New gameplay footage of the upcoming Zelda game, Breath of the Wild, has been shown in a demo with Bill Trinen and Aonuma during the Treehouse Live event!
Breath of the Wild was created because Aonuma wanted to break the convention of the Zelda series (however Link does start by waking up!).
The game starts with Link waking up in a mysterious chamber to the voice of an unknown woman. He’s instructed to pick up a “Sheikah Slate,” which will help “guide him after a long slumber.”
We immediately see that clothing is customizable, and different clothing items will offer different benefits. Interesting enough, Link wakes up in boxers that resemble Impa’s Sheikah costume, which could imply some mysterious origins.
There’s no mistake about it now, though; Link is definitely a male, with a ponytail. Though we still don’t know if Link’s gender is a choice in this game, there is 100% a male Link. Also, it can be questioned whether or not you get to name your character whatever you want, considering the fact that the mysterious woman refers to you as “Link”. Could the voice acting mean no optional names?
Link is also shown to be able to jump for the first time, as well as sprint, just like in Skyward Sword. The stamina gauge makes a return from Skyward Sword as well, limiting how much he can sprint, climb, and push items.
As he exits the chamber, he’s told that he’s “our light that must shine upon Hyrule once again.” The mysterious woman tells him this, and continues to speak to him as he explores the world outside.
The area you enter into is called the Great Plateau, and is a vast and expansive, and extremely beautiful, environment. You’re shown that items are scattered throughout the whole world, and can be picked up. Items such as tree branches and axes can be used as a weapon (the branches can also be used as torches), and apples and Hylian Shrooms can be picked up for health.
The game seems to really encourage the use of resources, almost more like a survival type of game. Making this even more blatant is the inclusion of cooking, as now Link has to rely on hunting and food gathering to keep his health up.
Another returning feature, you’re greeted by an Old Man almost immediately. Materials such as firewood and Blue Nightshade can also be found and used for a variety of things.
Interestingly enough, Koroks have made a return for the first time since Wind Waker. This lets us gauge approximately where the game takes place on the timeline (after the Great Flood), and it could imply that the Rito will also make a return. They could surprise us, though.
We’re shown a quick fight scene with some Moblins, and it turns out that your weapons will actually break as you use them. Another fighting feature, Flurry Rush, is also shown off, which slows time and allows you to get in a few attacks to an enemy before they get at you. There are also health bars above enemies, now!
The environment in the game is absolutely gorgeous, though eerily in ruin. There’s no real explanation yet for what’s happened, but there are guardians of temples completely demolished, and moss growing on all the marble structures. The immersive environmental sounds are also incredible, making the game feel real and exciting.
Exploring the environment is a key part of the game too, with rock climbing making vertical traversal a breeze and Link can even chop down trees to make bridges.
And of course, we can’t not talk about that map. He map is unbelievably huge, larger than any Zelda map to date, and while we haven’t seen even close to all of it, it’s extremely exciting to know that we’ll have so much to explore when the game launches. If all of it looks anything like what we just saw in the demo, we’re in for an exciting ride.
The art style is said to be inspired heavily by Japanese animation, and has been compared to the “toon” style of Wind Waker and the handheld games. The use of this art style was said to be mainly because of the nature of the game.
The music took the same approach – while fans will notice that there’s no constant Zelda theme music playing, the developers stated that they wanted the sound effects to feel and sound more open, to go along with the world. Because they can’t lead the player in a linear way in the same way as the other games, the developers recognized that they couldn’t approach the audio in the same way, either. Luckily, though, the sound effects work extremely well and fans should take to it quickly. It really is beautiful.
Oddly enough, the first bow is found in a random chest, which is odd considering it’s always been a dungeon item in the series. Though we don’t know whether or not this will apply to other items in the game, the bow seems to play a much more integral part of his game, especially with the similarities to a more open-world, survival game.
Another brand new item was introduced later on in the stream: the Korok Leaf. Much like the Deku Leaf of Wind Waker fame you can use it to create gusts of wind, and in the gameplay shown Link uses it to propel a raft.
To upgrade some of these items Link can make his way through smaller shrines that are chock full of puzzles. These are solved by adding runes to the enigmatic Sheikah Slate, which lets you activate various functions such as varying bomb styles, some form of magnetism, and the ability to stop time for objects.
Link can also go to a snowy locale in the demo, which introduces a mechanic that should be similar to Twilight Princess fans: snowboarding. This time, however, Link rides his shield down the slippery slopes.
Finally, Nintendo has revealed not only a whole new line of amiibo for the upcoming Zelda game, but have also detailed the support for Wolf Link. You can check out the full details in our other article, but rest assured, fans will want him along for the ride.
Keep checking back for more Breath of the Wild news as it happens!
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
