The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – A New Adventure

Prior the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom earlier this year, our heads were full of theories about where Link’s latest adventure would fit on the much-discussed timeline. We knew that it would be taking place directly after Breath of the Wild, but where does that put it compared to, say, Ocarina of Time or A Link to the Past?

As it turns out, TOTK did not provide any kind of conclusive answer to this question. There are references to other games dotted about this version of Hyrule, but nothing concrete. Perhaps the game’s producer and director, Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi would be able to shed some light on the series’ chronology, we thought. We were wrong.

In a recent interview with Game Informer, the two legends of the Zelda series were asked about how the development team works with timeline questions during the game’s early stages. While neither was able to say, specifically, where TOTK slotted into things, Fujibayashi did have an interesting comment to make about how much of a consideration the Zelda timeline actually is to those working on its development. The answer? Not that much, it seems:

we realized that fans have a great time theorizing and enjoy thinking about where things fit on the timeline. That’s something that the development team recognizes and it considers, but to an extent. And I say, “to an extent” because if we get too into the weeds or too detailed in that placement, it results in kind of creating restraints for our creativity; the process of creating new ideas becomes restricted because we’re so tied up and trying to make this fit into a very specific spot in the timeline. We do consider it, but not to an extent where we feel that our development process feels restricted or constrained.

All in all, we’d say that this is fair enough. Very few games in the Zelda series string naturally from one to another, and any attempt to force a new entry into a pre-existing gap could mean that we players would miss out on some sweet game design — if TOTK was built to come before a certain title, then additions like Ultrahand or Ascend would stand out as breaking the chronology.

One of the few things that seems clear about the timeline (at least, as clear as the Zelda timeline can ever be), is that Skyward Sword comes first. The game shows the creation of Hyrule as we know it, Demise’s curse, the reincarnation cycle, but where do TOTK’s flashbacks come into all this? Are the Zonai before or after the events of the game that we have long considered to be “the beginning”?

Game Informer asked Fujibayashi and Aonuma this very question too, and the former game a typically cryptic response that leaves it up to us, the players:

Obviously, there’s something a little bit clearer in our minds, but of course, it could be that we’re wrong as well! [Laughs] I kind of want to pose the idea that, like in real-life history, you define by the artifacts and by the data that you currently have. So within what we have, there might be a correct answer, but it could be a different answer. So, I guess my answer would be that it could be both. Both could be correct.

As nice as it is to be given free rein on these kinds of theories, we really would like to know the order of events as Fujibayashi sees them. Sure, they may well be “wrong as well,” but it would be interesting, right?

The interview also covers topics such as the pair’s prior collaborations, talk of Ocarina of Time’s 25th anniversary and the team’s reluctance to one day give Tears of the Kingdom a sequel. Be sure to check it out in full on Game Informer, for all of this Zelda talk.