Trailer Watch: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Life in the Ruins

There is nothing quite like a new Breath of Wild trailer to get people hyped beyond belief. Saying this game is much anticipated wouldn't do it justice. I'm sure I'm not only one that plans to take several days off of work when this game releases.

Last week the Game Commecials, sorry I mean Game Awards took place and Nintendo treated us with a new trailer for the occasion. A Trailer that should finally shut up the people, who lambasted the e3 Demo for being ''empty'' and devoid of life. Because this trailer focused, as it's name reveals to us, on the Life in the Ruins.

So lets have a look.

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First of all let me say that this trailer is brilliant. Just like the rest of Breath of the Wilds marketing so far. They don't show us much, but what they show us has some weight. Instead of ruining the game via over exposition they'll let us discover Hyrule for ourselves when Breath of the Wild finally launches. But that doesn't mean we're not gonna take a close look at how it is to live in the ruins.

The trailer starts off with a view of the Shiekah symbol. Now as we know the Shiekah Slate will play a huge role in this game and from that we can derive that the Shiekah tribe will too. As long term Zelda fans should know the Shiekah tribe are the chosen people of the Goddess Hylia, tasked with protecting the royal family of Hyrule and the kingdom. The Tear dropping from the Eye represents the suffering the Shiekah people endured to protect the land. And I think this is what these first two pictures shall show us.

The tear drops to the ground and from it springs life. A symbol that the sacrifice of the Shiekah tribe for the people of Hyrule gave them a peaceful life. So in other words the Shiekah an their selfless service gave life to Hyrule. Now this is just a theory of mine, but I think the catastrophe (or whatever happens) that forces Link to put into stasis for one hundred years and gives rise to Calamity Ganon could be linked to the Shiekah tribe. Or better said to their disappearance. If their selfless service gave life to Hyrule, then what happens if they are gone? Without their help Link couldn't defeat Calamity Ganon and Hyrule was ruined.

Anywas let's move on.

In these two pictures we seemingly get the confirmation of changing seasons. And while I agree that this strongly supports this claim, it's not solid evidence. The two pictures show different areas of a forest. And we can't even be sure if it's the same forest at all. So maybe there isn't a natural change of seasons, but rather one forest with green and one with yellow trees. Still with their talk about the dynamic weather system and creating a living, breathing world, I think it's safe to assume that changing seasons will be included in Breath of the Wild.

And now we finally get a view at the main attraction of the trailer. The People of Hyrule. Or whatever remains of them.

The first picture shows us a familiar sight. The twin mountains and the huge gorge separating them are well known by this point. But there is much more in this picture than just some pretty landscapes. First I'd like to talk about the person on the bridge. It's pretty clear that he isn't someone hugely important, but rather a nameless NPC traveler. The important part about him is that he is alone. The general feel of this trailer is to show us how the People of Hyrule have adapted their lifes after the catastrophe hit one hundred years ago. The land is still in ruins and only a handful of people even dare to venture out in the wild.

On the left we also see a ruined guardian. As we know from the e3 Presentation even in such a ruined state some of the Guardians remain slightly functional. But here this is not the case. This Guardian is more of a reminder to the ruined state of the ''old'' Hyrule.

On the right side of the bridge we can spot a flysheet. This could maybe get used by NPC to spend the night, which would give the world an even more alive feeling.

The two last things I want to talk about with this picture are the two structures you can see. The first one directly in front of the left twin mountain.We know that there will be guard towers all across the world, which probably work as a way to quick travel. This looks like it's going to be one of those.

And lastly there is a the structure on the left side of the picture. If you look past the trees you can see a castle like building sitting atop the hills in the distance. I'll think this could be one of the games dungeons. It's size would certainly fit that bill.

In this picture we learn that the traveling NPCs aren't helpless. While it's not the same person as in the picture before they clearly belong to the same faction or tribe. Their clothes are very similar. But this picture also shows us that these characters don't need a hero to safe them. They seemingly engage in fights and defend themselves. While Link is nowhere to be seen on this picture the left persons hairstyle greatly reminds me of Impa.

So what is happening here? To me it looks like these two travelers have probably been seeking shelter from the storm in the ruin behind and now they have to defend this place against two Bokoblin attackers.

And here we finally get our first glimpse at a settlement. In contrast to the other one seen later in the trailer this settlement seems to only consist of one building. Also it's build in the open and has a different style than the other village. From the looks of the building these people seem to lead a life on Horseback. Not only does the huge horsehead on top of the Tent give this away, but also the general look of the tent, as well as the pictures on the side.

That is clearly the picture of a horse just above the side entrance. I think these tents could be found all over the world and serve as sort of trading stations for a tribe of horseriders.

In this picture we also see several people, but the most interesting one clearly is the fellow with the paint brush hairdo on the left. If we take a closer look at his backpack we see lots of brushes hanging on it. Maybe this man is a special vendor. Maybe instead of the Happy Mask Salesman we'll get the Happy Brush Salesman.

But back to the building. We also get a brief look inside in this picture, but sadly nothing too much. To me the wooden structure on the inside mostly looks like a standard shop front.

The general feel of the building comes across like it was inspired by mongolian culture. The round form and colorful flags certainly support this claim.

While the pictures before did show us one solitary building, which could be a trading post or something along those lines, now we finally see our first true village in Breath of the Wild.

The settlement seems to be very sheltered and protected. Something that makes sense if we take the state of Hyrule into consideration. The World is wild and untamed. It's still recuperating from the catastrophe that took place 100 years ago. So in that light it makes sense to seek a very secure and sheltered place to build your village.

What I really like about this scene is that it shows us several cultivated fields and fruit trees. It shows us how the people in this village manage to survive. The buildings, while clearly belonging to the same style, also look slightly distinct. Bigger, smaller, differentiating roof forms. Nothing looks copy&pasted.

And on the backside of the village, next to a waterfall, the main building can be seen. If it's something like a city hall or just the home of the village founder, I can't say.

Another view of the village. Now from a different angle. We can spot several people working on the fields. While the may not be important NPCs this gives the World a huge boost in immersion. We can see firsthand how these people work to survive.

We also get a good view at the village entrance. It certainly is well hidden between the rocks. I really hope we'll get to discover lots of hidden villages during the course of the game.

Like everyone seeing this scene noted Link has the Master Sword. Also he is wearing, what I assume, the traditional blue Shiekah garb.

From what we know Breath of the Wild will contain very few actual cut scenes. During the first trailer we saw Link on a similar platform reacting to, what seemed, Calamity Ganon engulfing Hyrule castle. Now he witnesses something different.

This seems to be a new race of bird people. I don't think these are Orni from Wind Waker, even if they share some similarities. What's most interesting is the scarf and Bow he is wearing. The Scarf has the same color and style as Links Shiekah Garb. And the Bow... well the strange bird folk doesn't seem to have hands or fingers, so what does he use a bow for?

Also interesting in the picture beforehand Link doesn't carry a Bow on his back, whilst in all other pictures of him he has one. So maybe this stranger has stolen Links Bow. It could very well be that these Birds are a race of thief that travel the Land.

Although we learn in the gameplay released by the Treehouse team that there are also friendly specimen of this race.

This picture is interesting. In past Zelda games we already had huge, mystical flying creatures. But never an airship like this. If my thief theory from above proves to be true this most certainly is their base of operations. Maybe it's not an airship, but a robot like the Guardians. Then this could very well be on of the huge overworld Bosses Aonuma was talking about during the first unveil of the game.

This is a very interesting picture. It's clear that the Guardians protected Hyrule. Then why did they fail? Why do they attack Link now? Is he somewhat responsible for the downfall of Hyrule and they consider him an enemy now? Or have the deteriorated so much over time that they attack everything?

Whatever the answer to this question is, her we see the result. Link locked in horseback battle with two guardians. It seems the developers are paying close attention to detail. Link needs to use both hands to wield the axe and his attacks are slow and heavy, while he balances on Eponas back.

But more interesting than the battle taking place in the foreground are the background details. On the right side of the picture we can see Death Mountain. It looks quite menacing and conquering it will take a lot of preparation I'm sure.

At the center, right behind the Guardian we can spot Castle Hyrule. Nothing new to see there.

And on the left side we see a strange mountain with a circle cut out of its side. It looks far to smooth to be natural, so I assume whatever changed this mountain is going to be of at least some significance.

Is this Zelda? Is it a female Link?

Well Aonuma made clear that Link is a man in this game, so I think we can rule out the second alternative. But I think there is a good possibility that this is Zelda. The long blonde hair is a clear giveaway. What is clear is that she's also wearing Shiekah clothes. If the Kingdom of Hyrule did truly fall this makes sense. Just like in Ocarina of Time Zelda may have been hidden away and brought up as a Shiekah. But is this the ''different'' Zelda? After all Link slept for one hundred years, so it can't be ''his'' Zelda. Except if she was also hidden away, which would make sense in order to keep Ganon from gaining the full TriForce.

Whoever this person may be she seems to also wield a Shiekah Slate. The color scheme matches the one Link is wearing on his hip in other pictures and you can even see a faint orange glow between the persons fingers.

Maybe Zelda also travels Hyrule on her own to learn what happened to her ruined Kingdom.

Here we see the absolute destruction Ganon unleashed. This seems to be in close proximity to castle Hyrule. The residual purple energy and black spikes are a dead giveaway.

There is absolutely no life present here. Not even enemies, but I'm sure there will be huge challenges in the game if you arrive in this place. But in this trailer the sombre and dark atmosphere shows us the consequences of Calamity Ganons victory.

This is what seems to be the remainder of Hyrule Towns central plaza.

What is interesting about those two pictures is the fact that the destruction seems to be relegated to, what was once, Hyrule City. What did make Ganon stop? Why doesn't the whole of Hyrule look like this after one hundred years? There has to been something that was able to stop Ganon in some regard. Something was powerful enough to keep Calamity Ganon contained in Hyrule City.

Here we get a full look at Link. What is the reason for the strange glow emitting from him? I don't know, but it may be linked to the TriForce. Maybe Links TriForce of courage is awakening in this scene. This could be the reason why Link was sealed away in the first place. He couldn't awaken the TriForce in the past and wasn't able to fight Ganon because of that.

Also the location with the pillars in the background reminds me of the place where the TriForce is located in A Link between Worlds.

And in the last shoot we see Link kneeling next to a person. Is this Zelda?
I don't think so. At least not completely. Now this theory of mine is just a theory and I don't have any proof so far, but what if this person is Zelda. Just like the women earlier. But this person next to Link is the Queen of Hyrule. The Zelda he knew, who waited all those years for him to awaken from his stasis. Yes that would make her more than one hundred years old, but as we saw with Nico in Spirit Tracks that is more than possible. Now if this women is Queen Zelda that would make the blonde girl from the other pictures her descendant and the current Princess Zelda.

Anyways the clothes of the person next to Link look much more royal than the simple outfit from the other women in earlier pictures. The darker color scheme also gives us the picture of an authority figure. 

But whoever this may be, the fist clench at the end shows us that now, with Link at her side, she is ready to take back the Kingdom.

And that is all I have to say to this trailer. It was great. It got me Goosebumps. And most importantly it didn't show too much.

As always I have probably missed many important details and as always I'm asking you to point out every fail of mine.

Until then let me know what you thought of the trailer and I hope you enjoyed this Trailer Watch.

And as always

thanks for reading.

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