The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Difference between revisions

''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, though, 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 Ambiio from Twilight Princess HD, summon a companion Wolf Link to fight along side 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 tame.

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 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.