During their Nintendo Treehouse: Live at E3 event, Nintendo offered an in-depth look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the latest installment in their flagship adventure video game series. This is the first time Nintendo has revealed this latest game’s subtitle. The trailers showed off the game’s focus on nature, as Link traverses a lush Hyrule.
Check out the trailer below:
A voice repeats the phrase “open your eyes” as we’re treated to shots of the world’s diverse geography – vast lakes, open valleys, and tropical beachfronts are all here. Deer scatter, birds take wing. The mysterious narrator says “wake up Link!” and we watch our hero glide into a valley from a cliffside.
Link mounts a horse, scales a tree, cooks some dinner, and hoists his way up a large stone tower. Two observations here: there seems to be a bit of a platforming element, as well as a the ability to play in a stealthy way – two mechanics that have been in explored in prior games, but never really emphasized.
The trailer shows a few items, from classics like the bow and arrow, to new items like a bow-staff and an item that generates platforms. The art style is unique and beautiful, a king of cel-shading that looks somewhere between The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword.
The trailer ends, fittingly, with a shot of the iconic Master Sword, resting peacefully in a well-lit forest glen. Nintendo knows exactly what their fans want, it seems.
As the title indicates, there’s a heavy emphasis on Link’s connection to nature in this game. The contrast between mystical creatures and natural beauty is reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli film. Nintendo has made a Hyrule that is both vast and organic, where “moving from one place to another might be the adventure itself.”
Stay tuned – more info about Breath of the Wild will be pouring in through the morning.
Read more about the extended gameplay demo here: