“Open your eyes.”
And why wouldn’t you when you see what Nintendo has crafted for us in the new Legend of Zelda game: Breath of the Wild?
This incredible-looking game drops on Dec. 30, for $60 on Amazon. But let’s be real: Nintendo could’ve asked for more than $100, and I’d still purchase it.
The new trailer that premiered one day ago has already accumulated more than 3 million views on YouTube, and it gives us just a tiny glimpse of what we have to look forward to as 2017 begins. According to IGN, Nintendo said everything we see in this 3-minute trailer represents about one percent of the actual game. Because the game has been designed as an open world (meaning you can go wherever you want, whenever you want, and the storyline is less rigid), you don’t actually have to explore the game’s entire world. You can skip a good chunk of it just to get to the end, but why would you want to do that?
This game has such a different vibe from others in the series. In Skyward Sword, for example, Link interacts with nearly 75 characters (yeah… I counted). Yet in this trailer for Breath of the Wild, you see Link interacting with the landscape, animals and a few enemies. We don’t even know that Princess Zelda exists in this game. The simple vastness leaves you feeling so lonely. And knowing that this map is about 12 times bigger than Twilight Princess, how lonely is Link? And assuming that his mission in this game is the same as any other – to find Zelda – we have to wonder, how deep is his love for her?
Clearly, it’s intense enough to build an entire series of enormous video games. Without that relationship, we would not have the entire world of Hyrule or the legacy of Zelda (ladies, this is why video games kick ass).
Now, I don’t claim to know everything about the Zelda world. My adventure with Zelda started in 2012 when my dad brought home Skyward Sword for my little sisters to play; I commandeered it and played for eight hours straight. Since leaving home for college, I convinced my lovely mother to mail me the game, unbeknownst to my father, so that I could continue my adventures in this fantasy world.
I haven’t played every single Zelda game out there, but I became obsessed enough to get the Hylian crest tattooed on my ankle (which, subsequently, helps me make friends everywhere I go). The Zelda fandom is real, y’all.
Amber Garrett
Putting your fandom into ink means it’s real-real.
Anyway, back to the game. I could write a book about how visually appealing Breath of the Wild is or how technology is finally introduced in Link’s world, rather than just potions and magic and what that means for the future of the story and the world of Hyrule. I won’t, but if you’re looking for a video game series to call your own, Legend of Zelda comes highly recommended by yours truly.
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