A few years back, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released as the Gamecube’s swan song and as a key title in the Nintendo Wii’s much awaited hardware release. The upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seems to be going down the same path as it’s been confirmed that it will launch on the same day as the Nintendo Switch hardware and it’s still on schedule to be released on the Nintendo Wii U on the same day.
For the purpose of the preview event, it seemed like the build consisted of the initial area of the title, which was a perfect way to introduce players to the new game mechanics. As the main hero of Hyrule, Link awakens topless (some eye candy for those attracted to male figures) and is immediately given the task to go forth and start another adventure, by a mysterious voice.
Players are also introduced to the recurring Sheikah Stone, a helpful peripheral that looks very similar to the Nintendo Switch Console in this title. Although this tool wasn’t used that much throughout the demonstration, one of its main functions seemed to be about looking at the environment from a first person view – perhaps as a scanner to get more information on Link’s immediate surroundings. Another of its main functions is to act as a way for Link to interact with different interfaces throughout the game.
It soon becomes clear that this isn’t a typical JRPG as soon as Link steps out of the underground temple like place he had been napping in for an undetermined amount of time. Nintendo really goes all out this time with the views as it presents a rather breathtaking view of a valley – impressive draw distance included. Rather than rely too much on dialogue, this story seems to give players the opportunity to learn more by merely exploring. Most of a tutorial section can be skipped by those that are inclined on learning the basics in a more natural manner.
Perhaps one of the title’s biggest strengths so far is its willingness to let players do as they wish. Those inclined to just follow the main story can do so without any interruptions. However, the land of Breath of the Wild looks big enough to satisfy the desires of those who may want to spend some time in-between the story quests, to just relax and do some exploring. In a way, this feels like the closest Nintendo has developed a Zelda title with Western players in mind, who are used to not being restricted by story quests and can explore the land with seemingly no major limitations in plain view.
Scattered throughout the land are groups of enemies who players may wish to engage in battle. The fighting mechanics are very similar to those found in previous Zelda titles. It depends on the weapon being used really, but for example a sword can be used with either a normal attack or different stronger attacks by holding down a button for a few seconds. What is slightly different is how players will use the weapons that Link can obtain. You see, weapons will eventually get worn out and become unusable. It might be the case that there are tools that can restore weapons (handy for rarer weapons) like in Dark Souls, but for the purpose of this demonstration it would be ideal to have a wide selection of weapons.
Most of these weapons were obtained by hitting enemies hard enough to make them drop the weapons. The AI (artificial intelligence) for the enemies did look more advanced than in previous titles. Enemies would go straight for their dropped weapons once they got back on their feet and would even throw rocks at Link, if they found themselves without weapons. It’s an idea that makes for far more engaging battles, since it seemed like Nintendo was trying to make fights less predictable in this title. It’s usually the case that fighting common enemies in Zelda titles can turn into a routine, due to their limited array of actions and it’s commendable to see Nintendo actively try to change that. Not only that, but there are various props scattered across the land that encourage players to get creative. One such prop is a boulder that when dropped from above will result in a destructive chain of events that ends with a bunch of enemies being blown up.
Like with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, this title also makes use of a stamina bar. Although some actions use up more stamina, it still felt like a slight inconvenience to have to keep an eye on it. Hopefully, it will be possible to equip items that make this less of an issue. At least Link is very athletic in this title and can easily climb up most parts of the environment.
The attention to detail is also another highlight from this demonstration. At one point, Link was wildly swinging his sword around, like he was about to attempt to do shot put, with the grass around him being neatly trimmed by the blade. Even minor details such as the way that Link swims in a Lake near the beginning stand out in a positive manner. This looks like the high definition release that Link deserves. Rather than handing out maps, this title instead has Link scout out Great Plateau Towers that not only provide more mesmerising views of the land, but will give information on that particular section. Albeit flashy, it’s a novel way to provide Link with traditional information and going down the tower, without Link falling to a painful death is an unusually enjoyable experience.
It’s time for some quick dungeon exploring after a brief chat with a local tall bearded stranger who tells Link about the local troublemaker, good old Ganon (that’s Calamity Ganon to you) who is looking quite menacing. The dungeon felt more like an introduction to players than a proper dungeon filled with trademark Zelda head scratching puzzles. It did result in using one of the first rather delightful artifacts (abilities) that Link will have at his disposal though. It was basically a magnet that Link could use for lifting head metal plates and other metal based objects.
Whilst the puzzles that used this ability were fairly simple, it didn’t make the experience any less enjoyable. This mainly came down to how the magnet was also used to attack enemies by dropping heavy metal objects on them. It’s worth nothing that the use of the Pro controller made switching between attacks and just exploring in general seem just as enjoyable compared to the various controllers used to play other Zelda adventures. It wasn’t possible to personally experiment using one of the other controller variations, such as using the Joy-Con controllers with the Nintendo Switch Console screen, but it definitely looked just as detailed as when playing on a bigger screen.
If this is Nintendo’s way of experimenting with one of its key franchises, then it seems to be a step in the right direction so far. Not only was it clear how accommodating it was in regards to giving players more room to decide how they wanted to play, but it did so in a manner that didn’t feel unnatural.
The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild is shaping up to be a strong launch title for Nintendo’s latest experimental hardware and one that will hopefully result in more interest for the hardware after the somewhat problematic launch of the Nintendo Wii U.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is scheduled to be released on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Wii U on 3rd of March 2017.
