The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild logo.png
NintendoSwitch TLOZBreathoftheWild boxart.jpg
Release

Platform

Date

Japan March 3, 2017
United States March 3, 2017
Europe March 3, 2017
Australia March 3, 2017

Credits

Developer

Nintendo EPD

Publisher

Nintendo

Producer

Director

Hidemaro Fujibayashi

Guides

Walkthrough

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the latest installment in the The Legend of Zelda series and was released simultaneously on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017.

Development

The game's development began with the team experimenting with what kind of gameplay experience the Wii U could offer.

"It's not something they're working on daily right now, but we are talking about some of the things we might be able to do with that system. The demo that we showed at E3 was really just more of a rough idea of if all we were to do was to make a Zelda game and put it in HD, this is what it might look like. We're much more interested in looking at the power of the Wii U system and seeing how we can take advantage of that power to do things that we haven't been able to do in a Zelda game before."

On November 28th, 2012, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was asked about Nintendo Wii U versions of the Legend of Zelda and Mario and he gave the following response.

"We will announce the launch schedules for new 3D Zelda and Mario games in the future, but this is not the right opportunity for me to indicate when we will make such announcements.

...as we develop a new hardware platform, we ask ourselves such questions as, 'what kind of new Zelda and Mario games do the software creators hope to make on this?
"

January 23rd, 2013 Nintendo Direct

On January 23rd, 2013 during a Nintendo Direct video stream, Eiji Aonuma updated about the progress of Zelda for the Nintendo Wii U. He stated that the game still had a significant way to go, but in the meantime, announced the remake of The Wind Waker for the Nintendo Wii U, set for release in Fall of 2013. Regarding Zelda Wii U, Aonuma particularly mentioned that Nintendo would be rethinking many of the conventions of Zelda, including the following.

  • The order a player is supposed to complete dungeons.
  • Rethinking how Zelda is a 'Play by yourself' game.

At E3 2014, Aonuma emphasized the large open world shown in the brief video, which seems to reflect this mentality.

In July 2014, Nintendo Japan's official website revealed more information about Zelda Wii U. It would be possible to explore and go anywhere in the new Zelda world without boundaries and challenge new and tougher enemies as a new, mysterious Link. However, without an official English translation, a new nemesis has been translated from this information instead of new enemies.[2]

Story

Spoiler Alert! This section describes a subject that is sensitive to plot development.

Past

The history of Hyrule is closely intertwined with the history of the appearances of Ganon over the ages. The beast was known to have been turned back repeatedly through tales and legends told of a warrior with the hero's spirit and the princess who carried the blood of the goddess.

The legend told is that ten thousand years prior, the land of Hyrule had become very technologically advanced - so much so that fierce monsters were considered little threat. The Hylians crafted technological marvels to ensure the kingdom's safety if Ganon was ever to return. Among these technical marvels was a legion of autonomous Guardians and four Divine Beasts. The Divine Beasts were piloted by four individuals of exceptional skill from across Hyrule, known as Champions.

Upon Ganon's return, the princess of Hyrule and the hero fought with the other champions and their Divine Beasts against Ganon. The Guardians protected the hero while the Divine Beasts lay seige upon Ganon, until the hero could unleash his final blow and allow the princess to use her sacred power to seal away the beast.


One hundred years prior, a prophecy warned that the signs of Calamity Ganon's return would be clear, told that the power needed to oppose him lay dormant beneath the ground. This prophecy, combined with the tales from the legends of old, prompted King Rhoam and his kingdom to begin excavating the earth. The ancient Guardians and the four Divine Beasts were discovered again, at which point King Rhoam realized that they were set upon the same path as their ancestors as told in the legends.

Following this path, four Champions from across Hyrule were chosen to pilot the Divine Beasts: Mipha of the Zora, Daruk of the Gorons, Urbosa of the Gerudo, and Revali of the Rito. They, alongside Link, the princess's appointed knight, were placed under command of Princess Zelda, the princess of Hyrule.

Zelda conducts a ceremony to appoint Link as her appointed knight, attended by the four other Champions. During the ceremony, Zelda has a hesitant and insecure attitude, which the Champions readily observe and interpret as the princess's melancholy jealousy of Link's ability to fulfull his destiny as the hero. A short time later, as Zelda and Link are traveling to Goron City to make adjustments to one of the Divine Beasts, Zelda shows fascination and enthusiasm for the experimentation with the ancient technology. Again, however, her insecurity regarding her inability to fulfull her destiny shows through as she speaks to Link. Zelda's fascination with the ancient technology becomes even more apparent as she is later seen attempting to gain access to a Shrine of Trials as Link arrives to escort her. She lashes out at Link in frustration, but returns with him nevertheless.

As Zelda and Link continue to travel throughout Hyrule to inspect and make adjustments to the Divine Beasts, Zelda is attacked by three members of the Yiga Clan. Link returns at the last possible second to rescue Zelda from their assault, after which Zelda begins to recognize her bond with Link as her protector. Then, while traveling in the Eldin region, Link repels an attack from numerous monsters - but not without sustaining injuries to himself. Zelda recognizes that not only have attacks have become more frequent, but that monsters have gotten more intense as well. She recognizes these events as premonitions to the imminent return of Ganon.

Taking shelter under a large tree during a storm, Zelda watches Link as he practices with the Master Sword - remarking that his devotion to his role is admirable. She then expresses how she feels as though she was born into a role and set onto a path she may not be able to follow.

At Hyrule Castle, Zelda takes a moment to observe the progress of experiments with the Guardians, noting that the Hylian researchers are now able to control them. Suddently King Rhoam appears and scolds Zelda for spending so much time distracted by the ancient technology in lieu of training to unlock the sealing power. She explains her failings at unlocking the power after having prayed at the Spring of Courage, yet he forbids Zelda from having anything further to do with the ancient machines and to focus solely on her training. Zelda then proceeds to pray at the Spring of Power, however her powers remain dormant and her frustrations become even more apparent.

The day before her seventeenth birthday, Zelda speaks to Link about the final ceremony at the Spring of Wisdom on Mount Lanayru. She hopes that praying at the final Spring will awaken the power within her, but openly expresses her resignation to the fact that she may never receive the power. The next day, she and Link are seen by the four Champions returning from the summit as they realize she has again been unsuccessful in her attempt to awaken her power. As the Champions express consolation over her failure and optimism that her power will be triggered by something, the earth begins to shake and Ganon suddenly is seen encircling Hyrule Castle. The Champions head to their respective Divine Beasts and Link and Zelda make their way to the castle.

To the surprise of all, Ganon cunningly seized control of the Guardians and Divine Beasts, and turned them against their commanders. Zelda and Link escaped the castle in exhaustion, but not before the four Champions and all those inside the castle, including King Rhoam, lost their lives. As Zelda and Link retreat, Zelda laments to Link about how her failure to unlock the goddess's sealing power cost them their only chance to defeat Ganon, leaving her friends dead and the kingdom in ruin.

As the relentless seige of the Guardians continues, Link reaches the critical point of physical abuse in his defense of Zelda and collapses to his knees. Zelda urges Link to save himself and run away as more Guardians approach, but Link finds the strength to stand one more time in defense of his princess. At this moment, Zelda selflessly stands between a Guardian and Link in a futile attempt to save his life as it prepares to attack him. Suddenly a glowing white light begins to emanate from her raised right hand and destroys the Guardians in her vicinity. Realizing she has finally unlocked the Goddess's sealing power, she turns to Link who has collapsed on the ground behind her. She holds Link in her arms as he passes out from his wounds and exhaustion, then sees the Master Sword begin to pulsate with a gentle glow. Hearing the call of the spirit of the Master Sword, she realizes that Link can still be saved. Seconds later, two members of the Sheikah Tribe arrive to help Zelda, but she immediately orders them to take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection.

Zelda takes the Master Sword to the Korok Forest and drives it into its pedestal in front of the Great Deku Tree. She realizes that Link's Slumber of Restoration will deprive him of his memories, but is confident that he will return for the sword after his awakening. At this point, Zelda informs the Deku Tree that she has more to do, then heads back to Hyrule Castle to use the sealing power to contain Calamity Ganon within the castle until Link's return.


Present

A century after the return of Calamity Ganon and the deaths of the Champions and King Rhoam, Link awakens from his slumber in the Shrine of Resurrection to a mysterious voice, not knowing who or where he is. Waking up and finding a strange device nearby, the Sheikah Slate used by Princess Zelda herself 100 years prior, walsk out onto the Great Plateau to meets an Old Man. The voice Link hears instructs him to proceed to a point on the map on his Sheikah Slate. Upon arriving at this point, Link activates one of the ancient Sheikah Towers, which simultaneously activates all towers across Hyrule as well as the many Shrines of Resurrection.

Upon seeing this, the old man tasks Link with accessing the four Shrines of Resurrection on the Plateau to obtain the treasures inside. Inside these shrines, Link obtains Spirit Orbs and activates several runes on the Sheikah Slate, granting him abilities to freeze objects in time (Stasis), manipulate metallic items (Magnesis), create and smash ice blocks (Cryonis), and use bombs (Remote Bomb).

The old man then tells Link that he is actually the spirit of King Rhoam from 100 years ago. He details the events of 100 years prior, including the discovery of the ancient relics, return of Calamity Ganon, and fact that Link is the revitalized knight who valiantly fell in battle defending the princess. He tells Link that Princess Zelda is the one who has been calling out to him, and that she has been gradually losing her power to contain Ganon within the castle. He warns that soon Zelda's power will be exhausted, after which Ganon will be free to regenerate and consume the land of Hyrule unopposed. With instructions to head to Kakariko Village to meet Impa, Link sets out on his journey to regain his memories and re-harness control and support of the Divine Beasts in his new quest to defeat Ganon.

After hearing more details about the 10,000 year old legend and events of 100 years prior from Impa in Kakariko Village, Link frees the spirits of the four Champions and obtains the unique abilities each possessed as an aid to his quest. Link also meets Purah and Robbie who help him enhance the runes on his Sheikah Slate and create ancient equipment to aid him in battle against the Guardians.

With the four Divine Beasts taking aim at Hyrule Castle, Link then proceeded to Hyrule Castle to battle the Calamity Ganon once more, freeing Princess Zelda, rescuing Hyrule, and fulfilling their destinies as Hyrule's protectors. Afterwards, the two set out to rebuild Hyrule to its former glory.

Gameplay

Breath of the Wild is the latest installment in the move towards more realistic and environmentally immersive game play in the Legend of Zelda series. While previous games have tip-toed carefully towards this from the limited ability to pick up enemy weapons in The Wind Waker to the extensive collection system, exhaustion meter, and shield degradation in Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild has taken a giant leap forward down this avenue and relies heavily on survival mechanics.

Gone are the days of heart collecting to restore health. Link must now hunt, gather, and cook to survive in Hyrule. Different combinations of ingredients help in various ways from restoring health to adding additional hearts on the end of the health meter to providing extra warmth for a limited time to combat cold weather.

Scavenging doesn't just pertain to food that can be cooked, though. Link, like his Wind Waker counterpart, can pick up enemy weapons and use them. While The Hero of Winds was confined to using those weapons on the same screen on which they were acquired, this Link can add any weapon he picks up to his inventory and use it until it breaks, or he otherwise loses it. Tunics and armor can also be changed out for look or functionality. A quilted tunic, for instance, in a snowy area will stop Link from losing health to the cold.

Weapons aren't everything, though. The new Sheikah Slate is an important part of Link's arsenal and allows Link - once the runes have been learned in Sheikah Shrines - to do things such as create columns of ice from water, build different types of bombs, and, with the Wolf Amiibo from Twilight Princess HD, summon a companion Wolf Link to fight alongside him. Stealth mechanics and a noise indicator also make interaction with the wilder elements of the game more involved. The level of noise Link is creating can alert enemies to his presence, scare off prey, and even spook a horse Link is trying to mount or tame.

A dynamic system of horses is one new addition. Any horse that you find in the wild can be mounted and tamed and brought to one of the many stables in the game, where it can be named. You can also summon your horses by whistling; however, they can't hear you if you are too far away.

The land of Hyrule itself is full of exploration potential. Breath of the Wild is a truly open world game hearkening back to the original Legend of Zelda, getting rid of the need to play the game in any sort of order. In fact, nearly the entire story can be skipped while still completing the game. The large terrain can be traversed using horses Link has tamed, or by using warp points at Sheikah Shrines and Towers, and there are many opportunities to use the environment and runes in the Sheikah Slate to open up ways to new areas. If you can see it, you can go there, and with the largest map of any Zelda game, that is an adventure all in itself.

Controls

The Wii U controller's screen in the tech demo featured Link's inventory and map, or a copy of the game screen. Aonuma has other plans for it as well.

"I really think [having two screens is] one of the most exciting features of the system. Unlike the Nintendo DS, there's distance between the television and you and your other screen. That really allows for some different interactions, some of which you saw [at E3]. For example, imagine having the contents of Link's satchel available to you on the screen of your controller, and using elements of the pouch to interact with gameplay on the television.

With The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, we had the Nunchuck and Wii Remote sort of stand in for the sword and shield that Link carries. But in a game for the Wii U, I can definitely see something like the controller itself becoming the different items that Link is using, allowing you to interact with the game world and with the game items in a very different way.
"

"I'd like to do things that are more surprising than [what was in the tech demo]."

However, it's still a possibility that we will see motion controls return. After all, after swinging your own sword to interact with the game, how could one go back to using a controller?

"Iwata: Now, can you talk about how this new controller works together with the Wii Remote that we have been using until now?
Miyamoto: Sure. Actually, as I was making it I didn't have a whole lot of doubts in my mind that the Wii Remote would still be used as it was. I feel like the Wii Remote has pretty much become its ideal form with the Wii Remote Plus.
Iwata: I see, you mean you can do just about everything you want to do with it.
Miyamoto: That's right. And when I thought whether we really needed to require the purchase of something completely new, I felt that we could continue with this way to play for another while. I feel that way even when I play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
"

In an interview at E3 2012, Miyamoto hinted that the Zelda game in development for Wii U may not include motion controls after all.

"With the last game, Skyward Sword, that was a game where you had motion control to use your weapons and a lot of different items, and I thought that was a lot of fun, but there were some people who weren't able to do that or didn't like it as much and stopped playing partway through it. So we're in the phase where we're looking back at what's worked very well and what has been missing and how can we evolve it further.."

Graphics

The beautiful tech demo has gotten a lot of attention, and this time Eiji Aonuma is careful to not set our expectations in stone. What was shown at E3 is merely a demonstration of the system's power, not a teaser for a new Zelda game.

"You probably remember that when we introduced the GameCube, we showed a somewhat realistic Zelda demo, and what we actually created was the cel-shaded Wind Waker. So when we show a graphic demo, people think, 'Oh, this is what the next Zelda will look like,' but that's not necessarily the case."

"Well, one thing I want to emphasize here, when talking about the Wii U Zelda HD experience, is that we really built it specifically to be an experience. The idea is using Zelda as the backdrop for one of these HD experiences, what kind of representation Zelda can make there. But this is really just to show people what kind of things the console can do. And so, it's not necessarily the case that we would use that graphic style or depiction the same way we would in a new Zelda, when there is a new Zelda for the Wii U. Just like the map functionality that was also implemented in that experience - it's simply us giving an objective look at the kinds of things that can be done with the HD hardware. And Zelda happened to be the filter through which we view it in that experience. So nothing is defined right now as far as how we'll proceed."

Not only was the demo used to show us the graphical capabilities, but it was developed to help design the system.

"I'm on one of the committees that oversaw the general steering and direction [of the Wii U]. We talked to each other a lot about several elements, one of which was, 'How exactly will the HD graphics work?' In doing concepts for that ... we used Zelda assets quite often to examine, OK, how real will we make this look?"

Shigeru Miyamoto sheds some more light on what he'd like this look to be.

"This is an HD system, our first HD system, and we want to create a real HD Zelda game for it. You will see a lot of these in-depth and deep experiences in terms of visual style. You will also see some play styles that are fun and interesting because of the play structure. We are not planning on putting any restrictions in terms of requiring developers to leverage HD in a particular ways. Even if you are using a simpler visual style it will still look very beautiful."

The E3 2014 trailer for Breath of the Wild revealed the graphics style to be advanced cel-shading, similar to the cel-shading of The Wind Waker, only with more realistic and detailed textures, lighting, and models. At the time, little else was known about the graphics, as the actual cinematic shown was extremely short and only 4 native-resolution screenshots were released.

Release

In an edition of Iwata Asks in November of 2011, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that the five year development of Skyward Sword was quite long. In response to this, Skyward Sword director Hidemaro Fujibayashi set the following goal:

"I'll think of something that can happen in three years!"

Because of this statement, many people believed that the game would be released in 2014, which was three years after 2011.

In the E3 2014 trailer for the game, the release date was officially given as 2015, but with no month or day given. Aonuma stated on Miiverse that he believes that Zelda Wii U will be playable at E3 2015 in June, [3] implying a release date after this event.

The game was eventually delayed until 2016, and was later announced in a Miiverse post by Eiji Aonuma [4] to not be shown at E3 2015. In an interview with IGN, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Nintendo did have "some great Zelda footage" that would be shown at a later time. [5]

On April 27th 2016, the game was further delayed to 2017, and it was not only confirmed that the game would release both on the Wii U and the Codename NX (Nintendo Switch), but also that it would be the entire focus of E3 2016 for Nintendo. [6]

At the Treehouse Live Nintendo Switch event on January 13th, 2017, a new trailer was released which revealed the release date of the game to be March 3rd, 2017, the same day as The Switch launch making it a confirmed launch title for the new system. [7]

At launch on March 3rd, 2017, Special and Master Edition packages were released in limited quantities. Both packages included the game itself, however additional items included an audio CD containing 24 musical selections from the game, the Sheikah Eye coin which was first given away to E3 2016 attendees, the Relic of Hyrule: Calamity Ganon tapestry and weather worn map, and a unique Sheikah Slate Switch console carrying case. The Master Edition also included a statuette of the Master Resurrection Sword.[8]

Downloadable Content

On February 15th, 2017 it was announced that Breath of the Wild would be the first Zelda game in history to get downloadable content. Marketed as an 'Expansion Pass', two installments were identified with an additional expansion pack bonus available at time of purchase.

Expansion Pack Bonus (Available starting March 3rd, 2017)

Upon purchase of the Expansion Pass, consumers will immediately gain access to three new treasure chests in the Great Plateau region of the game. One will contain a Nintendo Switch shirt that Link can wear, and the other two will contain 'useful items'.

DLC Pack 1 (Available starting Summer 2017)

  • Adds a new Cave of Trials challenge
  • New Hard Mode
  • Additional Map Feature

DLC Pack 2 (Available starting Winter 2017)

  • New original story
  • New dungeon
  • Additional challenges

Amiibo Support

There are currently fifteen amiibo that give specific bonus items in Breath of the Wild, some items which can be acquired normally in game, some that are only accessible by the amiibo. However, any other amiibo can be used with the game and will provide random items. [9]

  • Link: The Legend of Zelda

Potential Chest Items: A chance of one of the three pieces of the 'Hero's Outfit (original Legend of Zelda)', sword, assorted weapons

Non-Chest Items: Barrels with rupees and arrows

  • Link: Ocarina of Time

Potential Chest Items: A chance of one of the three pieces of the 'Ocarina of Time Outfit', Biggoron's sword, assorted weapons

Non-Chest Items: Raw Meat

  • Smash Bros Toon Link & Toon Link: The Wind Waker

Potential Chest Items: A chance of one of the three pieces of the 'Wind Waker Outfit', Sea-Breeze Boomerang, assorted weapons, elemental arrows

Non-Chest Items: Fish

  • Smash Bros Link

Chest Items: One time summon of Epona (the only way you can get her in the game, register immediately), a chance of one of the three pieces of the 'Twilight Outfit', potentially any of an assortment of swords, shields, and elemental arrows

Non-Chest Items: Assorted fruits and cooking materials

  • Wolf Link: Twilight Princess

Wolf Link will appear in your game as a companion with the same stats as was saved on it from the Twilight Princess HD Cave of Trials. He will attack enemies on his own and help you find hidden items.

  • Link (Rider): Breath of the Wild

Potential Chest Items: Traveler's bridle, Traveler's saddle, assorted weapons, elemental arrows

Non-Chest Items: Mushrooms

  • Link (Archer): Breath of the Wild

Potential Chest Items: Assorted bows, elemental arrows

Non-Chest Items: Fish, raw meat, and arrows

  • Zelda: The Wind Waker

Potential Chest Items: Hero's shield, gems, assorted shields

Non-Chest Items: Herbs, flowers, and vegetables

  • Smash Bros Zelda

Potential Chest Items: Twilight Bow, various bows, various gems

Non-Chest Items: Herbs, flowers, vegetables

  • Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Potential Chest Items: Hylian Shield (can be found in game without amiibo), star fragments, gems, assorted shields

Non-Chest Items: Herbs, flowers, vegetables

  • Smash Bros Sheik

Chest Items: Sheik's Mask, various Sheikah weapons, elemental arrows

Non-Chest Items: Mushrooms

  • Smash Bros Ganon

Potential Chest Items: Sword of the Six Sages, Gems, Monster Parts

Non-Chest Items: Barrels that are either explosive or contain rupees and arrows

  • Bokoblin: Breath of the Wild

Potential Chest Items: Assorted Bokoblin weapons and shields, elixers

Non-Chest Items: Raw meat and monster parts

  • Guardian: Breath of the Wild

Potential Chest Items: Assorted Guardian weapons and shields, guardian arrows, ancient cores

Non-Chest Items: It will spawn metal chests which have valuable gems, arrows, and machine parts

Enemies

Characters