Nintendo Reveals The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

Nintendo didn’t have much of a presence at E3 this year – not shocking as they announced that that would be the case before the event. That said, they did have a great showing via the Treehouse of the upcoming Legend of Zelda title. Called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this is one of Nintendo’s biggest games ever…

This is apparent by how many gameplay segments where shown; Nintendo spent most of the day playing one demo, which they claim only scratches the surface of Link’s adventure.

If you missed the event, don’t worry, here are some highlights supplied by Nintendo:

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.

Nintendo also announced a new series of amiibo figures specific to the game. Then they showed how the Wolf Link (from Twilight Princess) amiibo would allow Wolf Link to fight alongside Link. He can be summoned once a day and disappears when his hearts run out.

A lot of fans commented on how, while being great for the series, these new elements are old hat. Franchises like The Witcher, Dragon Age and more have offered what The Breath of the Wild seems to (only) offer for years. That said, this is a Legend of Zelda game – there is always something unique/magical that gamers can look forward to. Whether or not that’s the case this time around, we’ll have to wait and see.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is scheduled to launch simultaneously for the Wii U and the NX in 2017!

© United Front Gaming. All rights reserved. Site design by: 801red