10 Recent Video Game Openings NOBODY Saw Coming

Though Breath of the Wild threw players into the deep end straight away, Tears of the Kingdom took the opposite approach, using the prologue to expand the lore and set up the plot. When an energy-sapping ooze called Gloom infests the kingdom of Hyrule, Link and Zelda explore the depths of the castle to uncover the source of this new threat.

As they traverse underground, Link discovers the mummified husk of his nemesis, Ganondorf. With little warning, the corpse revives, taunting his arch-enemy. 

Despite being in a weakened state, Ganondorf easily deflects Link's attack and lops off his arm. Being a Nintendo property, violence in The Legend of Zelda has always been tame, which is why it was surprising to see the main character have his limb ripped off before the title drop. Just when it looks like things couldn't get worse, Zelda inexplicably vanishes before suddenly reappearing in the distant past.

Although The Legend of Zelda tends to begin with a bang, Tears of the Kingdom took things to a whole other level (which is pretty fitting since Link awakens immediately after in a civilisation in the sky).