wild. Players can find the cave near the Samasa Plain, out-of-bounds behind a rock wall. The cave was fully accessible in Breath of the Wild, although it had nothing in it. These unused areas in T ears of the Kingdom are clear evidence that Nintendo used Breath of the Wild‘s model of Hyrule and simply altered it to fit Tears of the Kingdom‘s narrative.
