E3 2016 Game Watch: Legend of Zelda BOTW

As part of my E3 2016 coverage I’m taking an-depth look at some of the games shown at E3. My final in-depth look, before the annual, highly anticipated GamingBear E3 2016 awards, will be on Nintendo’s latest instalment in the Zelda franchise; The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. While I am not physically at E3 (one day…), I have been able to enjoy, from the comfort of my own home, all the events and happening in Los Angeles.

Nintendo dedicated the majority of their E3 to one game. Everyone knew it would be the only game playable on the show floor and many perceived this to be a risky strategy, one that pretty much signalled the end of the Wii U.  Nintendo put a lot of faith in this game and many were keen to see, especially with the recent delay pushing the game back to a 2017 release (March), if the wait was worth it… God damn right it was!

I don’t why people were worried about Nintendo’s decision to just show Legend of Zelda:BOTW. Nintendo clearly were not worried such was their confidence in dedicating their E3 to the game. This wasn’t simply another Legend of the Zelda, this is a whole new changed/evolved beast one that happily returns some elements of the franchise but also dispenses others whilst adding a number of new, interesting mechanics and features.

Before we get into those let’s start off with the name, which was revealed at the end of the introduction trailer; The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Honestly when I first heard I was like what? That sounds lame! But after a while I have started to warm to it, and it perfectly encapsulates what Nintendo have done with this game; they have “breathed” new life into the series by introducing new gameplay features and how the world is structured.

Indeed from everything seen at E3, Zelda:BOTW definitely seems a more “rugged” experience and by this I mean know we have a large, open world to explore, 12 times bigger than the Hyrule found in Twilight Princess! And that’s not all there seems to be no restrictions on where we can go (bar obviously equipment). In fact producer Eiji Aonuma has even said you can “beat” the game without completing the story. It seems Zelda:BOTW seems to be focusing more on self discovery than relying on a story driven adventure. That’s not to say previous entries forced players to go where they were told to and there is no doubt Zelda:BOTW will have an engrossing story, but Breath Of The Wild definitely gives Zelda players more freedom than they have ever experienced before.

Hyrule never looked so vast and expansive and it’s all ours to explore, woopla! (Screenshot source: technobuffalo)

And it seems Nintendo are providing them/us with a world we want to explore, which is no surprise. Every Zelda game I have played has always had memorable areas and locations, each full of secrets and quests. The size of Hyrule in BOTW is ridiculous. I mean it’s probably too big! Just looking at the numerous gameplay videos circling the internet, many of them see Link climbing high peaks just so they can get an impressive, panoramic view of Hyrule… and what a view! From these heights you can see distant lands, even detecting the climate of those lands, there’s even a brooding, erupting volcano! Goron’s anyone? We won’t be short on areas to explore.

My only concern with having such a large expanse to ramble around in, is that the space is used wisely and there aren’t large areas of nothing. Nintendo has said it is not a problem having empty spaces and I understand this comment, not every space can be pack filled with quests, treasure, puzzles and enemies as it’s always enjoyable to have places where a player can “relax” and enjoy the scenery. That being said having too many of these spaces can make traveling around somewhat tedious. Only one “area” was shown at E3, known as the Plateau. This area whilst predominantly green, almost countryside-esque did have offer some diversity in terms of scenery and climate. Climate is actually one of the “new” mechanics to feature in BOTW.

Many games have respectively borrowed from The Legend of Zelda series but now it seems to the tables have turned slightly and the Zelda series is now using staple video games conventions. Gone is the old system of heart replenishment. Now instead of cutting crass and smashing pots to refill your heart meter, players must now find/take resources from the land of Hyrule to refill their heart meter, resources such as mushrooms, and players can even combine resources and cook them on fire pits to improve their effect. You can now see why this game is called Breath Of The Wild.

Link is cooking up a feast! (Screenshot source: technobuffalo)

Going back to the issue of climate, while this has been represented before in Zelda games, e.g. Fire tunic in Ocarina Of Time, BOTW takes it a whole new level. During the footage shown at E3 players were seen traversing icy, snow-laden areas however if they did not have the correct equipment i.e. clothes equipped Link would slowly lose health. Equipment is arguably one of the biggest changes in BOTW.

Taking conventions from RPG/Adventure games, BOTW now has a more detailed item system. Rather than being limited to a couple of swords as primary melee weapons Link can now obtain a number of striking options. From simple sticks to axes and swords, there are a lot of options for players. Naturally some weapons will be found in chests but Link can also obtain weapons he finds just lying around Hyrule even taking enemies weapons. And in another twist to Zelda conventions weapons can now break! These changes are going to add a lot more variety to combat.

Of course it would not be Zelda without a good old bow and arrow! (Screenshot source: Nintendo)

I could write forever about all the changes and I want to but I need to keep this preview relatively concise and less “rambly”. Suffice to say Nintendo have done a lot of rejigging with the franchise whether it’s Link’s ability to now climb almost vertical surfaces or Link’s new stealth ability. What’s impressive about all these new features and changes is they actually add something fulfilling to the game and enriching the whole experience. Link’s new stealth mode allows Link to creep up on unexpected enemies, allowing Link to gain a tactical surprise as well as a damage bonus. Everything new shown at E3 demonstrated how different this Zelda game will be to be previous entries. That being said the game still retains all the charm of the series.

The game oozes Nintendo’s personality and those little touches of detail, that are synonymous with Nintendo games and that make them feel more immersive. One amusing, neat little touch in BOTW is when viewing the equipment screen. Here an animated Link is on show, wearing and equipped with all the items and clothes he is currently wearing, nothing new there. However Link will react to the world around him, so taking for example a cold environment, if your Link is not wearing warm enough clothes, the link on the equipment screen will react, “brrring” and shivering till you put a nice sheepskin coat on him. There were other plenty of cool, small touches I noticed during the abundance of footage on show such as Bokoblins having their own camps, picking up their shields and weapons, which were resting on tree stumps when Link rudely interrupts them. The world of Hyrule never seemed so alive.

And back to that world and specifically how it looks. I’m glad Nintendo have kept the art style that was shown all those moons ago when the first trailer appeared. Visually BOTW is inviting and colourful although I wouldn’t say I was gob-smacked by the graphics. Occasionally I felt the colour palette seem slightly dulled down and not as bright and vibrant as I had expected/hoped for that being said it looks a lot better than the brief, preview that appeared late 2014. I’m sure come release day BOTW will have plenty of flashes of visual awe and wonder and will be absorbing me into this world Hyrule.

There is plenty of evidence that Hyrule has seen better days and I for one can’t wait to see what is happening to the land of Hyrule (Screenshot source: technobuffalo)

It will be interesting to see where BOTW falls in the Zelda timeline, or more over where people think it places in the timeline. It appears Hyrule is somewhat in ruin judging by what was on show at E3 with nature taking precedence over civilisation, just another reason why Breath Of The Wild is such an appropriate sub-title. I hope there are pockets of civilisation however as this has been a downfall of recent Zelda games for me. I’m sure Nintendo won’t disappoint and there is definitely a lot we didn’t see at E3. Hey got to have some surprises.

That leaves it as good as place as any to finish up my preview. I could have written four times the amount given how much was shown of BOTW. To conclude I think it was a great decision by Nintendo to demonstrate BOTW in some much but without showing and giving away too much, leaving gamers excited by what they saw and even more excited about what they didn’t see. BOTW is a bold move for Nintendo but one that shows they aren’t scared about making fundamental changes to their key franchises. And anyone who believed Nintendo were one trick ponies with their franchises obviously have short-term memories (Mario series anyone?)  The biggest “reinvention” of the Zelda series has come at arguably the best and most important time for Nintendo and has gamers and Nintendo fans looking more positively towards the future.

*Incidentally anyone looking for a more comprehensive preview of BOTW head on over to here. Preview courtesy of Mr.Panda

What were your thoughts on BOTW? Were you impressed with the footage shown? What did you make of all the changes? Are there some you didn’t like? Let us know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading. My E3 coverage is nearly over stay tuned for The Gaming Bear E3 awards coming soon.