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Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on GamesIndustry.biz intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work. This entry was contributed by Jonathan Rodgers, engineering manager at mobile developer Brainium.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the latest installment in The Legend of Zelda series, taking place long after the events of Ocarina of Time.1 It was released simultaneously on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017. As of September 30, 2020, 19.74 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide on Switch2, plus at least 1.6 million Wii U copies.3. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the first game in the series to feature paid DLC.The DLC will come in three separate packs, and is available ONLY in one season pass bundle for $19.99.
Imagine this: You are thrown into a world that feels alien, yet strangely familiar. Prominently displayed is the looming mouth of a cave, full of intrigue and danger… What adventures await inside? Let's go see!
This is how The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System (released way back in 1986) begins. For many good reasons, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, released in 2017, has a very similar opening and a healthy attachment to the original formula. In the staggering number of sequels produced after the original Zelda, there has remained a design tension that is shared among all video game sequels: what are the elements that are concrete, and where do we have room to innovate and be creative?
Concrete design elements
One of the main reasons I love Legend of Zelda is its commitment to consistency and concrete design elements that reflect the game's origin and stay true to what made it successful in the first place. Concrete design elements serve several important functions:
- Give the series a unique identity
- Give long-time players comfort and consistency
- Provide nostalgia for past in-game experiences
- Ensure the experience will be fun, leading to higher sales potential
I challenge you to find a Mario game where he doesn't jump on enemies, a Kirby game where he doesn't inhale baddies, or a Metroid game where Samus isn't wearing her iconic suit. Designers often play with removing essential elements, but fans and critics make their voices heard when developers stray too far from the essential formula for success.
'The unique identity of the Zelda games is tied to certain elements... The look, presence, and meaning of these elements may change from game to game, but the powerful ones always return'
As far as this author is aware, Majora's Mask is the only mainline Zelda game that didn't have the Master Sword. The unique identity of the Zelda games is tied to certain elements, like: Link, Zelda, Gannon, Hyrule, Triforce, Master Sword, octoroks, mobilns, heart containers, potions, dungeons, bosses, ability expanding items, and tunics. The look, presence, and meaning of these elements may change from game to game, but the powerful ones always return.
But what happens if you stray too far from the original plot? If you tried to make a game where the final boss was an evil king named James and the hero, a ninja named Ralph who wields the Omega Laser, and subsequently slapped the Legend of Zelda brand on it, fans would lose their mind and shun that game. It just wouldn't feel like a Zelda title.
A perfect example of this is Zelda II: Link's Awakening, where developers took a big risk and turned the game into a side-scrolling action RPG. While I personally enjoyed the game (along with the other black sheep sequels Castlevania II and Super Mario Bros. 2), very few fans look back with fondness for it. This is reflected in the Game Boy and Super Nintendo sequels that followed: they stuck much more closely to the original formula and just added some incremental innovations instead.
Keeping major and minor elements of the original formula both provides players with nostalgia and makes good business sense. The Zelda series has always done a great job of putting fans first and tapping into the spirit of what made them fall in love with the game in the first place. At the end of the day, when things work once, there's a good chance they'll work again. Look at the movie landscape: remakes and sequels dominate because there's a built-in level of success due to familiarity and name recognition. We flock to the familiar and reward game studios who understand this.
Innovative design elements
On the flip side, players don't just want more content, they also desire fresh ideas and gameplay. The root of all the freshness in Breath of the Wild, and a large reason I play the game, is the open-world sandbox. Most of the innovative design elements thoughtfully stem from this enormous world to explore, inciting a sense of adventure and limitless opportunity for the player.
At the very beginning of the game, the player exits a cave (callback to NES Zelda) and is greeted by a beautiful, dramatic panorama of the world including a fiery volcano, mysterious ruins, a castle, and...is that a giant robot bird flying around!? Clever introduction entices players to seek out mysteries. Even more intriguing, once players finish the first tutorial they can go to virtually any of the visible locations - including directly to the final boss. That raises the question (spoiler alert), if players can go directly to the boss, why even bother to explore?
The rewarding symbiosis of shrines, towers, and paragliders
Very early on, players are trained to look for two kinds of glowing orange structures: shrines and towers. Shrines are mini-dungeons that can be as simple as a single puzzle, or a more elaborate combination of brain and brawn challenges. In the shrine, there is always at least one piece of treasure, such as rupees, a piece of consumable equipment, or most awesomely, rare armor. Additionally, shrines always end with a spirit orb; trade four spirit orbs in and you expand your hearts (I can take more damage) or your stamina (I can climb higher and run farther).
These mini dungeons provide tangible rewards, and bite-sized experiences very reminiscent of the big dungeons that were core to earlier Zelda games. Another huge benefit shrines offer, upon completion, is providing a waypoint that can teleport at any time using the map. But, most of the map is empty (a huge break from earlier iterations of the franchise), so how do you fill it out?
'You can instantly look around the world and tell where the next exciting place to go is, and have a visual reference for which challenges have already been conquered'
One of the first mechanics you are trained on is that towers, once climbed, provide a map of the surrounding area and a waypoint. We want to go to towers so that we can fill out our map and the high vantage point makes it easier to find even more shrines, towers, and other points of interest. A new item in this game is a multipurpose tablet, with one of its functions being binoculars that let you zoom in and put colored 'pins' in the world to tag shrines, towers, and other points of interest and. The player is constantly climbing towers, mountains, and buildings to get a good vantage point to find the next cool thing. There's another extremely cool reason to get vertical that we'll talk about a little later.
As mentioned earlier, towers and shrines glow orange (then blue, once completed). So, you can instantly look around the world and tell where the next exciting place to go is, and have a visual reference for which challenges have already been conquered. So, unlike most sandbox games which feature a frustratingly giant map with little icons, Breath of the Wild is all clearly visible and the rewards for completing the challenges are tangible and multi-faceted.
One of my favorite new innovations is the paraglider. It's an item players can earn early on in the game that allows them to float down slowly while moving forward. This novel mode of travel encourages the player to scale the highest structure they can find, jump off, and see how far they can float. Hey, remember towers? You can teleport to them at any time, they are super high up, and they make great launch points for paragliding. Oh, and guess what you need to glide for longer distances? Stamina. All these design elements support one another to create an addictive loop: explore to become more powerful and become more powerful to explore easily.
You can cook and break stuff
A common design element in open-world sandbox games, and one of my favorite features, is a focus on collecting and crafting ingredients. Breath of the Wild does a stellar job embracing this concept by introducing a new innovation: cooking. Ingredients throughout the world, many of which are unique to the different regions of the world, can be collected and combined together in cooking pots to make food and potions that both restore hearts and provide temporary buffs.
'What I love about [breakable equipment] is that it forces the player to make lots of decisions'
Breakable equipment is also a first for the series and has been polarizing among fans. Swords and shields have limited durability and will eventually break and be removed from the inventory. What I love about this mechanic is that it forces the player to make lots of decisions: Do I use my strongest weapon, or save it for later? Do I hang on to all these rare magic wands or pick up a strong sword? The fragility of the equipment constantly begs the player to improvise in the middle of combat, making gameplay that much more immersive.
But, the strongest reason for the inclusion of this mechanic is to keep the player hunting for weapons. In most sandbox games, like Grand Theft Auto, you buy the gun you want and you just have it for the rest of the game. It's a one-time thrill. In Breath of the Wild, since your gear keeps breaking, you're always hunting for powerful weapons. And, once you know which enemies wield the most powerful equipment, you can zip over to where they congregate and fill up on, say, Lizal Tri-Boomerangs, when you're running low.
The joy of foraging for Korok seeds
Finally, my favorite design element innovation in the game (and possibly in any sandbox game) is Korok seeds, which can be found throughout the world and used as currency. The reward for trading those seeds in is huge: inventory expansion. You find so many amazing weapons and shields around the world, but more often than not you don't have room for them in your inventory, so you need to either abandon your newly found treasure or toss a great item you've been saving. With over 900 Korok seed puzzles, the potential to create an arsenal of goodies feels dynamic and boundless.
Korok seeds also reward the 'adventurer' within the gamer. While a common player behavior in open world games is exploring, and while it is satisfying to climb some crazy mountain just for the sake of doing it and seeing the vista, it always feels a little hollow. But in Breath of the Wild, you are given a tangible, hugely helpful reward for your curiosity through these seeds. If you're simply in the mood to spend a couple hours collecting them, it's a day well spent and the action of doing so sets you up nicely for your return to the world the next day. Ultimately, I think this mechanism makes the world feel 'lived in' and purposeful outside of the larger puzzles and challenges thrown your way.
A perfect blend of old and new
Why do I love The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild? Because it is a master class in making a sequel that feels both fresh and familiar. I love it because all of the mechanics (paraglider, shrines, towers, cooking, breakable equipment, Korok seeds) feed off of one another to propel players to continue and feel genuinely rewarded every time they turn on the console. If you haven't had the pleasure of trying it out, I strongly recommend it: there are so many adventures, stories, and secrets to enjoy. Have fun.
Developers interested in contributing their own Why I Love column are encouraged to reach out to us at news@gamesindustry.biz.
Breath of the Wild challenges the formula for the typical Legend of Zelda game by letting players piece together plotlines however they want. In line with that, the game has two endings; one being the 'true ending' that unlocks an additional cutscene. The player earns the cutscene if they free all four Divine Beasts and collects all of Link's memories.
The true ending isn't about fighting the final boss. It's about wrapping up story and character arcs, which aren't as apparent without the context of major plot points. Some reviewers like Screen Rant's Steven Richtmyer even claim that the true ending can't be fully appreciated without completing the full adventure. After all, how much can a two-minute cutscene really mean to someone who hasn't seen the best the game has to offer?
It's easy to write off Breath of the Wild as just another 'hero saves princess' story. But if you pay close attention, you might notice how the plot leads into the ending and how characters complete their personal journeys.
Setting the stage for Hyrule's heroes
Link wakes up from the Shrine of Resurrection with amnesia. So King Rhoam, the last leader of Hyrule, appears early in the game to tell him what happened 100 years ago.
The King reintroduces Link to his identity as Zelda's knight and the chosen one to wield the Master Sword. The prophecy of Calamity Ganon's resurrection prompted the excavation of the Divine Beasts, ancient machines that fought against the demon king. Hyrule picked four Champions – Mipha, Daruk, Urbosa, and Revali – to pilot the Divine Beasts and fight alongside Link and Zelda. In the past, a princess with 'sacred power' and her appointed knight chosen by the 'sword that seals the darkness' needed their help to defeat Ganon.
Despite their preparations, Ganon launched a surprise attack and hijacked the Divine Beasts. The Champions and those inside Hyrule Castle lost their lives in the ensuing battle. Zelda kept Ganon at bay for 100 years, waiting for Link to return from the Shrine of Resurrection after he collapsed during the Great Calamity. The King urges Link to save Zelda before her power runs out, and disappears into the ruins of the Temple of Time.
The story is what you make it
In an interview with The Verge, Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi said that he and the team 'wanted to make this kind of Zelda, one that doesn't have one set path.' True to his word, the non-linear storyline gives the player countless ways to reach the end of the game. Even main quests like recovering the Divine Beasts can be completed in any order — or not completed at all.
Once you retrieve the four spirit orbs from the shrines on the Great Plateau and trade them in for the paraglider, two quests appear: the first is Destroy Ganon, and the second is Seek Out Impa. King Rhoam encourages you to find Impa, but destroying Ganon is the only thing you really need to do. Still, some people like YouTuber 247MrNiceGuy discovered that three heart containers and beginner's gear isn't enough to finish Ganon off.
That being said, the other quests and exploration undoubtedly add to the overall experience. Gathering memories — and, in the process, parts of the story — adds to Breath of the Wild's narrative.
Either way, Link gets the job done
Link has two main goals: Defeat Ganon, and by extension, save Zelda. Some fans reference Chinese gamer @atomaruU's claim that the Japanese versions of Link's adventure log reveal more about his motivations like that he wants to save Zelda to 'see her smile again.' But North American audiences need to decipher his character through his actions.
At the very least, The Champion's Ballad DLC adds some context. In Zelda's DLC diary entries, she writes: 'With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden.' So Link isn't as emotionless as he seems.
However, he doesn't fall to the pressure of high expectations. He faces challenges head-on with persistence and determination, like when Zelda insisted he leave her alone but he still followed and rescued her from Yiga footsoldiers. Even when he was gravely wounded during the Great Calamity, he stood up and fought until his last breath. This courage (though Zelda warns him about the fine line between courage and recklessness) defines his character and likely drives him through the life-threatening quests in the story.
Zelda Breath Of The Wild Recipes
Zelda's date with destiny
Zelda's own motivations and feelings drove her to where she is in the plot. From a young age, she was told she had a destiny to inherit — to seal away Ganon. However, despite her best efforts over many years, she couldn't activate her sealing powers. Urbosa even mentioned that Zelda once passed out after hours of praying in freezing waters. Her powers only awakened after she jumped in front of Link to save him from a fatal blow during the Great Calamity.
Her biggest wish comes true only after the deaths of her father and fellow Champions. Despite that, Zelda doesn't waste time mourning. She orders her remaining men to bring Link to the Shrine of Resurrection and entrusts the Master Sword to the Deku Tree. Now backed by the power she sought after for so long, she sets out to seal Ganon on her own.
The true reason for Zelda's spiritual block remains a mystery. The Hidden Triforce team suggested that Zelda's loss of her mother and her kingdom's era of peacetime deprived her of the guidance and life-threatening conflict that would have clued her into the mindset to use her powers. On the other hand, fan theorists often reference The Legend of Zelda's recurring theme of the Triforce and speculate that Zelda needed courage to unlock her powers.
Ganon always loses
Ganon, sometimes known as Ganondorf, fails as much as Link and Zelda succeed. He returns multiple times throughout The Legend of Zelda timeline, only to be defeated by the princess of light and her chosen knight. Sometimes, like in Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, Ganon appears as a Gerudo. In Breath of the Wild, he's mutated into a more monstrous form.
Zelda Breath Of The Wild Map
'To know Calamity Ganon's true form, one must know the storm from an age long past,' King Rhoam says. He explains that Ganon was born into this kingdom, but his 'transformation into Malice' turned him into the dragon-like beast of overflowing dark energy that surrounds Hyrule Castle. Ganon has six forms, including the four blights that hacked the Divine Beasts.
If you don't rescue any of the Champions' spirits, then Link will need to fight all of Ganon's different forms in one go without their help. However, Zelda always guides him in the final battle against Dark Beast Ganon. Ganon's malicious energy protects him from regular attacks, but Zelda creates glowing targets for Link to exploit with the Bow of Light. After Ganon is defeated, Zelda seals him away.
Mipha says goodbye to her loved ones
Princess Mipha and Link were childhood friends before he became Zelda's knight. In 'Mipha's Touch,' she reminisces on their past and swears to always heal him like she did when they were kids. If the player completes the Zora quest, they also learn that Mipha had feelings for Link. The proof is in the Zora armor she made for him, which would typically be a gift for a Zora's betrothed. She keeps her promise to protect Link through her armor and healing ability, Mipha's Grace, that she gives him after he beats Waterblight Ganon.
Mipha wished to see Link one more time before disappearing. While looking out at the Zora domain from Divine Beast Vah Ruta, she apologizes to her father for leaving him behind and wishes she could see him again too. She isn't able to greet her family in person (or in spirit), but in the true ending, Link and Zelda head to the Zora domain to repair Ruta and offer the king closure for his fallen daughter. Link honors Mipha's memory during his quest by donning the armor she made for him and continuing to support her family and kingdom in her absence.
Daruk wishes his people the best
Daruk accepts his role as the Champion of Divine Beast Vah Rudania because, as he writes in Daruk's Training Journal, 'The Great Daruk never turns down someone in need.' Piloting the beast wasn't always easy for him either, as Link had to shove him into Rudania for him to get the hang of it. Daruk's positivity and desire to help others shines through even as he apologizes for the inconvenience his death caused. He looks to the bright side, saying that Link's victory over Fireblight Ganon opened a new opportunity to carry out the plan that they devised 100 years ago.
Daruk carries a strong sense of responsibility. The Goron champion worries about how his people will fare without him as he activates Rudania for Link's confrontation with Ganon. His worries only subside after he sees his descendant Yunobo below him on Death Mountain, who proves that the Gorons are 'still going strong.'
Urbosa entrusts Zelda to Link
Urbosa was close friends with Zelda's mother and cared for the princess from a young age. Zelda often went to Urbosa for comfort like when Link found her resting on the Gerudo chieftain's lap in the Divine Beast Vah Naboris. Urbosa also used to give Link insight on Zelda's feelings.
Urbosa entrusts Link to protect Zelda in her stead because she no longer can as a spirit. She acknowledges the trauma and guilt that Link and Zelda experienced by losing her and the other Champions, and asks him to tell Zelda that 'no one need carry blame' and that she is proud of her. Considering that Zelda did break down in tears over her father and the Champions, Urbosa's intuition was spot on.
As Urbosa said, 'We Gerudo have no tolerance for unfinished business.' She aims to finish the job she accepted by helping Link defeat Ganon.
Revali accepts he was wrong
Revali, arguably the most arrogant of the Champions, voiced his doubts from as early as Link's knighting ceremony. The Rito champion boasted about his own skills and mocked Link's lack of flight, saying that the only reason the king gave him the responsibility of slaying Ganon was because he could wield the Master Sword. He believed that he, the most skilled archer of all the Rito, was a better fit to lead the charge instead of assist.
After Link beats Windblight Ganon, Revali was still reluctant to thank or praise him. However, he showed his gratitude by granting Link his personal ability, Revali's Gale. Privately, while piloting the Divine Beast Vah Medoh, Revali admits to himself that Link was able to do something not even he could do and that he was 'luckier' than he thought. He finally acknowledges Link's strength, even if he doesn't say it to his face.
Fate of the dearly departed
The casualties of the Great Calamity are long dead, but they finally find peace after Ganon's defeat. No matter the ending, King Rhoam and four Champions watch over Link and Zelda together before disappearing.
However, if Link completes all the Divine Beast quests, then the Champions get closure they otherwise wouldn't have. All of them regret losing to Ganon. After Link saves each Champion from their respective blight Ganon, they reaffirm their resolve to help Link defeat him — not only for Hyrule, but for themselves. Somehow, even in spirit form, they take control of their Divine Beasts just long enough to weaken Ganon for the final boss battle.
Link doesn't need the Champions to fulfill his destiny, but he does to unlock the true ending. This detail proves that, even if the Champions don't play as big a role as Link and Zelda, they still make a difference. The final cutscene supports that idea as Link and Zelda help and keep in touch with the Champions' home domains.
Why the final cutscene matters
Unless we're talking about stats and items, Link doesn't have character development. He completes his quest to save Hyrule because of who he already is. Zelda's a different story.
Link's memories give us insight into Zelda's insecurities. She originally brushes him off and snaps at him when he tries to protect her. According to Urbosa, Link's skill with the Master Sword 'makes her feel like a failure when it comes to her own destiny.' While Link seemed ready to face destiny, she wasn't, no matter how hard she tried.
The final cutscene reveals that Zelda doesn't hear the voice inside the Master Sword anymore, but she is okay with that. If you collect all of Link's memories, you can see how her contentment differs from the frustration she used to feel when her powers wouldn't respond to her. You can retrieve memories in any order, but you should watch them in the order Sheikah Slate lists them if you want to understand them chronologically.
Zelda asks Link, 'Do you really remember me?' So it makes sense that earning the true ending would only be possible if Link remembers as much as he can about Zelda. His memories put into context the true ending, which ties up both of their destinies.
Link and Zelda choose their own way
Destiny might not exist, but choices do. Every Legend of Zelda game has some kind of prophecy. Link and Zelda must defeat Ganon. At the same time, Breath of the Wild's narrative design offers the player as much choice as possible. With Ganon gone and their destinies fulfilled, Link and Zelda choose a path committed to rebuilding Hyrule and keeping in touch with other domains. 'Although Ganon is gone for now, there is still so much more for us to do, and so many painful memories that we must bear,' Zelda says. Considering there's a Breath of the Wild 2in the works, she's right.
Nintendo announced the sequel to Breath of the Wild in early 2019 and released a trailer at E3 2019. In that footage, Link and Zelda explore a cave and come across what seems to be a reanimated corpse. However, it is unclear where they are or what they've found. Since then, Nintendo hasn't revealed much about the plot or development progress. Presumably, the plot takes place after Link and Zelda make an effort to rebuild Hyrule and some kind of darkness returns. Fans are left to speculate in update purgatory until Nintendo breaks more news on the matter.