The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been confirmed to include amiibo support, which raises some concerns about the nature of the game and its features. Granted, several Nintendo games have features amiibo support in the past, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won't even be the first Zelda title to interact with amiibos. The concern comes from how they may affect the way the game rewards players and handles its bonuses. If the balance isn't right, then the amiibos could easily be more of a hassle than an asset.
Amiibos are one of Nintendo's more unusual offerings. Created to interact with certain games, amiibos have proven to be surprisingly valuable, with many becoming collectors items that can sell for the same price as a Switch game, if not more. They have offered different uses depending on the game. For example, in WarioWare Gold, they had the comedic feature of letting the player scan them so Wario would draw caricatures of them. For some games though, they would be far more integrated. The best example of this would probably be the Super Smash Bros. Amiibos, which allowed players to train a version of the depicted fighter.
Tears Of The Kingdom's amiibo Collectibles Are A Concern
Thus far, the main use that has been shown off for amiibos in Tears of the Kingdom is a selection of amiibo-exclusive paraglider designs that are unlocked through scanning the respective Link amiibo. It's a fairly minor detail, and some of the patterns are quite good, particularly the one that redesigns the glider to resemble Majora's Mask from its titular game. However, there is also a concern that this could end up as the only way for players to get new gliders. If so, that could take a potentially fun mechanic and restrict it solely to those who have the proper amiibos.
It may sound like an unusual thing to fear, but past Zelda games have hidden entire features behind amiibos before. For example, Skyward Sword's Zelda & Loftwing amiibo let players transition from the sky and surface at will, greatly easing travel for them. Twilight Princess HD had the Cave of Shadows, a dungeon that only Wolf Link could enter that players needed to scan the Wolf Link amiibo in order to access. Even Breath of the Wild let players spawn chests with rare items by using the appropriate amiibos. Generally, amiibos in Zelda games give users something very special that they likely couldn't get otherwise.
Although the amiibo-exclusive gliders have been confirmed, Tears of the Kingdom cannot afford to abandon gameplay-based rewards in favor of paid bonuses. Earning extra content is satisfying, and Nintendo's main problem with amiibos is how they replace that element. From things such as Ocarina of Time's trading sidequest for the Biggoron Sword to Wind Waker's New Game Plus extras, the series is good at rewarding players for playing well and earning achievements. It adds to the adventurous charm of the games, and replacing these merit-based rewards with amiibos and DLC cheapens that. It's not unfair for players to worry about Tears of the Kingdom's amiibos for that reason.
With any hope, Tears of the Kingdom's amiibo additions will be minimal, or at the very least not take away from in-game rewards. While a couple of exclusives can be fun, Tears of the Kingdom's collectibles should not be restricted to what extras the player owns rather than what they can earn via performance. Shifting too many of the game's obtainable items to amiibos would leave little for the player to earn through playing the game itself, cheapening the experience to a degree. Even though Tears of the Kingdom will be locking some content behind amiibos, the developers need to show restraint in doing so.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released on May 12, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch.