The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 2017 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. Set at the end of the Zelda timeline, the player controls an amnesiac Link as he sets out to save Princess Zelda and prevent Calamity Ganon from destroying the world. Players explore the open world of Hyrule while they collect items and complete objectives such as puzzles and side quests. Breath of the Wild’s world is unstructured and encourages exploration and experimentation; the story can be completed in a nonlinear fashion.

Breath of the Wild is an open-world action-adventure game. Players are tasked with exploring the kingdom of Hyrule while controlling Link. Breath of the Wild encourages nonlinear gameplay, which is illustrated by the lack of defined entrances or exits to areas, scant instruction given to the player, and encouragement to explore freely. Breath of the Wild introduces a consistent physics engine to the Zelda series, letting players approach problems in different ways rather than trying to find a single solution. The “chemistry engine” defines the physical properties of most objects and governs how they interact with the player and one another. 

For example, during thunderstorms, metal objects will attract powerful lightning strikes; during a storm, therefore, a player must be careful not to carry metal, but may also throw metal objects at enemies to draw lightning to them. These design approaches result in a generally unstructured and interactive world that rewards experimentation and allows for nonlinear completion of the story. As Link, players can perform actions such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding with a paraglider, although Link is limited by his stamina. Link can procure items from the environment, including weapons, food, and other resources. Unlike in previous Zelda games, weapons and shields degrade through use, eventually shattering. 

Many items have multiple uses; for example, wooden weapons can light fires, wooden shields can collect incoming enemy arrows, and shields can be used as makeshift snowboards. Players can obtain food and materials for elixirs from hunting animals, gathering wild fruit, or collecting parts of defeated enemies. By cooking combinations of food or materials, the player can create meals and elixirs that can replenish Link’s health and stamina, or provide temporary status bonuses such as increased strength or resistance to heat or cold. An important tool in Link’s arsenal is the “Sheikah Slate”, a magical stone tablet which can be used to mark waypoints on the in-game map and take pictures of materials, creatures, and enemies.

These pictures are stored in an in-game compendium that can be used to locate valuable items. In combat, players can lock onto targets for more precise attacks, while certain button combinations allow for advanced offensive and defensive moves. Players may also defeat enemies without weapons, such as by rolling boulders off cliffs into enemy camps. Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the Zelda timeline in the kingdom of Hyrule. In ancient times, the ancient Sheikah race had developed Hyrule into an advanced civilization, protected by four enormous animalistic machines called the Divine Beasts and an army of autonomous weapons called Guardians. 

When an ancient evil known as Calamity Ganon appeared and threatened Hyrule, four great warriors were given the title of Champion, and each piloted one of the Divine Beasts to weaken Ganon while the princess with the blood of the goddess and her appointed knight fought and defeated him by sealing him away. Ten millennia later, the kingdom of Hyrule had since regressed to a medieval state. Reading their ancestors’ prophecies, Hyrule’s peoples recognized the signs of Ganon’s return and excavated surrounding areas to uncover the Divine Beasts and Guardians. 

During this time, Princess Zelda trained vigorously to awaken the sealing magic needed to defeat Ganon while trying to maintain her personal research. In the meantime, a knight was appointed to protect her: Link, a Hylian who was chosen due to his ability to wield the Master Sword, also known as “the sword that seals the darkness”. After being sought out by Zelda, the Champions—Mipha, princess of the aquatic Zora; Revali, archer of the birdlike Rito; Daruk, warrior of the mountainous Gorons; and Urbosa, chief of the desert-dwelling Gerudo—assembled to pilot the Divine Beasts (Vah Ruta, Vah Medoh, Vah Rudania, and Vah Naboris, respectively) while Zelda and Link would face Ganon directly.