Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Ending

How to Actually Finish Tears of the Kingdom

Most people get stuck before the actual ending because they don't realize the final sequence requires completing multiple side objectives first. The game doesn't make this obvious. You have to find all four main dungeons, unlock the ability to access Hyrule Castle, defeat the final boss, and then trigger one specific cutscene to see the full ending. That is the Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom Gameplay Ending you are looking for. I spent about 80 hours getting to the final fight and another 12 hours figuring out the true ending sequence. Here is what actually matters.

What the Ending Requires

You need to complete the four main temple dungeons: Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning. Each one grants you an ability that unlocks a section of the final path. After finishing all four, head back to Hyrule Castle. The outer area will be blocked until you defeat the mini-boss that spawns there. Once that is down, you can enter the castle interior and find the final boss chamber. The boss fight itself takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes if you know what you are doing. It has two phases. The first phase is straightforward. The second phase changes your combat approach entirely because the boss gains new attacks and movement patterns. I recommend having at least 12 heart containers and a well-upgraded weapon before engaging it. I got here with 9 hearts and a rusted broadsword and nearly died three times before finishing it. Just saying.

Triggering the Cutscene Sequence

After defeating the boss, a cutscene plays automatically. This is where most players stop because they assume the game is over. It isn't. You need to keep playing after the credits start rolling. The game loads you back into the overworld with a new objective marker. Go to the location it points to and interact with the object there to trigger the extended ending sequence. This part takes about 10 minutes and gives you the actual full ending content. Without it, you only see the first part of the ending story. One thing nobody mentions: if you load a save file from before the final boss, the game does NOT reset the ending flags. You can see the ending multiple times without replaying the entire game. I used this to watch the cutscenes at different angles and catch details I missed the first time.

Common Problems and Workarounds

Some players report that the game freezes during the final cutscene if they have too many Zonai devices built in the world. I hit this myself on my third playthrough. The solution is to clear out unused devices and structures near the final area before triggering the boss. I removed about 30 of my builds and the freeze went away completely. Another issue is missing the true ending trigger. If you exit to the main menu after the first cutscene instead of continuing to play, you may never see the extended sequence. The game only checks for this when you are actively playing after the boss fight. Save your progress before entering the boss room so you can reload if something goes wrong. The game has a 3-star completion system. Getting all three stars requires finding every memory, completing every side quest, and upgrading every skill tree to maximum. This adds roughly 40 to 60 extra hours beyond the main story. If you just want the ending, you can skip most of that. The final cutscene plays regardless of your completion level.

I did notice that some achievements don't unlock properly if you use certain mods or save editors. If you are on PC and planning to mod the game, do it after you finish the ending at least once. That way you won't miss any unlock conditions. The game runs well on Switch but can stutter during the final boss fight if you have a lot of effects active. Lower your graphics settings or turn off some of the more detailed environmental effects beforehand. It made a noticeable difference in frame stability during my attempts.