Freeform exploration in the new 'Zelda' game is an NES throwback
Here's comparison that we never would have expected to draw: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has more in common with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim than it does past Zelda games.
Bethesda's open world RPG sets players loose in a freely explorable domain of snowy peaks and rocky steppes. A series of quests provide some direction in guiding you through the story, but there's nothing to step you from simply wandering off and forging your own path.
Similarly, Breath of the Wild does away with the focused story that's been evident in recent Zelda games. It begins with a female voice beseeching you, over and over again, to "open your eyes."
You May Also Like
Link, who has been in a deep slumber for the past 100 years, wakes up on a stone slab inside a cave. Some light exposition follows during which Link obtains some starting gear and his iPad-like Sheikah Slate (your map, binoculars and more). Then, the cave's entrance slides open and you're deposited smack in the middle of Hyrule, free to explore as you like.
Rethink what you know of Zelda gear in Breath of the Wild. Armor and weapons both have a numerical rating that denote their defense/attack power. Weapons in particular degrade over time and break, though you're not just limited to swords; clubs, spears and more are available for Link's arsenal.
No longer does slashing grass and downing enemies release health-restoring hearts.
It's not quite an RPG. There are no stats to manage beyond your health and stamina, the latter of which governs how long you can climb, swim, sprint or (once you obtain it) paraglide. But managing your inventory is more important than it's ever been in Zelda.
This extends beyond armor and weapons. Resources like plants, fruits, animal meat (obtained from hunting) and enemy baubles all support a new cooking system. No longer does slashing grass and downing enemies release health-restoring hearts. Instead, you must eat to live.
Uncooked food always provides a small boost to your health, but it's much more efficient to drop bundles of ingredients in a fire or cooking pot. Cooked food increases how much you're healed when you eat, but more than that, a wide assortment of recipes -- which you must deduce for yourself -- can unlock other benefits.
For example, dropping mushrooms and steak into the fire creates a meat and mushroom skewer which offers full health recovery. But if you add truffles to the cooking ingredient, you also get a small, temporary health overcharge added to your health recovery.
Other ingredients create elixirs that can boost anything from your movement speed to your ability to remain quiet, which is important for stealthy play.
Stealth has been greatly improved in this Zelda; you'll easily see how much noise you are making, and you can even crouch to reduce it. You're likely to be seen if you approach a camp of goblin-like enemies during the day -- though tall grass and other obstructions can conceal your approach.
Alternatively, you can creep in under the cover of night and, provided you're careful, extinguish the now-sleeping foes.
The gear game is still strong in Breath of the Wild when it comes to puzzle-solving tools. Bombs, the bow and arrows, a magical "Magnesis" ability and more are earned for reaching significant story milestones, same as ever, but boss-capped dungeons aren't the only puzzle marathons in this new Zelda.
Scattered across the world are more than 100 "shrines" which play out like miniature puzzle dungeons. Each one focuses on different gear abilities -- meaning you can't tackle them all without making story progress -- and concludes with a reward that boosts your health or stamina total.
Are you getting the picture yet? Breath of the Wild is massive. We haven't even covered elements like climbing (you can scale any surface, even oversized foes), fast travel (new points unlock as you discover more shrines) and optional bosses.
The open-endedness of it all is an intentional lean back toward the original Legend of Zelda, in which players started off with nothing more than a sword and that's it. Not even a vague sense of where to go. It was only through exploration -- sometimes into areas that you were clearly not geared up for -- that you learned what the game wanted.
Make no mistake: Breath of the Wild is still fundamentally Zelda. Weapons may degrade over time, but the Master Sword -- which features prominently into the game's logo -- is still a vital piece of the story and universe.
The looming threat to Hyrule is equally familiar. Not long after the game starts, you learn that a being called Calamity Ganon had been trapped in Hyrule Castle for 100 years. In seeming tie to Link's own awakening, Ganon has been gathering power and is right on the cusp of breaking loose. Should that happen, Hyrule is doomed.
As much as Breath of the Wild is a completely unexpected new approach for the series, the elements that define Nintendo's beloved Zelda stories appear to be intact. If anything, this new game grasps tightly to foundational elements that once defined Zelda but fell into disuse as games like Ocarina of Time brought more of a narrowed focus to the story.
It's amazing how much we took away from less than an hour with the unfinished game, and how it still feels like there's so much more Nintendo is holding back. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is going to leave a lot of fans happily stunned when it finally surfaces in 2017.
Want more E3 coverage? Check it all out on our full E3 hub.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
