Breath of the Wild: Preemptive Game Review

The newest installment of the Legend of Zelda series has been stumping everyone since E3. And thanks to the Game Award Life in the Ruins Trailer, theories are crazier than ever. Nintendo has been very secretive about this new game. So in the spirit of Awesomeness here is a preemptive game review on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild!

STORY & TIMELINE

The story is completely unknown, all we know is what Nintendo has slowly and cryptically revealed in interviews and game trailers. So here it is:

Villages

Thanks to the Game Awards Trailer We now are able to confirm what Aonuma stated (quote found below). In the trailer we see a town/village with very interesting roofs populated by seven houses (we counted) and a bigger house, probably a Chieftain hut, at the end of the settlement near the water fall.

“I can’t share too much about villages because to tell you how the villages work, they’re interconnected to the story and overall world.”

-Aonuma

Settlements being interconnected and connected to the overall story is very different from the traditional Zelda games. This quote from Aonuma and the appearance of the Old Man in the E3 demo both show that NPCs are now dynamic! For example, when you take out a weapon in front of the Old Man, he’ll back away (in fear) carefully so you don’t hit him.

Item Descriptions

Item Descriptions have hinted to possible game timelines and reasons for Links Awakening (get it?). For example, when you first pick up a piece of rock salt its description hints to the Wind Waker (why would sea salt be found so far in land?).

Temple of Time

The Temple of Time seems to be a huge deal in this game. Yet the temple has been badly damaged in Breath of the Wild and is practically identical to the temple in Ocarina of Time (which makes sense except for one minor detail).

Goddess Hylia

Goddess Hylia’s role in Breath of the Wild is still all speculation yet it is worth noting that a statue of Hylia is in the Temple of Time surrounded by smaller statues. It seems like at one-point Link will be able to interact with the Hylia statue because in one trailer there is a blue glow emitting from the statue.

CHARACTERS

“Open Your eyes… wake up LINK”

-Perhaps Princess Zelda

Instead of rocking his usual Green Hero’s Tunic (Nintendo doesn’t even mention it), Link now got himself a brand spankin’ Blue Tunic, who would have thought?

For the first time in ever, Link can now Jump at will and climb anything, yes ANYTHING (except for shrine walls but we don’t count that)!
The Stamina Wheel is back (but don’t worry) and in my humble opinion they’ve made it work! Yet this does set limits to your climbing but as long as you can rest for a bit, your fine.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Zelda

Hum… Nothing Absolutely NOTHING!!!! Except for (and this is TOTAL speculation) her waking up link and telling him to save Hyrule from calamity Ganon.

The Old Man

Now many people have been speculating on who this old man is or represents. Some think that its Ganondorf separated from his evil, others think that its King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule (who drowned…), and even others think that it’s just an homage to the original old man in Zelda 1.

 

 

 

Calamity Ganon

Mysterious! This adds a new layer to the Timeline Mystery because Ganon first appeared in Ocarina of Time, meaning that the Breath of the Wild has to be after Ocarina of Time.

Guardians

Crazy Laser shooting, land crawling, ancient, and HUGE mechanical beings (seem to have been turned on for no reason…)! They are extremely strong and scary to the unprepared. One direct shot and its game over (literally)! And laser traverses long distances to destroy link.

Sheikah Monks

In every Shrine there is a monk that is waiting for you at the end of the puzzles. He sits there penitently until link taps the cube around him and makes it dissipate. The sheikah monk will give you a spirit orb and say: “Please accept this Spirit Orb. May the goddess forever smile upon you” (then disappears) this hints to another connection to the Goddess Hylia…

Giant Bokoboblin

The new Nintendo Switch (NX) Trailer features a huge Bokoblin mini-boss but we know nothing about it as of right now.

Villagers

In the Games Awards Trailer we see four instances of NPC Intellegence and purpose (all of which a noted below).

 

 

First, we see a traveler walking on a bridge with a spear in his hand. He walks as if having a purpose and not simply wandering.

Second, we see two NPCs fighting (and winning) Blue Bokoblins on there own!

Third, we see a big building with a horse head topping it off. In this shot we also see an NPC riding a horse along the building side.

Fourth, we see two farmers, in the first village we talked about, planting and cultivating crops.

SHEIKAH SLATE

Runes are special abilities that will never run out and are in your sheikah slate (over glorified I-pad). Here are the runes available:

Magnesis

Manipulate metallic objects using magnetism. Grab on to metallic objects using the magnetic energy that pours forth from the Magnesis Rune. Objects held in the magnetic snare can be lifted up and moved freely.

Remote Bomb

Detonate the explosive using a remote trigger. The force of the blast can be used to damage monsters or destroy objects. There are both round and cube bombs, so use what would be the best fit for the situation.

Stasis

Stop the flow of time for an object. Objects stopped in time will store kinetic energy. This stored energy will be expelled when the flow of time resumes. Making good use of the stored energy can move even the largest of objects. Take note of the time needed to recharge it.

Cryonis

Create a pillar of ice from a water surface.
Builds ice pillars that are very stable. These pillars can be used as stepping stones or as obstacles. Use Cryonis on an ice pillar to break it.

The Unknown Rune

This rune is off the great plateau so we have no idea what it does.

Amiibo

Evidently just tap your wolf link Ambiio (There are more Ambiios that work with Breath of the Wild but they weren’t shown off so we don’t know what they do…) on your Wii u and link gets a new type of companion, Himself (well in wolf form)!

The compatible 30th Zelda anniversary Amiibos are as follows:

8 Bit Link gives you crates, a bundle of arrows, and a spcialized chest.
Hero of Time Link gives you raw steak and a specialized chest.
Hero of Wind Link gives you raw fish and a specialized chest.
Princess Zelda gives you flower bundles and a specialized chest.

MAP & SCENERY

The Scenery is one of the most amazing part of Breath of the Wild. The Creators of Zelda have done a truly awesome job with all the nature! The Map (below) is huge in this new installment, thank goodness for teleportation!

 

 

TECHNOLOGY

Tech is now a HUGE part of Breath of the Wild. From the Shrines (and everything in them…) to the Guardians and even Links new e-rrows (just came up with that one)! Some even think that LINK is a machine! (I think its pretty far fetched but who knows.)

SHRINES

Shrines are dotted across the land for your adventuring pleasure! Shrines are where you can get Runes on your sheikah slate. In the shrine there is a Sheikah Monk who will give you a nice pat on the back (Spirit Orb) for completing his trial (Shrine). Fun fact shrines that you have already visited will turn blue allowing you to teleport to them at will!

CONCLUSION

So I guess that brings us back to the game as a whole. Of course I was not able to write about every detail & feature of this game (we’d be here for HOURS) but I really enjoyed all the gameplay footage from E3 and I hope that we won’t have to wait too long before its released!

I give Breath of the Wild a 10/10 because, on top of everything, it has amazing AI & NPC programming. Its only notable flaw being that it does not have anti-aliasing (lines are too jagged and unrealistic) but hopefully they’ll add it in the Finished Game. While waiting for Breath of the Wild to come out, take a look at more articles, right here, on varigonstudios.com

10/10