Gameitall During Nintendo’s E3 live stream, Nintendo showed off the latest Legend of Zelda entry that originally premiered last E3, now called Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Just from the live stream information, we know that this is going to be the biggest Zelda adventure yet and the one with the most changes to the franchise.
With a grand open world, Link will now be able to explore a dangerous Hyrule which will require him to eat food, equip new weapons, and dress appropriately for the weather as he braves real-time climate changes, a day and night cycle, hunger, deserts and chilly mountains.
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild breaks boundaries for the franchise and for games as a whole,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “Where you go, how you get there, the order in which you do it, and the items, weapons and approaches used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies are all up to you.”
Nintendo listed a few of the features you’ll come to expect from Breath of the Wild:
Shrines of Trials: More than 100 of these locations are scattered around the world for players to find, and in some cases finding the Shrines can be a puzzle in itself. As a result, Shrines offer more compact challenges that can be solved in a variety of ways. In order to earn a Spirit Orb from the monks who designed these challenges, players must overcome challenges or solve puzzles.
Runes: While exploring Shrines, players can earn Runes. For instance, the Magnesis Rune can help Link lift and toss metal objects. The Remote Bomb has two different types of bombs: rolling spherical ones and cubical ones that stay in place. The Stasis Rune briefly stops moving objects, while the Cryonis Rune freezes water and causes an ice pillar to appear.
Weapons and Combat: The game contains a wide variety of weapons, many new to the series. Players must find weapons or take them from enemies, but weapons wear out as you use them. Players can also time offensive and defensive maneuvers to temporarily slow time and connect with a flurry of strikes against their opponent.
Food: In another break with conventional gameplay for the series, players hoping to replenish their hearts or score some easy rupees will come up empty when they cut grass. Link can forage for a variety of foods in his environment, including apples and mushrooms. He can also hunt for food. Consuming uncooked foods gives him a modest health increase, but cooking different kinds of ingredients together will result in dishes with different effects, such as cold or heat resistance, for a limited amount of time.
Climate: From snowy areas to desert heat, Link must dress appropriately for the weather. If he needs to stay warm, he can don appropriate clothing, warm himself with a fiery torch or even eat food to maintain his body temperature and his health. Link also needs to be careful during lightning storms – if he is equipped with metal equipment during a downpour, he can find himself attracting deadly lightning bolts.
amiibo Compatibility:A new series of detailed amiibo figures specific to the game were announced this morning, and Treehouse staff finally revealed how the Wolf Link amiibo from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will connect to the game. When players tap a Wolf Link amiibo to the Wii U GamePad controller, Wolf Link will join Link to attack enemies on his own. He initially has three hearts, but players can raise his heart count by completing the Cave of Shadows and carrying over the save data from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Wolf Link can be summoned once a day, and disappears when his hearts run out. However, you can use Wolf Link again the next day.
This is definitely a step in a new direction for the series and will be interesting to see when the game launches on Wii U and the upcoming Nintendo NX next year. What do you think about the new Zelda game? Let us know in the comments.
