Trailer Watch: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Official Game Trailer

It took a while and I'm truly sorry for the delay, but I won't waste your time further with excuses. As we all know last week the title of the newest Zelda was finally unveiled and we now can stop calling it Zelda U.

Breath of the Wild seems to be a completely fresh start for the franchise and offer a truly open adventure focused on exploration. Over the course of e3 we got some information about the game and it's world and for once Nintendo managed to not spoil too much and keep the new Hyrule still mostly a mystery.

Now let us take a look at the unveil Trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Right of the bat the Trailer starts with a huge unveil. But it's not what we see, but what we hear. Yes Zelda has finally delved into the realm of Voice Acting. And Nintendo does it just the right way. Link will remain silent, but several important characters throughout the world will be fully voice acted. This decision helps bringing the world to life, while still allowing Link to play his role as a link for the players to project themselves into the world.

But who is this Voice, calling out Link, belonging to? There are many candidates, but I'm going with the most obvious choice.

Zelda.

It's the most obvious, but also logical choice. Just like at the beginning of a Link to the Past she is crying out for her Hero. The interesting part is that she specifically calls out Link. This get's even more evident in the start of the game, when Link awakes from his 100 year slumber. This implies that Zelda knows Link. So this Link may have saved the world from Ganon once before and has been put into hibernation afterward. Sort of a legendary Hero of Hyrule, who can be called upon in times of need.

The Trailer opens with this breathtaking shot. There is not much to spot her, but I does an excellent job of showing you the vastness of this new Hyrule. Any point you see in this picture can be reached.

Then we see Link riding into a dusty valley. The structure hanging from the archway at the entrance signals that this valley is inhabited. Later on we also Link fighting against a Bokoblin on a series of bridges set against the cliffside of a similar looking valley. So this will probably an enemy stronghold. The lookout tower towering over the surrounding area is another indicator for that. This Towers are spread across all of Hyrule and go hand in hand with a strong enemy presence.

Another interesting thing to spot is the water directly behind the archway.

I think that this valley may house the ruins of Kakariko from Twilight Princess. There have been many theories about which Timeline is Home to this newest adventure because there have been hints about all three of them. I'm not going to address this issue in this post, but if Breath of Wild takes place in the Twilight Princess Timeline this small spring could very well be the home of the Eldin Light Spirit. It would certainly make for an interesting and somber experience visiting a probably ruined Kakariko village.

Next up we visit a tropical looking part of Hyrule, most probably on it's southern boarders. First let us talk about the contraption in the water. On the second picture we get a better look at it. It's build in a similar style to the structure hanging from the archway in the valley shot. The skull ornament also makes me believe that this is another Bokoblin made structure. It will probably house several of them.

Much more interesting however are the two signs of civilization on this pictures. On the first one we can clearly see a house on the cliffs overlooking the sea. One can even spot some smoke rising from a chimney. A clear sign of inhabitents. The structure of the building with the clearly visible tower at the front reminded me of the laboratory in Ocarina of Time. So maybe we are not looking at a shot of the sea, but rather the beaches of Lake Hylia.

The smaller building on the second Picture isn't as interesting. It seems to be a fisher hut, but it's also a sign of other people living in this new Hyrule. A fact that has since then been confirmed by Aonuma himself. Towns and other People have been removed from the e3 Demo to not spoil anything. Nintendo wanted to fully concentrate on the new world of Zelda.

Moving on we have this interesting shot. First of the palm trees tell us that we are still in the vicinity of the earlier pictures. Of course the huge beast on the cliffs does pull in all attention, but there are several other details in this picture. Between the palm trees there is a strange, black thing. Zooming in closer it almost looks like an opened mouth with a red tongue sticking out towards the sky. In my opinion this is a carnivorous plant, which probably attacks you if disturbed. Similar to the Peahats in Ocarain of Time.

Next up on the right side, just beneath the cliff the huge beast is walking on, we can spot the entrance to a cave. So it seems that the Shiekah Shrines won't be the only Mini-Dungeons you can explore in Breath of the Wild.

And lastly let us talk about the center of attention for this scene. The huge beast on the cliff. It is pretty clearly undead. You can see the sunlight shining through his skeletal form several times. This most likely is a Stallord and probably serves as one the huge monsters you can encounter in the wilderness. In any way it looks quite impressive and I'm wondering how you'll take this monster down. A fight utilizing the mobility of your horse to defeat the towering creature could work pretty well and would certainly feel like an epic struggle.

Ducks confirmed!

This was the most important thing, but this picture also shows us once again that this whole world is connected. And that you can explore everything you see. The two huge mountains in the distance are visible on several shots throughout the trailer and later one we even see Link climbing there.

Now we visit a valley where Link later fights a Bokoblin and which is probably the dry valley from the beginning of the trailer.

The next picture is more interesting. Here we take a look at the ruined Temple of Time on the Great Plateau. There are several interesting things to note here. On the left we see smoke rise from the trees, so there seems to be a camp there. Just slightly behind the smoke to the left we see a small mountain with a black statue resting against it's sight. From the little details I can spot it looks like the Statue is in ruins, pretty much like the rest of the surrounding area.

On the right side of the Temple we can see a fire burning in the distance, hinting at another enemy presence.

And finally on the ride edge of the picture we can see Hyrule Castle in the distance. And it looks a lot spikier than I remember.

Here we see the huge mountains, which we know and already love, again, but what's more important is the wooden structure in the center of the picture. Right next to it you can spot a huge flag. We'll get to see those several times during the trailer. Maybe these flags are used by Ganons Forces to show their dominance over the surrounding land. If that is the case then Link can probably reclaim those territories for the people of Hyrule. I know that this is a cliched way of filling a Open World Game with content, but it's efficient and it works. And you need to have some repetitive tasks and elements. Otherwise it's just not feasible to create such a vast world.

Yes we all know that Breath of the Wild will win the award for best deer simulator, but that is not what I want to focus on in this picture. First of all the obvious thing. There are many Guardians located in this area. And considering the moss covering them I guess that it has been this way for a long time. To me this area looks like the remnants of a battlefield, overgrown and forgotten with the time passed.

The second interesting part of this picture is found on the lower right side. Between the rocks we can see a roughly fortified entrance. Wooden Spears were used to create a barrier. This will most certainly be another Bokoblin Stronghold, but this time it truly looks like one.

Here we can see the new dynamic weather system in full action. It certainly looks amazing and, as we know from the demo, the weather will have a real influence on the gameplay. For example you can use the wind to spread flames and so on. But more interesting are, once again, the remains of the Guardians. It is pretty clear that while Link was hibernating a massive Battle for Hyrule must have taken place.

And now for the first time we get a look at our hero. As we know from the Treehouse this is the first view you'll see after leaving the Chamber of Resurrection at the beginning of the game. And as many other Zelda fans have pointed out already it's very reminiscent of one of the earliest Zelda Artworks for the original game.

Another cool point is that Link is now visibly wearing most of his items on his body. Of course there are still things he pulls out of thin air, like the glider only seconds after this picture is taken, but his main equipment is always visible. This is a nice graphic touch, which should help create a more immersive experience.

After several more views of Link interacting with the world and taming a horse, we now come to this shot. Link is riding across, what seems to be, the great bridge of Eldin. And just like with the rest of the world we can also see the signs of decay here. We also see the ruined Temple of Time on the left side and the tip of Castly Hyrules biggest tower on the left.

And what is the most interesting to me is the structure between the two mountains on the far right side of the picture. Now this may be just another mountain, but it doesn't look natural to me. The flat surface and sharp edges look man made. The structure is also quite big, so this may be one of the Dungeons of the game.

After that we see Links new ability to become Spiderman and climb anything in this world. Especially this last shot gives you a good indication on just how big this world is going to be.

Now we focus more on the survival aspect of the game and it starts with link chopping down a tree to create a bridge. The question remains if the player can alter the game world permanently. The lack of any tree stumps in the world makes this rather unlikely. I guess it will be reset, whenever you enter a dungeon, Shieka Shrine or turn of the game.

Much more interesting is the man on Links right, who is also chopping down a tree. You can see his frame sticking out behind the trunk. Seeing this makes the world feel more alive. I expect to meet People fishing at the shore, Shepherds and their animals on the fields... Just the everyday people of Hyrule going about their everyday lifes.

The next couple of Scenes concentrate on the survival aspect of the game. Swimming, Hunting boars and using Fire to your advantage. As we have seen in the e3 demos fire, together with the weather can be used to attack enemies. Or you could sneak up on them. This scene shows us that Aonuma stayed true to his word that in this game the puzzle solving begins at the moment you decide how to approach a situation.

Speaking of several ways to approach a situation. Shooting down a hornets nest and sending the frenzied insects against your enemies never gets old. But more interestingly for a brief moment we can see a structure on the cliff to the right. It looks as if lava is flowing out of it. This is most likely a Shiekah Shrine and the ''Lava'' are just the runes that light up orange before you unlock it with your Shieka Slate.

And now for the only part of Story we got in this whole trailer. Link watches as Hyrule Castle is engulfed in Darkness. I think this will happen pretty early on in the game, because in most other scenes we saw the castle was already corrupted. On the picture above two things immediately caught my eye.

First the light that shines from the Castle for the entire scene. I'm pretty sure that this is Zelda. The light comes from roughly the places where her throne room is in Twilight Princess.

The other is Ganon. It's only for a brief moment in the trailer, but I managed to take a picture of it. The shadow heading for the highest tower of the castle. You can clearly spot Ganons horns on top of it. If this means we won't see his incarnation as Ganondorf in this game remains to be seen.

After that short glimpse of Story we head right back into the gameplay. We are introduced to Link using different weapons like Spears and Axes and him even wearing full on armor. We also, for the first time, see other enemies than Bokoblins. I wonder if different Enemies will take different weapons to beat. Maybe these slimes are immune to slash attacks, which is why Link is hitting him with his shield in this scene.

From the e3 demo we know that this huge pile of boulders is called Steppe Talus and is one of the huge boss monsters that may appear on the overworld Aonuma mentioned. From what we've seen in the demo Link has to climb this huge enemy and attack it's weakspot on the back. (Which, for once, isn't a huge eye)

For the finish of the trailer we get two last overview shots, showing us how fast this world is. Both of them look rather empty, but as the scenes show a desert and icy peak, this is understandable. And like I said earlier some places in this world should feel empty and lonely.

On this picture we can even spot some slightly interesting sights. We once again spot several of this huge flags and on the left corner of the screen we see the burnt remains of a camp. Now the question is if it was like this from the start or if Link can even destroy such campsites by burning them.

Here we get a good look at a Shiekah Shrine and how it's unlocked. Interestingly we have seen this location earlier in the trailer. Notice the chest on the right side of the screen in the middle of the small body of water.

It's the exact same chest Link tries to reach in this scene.

Now for the last two pictures.

There isn't much to talk about in this one, but I love how it shows the danger of the Guardians. Link cowering behind old, broken Ones, desperately trying to hide from the Active. These things are menacing and I hope they stay that way for a long time during the game. This huge new Hyrule shouldn't only be a world of adventure and exploration, but also danger. At least at the start of the game Link shouldn't feel safe while venturing into the wild.

And lastly we have the Master Sword. Yes it is still in the game, but it has seen some rough times it seems. On the games logo it's even more evident, but our good old Fi has gotten quite rusty. This also means that the Timeline couldn't be the Wind Waker one, because there the Master sword is securely nestled into Ganondorfs forehead at the bottom of the sea. (Also the whole story about the new Hyrule and Malus, etc...)

This picture has a somber feel to it.

And with that I leave you. Hopefully this Trailer Watch could help you spot some interesting things for yourself, got you thinking and if I missed something be sure to point it all out.

And as always

thanks for reading

Picture Source: Nintendo