The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD3
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Wii U	NA: March 3, 2017 JP: March 3, 2017 EU: March 3, 2017 AU: March 3, 2017
Wii U	NA: March 3, 2017 JP: March 3, 2017 EU: March 3, 2017 AU: March 3, 2017
Nintendo Switch	NA: March 3, 2017 JP: March 3, 2017 EU: March 3, 2017 AU: March 3, 2017
Nintendo Switch	NA: March 3, 2017 JP: March 3, 2017 EU: March 3, 2017 AU: March 3, 2017
Platform(s)
Accessory(ies)	This game is compatible with certain amiibo figures
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Rating(s)
ESRB	04
PEGI	03
CERO	02
USK	03
ACB	03

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild <sup>(JPJapanese: ゼルダの伝説 ブレス オブ ザ ワイルド

Romaji: Zeruda no Densetsu: Buresu obu za Wairudo)</sup> (also known as Breath of the Wild or BOTW) is the nineteenth The Legend of Zelda game, the third released for the Wii U and the first not being an enhanced port from the GameCube.

Like Twilight Princess, it was a dual release, being a Nintendo Switch launch title as well. Nintendo promised it would redefine the formula of Zelda's adventuring and return to the sense of exploration that was felt in the first game.

Plot

After a 100 year sleep, Link awakes inside the Shrine of Resurrection. Then, guided by a mysterious female voice, Link explores The Great Plateau. During his exploration, he encounters an Old Man. The Old Man tells Link that a monstrous being called Calamity Ganon had appeared one hundred years prior to Link’s awakening and destroyed much of Hyrule before being sealed away in Hyrule Castle by Princess Zelda. After Link finds the treasure hidden inside the four Shrines on the Great Plateau, the Old Man later reveals that he is in fact Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, the former King of Hyrule in spirit.

Gameplay

The gameplay has said to have been refined to help fit the open-world aspect of the game.  Exploration appears to be encouraged throughout the game, based on the focus of making few to no limited boundaries. 

Weapons & Gear

Link has no base gear when he starts the game. Instead, he gathers weapons and gear from the environment and chests, the first two being clothes for Link to start with.

Link can use various weapons, though there are a few distinct styles such as swords, axes, bows and spears. He can also obtain shields which he can use in conjunction with the sword or board on like a skateboard for mobility.

Many weapons can be taken from enemies, but higher quality weapons and gear have to be obtained from chests across the world.

Items

The main item is the Sheikah Slate, obtained at the start of game. With the Sheikah Slate, Link gains numerous runes that give several powers including the following

• Magnesis: Allows Link to manipulate certain metal objects.
• Bomb: Comes in two forms: Cube and Round. Round bombs roll with the environment. Cube bombs are usually stationary.
• Statis: Freezes certain objects in time, allowing you to apply as much damage as possible. When it unfreezes, all the force applied while it was frozen is unleashed all at once, usually sending the object flying.
• Cryonis: Summons a pillar of ice from bodies of water.
• Camera: Allows Link to take pictures and upload them to the Hyrule Compendium.

There is also an optional rune for amiibo functionality. The runes can be upgraded as well once the player acquires parts from various ruins or merchants

Link gains other items including

• Paraglider

Shrines & Dungeons

List of Shrines in Breath of the Wild

In addition to the main dungeons, there are over 100 shrines, which are like puzzle-focused mini-dungeons. Each shrine rewards a Spirit Orb which players can exchange for either a heart piece or a stamina vessel.

There are four dungeons in Hyrule plus Hyrule Castle. Each one is closely tied to a Zelda race and their champion from 100 years ago. Aside from the initial shrines, none are required to go to Hyrule Castle and face Calamity Ganon but, they do provide helpful improvements and abilities to better face the challenges. At each shrine, Link is given a Spirit Orb which, after gathering four of them will allow link to gain an additional Heart Container or expand his Stamina Wheel. The dungeons are

• Vah Medoh
• Vah Naboris
• Vah Rudania
• Vah Ruta
• Hyrule Castle
• Divine Trial - DLC

Korok Seeds

There are over 900 Koroks to encounter in the game. They are all over the world but require a small scale puzzle to be solved and give the player a seed. Link can trade these seeds in to expand his inventory

amiibo

The game is known to support the following amiibo:

• Wolf Link
• Link (Archer, Rider, Super Smash Bros., Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker)
• Guardian
• Zelda (Super Smash Bros., Breath of the Wild, The Wind Waker)
• Bokoblin
• Toon Link (Super Smash Bros., The Wind Waker)
• Sheik
• Ganondorf
• Daruk
• Princess Mipha
• Revali
• Urbosa

Tapping certain amiibo will; summon a companion character to help defeat enemies, summon a random amount of food, summon a random amount of barrels containing food or rupees, summon a random amount of fish, summon a random amount of plants and herbs.

Development

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was first shown at E3 2014's Digital Direct. In it was hinted at being in production in 2013. In the January 2013 Wii U direct, Eiji Aonuma hinted that the game would break the conventions of the Zelda series including elements like completing dungeons in an order and multiplayer.

It was originally planned to come out in 2015, however, in March of that year, Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma announced that the release date would be delayed until 2016, as he stated that 'our priority is to make it the ultimate and most complete Zelda game'.

In April 2016, Nintendo formally announced that the game would be delayed to 2017, as well as releasing on the NX (Now known as Nintendo Switch). On top of that, it would be the sole playable game at E3 2016 from Nintendo. During the January 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation, it was revealed that the game would launch on March 3rd, 2017 alongside the Nintendo Switch, as well as for Wii U.

Details about the content of the fist DLC of the game were communicated on may 2nd. During the E3 2017, a recap of the content of the first DLC was made as well as a first look at the second DLC and the announcement of amiibo for Daruk, Revali, Urbosa and Princess Mipha.

The second DLC was released on December 7, 2017 just after its presentation at the 2017 Game Awards ceremony. The DLC contains new trials and a new dungeon with an exclusive reward.

Voice Acting

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the first game in the Zelda series to feature voice acting. Credits for voice actors are as follows.

Japanese

• Yu Shimamura : Princess Zelda
• Hiroshi Naka : King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
• Koji Takeda : Daruk
• Mayu Isshiki : Princess Mipha
• Noboru Yamaguchi : Revali
• Rei Shimoda : Urbosa
• Kumiko Watanabe : Impa

English

• Patricia Summersett : Princess Zelda
• Bill Rogers : King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule/Prince Sidon
• Sean Chiplock : Great Deku Tree/Revali/Teba
• Joe Hernandez : Daruk/Yunobo
• Amelia Gotham : Princess Mipha
• Elizabeth Maxwell : Urbosa/Riju
• Andi Gibson : Impa
• Kate Higgins : Purah (DLC only)

French

• Adeline Chetail : Princess Zelda
• Gérard Dessalles : King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
• Sylvain Lemarié : Great Deku Tree
• Jérémie Covillault : Daruk
• Donald Reignoux : Yunobo
• Bruno Méyère : Prince Sidon
• Caroline Mozzone : Princess Mipha
• Hervé Grull : Revali
• Benoît DuPac : Teba
• Laëtitia Lefebvre : Urbosa
• Charlyne Pestel : Riju
• Brigitte Aubry : Impa

Spanish (Latin America)

• Alan Velázquez
• Alondra Hidalgo
• Edson Matus
• Enzo Fortuny
• Jessica Ángeles : Princess Zelda
• Kerygma Flores
• Monserrat Mendoza González
• Octavio Rojas
• Pepe Toño Macías
• Ricardo Tejedo
• Rubén Moya
• Yolanda Vidal : Impa

Videos

Videos
Trailer at E3 2014	Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 trailer
Main Page: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/videos

Reception

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was very highly received. It currently has a 98/100 on Metacritic, making it the highest scoring game this decade, and the fourth highest scoring game of all time. The game also holds the record for having the most perfect review scores. It was later crowned "Best Action/Adventure Game 2017" and "Game of the Year 2017" during the Game Awards ceremony.

Sales

During its first month, 2,76 million copies of the Switch version of Breath of the Wild were sold while "only" 2.74 million Nintendo Switch were sold, meaning that Nintendo had an attach rate above 1 for Breath of the Wild. Nintendo also said that in the U.S., Breath of the Wild is Nintendo’s fastest-selling launch title of all time and the fastest-selling game in the history of the Zelda series.

As of June 2017, Breath of the Wild sold 3,92 million copies making it the best selling Nintendo Switch game before Mario Kart 8 Deluxe And 1-2-Switch. As of September 2017, Breath of the Wild sold 4,70 million copies. As of the end of December 2017, Breath of the Wild sold 6.70 million copies.

As of the end of April 2018, Breath of the Wild sold 8.48 million copies making it the third most successful game on the Nintendo Switch as well as the best selling Zelda game of all time if we add the 1.5 million copies sold on Wii U. As of the end of June 2018, Breath of the Wild is the third most successful game on the Nintendo Switch with 9.32 million copies sold. At the beginning of September 2018, Breath of the Wild became the 3rd best selling Zelda game in Japan with 1.258 million copies sold, now only behind the original The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link which both sold over 1.6 million. As of the end of September 2018, Breath of the Wild is still the third best sellinng Nintendo Switch game, now with 10.28 copies sold on the system alone.