First Impressions – Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
In previous years, Nintendo fell flat when it came to their E3 presentation and offerings of games. The excitement wasn’t there. Some wondered what happened to the Nintendo of old. Well, good news folks. Nintendo crushed a home run with their offering at E3 this year – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Go ahead and watch the trailer again. Go ahead – I will wait.
Absolutely gorgeous. And equally intriguing. Was this offering an open world Zelda that we have dreamed about? I waited 2 and a half hours to find out. As we walked in, we sat in a small room with a giant screen. They played a trailer that showed off the controls and capabilities of the demo. Then, the screen went up with a graphic that resembled how doors would open in Zelda. It was a really cool effect. As we walked in, the room was decorated beautifully with statues, paintings, and greenery. There were about 140 stations set up with helpers to tell us about controls and guide us.
The first 20 minutes were up to us. We were placed in a little campsite and picked up a sword, shield, and bow and arrows. We were told to do whatever we want. I tried to do everything. First, I went after some goblin looking creatures. There are a slew of specialty attacks to try. The controls worked effortlessly on the game pad. As I took out enemies, I noted a number associated with weapons that I picked up. There are RPG elements to Zelda, and some weapons are more powerful than others. Weapons could also break, so you have to be careful. After that, I went exploring. I went to an old temple and hit some pots (because Zelda). I went to the snowy mountains and explored. When I got there, I noticed my temperature icon went down and I started shivering. I had to switch to a warmer tunic to keep warm and keep myself from losing health. I went hunting for some boars in the forest. Another feature in the game involves finding different foods to eat and cook. Different foods will replenish a different amount of hearts, and cooking food will change what you get from it. After 20 minutes, my screen went dark, but my demo was not over.
The last part of the demo gave us a look at the start of the story. A female voice (maybe Zelda?) wakes you up from a 100 year slumber in the chamber of resurrection. I have SO many questions about that. When does this game take place? Is this the answer to how Link is around in every game? I picked up some clothes and something called the Sheikah Tablet. It was my map and opened the door to the world. I saw someone in the distance and ran to him. It was the Old Man! We talked for a little bit and then I followed the tablet/map to something in the distance. I put my tablet into a stand, and a huge blue tower emerged from the ground. The female voice brought my attention to Hyrule Castle in the distance. The castle was surrounded by a weird smokey creature that resembled a dragon. The voice said it was the Calamity Ganon. It looks like Hyrule needs my help defeating Ganon again!!! I jumped down from the tower and the Old Man met me again. He had a glider that he was willing to trade me if I found a treasure for him. Hyrule has many large cliffs, so the glider is es
sential to survival. As I made my way to a cave, my demo sadly ended.
I loved absolutely everything that I saw. It looks and plays beautifully. The story had my undivided attention and is intriguing. I love the challenge of have RPG elements to the series. The only sad part is we have to wait. Zelda does not have a scheduled date, but should come out around March 2017. Bravo, Nintendo. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get back to Hyrule next year.
Nintendo was on point with their booth display. I hope you enjoy some of my pictures, because they really don’t do them justice for how good they looked in person.