Breath of the Wild Info Dump *Spoiler Warning*

Only a little more than three weeks to go until we finally get to play Breath of the Wild. After more than four years, when the game was first mentioned, and nearly three years from its first showing, it is understandable that people are getting quite hyped. And because of that we now have to face a very difficult decision. Game Informer recently ran a huge story about Breath of the Wild, revealing a lot of things about the World and even one of the dungeons. Of course this is huge spoiler territory. And now we have to ask ourselves. Do we want to know the information or want to go into Breath of the Wild blind? Well I took the bite and spoiled myself, so I can recap the information about you and then give my own opinions about it. So if you don't want to be spoiled I would advise to ignore this post completely and return later when the planned Thoughtpiece about Star Fox: Zero is released. 

You have been warned!

The Information:

• Nintendo previously made Zelda games by making small areas and connecting them together
• For Breath of the Wild, the team first had to figure out what needed to be placed on the map
• Groups were created out of the over 300 devs to work on specific section of the world
• Gam Informer's demo starts at Serenne Stable
• Yammo runs this place
• Link can rest in bed and restore health here
• Stables also let you store horses, meet with merchants, NPCs...
• Stables are located throughout the world
• Each one is run by a distinct character
• You can spend rupees on a more expensive bed, giving you an extra heart at the next morning
• These hearts are yellow and can't be recovered if you're hit in combat
• Spending time by fires in the world passes the time faster
• Dynamic weather system in the game, with the world reacting as a result
• Ex: when it starts raining, NPCs outside the stable quickly go inside
• Beedle is back to sell you goods
• Have to be careful during a thunderstorm, since your metal items can attract thunder
• Metal weapons and shields can be discarded or thrown at enemies
• Link can get killed by lighting
• Difficulty spikes depending on where you are, since you can go around it and avoid it until you're stronger
• Over 100 Shrines
• You can find an item that identifies Shrines
• Discover a Shrine for it to be a fast-travel point
• Shrines also give a Spirit Orb
• Trade in orbs for unknown items
• Dedicated team handled animal A.I.
• Bears, wolves, deer move through the snow
• You can get overwhelmed by enemies quickly
• Link can keep multiple horses at a time
• Affection/Loyalty is important with horses
• Feed and take care of horses to raise their stats
• Can call horses over to you, but horses need to be in a certain proximity to be called
• Horses can be killed by enemies
• Aonuma wanted players to choose their own path, so no companion character this time
• Stamina meter encompasses sprintign, paragliding, climbing
• Meter can be upgraded, but Nintendo won't say how
• Different shields have different speeds and level of control for snowboarding
• Can mine rocks which can be sold for rupees or used for crafting
• Can place stamps to mark areas of interest
• 100 of these symbols can be used on the map, including sword, shield, bow and arrow, pot, star, chest, skull, leaf, diamond
• Every style of weapon has a unique set of animations and feel different
• No invincible weapons in this game, Nintendo says
• Zelda can get mad at you and scold you
• Players can see the ending without seeing everything from the story
• A certain element was added in the game to make for a more cohesive storyline
• Most difficult Zelda game to make
• Aonuma is still finding new things in the world

New Dungeon:

• Nintendo took Game Informer directly to a dungeon
• This dungeon is constantly moving
• Game Informer says: Link must manipulate the entire enormous mechanism through his own ingenuity
• Players can skip dungeons if they want and go straight to Calamity Ganon
• The substance known as malice covers the dungeon
• Link gets hurt if he touches it
• Can be destroyed by finding and attacking each pocket of malice's eyball
• Sheikah Slate serves as Link's map, binoculars and more
• Use the slate in the dungeon to see a 3D model, til the entire dungeon from here
• Doing so slices blocks into place and opens up angles you can use to paraglide to new locations
• Voice tells you that you need to access terminals with the slate across the dungeon, marked on your map
• All bombs in the game are remote and don't blow up on a timer
• Simpler approach with dungeons in Breath of the Wild
• Game Informer didn't see the familiar chest opening animation and signature music
• Never found a signature Zelda item or compass
• Wind Blight Ganon is the dungeon boss here
• Voice tells you, “It's one of Ganon's own, it plays dirty.”
• Wind Blight Ganongis a huge monster, has no face, gun-like arm
• Wind Blight Ganon can create tornadoes and will fire large spikes

Source

The Analysis:

Well that is certainly a lot of information right there. Let's focus on the World first before we take a look at the dungeon information, which hold some juicy tidbits for speculation.

By this point Breath of the Wild truly seems like a survival game first and foremost. And a hard one at that. From different streams we already know how dangerous the enemies in this game can be. From terrifying guardians, which can kill you in one hit, to Lizalfos, which will gang up on you and us different tactics to take Link out. But now we also now that the environment itself poses some danger. I really hope Nintendo managed to create a breathing and living world, and all the information we got so far seems to indicate just that.

Another interesting tidbit is that the Overworld will feature “difficulty spikes”. So some areas will be much harder to survive than others. They feel it's okay because you can always avoid these areas and return later, when you're better prepared. I really like that idea. It makes your skill and equipment the only determining factor for your progress. This feels much less artificial as, for example, a force field that blocks a specific portion of the map until you complete a certain task. It also makes the world feel much more open. It also makes exploration much more rewarding. Finally beating an area, which you couldn't complete earlier, will be extremely satisfying.

We also got a lot of expected information. Like for example that the Stables serve as a place to rest and trade. You can gather materials and craft. Also much of the information about the Horses has already been known.

But there are still two interesting tidbits left. First of Zelda can get mad and scold you. To me this sounds like Zelda will be a much more engaged character this time. Maybe she'll even travel alongside you for longer periods of time. My theory for the Story of Breath of the Wild is that after their 100 year sleep Link and Zelda travel around Hyrule to unite the people of the land. Because only a unified Hyrule has a chance to stand against Calamity Ganon. The Scenes in the last trailer with the Gerudo Girl, the Zoras, Orni and Gorons supports this theory.

"Hylians pass stories of a destined time long past where multiple races lived and worked together in harmony. The Sheikah Tribe's blue aura breathed through the land and this mutual prosperity continued until a cataclysmic disaster stuck. The Hero and the Princess attempted to seal the terror which became known as the Calamity Ganon. Divine beasts awoke from four directions and deployed a mechanical army which made the King and his people fearful. They fractured Ganon's power and sealed him but the Sheikah were banished from the land ever since."

From this introduction text, which was leaked earlier, we know that Zelda and Link failed the first time against Calamity Ganon and that four divine beasts rose with a mechanical army to defeat him. This fractured Ganons power and sealed him away, but the frightful king and his people also banished the Sheikah, which were responsible for the four beasts, from the lands. So we have four beasts and (possibly) four dungeons and four races. I think you can catch my drift here. To me it sounds like after the King send the Sheika away distrust grew amongst the races of Hyrule and the Kingdom fractured. Meanwhile Ganon started corrupting the mechanical beasts and guardians and plotted his return. During the Trailers we saw those huge mechanical creatures, which are the divine beasts, either powered by blue or red energy. As we know the red energy is Ganon's malice, so it's clear that he was successful in corrupting the beasts and Link has to cleanse them. Together with the information we got from the Dungeon section, we now can figure out that Link will have to enter these four divine beasts and cleanse them from the inside.

I think the dungeon Game Informer got to play was the huge Bird seen in earlier trailers.

The Beast is constantly moving around and the boss Wind Blight Ganon certainly fits the dungeon. This is also probably the dungeon connected to the Orni. And from a map shown during the Treehouse stream several weeks ago, we also know the other beasts/dungeons.

The camel is linked to the Gerudos. We already saw Link and the Gerudo Girl/Sage during the last trailer looking at the beast from afar. And the death mountain robot is clearly linked to the Gorons. Which leaves the elephant as the Zora dungeon, which is an interesting choice. So the quest seems clear. Link has to travel to the home of the four races with Zelda, unite them and cleanse the divine mechanical beasts from within. He has to defeat the four fragments of Ganon corrupting the beasts and in the process weaken Clamatiy Ganon. Or he can head straight to him, defeat him without all that and probably get a different ending.

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The last interesting point in the overworld section is the fact that there are no “invincible” weapons. Does this mean that the Master Sword can break? Or that you don't get the Master Sword at all? My guess would be that you only get the Master Sword for your last fight against Clamity Ganon. Or maybe you only get the sword, after you completed the four main dungeons. After all it seems that the different important characters from the different races are this games Sages. At the beginning of Breath of the Wild the Master swords seems to be resting next to the Deku Tree and has gotten quite rusty. So after saving the Zoras, Gorons, Orni and Gerudo and recruiting the four sages from those tribes Link and Zelda can restore the Master Sword to full power to battle Calamity Ganon. Or once again you could ignore all this and beat him with a Bokoblin Club.

So even after all this information you see there is a lot to speculate about. What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you agree with my theories? Or do you have some of your own? Let me know in the comments.

And as always

thanks for reading