In the first scene we ever saw for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda falls down a hole while Link desperately tries to catch her. Sounds like she sure could use a hand, huh?
Well, she's apparently getting many, many hands, as producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi have said that "hands" are a major, major theme throughout Tears of the Kingdom.
In an interview published by Nintendo, Aonuma and Fujibayashi talk about how "hands" as a theme was introduced in part to distinguish Link in Tears of the Kingdom from any other Link, hence his strange, morphed right arm.
"Titles in the Legend of Zelda series intertwine all the elements of gameplay, mechanics, and story, and combine them all into a single game," Fujibayashi said. "For this title, we chose “hands” as the key theme to bring them all together. For example, abilities that Link uses to solve puzzles are all released from his hand and arm. We even included this symbolically in the game's mechanics, such as having scenes that use hands when opening special doors. This "hands" theme also crops up here and there as a key element as the story develops."
We've already seen this play out a little in preview and trailer footage, with Link's "Ultrahand" ability being used to combine objects in the world into vehicles and other useful apparati. But according to technical director Takuhiro Dohta, it goes farther than that.
It's a philosophical theme, too.
"The previous game was a relatively lonesome game, or rather an endurance game where you made full use of Link's body and strength alone to traverse the vast world. What's unique this time is joining hands and cooperating with various characters, and at times, creating items with Link's own hands and utilizing them as you progress."
Art director Satoru Takizawa noted that the hands theme is present in the visuals too, and sound director Hajime Wakai added that handclaps and other similar sounds are implemented in the game's music.
Aonuma then tied it all together: "hands" express the idea of "connecting," he says.
"This applies to the story too, which connects to Hyrule's past. It also talks about a major struggle called 'The Imprisoning War,' which until now was considered a myth even in Hyrule."
To which Fujibayashi added that, appropriately, the protagonist is called "Link."
We're sure to see even more instances of this theme visually, audibly, and thematically as we get closer to the launch of Tears of the Kingdom on Friday. We've been following all the latest Tears of the Kingdom news, including that preloading has already begun, changes to weapon durability, Koroks, and cooking. And our Wiki Guide will have you covered on launch day with all the tips and hints you need to get started.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.