Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for the opening hours of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a very open world game, with players able to do more or less anything they want in any order. This means what’s intended to be the game’s starting area can be completely skipped, though the oddness of this is noticed by Hyrule’s NPCs.
Once players float down from the sky islands at the beginning of the game, they’re very much pointed towards Lookout Landing, a simple base that not only kicks off the main quest and provides a place to gear up, but gives players access to a very important key item: the paraglider.
Skipping Lookout Landing therefore doesn’t make much sense for those looking to experience every part of Tears of the Kingdom and access one of its important traversal methods, but it’s an option nevertheless. That being said, the citizens of Hyrule will notice (and question) the decision to skip it.
“Hey, Link, you haven’t been to Lookout Landing yet, have you?” asks one Goron, pointed out by Reddit user BlackTecno. “They should be searching for Princess Zelda and investigating the Upheaval. It might be a good idea to go there. It’s just south of Hyrule Castle.”
That’s not the only unique dialogue either. “If you are planning on travelling to the other regions in your investigation, why don’t you visit Lookout Landing?” says a citizen of Gerudo Town. “Hmm? You aren’t familiar with Lookout Landing?”
The Zora people drop plenty of hints too. “That reminds me… Link, you have not yet visited Lookout Landing, correct?”
Needless to say (even though a lot of NPCs do), the Tears of the Kingdom developers really want players to visit Lookout Landing.
In our 10/10 review of the game, 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.”
And for help with everything Tears of the Kingdom, take a look at our Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough and Guide about making your way through Hyrule. In fact, you can start here:
16 Things to Do First in Tears of the Kingdom14 Things Tears of the Kingdom Doesn’t Tell YouHow to Uncover the Full TOTK MapHow to Expand Your Inventory in TOTKPSA: Your Old BOTW Save Unlocks Something Cool in TOTK
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.