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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an upcoming action-adventure high fantasy video game under development by Nintendo for the Wii U and the company's upcoming home console platform, codenamed "NX" in 2017. It is the nineteenth main installment in the The Legend of Zelda series and the first original Zelda game developed with a high-definition resolution. Set in Hyrule, 100 years after the slumber of amnesiac protagonist Link, the story involves his awakening to a mysterious voice as he follows its direction and embarks on a quest to defeat the Calamity Ganon.

The title will feature an open world and gameplay elements that constitute a pronounced departure from the series' conventions, such as the inclusion of a realistic, advanced physics engine, as well as the ability to play through the game's dungeons in any order of the player's choosing. First announced in 2013, the game was originally planned for a 2015 release date; it is currently set for release in 2017.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Breath of the Wild is a departure from recent games in The Legend of Zelda series, as the game takes place in an open world environment, approximately twelve times the size of the overworld featured in Twilight Princess, with less emphasis on defined entrances and exits to areas. Similar to the original The Legend of Zelda, the player is placed into the game's overworld with little to no instruction and is allowed to explore freely at their own pace. Players control Link, who now has the ability to jump and climb up almost any surface. By exploring the environment, Link can find various weapons, including melee weapons, shields, and bows, as well as equippable clothing and food items that can be eaten or cooked to restore health. Weapons break after excessive use, but many weapons have multiple uses; for example, tree branches can be used to light fires, and shields can be used as makeshift snowboards. Throughout the game, Link possesses a piece of technology known as the Sheikah Slate, which provides players with a map and allows Link to create waypoints and investigate enemy stats. By discovering various runes, the Sheikah Slate can be upgraded with various powers, including creating bombs, controlling objects with magnetism, and stopping time around objects and enemies.

Additionally, the game supports multiple Amiibo figurines which can alter gameplay. For example, the Wolf Link Amiibo, which can copy data over from Twilight Princess HD, summons Wolf Link as a partner character. Wolf Link carries over the number of hearts that are saved onto the Amiibo after playing through the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD. Wolf Link can be summoned once per day.

Plot

Link awakens from a deep sleep, and a mysterious voice guides him to discover what has become of the ruined Kingdom of Hyrule. Link meets an old man and learns from him that 100 years prior, a great evil known as the Calamity Ganon appeared and laid waste to Hyrule. Unable to be defeated, it was sealed within Hyrule Castle while the ruins of the land were ravaged by nature over time. Although trapped, the Calamity Ganon has continued to grow in power, and Link must defeat it before it breaks free and destroys the world.

Development and release

During the 23 January 2013 Nintendo Direct video stream, producer Eiji Aonuma stated that a new The Legend of Zelda game was in development for the Wii U, and that it would challenge some of the series' conventions, such as the requirement that players complete dungeons in a set order. In Nintendo's Digital Event presented at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014, Aonuma revealed the first in-game footage, featuring high-definition visuals that incorporate cel shading, and said the title was scheduled for release in 2015.

On 27 March 2015, Aonuma announced in a video that the game would be delayed, stating "... our priority is to make it the ultimate and most complete Zelda game", the team was no longer targeting a 2015 release window, and the title would likely not be shown at E3 2015. At the convention in June of that year, Reggie Fils-Aimé, the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, said in an interview that the game would be released in 2016. Also during E3 2015, Nintendo senior managing director and Zelda series creator Shigeru Miyamoto reaffirmed that the title was still set for release on the Wii U, despite the development of the "new dedicated gaming platform" known by the codename "NX".

On 27 April 2016, Nintendo announced that the release was delayed into 2017, due to issues with the game's physics engine, and that the title would be released for the Wii U and NX simultaneously. At the company's Treehouse Live presentation at E3 2016 in June, the game's subtitle was revealed to be Breath of the Wild. The Wii U version of Breath of the Wild was the only playable game Nintendo displayed at the convention. The game was simultaneously made available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Aonuma has reiterated on numerous occasions the development team's focus on "rethinking the conventions of Zelda", an idea that first prompted the change in the series' gameplay style to non-linear, open world, and objective-based gameplay in 2013's A Link Between Worlds, reminiscent of the original The Legend of Zelda. In an interview with Kotaku the week of E3 2014, Aonuma said one of the ways he wanted to alter the norms of Zelda was by reforming dungeons and puzzle solving, two major gameplay elements in the series. Aonuma also stated that the story of the game is entirely optional, and that it is possible for players to reach the end of the game without progressing through it.

Despite Link being canonically left-handed for most of the Zelda series, in Breath of the Wild, Link is right-handed. When explaining why, Aonuma said that, "In terms of right-handedness of things, when we think about which hand Link is going to use, we think about the control scheme. With the gamepad, the buttons you'll be using to swing the sword are on the right side, and thus he's right-handed."

Aonuma stated that the game's art style was inspired by gouache and en plein air art to help identify the vast, open world.

Reception

Pre-release

Pre-release reception was very positive after the game's reveal. Before the announcement of the delay, GameTrailers ranked Breath of the Wild at number one in its countdown of most-anticipated upcoming video games, citing its freedom of exploration and "design philosophy that both reinvents what a Zelda game can be while simultaneously bringing it back to its roots." In the website's community poll, released a week later, the game was the second most-anticipated game, beaten only by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. After Breath of the Wild's then-announced delay into 2016, GameTrailers ranked the game at number ten on the 2016 edition of the list. However, the game was the third most-anticipated title of the year in the website's 2016 community poll, behind Persona 5 and Final Fantasy XV.

After being showcased at E3 2016, Breath of the Wild received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics alike. CNET said that the showing of the game at the convention would "take your breath away". IGN called the game "the open world Zelda we've always wanted", and Engadget called it "Nintendo's next classic". Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica praised the game's renewed emphasis on open-world exploration. According to Brandwatch, a social media monitoring platform, Breath of the Wild was the most talked-about E3 2016 game on social media. The game also won several of IGN's E3 2016 awards, including the Best Wii U Game, Best Adventure Game, and Game of the Show awards, as well as GamingBolt's E3 Game of Show. It was also listed among the best games at E3 from Eurogamer, GameSpot, Game Rant, Destructoid, and GamesRadar.

Notes

1. Known in Japan as Zeruda no Densetsu: Buresu obu za Wairudo (ゼルダの伝説 ブレス オブ ザ ワイルド, "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild")

References

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External links

• Official website
• Official E3 2016 website

• Nintendo
• Video games
• 2010s
• Japan

• Action-adventure games
• Monolith Soft games
• Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development games
• Nintendo NX games
• Open world video games
• The Legend of Zelda video games
• Upcoming video games scheduled for 2017
• Video games that use Amiibo figurines
• Video games with cel-shaded animation
• Wii U games