This article contains mild spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's mechanics and various elements of its story and dungeons.
An entrepreneuring gamer has managed to complete all four major temples in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom without the use of Link’s paraglider or most of the in-game map.
In an interview with Polygon, Chris Brune described how he made heavy use of zonite constructs to navigate the vast multi–tiered world of Hyrule, and complete the wind, water, fire, and lightning temple without one of the most important traversal tools in Link’s arsenal.
Unlike a lot of challenge runs, however, Brune actually came into the game with very little knowledge and powered through accidentally. Having ignored most marketing materials for Tears of the Kingdom, he was unsure if the paraglider was even in the game.
“After about an hour of putzing around the Temple of Time, I started to assume it wouldn’t,” explained Brune. “When I encountered the wing Zonai devices, I remember thinking to myself, ‘bold choice for Nintendo to replace the paraglider with this.’”
Brune managed to complete the lightning temple and around 30 shrines before stumbling across Impa at the first geoglyph site, who let slip that the paraglider was indeed obtainable in the game.
“After that, my fiancée asked me if I was going to get the paraglider, and I told her, 'I’ll get it once I run into something I can’t do.' Thus, the intentional section of the no paraglider run began in earnest.
“My friend and roommate, Odi, and I spent hours designing, tweaking, and testing different Zonai creations, especially when trying to access distant sky islands,” explained Brune. “The device I used the most was a wing device with a steering stick and two balloons on either side, each powered by flame emitters. The flame emitters/balloons would give height and, when the batteries ran out, the wing provided distance.”
Since Brune didn’t head to Lookout Landing to get the paraglider from Purah, he also didn’t unlock the ability to access the network of skyview towers, which are the only way to map Hyrule’s vast expanse.
Once he completed all four temples (including the wind one, which he said was a "nightmare"), Brune finally gave in, and headed over to Lookout Landing. “I begrudgingly got the paraglider, so I could access the camera (which is needed for certain quests). I’m still treating the playthrough as gliderless even if I know in my heart it’s not true”.
In our 10/10 review of the game, admittedly explored with a paraglider, IGN said: "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds."
Take a look at our Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough and Guide for more tips and tricks to help you make the most of your adventure through Hyrule. In fact, you can start right here:
- 16 Things to Do First in Tears of the Kingdom
- 14 Things Tears of the Kingdom Doesn't Tell You
- How to Uncover the Full TOTK Map
- How to Expand Your Inventory in TOTK
- PSA: Your Old BOTW Save Unlocks Something Cool in TOTK
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer