With E3 come and gone, Nintendo fans were left pretty let down. Sure there was a new Mario Party, the disgrace they call Color Splash, and a few indie titles, but the only big announcements came in the form of LoZ: Breath of the Wild, and the new Pokemon in Sun and Moon, which just feels like an expansion to X/Y. That being said, Breath of the Wild (BotW) did not dissapoint, there was so much info, I could write three articles! In fact, I will! This month, we’re going to review, analyze, and speculate about the newest adventure coming to Wii U and Codename: NX
Review:
First, let’s talk about that trailer. In reviewing a trailer, you’re reviewing promotional material and must think of it as such. Thus, the three criteria I grade trailers on are: “Did it get me hyped?” “Does the game look good from the trailer alone?” and “Does the trailer have a good sense of mystery?” Personally I think the trailer succeeds at all three, making it one of the best examples of a game trailer that I can think of. As far as hype goes, while the first half of trailer didn’t do much in terms of excitement, the second half certainly did. Right around the two minute mark, the trailer goes from “oh, cool” to “WAIT YOU’RE SAYING I CAN DO ALL OF THIS IN THE GAME!?!?!?” The trailer shows all of Link’s new abilities and shows you what to expect of the title. Game trailers are like squares. All hype trailers look good, but not all trailers that look good are hype. That being said, OF COURSE the game looks good. IT’S ZELDA. Things like cooking, durability, physics, and going all Matrix, tell me that the game is a lot deeper than past games in the series. While I do have my concerns about the game being too open-ended (Like Zelda 1) I do like the “open-air” approach, as the devs call it. The trailer makes all the new systems in the game (and trust me, almost everything is new) feel right at home with the rest of the series, instead of turning off hardcore veterans. Now for the final criteria. Does the trailer preserve a sense of mystery? If there’s one thing everyone hates in a trailer, it’s the trailer being riddled with spoilers. Luckily, BotW does not slip into this pitfall. The trailer itself can only tell you what your mind gathers from it, as the only obvious things are: 1. Hyrule’s not looking too hot, and 2. Evil shadow-pig at Hyrule Castle. I know this isn’t in the trailer itself, but it shows how committed the team was to preserving mystery: In the demos shown at E3, the developers removed any NPCs or towns from the game (aside from the old man) to stop players from discovering the plot. The trailer really doesn’t tell you much, but that leaves the doors open for speculation. However, before we do that, we need to know what we saw in the hours of footage shown. TO THE ANALYSIS.
Analyze:
I’m’ mainly going to be looking at the trailer here, because the demo only shows the Great Plateau, which is only 1% of the content in the game. While the trailer may be shorter than the hours of gameplay shown, it might show more of the game. One of the first shots in the trailer is the beautiful landscape of Hyrule, or is it Termina? In the first few seconds here, we seem to see both Death Mountain AND Snowhead. (or is it Snowpeak from Twilight Princess?)
Does that mean Hyrule and Termina are now one and the same? Not quite, but I’ll get to that in a bit. We also get a shot of a desert with some wood structures.
Now this immediately strikes me as Gerudo, but I also see similarities between the area and Twilight Princess’s rendition of Death Mountain. In fact, it’s very possible it is Death Mountain, as we see a Gerudo-looking flag in a snowy area, of all places, which is a HUGE departure from their normal location.
Something that appears new to the series, but still raises just as many questions is this guy.
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen him, but what is he? It seems this game is just teeming with overworld minibosses like Guardians and Steppe Talus. Maybe he is just another one of these guys. Sticking with skeletal enemies, we see Link fighting some skeletons INSIDE a skeleton.
I think this is some version of Twinmold from Majora’s Mask or Molgera from Wind Waker, who were both giant snakes in a sandy area. Something that everyone was talking about as soon as it was spotted was this floaty… thing.
What is it? Some people suggested Skyloft, but GameXplain quickly debunked that. Others said it was the City in the Sky from Twilight Princess (TP), and, while I do think this holds water, it’s not my personal opinion due to a tablet from TP HD.
I believe this floating thing belongs to the Rito, which can exist in both the Child Timeline and Adult Timeline. How? You’re about to find out.
Speculation:
So, let’s get the big one out of the way: I believe this game takes place in the child timeline, 100 years after Twilight Princess. One more thing. The voice is Princess Zelda. With that out of the way I can now begin. 30-or-so years after the events of Twilight Princess, Ganon is reincarnated via the Triforce of Power. How? Well, I’d imagine his spirit is pretty restless, so somehow the Triforce is split and Din’s piece finds its way to Ganondorf’s spirit. A being of pure power and rage… but with no form. Since the Triforce is not at its full power (being separated and all) it tries it’s best to give the Gerudo king a body, but can only manage the Calamity Ganon. Ganon ravages Hyrule, bringing the Gerudo back to Hyrule, after the fled to that snowy area following the Gerudo-Hylian War. Ganon cannot be stopped due to his unfathomable rage and power granted by the Triforce. Everyone in Hyrule knows that the only way to stop the carnage is to wait for the Sheikah to seal him. Only then can the Hero truly defeat him. So, the current hero, Link from Twilight Princess, goes under in the Shrine of Resurrection, with Zelda and the Sheikah leaving him the Sheikah Slate as a communication device and a way to defend himself against the treacheries of the outside. The Hero’s Tunic and Master Sword are kept safe by the Gods. The Sheikah develop shrines to prove the Hero’s worth after his awakening, while also sealing Ganon in the castle, and the rest of Hyrule goes into hiding or adapts, like the Zora and what’s left of the Kokiri, Royal Family included, believing they are under the protection of the gods This explains the tablet, as any young boy in this timeline would most likely idolize the hero, very similarly to Wind Waker. It simply shows a Post-Calamity Ganon family, trading with the Rito. Anything left, perishes under the wrath of Ganon. (Like what that snake skeleton was!) Eventually, society starts to come back, though in a much more toned down way, and then Link awakes, starting the adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. “BUT WAIT!” you may be saying. “Four Swords Adventures takes place after a long period of peace in Hyrule!” Yes, dear reader, you are correct. But Four Swords Adventures takes place hundreds of years after TP. I believe the quest in this game is to not only save the world but to start the process of restoring Hyrule to its former glory.
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