ZELDA BREATH OF THE WILD Gameplay Preview [Nintendo Switch 2017]
1The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild[b] is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo EPD for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. Set at the end of the Zelda timeline, the player controls an amnesiac Link as he sets out to save Princess Zelda and prevent Calamity Ganon from destroying Hyrule. Players explore the open world of Hyrule while they collect items and complete objectives such as puzzles or side quests. Breath of the Wild's world is unstructured and encourages exploration and experimentation; the story can be completed in a nonlinear fashion.
Development lasted five years, commencing immediately after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in 2011. Led by director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo sought to rethink Zelda's conventions and introduced elements such as detailed chemistry and physics engines. The designers drew inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus (2005) and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011). Monolith Soft, known for their work on the open-world Xenoblade Chronicles series, assisted in designing landscapes and topography.
Breath of the Wild was originally planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U exclusive but was delayed twice; it was eventually released on March 3, 2017, as a launch game for the Switch and the final Nintendo-published game for the Wii U. It received acclaim and won numerous Game of the Year accolades. Critics praised its open-ended gameplay, open-world design, and attention to detail, though some criticized its technical performance. It is the best-selling Zelda game and one of the best-selling video games of all time, with 30.69 million copies sold by 2022.
Since its release, Breath of the Wild has been considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Journalists described it as a landmark in open-world design for its emphasis on experimentation, physics-based sandbox, and emergent gameplay. Numerous developers cited Breath of the Wild as inspiration, and it is a popular point of comparison among open-world games. A spin-off, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, was released in 2020, and a sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, is scheduled for 2023.