The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild[b] is a 2017
action-adventure game developed and published by
Nintendo for the
Nintendo Switch and
Wii U. Set at the end of the
Zelda timeline, the player controls an
amnesiacLink as he sets out to save
Princess Zelda and prevent
Calamity Ganon from destroying the world. Players explore the
open world of
Hyrule while they collect items and complete objectives such as puzzles or
side quests. Breath of the Wild's world is unstructured and encourages exploration and experimentation; the story can be completed in a
nonlinear fashion.
Breath of the Wild was first planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U
exclusive. It was eventually released on March 3, 2017, as a
launch game for the Switch and the final Nintendo game for the Wii U. It received acclaim and won numerous
Game of the Year accolades. Critics praised its open-ended gameplay, open-world design, and attention to detail, though some criticized its technical performance. It is the best-selling Zelda game and one of the
best-selling video games of all time, with 33.31 million copies sold by 2023.
Breath of the Wild is an open world
action-adventure game. Players are tasked with exploring the kingdom of
Hyrule while controlling
Link. Breath of the Wild encourages
nonlinear gameplay, which is illustrated by the lack of defined entrances or exits to areas,[1] scant instruction given to the player, and encouragement to explore freely.[2]Breath of the Wild introduces a consistent
physics engine to the Zelda series, letting players approach problems in different ways rather than trying to find a single solution.[3] The "chemistry engine" defines the physical properties of most objects and governs how they interact with the player and one another.[4] For example, during
thunderstorms, metal objects will attract powerful lightning strikes; during a storm, therefore, a player must be careful not to carry metal, but may also throw metal objects at enemies to draw lightning to them.[5] These design approaches result in a generally unstructured and interactive world that rewards experimentation and allows for nonlinear completion of the story.[6][7]
As Link, players can perform actions such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding with a
paraglider, although Link is limited by his
stamina.[5] Link can procure items from the environment, including weapons, food, and other resources. Unlike previous Zelda games, weapons and shields degrade through use, eventually shattering.[5] Many items have multiple uses; for example, wooden weapons can light fires, wooden shields can collect incoming enemy arrows, and shields can be used as makeshift
snowboards.[5] Players can obtain food and materials for elixirs from hunting animals, gathering wild fruit, or collecting parts of defeated enemies.[6] By cooking combinations of food or materials, the player can create meals and elixirs that can replenish Link's health and stamina, or provide temporary status bonuses such as increased strength or resistance to heat or cold.[6] An important tool in Link's arsenal is the "Sheikah Slate", a magical stone tablet which can be used to mark waypoints on the in-game map and take pictures of materials, creatures, and enemies. These pictures are stored in an in-game compendium that can be used to locate valuable items. The Sheikah Slate also gives the player the ability to create remote bombs, manipulate metal objects, form ice blocks on watery surfaces, and temporarily stop objects in time.[8][9][10] In combat, players can lock onto targets for more precise attacks, while certain button combinations allow for advanced offensive and defensive moves.[11] Players may also defeat enemies without weapons, such as by rolling boulders off cliffs into enemy camps.[12]
Besides exploration, players can undergo quests or challenges to obtain certain benefits. Activating towers and shrines will add waypoints to the map that the player may warp to at any time.[13] Activating towers also adds territories to the map, although location names are not added until the player explores that area. Dotted throughout Hyrule are shrines that contain challenges ranging from puzzles to battles against robotic opponents. Clearing shrines earns Spirit Orbs; after earning four of these orbs, they can be traded for additional health or stamina points.[13] When Link has at least 13 hearts, he can reclaim the
Master Sword in the Korok Forest. The Master Sword is the only unbreakable weapon in the game, but it can run out of energy after extended use, requiring a 10-minute recharge.[14] In addition to shrines, the Divine Beasts, giant mechanical animals, act as extended puzzles, each based around a unique animal and element.[15] Scattered across Hyrule are small puzzles that reveal Korok Seeds, which can be traded to expand inventory size for weapons, shields, and bows.[16] Towns serve as hotspots for quests, sidequests, and shops selling materials and clothing. Hikers and other travelers offer sidequests, hints, or conversation.[5][11] Additionally, players can scan
Amiibo figures against their controller to summon items or call Link's horse
Epona from previous Zelda games and Wolf Link from Twilight Princess.[17][18]
Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the
Zelda timeline in the kingdom of
Hyrule.[19] In ancient times, the ancient Sheikah race had developed Hyrule into an advanced civilization, protected by four enormous animalistic machines called the Divine Beasts and an army of autonomous weapons called Guardians.[20] When an ancient evil known as
Calamity Ganon appeared and threatened Hyrule, four great warriors were given the title of Champion, and each piloted one of the Divine Beasts to weaken Ganon while the princess with the blood of the goddess and her appointed knight fought and defeated him by sealing him away.[21][22]
Ten millennia later,[23] the kingdom of Hyrule had since
regressed to a medieval state.[24][25] Reading their ancestors' prophecies, Hyrule's peoples recognized the signs of Ganon's return and excavated surrounding areas to uncover the Divine Beasts and Guardians.[26] During this time,
Princess Zelda trained vigorously to awaken the sealing magic needed to defeat Ganon while trying to maintain her personal research. In the meantime, a knight was appointed to protect her:
Link, a Hylian who was chosen due to his ability to wield the Master Sword, also known as "the sword that seals the darkness". After being sought out by Zelda, the Champions—
Mipha, princess of the aquatic
Zora;
Revali, archer of the birdlike
Rito;
Daruk, warrior of the mountainous
Gorons; and
Urbosa, chief of the desert-dwelling
Gerudo—assembled to pilot the Divine Beasts (Vah Ruta, Vah Medoh, Vah Rudania, and Vah Naboris, respectively) while Zelda and Link would face Ganon directly.[27]
However, when Ganon appeared on Zelda's seventeenth birthday, he possessed the Guardians and Divine Beasts, turning them against Hyrule. King Rhoam and the Champions were killed, much of the kingdom was laid to waste, and Link was gravely wounded protecting Zelda while on their way to Fort Hateno.[28][29] Zelda unlocked her sealing powers, using them to save Link.[30] Zelda had Link taken to safety for him to heal, hid the Master Sword in Korok Forest under the protection of the
Great Deku Tree, and used her light magic to seal herself and Ganon in Hyrule Castle.[31] This cataclysmic tragedy came to be known over time as the Great Calamity.
A century after being placed in a healing chamber in the Shrine of Resurrection, an
amnesiac Link awakens in a now-ravaged Hyrule. He meets an old man, who eventually reveals himself as the lingering spirit of
King Rhoam. Rhoam explains that Ganon, sealed in Hyrule Castle, has grown stronger; he pleads for Link to defeat Ganon before he regains his full strength, breaks free, and destroys the world.[32]
Link reunites with
Impa, a Sheikah elder who previously served the royal family, and she instructs him to free the Divine Beasts. Link travels across Hyrule, returning to locations from his past and regaining his memories. At the behest of Hyrule's peoples,[c] he boards the four Divine Beasts and purges them of the Blight Ganons, freeing the captive spirits of Hyrule's fallen Champions and allowing them to pilot the Divine Beasts once again. After freeing the Champion's spirits, they each gift Link an ability. Mipha gives him Mipha's Grace, a healing ability, Revali gives Revali's Gale, a flight-giving ability, Daruk, gives Daruk's Protection, which grants immunity to attacks, and Urbosa, gifts him Urbosa's Fury, allowing Link to create lightning.[33] In this endeavor, Link is assisted by
Sidon, the Zora prince and Mipha's younger brother;
Yunobo, Daruk's cowardly descendant;
Teba, a Rito warrior; and
Riju, the child chief of the Gerudo. After obtaining the Master Sword from Korok Forest, Link enters Hyrule Castle and confronts Ganon. The Divine Beasts weaken him, and after Link defeats him, he transforms into Dark Beast Ganon in an attempt to destroy the world. Zelda gives Link the Bow of Light, which allows him to weaken Ganon enough for Zelda to seal him away, restoring peace and allowing the spirits of King Rhoam and the Champions to depart to the afterlife. Sensing their presence, Link and Zelda smile fondly.
If players have found all thirteen memories in the "Captured Memories" main quest, they unlock a post-credits cutscene in which Zelda declares that Hyrule must be rebuilt and that she and Link must begin the process by themselves.[34][35] As Link and Zelda survey Hyrule and embark to restore it to—and perhaps beyond—its former glory, the princess confides in him that although her powers may have dwindled over time, she has come to terms with it.[36]
Development
Nintendo EPD, an internal division of
Nintendo, developed Breath of the Wild for the
Nintendo Switch and
Wii U. According to series producer
Eiji Aonuma, the development team aimed to "rethink the conventions of Zelda".[37][38] Development started immediately upon the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011).[39] Aonuma received comments from players who wished to see a more interconnected map to explore the locales between the gameplay areas.[3][40] In 2013, Nintendo experimented with
nonlinear gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds,[41] which was a common point of praise from many outlets. At
E3 2014, Aonuma said he planned to reform dungeons and puzzles, two of the series' major gameplay elements,[42] and redesign the game to allow players to reach the end without progressing through the story.[43] As Nintendo had never developed an open-world game on the scale of Breath of the Wild, they looked at The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim[44] and Shadow of the Colossus, the latter of which had some similar climbing mechanics and whose creator,
Fumito Ueda, was friends with Aonuma.[45] For the art style, the team drew inspiration from various Japanese
anime which they had grown up watching, suspected to include
Studio Ghibli and
Hayao Miyazaki productions, among other anime.[46][47] The protagonist, Link, was redesigned, with Aonuma purposely making him more
gender neutral so that players could more easily relate to him.[48]
Before full development, the developers designed a playable 2D prototype similar to the original Zelda to experiment with physics-based puzzles. The final game uses a modified version of the
Havokphysics engine.[49] At the
2017 Game Developers Conference, director
Hidemaro Fujibayashi, technical director Takuhiro Dohta, and art director Satoru Takizawa held a presentation titled "Change and Constant – Breaking Conventions with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild", during which they demoed the prototype.[49][50] Aonuma called the physics engine in Breath of the Wild a major development for the Zelda series, saying that it "underpins everything in the world" and makes things operate in a "logical and realistic way", allowing players to approach puzzles and problems in different ways. He expanded on the difficulty in developing this system, recalling how one day during development he entered a game area and found that all the objects had been blown away by the wind.[3] In the early stage of development, the game was to include "double hookshots", a variation of the hookshot present in previous Zelda games, that would let players swing "like
Spider-Man". It ended up being removed after the developers found it gave the player too much mobility and broke the climbing mechanic.[51] As previous Zelda games increased the amount of actions Link could perform, the development team realized that having too many actions would complicate the controls, so instead of adding more actions, they increased the number of events the player could interact with in the world.[52]
Our mission in developing this new Zelda game ... is quite plainly to re-think the conventions of Zelda. I'm referring to the expectation that the player is supposed to complete dungeons in a certain order...we want to set aside these conventions, get back to basics and create a newborn Zelda so that the players can best enjoy the real essence of the franchise.
Breath of the Wild was built and demonstrated with touchscreen features for the Wii U, but the developers found that "looking back and forth between the GamePad and the screen" was a distraction. The features were removed when the game moved to tandem development across the Switch and Wii U.[53] The
Wii U GamePad also affected animation; although Link is left-handed in earlier games, he is right-handed in Breath of the Wild to match the GamePad's control scheme, which has its sword-swinging buttons on its right side.[54] The Switch version performs better than the Wii U release when docked to a television, although when undocked, both run at the same
resolution. The Switch version also has higher-quality environmental sounds.[55][56] Certain ideas, such as flying and underground dungeons, were not implemented due to the Wii U's limitations, and were instead used in the sequel.[57] Aonuma said the art design was inspired by
gouache and
en plein air art to help identify the vast world.[58] Takizawa has also cited the
Jōmon period as an inspiration for the ancient
Sheikah technology and architecture, due to the mystery surrounding the period.[59] The landscape was based on locations in and around
Kyoto, the hometown of the director,
Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and was partially designed by
Monolith Soft, who assisted with topographical level design.[60][61][62] The initial area was made a plateau so that players can see the world's expansive environments.[63]
I really think the implementation of this physics engine is a major development for the Zelda series. The way the physics engine underpins everything in the world really offers up a lot of new possibilities. For instance, in Breath of the Wild you might have a puzzle where making use of the physics, there'll be various ways you can solve that puzzle. That really opens up a lot of possibilities so there’s not just one way to progress in the game or just one way to solve a puzzle.
Breath of the Wild was the first main Zelda game to use voice acting in
cutscenes, although Link remains a
silent protagonist. Aonuma was affected by the first time he heard a character with a human voice in-game, and wanted to leave a similar impression on players.[64] The team decided to record voice-overs for all cutscenes instead of only the key scenes, as originally planned.[65][66] Nintendo provided
voice-overs and subtitles in eight languages.[d] Initially, players were not able to mix and match the languages of voices and subtitles,[67] but Nintendo later released an update in May 2017 that allowed players to choose the voice-over language.[68] After five years of development, the game
went gold, with Nintendo holding a
wrap party to celebrate.[69] Coinciding with the launch in Taiwan and South Korea in early 2018, Nintendo introduced a patch worldwide adding traditional and simplified Chinese and Korean translations for the Nintendo Switch version.[e][70][71][72]
The original score was composed by Manaka Kataoka,[f] Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai. Kataoka and Wakai had previously worked on the Zelda games Spirit Tracks and The Wind Waker respectively.[73] The soundtrack was primarily written and performed on a
piano, with a focus on
ambient music and sounds rather than melodic and upbeat music as seen in previous Zelda games. According to Wakai, this helped add "authenticity" to the environments and was taken on as a challenge by the rest of the sound team.[74]
Release
Aonuma announced the game for the
Wii U on January 23, 2013, during a
Nintendo Direct presentation. He said it would challenge the series' conventions, such as the requirement that players complete dungeons in a set order.[2][75] The next year, Nintendo introduced the
high-definition,
cel-shaded visual style with in-game footage at its
E3 press event.[76][77] Once planned for release in 2015, the game was delayed early in the year and did not show at
that year's E3.[78][79] The Zelda creator,
Shigeru Miyamoto, confirmed that it would be released for the Wii U despite the development of Nintendo's next console, the
Nintendo Switch.[80] It was delayed again in April 2016 due to problems with its physics engine. Nintendo let attendees play the Wii U version at the
E3 convention in June 2016,[81] where they also announced its subtitle, Breath of the Wild.[82] It was listed among the best games at E3 by several publications.[83][84][85][86][87]
Breath of the Wild launched for both the Wii U and Switch on March 3, 2017.[88] It was the last Nintendo game released for the Wii U.[89] The Switch version was available in limited "Special Edition" and "Master Edition" bundles, which both included a Sheikah Eye coin, a Calamity Ganon tapestry with world map, a soundtrack CD, and a themed carrying case for the Switch. The Master Edition also included a figurine based on the Master Sword.[90][91][92] An "Explorer's Edition" was released for the Switch on November 23, containing a two-sided map and a 100-page book of story information.[93] In Europe, the game used unique packing artwork.[94] A five-disc, 211-track soundtrack was released in Japan on April 25, 2018.[95]
Downloadable content
Throughout 2017, Nintendo released two packs of
downloadable content (DLC) via an "expansion pass": The Master Trials and The Champions' Ballad.[96][97]The Master Trials, released in June, adds gameplay modes, features, and items. In the "Trial of the Sword" challenge, the player faces three trials, consisting of twelve, sixteen, and twenty-three rooms respectively. Each room is full of enemies which the player must defeat before proceeding. Every room must be completed before the player can claim their reward.[98] The player begins with no equipment and will lose all progress if they receive a game over. At the end of each trial the player's Master Sword has its attack power upgraded by ten points and the blue sheen of its blade grows slightly. By the end of the third trial, the Master Sword will have doubled in attack power and will glow blue. The pack also adds an optional higher
difficulty level, Master Mode, which adds faster rank leveling and raises the ranks of enemies by 1.[99] The enemies are more perceptive when Link sneaks near them and slowly regenerate health in battle. New floating platforms throughout the land offer enemies to battle and treasure as a reward. The Hero's Path feature draws the player's path on the map, designed to help players determine places they have not visited. The player can also find the hidden Travel Medallion to save Link's current position as a single waypoint to which the player can transport Link at any time. New items include the Korok Mask, which alerts the player when a Korok is nearby, and other themed cosmetics related to previous Zelda games.[100]
The Champions' Ballad was released in December. It added a new dungeon, additional story content, new gear, and additional challenges,[97][101][102] as well as the Master Cycle Zero, a motorcycle-like vehicle that Link can ride upon completing the quest line.[103]
A complete "Expansion Pass" edition, containing all DLC on the game card, was released exclusively in Japan on October 8, 2021.[104]
The open-world gameplay received praise. Jose Otero of IGN described it as "a masterclass in open-world design" and "a wonderful sandbox full of mystery, dangling dozens upon dozens of tantalizing things in front of you that just beg to be explored".[6]GameSpot called it the most impressive game Nintendo had made, writing that it "takes designs and mechanics perfected in other games and reworks them for its own purposes to create something wholly new, but also something that still feels quintessentially like a Zelda game ... It's both a return to form and a leap into uncharted territory, and it exceeds expectations on both fronts".[5]Edge wrote that the world was "an absolute, and unremitting, pleasure to get lost in" and that "the magic of being given all the tools in the opening hour is the knowledge that the solution to any problem is already at your disposal, and you can always change tack".[107] According to Digital Trends, the ability to climb any surface and glide across the map gave players freedom of movement that "broke the genre open, pushing developers to rethink how players interact with the world" and putting extra thought into vertical design. In contrast to "
Ubisoft-style" games that filled the map with points of interest and objectives, Breath of the Wild's free-form exploration encourages players to set their own objectives, marking the map with discoveries that serve as a record of what players have accomplished.[129]
According to Kyle Orland of Ars Technica, the open-world design reinvented Zelda formula, in comparison to other entries of the franchise.[130] Journalists commented on unexpected interactions between game elements,[131][132][133] with serendipitous moments proving popular on
social media.[134] Chris Plante of The Verge predicted that whereas prior open-world games tended to feature prescribed challenges, Zelda would influence a new generation of games with open-ended problem-solving.[134]Digital Trends wrote that the level of experimentation allowed players to interact with and exploit the environment in creative ways, resulting in various "tricks" still discovered years after release.[129]
Reviewers lauded the sense of detail and immersion.[135][131]Kotaku recommended turning off UI elements in praise of the indirect cues that contextually indicate the same information, such as Link shivering in the cold or waypoints appearing when using the scope.[135] Reviewers also commented on the unexpected permutations of interactions between Link, villagers, pets, and enemies,[131][132][133] many of which were shared widely on social media.[134] A tribute to former Nintendo president
Satoru Iwata, who died during development, also attracted praise.[131][136]
Jim Sterling was more critical than most, giving Breath of the Wild a 7/10 score, criticizing the difficulty, weapon durability, and level design, but praising the open world and variety of content.[137] Other criticism focused on the unstable
frame rate and the low resolution of 900p;[138] updates addressed some of these problems.[139][140]
Sales
Breath of the Wild broke sales records for a Nintendo launch game in multiple regions.[141][142] In Japan, the Switch and Wii U versions sold a combined 230,000 copies in the first week of release, with the Switch version becoming the top-selling game released that week.[143] In the UK, Breath of the Wild was the second-bestselling retail game its week of release behind Horizon Zero Dawn, and became the third-bestselling Zelda game behind The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.[144][145] In the United States, Breath of the Wild was the second-bestselling video game during its month of release behind Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.[146] Nintendo reported that Breath of the Wild sold more than one million copies in the US that month—925,000 of which were for Switch, outselling the Switch itself.[147][148][149][150] Nintendo president
Tatsumi Kimishima said that the attach rate on the Switch was "unprecedented".[151]Breath of the Wild had sold 31.61 million copies on the Switch by December 2023 and 1.70 million copies on the
Wii U by December 2020.[152][153]
It's been three long years since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild rewired the connections inside my brain. It messed me up. In some ways you might say it ruined video games. Other video games. [...] It's not God of War's fault that it's not Breath of the Wild. It's not Spider-Man's fault that it's not Breath of the Wild. I spent a good 10 hours playing Red Dead Redemption 2, hoping it was Breath of the Wild, then eventually gave up. No one's fault. Sorry, other video games. You tried, but you weren't Breath of the Wild.
Shortly after Breath of the Wild's release, journalists and video game industry figures discussed how it would influence future open-world games[198][199][200] and the Zelda series.[201] Benjamin Plich, designer of Assassin's Creed Unity and For Honor, said that he believed developers would take inspiration from its focus on experimental and
emergent gameplay, such as "the ability to experiment with things more freely, in an open way" and having a sense of autonomy and experimentation with the environment and the tools at their disposal. Damien Monnier, designer of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, said Breath of the Wild managed to bring classic open world mechanics together while not relying on them to guide the player through its world, encouraging players to explore.[199] Its "reactive physics"
sandbox design was "a revelation for the open world genre at large" according to Screen Rant,[202] and the game was noted for its experimental chemistry engine, emphasizing chemistry as much as physics.[203]PC Gamer wrote that it set a new standard for its genre and the future games to come.[198] It has been listed as the best game of all time by IGN,[204] and GQ,[205] whose list was advised by game developers, streamers, directors, writers and others across the world.
The success sparked increased interest in the Wii U emulator
Cemu, as the Cemu developers rapidly updated the software to run Breath of the Wild at a steady frame rate within weeks of release.[217][218][219] The ability to run the game in an emulator led to a thriving
modding scene.[220]
A sequel was announced at
E3 2019[224] with the title later revealed to be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.[225] It was conceived during planning for Breath of the Wild's DLC; the team came up with too many ideas, some of which could not be implemented due to technical constraints, so used them for a new game. According to Aonuma, the sequel would build atop the original's world with a new story and gameplay elements,[226] and is inspired in part by Red Dead Redemption 2.[227] Fujibayashi returned as the director.[228] The game was released on May 12, 2023.[225]
^Japanese: ゼルダの伝説 ブレス オブ ザ ワイルド,
Hepburn: Zeruda no Densetsu: Buresu obu za Wairudo
^The Hylians, Sheikah, Zora, Rito, Gorons, and Gerudo
^Languages include Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. The Dutch localization is text only and borrows the English voice-over by default, whilst the Spanish localization include two different voice-over tracks for different regions.
^The Chinese and Korean localization is text only and borrows the Japanese voice-over by default.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Impa: Hyrule was then blossoming as a highly advanced civilization... the people thought it wise to utilize their technological prowess to ensure the safety of the land should Calamity Ganon ever return. They constructed... the Divine Beasts. They also built a legion of autonomous weapons called guardians.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Impa: The Divine Beasts were piloted by four individuals of exceptional skill from across the land. And thus, the plan to neutralize Ganon was forged... The princess and the hero fought alongside these four Champions against this ancient evil. The Guardians were tasked with protecting the hero, as the Divine Beasts unleashed a furious attack... And when the hero wielding the
sword that seals the darkness delivered his final blow, the princess used her sacred power to seal away Calamity Ganon.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Impa: The history of the royal family of Hyrule is also the history of Calamity Canon, a primal evil that has endured over the ages. This evil has been turned back time and time again by a warrior wielding the soul of a hero and a princess who carries the blood of the Goddess. With the passage of time, each conflict with Ganon faded into legend. So listen closely as I tell you of this 'legend' that occurred 10,000 years ago.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Princess Zelda's Research Notes: In the war against the Calamity 10,000 years ago... were the injuries so great as to necessitate such a facility?
^Nintendo; Naoyukikayama; Kikai; Akinorisao; Mikame, Chasito; Thorpe, Patrick (November 2018). The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion. Dark Horse Books. p. 341.
ISBN978-1506710105. Hylian Building Ruins
Romanesque style (thick walls, small windows).
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Cado: Our creations came to be viewed as a threat to the kingdom. The Sheikah became outcasts, forced into exile. Some, like us, chose to cast off our technological advances and strove to live normal lives.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. King Rhoam: There was also a prophecy. 'The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear, and the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground'. We decided to heed the prophecy and began excavating large areas of land.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. King Rhoam: The princess, her appointed knight, and the rest of the Champions were on the brink of sealing away Ganon... But nay...
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. King Rhoam: [Ganon] seized control of the Guardians and the Divine Beasts and turned them against us. The Champions lost their lives. Those residing in the castle as well. The appointed knight, gravely wounded, collapsed while defending the princess. And thus, the Kingdom of Hyrule was devastated absolutely by Calamity Ganon.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Zelda: Although Ganon is gone for now, there is still so much for us to do. And so many painful memories that we must bear. I believe in my heart, that if all of us work together... we can restore Hyrule to its former glory. Perhaps... even beyond. But it all must start with us.
^Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Zelda: I can no longer hear the voice inside the sword. I suppose it would make sense if my power had dwindled over the past one-hundred years... I'm surprised to admit it... but I can accept that.
^When docked, the Switch runs at
900presolution, and when undocked, it runs at the screen's maximum
720p. The Wii U has the latter's maximum resolution. All versions run at 30
frames per second.[55]
^In the Americas, the title surpassed Super Mario 64 as Nintendo's fastest-selling standalone launch game, not including titles
included with consoles, such as Wii Sports. In Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, Breath of the Wild outsold even Wii Sports in its opening weekend.[141]