The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was developed and published by Nintendo. An entry in the long running The Legend of Zelda series, it was released for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U consoles on March 3, 2017. Breath of the Wild is set at the end of the series' timeline; the player controls Link, who awakens from a hundred-year slumber to defeat Calamity Ganon before it can destroy the kingdom of Hyrule.

Similarly to the original Legend of Zelda , players are given little instruction and can explore the open world freely. Tasks include collecting multipurpose items to aid in objectives or solving puzzles and side quests for rewards. Breath of the Wild's world is unstructured and designed to reward experimentation, and the story can be completed in a nonlinear fashion. Development of Breath of the Wild lasted five years. Wanting to reinvent the series, Nintendo introduced elements such as a detailed physics engine, high-definition visuals, and voice acting. Monolith Soft assisted in designing landscapes. The game was planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U exclusive, but was delayed twice due to problems with the physics engine. Breath of the Wild was a launch game for the Switch and the final Nintendo game for the Wii U. Two downloadable content packs were released later in 2017.

Breath of the Wild received acclaim for its open-ended gameplay and attention to detail, with many publications describing it as one of the greatest video games of all time. Critics called it a landmark in open-world design, despite minor criticism for its technical performance at launch. It won numerous awards, including several game of the year awards. By December 2018, Breath of the Wild had sold over 11.6 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Zelda game.

Breath of the Wild is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment where players are tasked with exploring the kingdom of Hyrule while controlling Link. In terms of structure, Breath of the Wild encourages nonlinear gameplay, which is illustrated by the game's lack of defined entrances or exits to areas,scant instruction given to the player, and encouragement to explore freely. Breath of the Wild introduces a consistent physics engine to the Zelda series, letting players approach problems in different ways rather than trying to find a single solution.The game also integrates a "chemistry engine" that defines the physical properties of most objects and governs how they interact with the player and one another.For example, players may take advantage of the game's dynamic weather by throwing metal objects at enemies during thunderstorms to attract a lightning strike. However, the level of realism offered in the "chemistry engine" also means that players will equally attract an unavoidable fatal lightning strike if wearing any metal during thunderstorms.These design approaches result in a generally unstructured and interactive world that rewards experimentation and allows for nonlinear completion of the story.

As Link, players can perform actions such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding with a paraglider, although Link is limited by his stamina.Link can procure items from the environment, including weapons, food, and other resources. Unlike previous Zelda games, weapons and shields will degrade over time.Many items have multiple uses; for example, wooden weapons and armor can be set to light fires or collect incoming enemy arrows, and shields can be used as makeshift snowboards.Players can obtain food from hunting animals, gathering wild fruit, or collecting parts of deceased enemies.By cooking combinations of food or materials, the player can create meals and elixirs that can replenish Link's health and stamina, or provide temporary status bonuses such as increased strength or weather resistance.An important tool in Link's arsenal is the "Sheikah Slate", which can be used to mark waypoints on a map. Over the course of the game, Link can collect powers to add to the Slate, including remote bombs, the ability to mani[CENSORED]te metal objects, form ice blocks on watery surfaces, and temporarily stopping objects in time.In combat, players can lock onto targets for more precise attacks, while certain button combinations allow for advanced offensive and defensive moves.Players may also defeat enemies without weapons, such as rolling boulders off cliffs into enemy camps.

Besides exploration, players can undergo quests or challenges to obtain certain benefits. Activating towers and shrines adds waypoints that the player may warp to at any time.Activating towers also adds territories to the map, although location names are not added until the player explores that area. Dotted throughout Hyrule are shrines that contain challenges ranging from puzzles to battles against robotic opponents. Clearing shrines earns Spirit Orbs, which can be traded for additional health or stamina points.Scattered across Hyrule are small puzzles that reveal Korok Seeds, which can be traded to expand inventory size for weapons, shields, and bows.Towns serve as hotspots for quests, sidequests and shops selling materials and clothing. Hikers and other travelers offer sidequests, hints, or conversation. Additionally, players can scan Amiibo figures against their console to summon items or call Link's horse Epona from previous Zelda games and Wolf Link from Twilight Princess.