[Megathread] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[johnhoftb]

The first 4 shrines you need to complete for the glider also give you the runes, Magnesis (magnet), Stasis (time bubble), Crynosis (Ice wall), and remote bombs.

[minkage]

thats new hyrule. this is old hyrule.

the koroks were sucking up the water slowly. thats why they were planting trees in their side quest in wind waker.

this hyrule is in ruin, being attacked by the spirit of ganon (and the master swords here somewhere lookin all janky and rusted, and that was stuck under the ocean in ganons head)

the koroks said if given time eventually the water would recede because of the trees and the lands below would rise again and all the islands would be reconnected and people could live together like in the past.

so either tetras bloodline eventually went back to hyrule, or zelda simply reincarnated back in hyrule and rebuilt the kingdom.

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thats not the main feature point in breath of the wild.

also the shrines arent pointless. in the demo the spirit orbs only allow you to buy the glider but in the actual game they will have a much more important role that if you get alot will give you special items and will progress the story

All the videos ive seen show link getting new abilties at each shrine he visited. Now I dont expect a new ability from 100 different shrines but still the fact reminds there hardly pointless.

[Immitis]

more evidence this takes place some time after wind waker in the timeline

[mvaliz]

Oh give it up about this shit with Skyrim. As someone with 100's of hours into it. The first 5 minutes are pretty much the same as the last 5 minutes.

As for how Skyrim changes music. I hated it. Many many times their sloppy transitions ruined a good moment, or ruined a surprise that was coming up.

and I call bullshit on yoru 100 hours. First five minuets are the same as the last 5 minutes is laughable.

Jeesus H people, I'm not assaulting your beloved franchise here! I'm just reccomending they add a little incidental music and their suggestion as to why they can't is wrong.

[Phaere]

more evidence this takes place some time after wind waker in the timeline

Rock salt can form from pretty much any kind of body of water evaporating with time; rivers. lakes, etc.

There is also evidence for it not being in the Adult timeline but rather the Child Timeline.

Aonuma himself said Zelda: Breath of the Wild will have some connections with Twilight Princess.

Discounting the above there is also the fact that Hyrule castle was destroyed on the Adult timeline and replaced with Ganon's Tower. The new Hyrule Castle we see in the Wind Waker is built over a lake and the Master Sword is lodged in Ganon's skull.

In the Hyrule Castle we see in Breath of the Wild is not built over a lake so it can't be the same Hyrule castle as the Wind Waker. The Hyrule Castle in the Trailer also looks a lot more like the castle from TP than WW. In the trailer the Master Sword is also within in it's pedestal; presumably within a crumbled down Temple of Time just like it was in Twilight Princess.

We also see a bridge in the Artwork and trailer which is quite possibly the Great Bridge of Hylia which simply does not exist in the Adult timeline.

On the Koroks; just because they only appeared with in the Adult timeline does not mean that they can't or don't exist within the Child timeline too. We actually saw and heard nothing about them for that timeline so it doesn't discount them from existing in it.

[Orange Joe]

and I call bullshit on yoru 100 hours. First five minuets are the same as the last 5 minutes is laughable.

Jeesus H people, I'm not assaulting your beloved franchise here! I'm just reccomending they add a little incidental music and their suggestion as to why they can't is wrong.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/slozon/games/?tab=all

Skyrim = 346 hours.

[Immitis]

Rock salt can form from pretty much any kind of body of water evaporating with time; rivers. lakes, etc.

There is also evidence for it not being in the Adult timeline but rather the Child Timeline.

Aonuma himself said Zelda: Breath of the Wild will have some connections with Twilight Princess.

Discounting the above there is also the fact that Hyrule castle was destroyed on the Adult timeline and replaced with Ganon's Tower. The new Hyrule Castle we see in the Wind Waker is built over a lake and the Master Sword is lodged in Ganon's skull.

In the Hyrule Castle we see in Breath of the Wild is not built over a lake so it can't be the same Hyrule castle as the Wind Waker. The Hyrule Castle in the Trailer also looks a lot more like the castle from TP than WW. In the trailer the Master Sword is also within in it's pedestal; presumably within a crumbled down Temple of Time just like it was in Twilight Princess.

We also see a bridge in the Artwork and trailer which is quite possibly the Great Bridge of Hylia which simply does not exist in the Adult timeline.

On the Koroks; just because they only appeared with in the Adult timeline does not mean that they can't or don't exist within the Child timeline too. We actually saw and heard nothing about them for that timeline so it doesn't discount them from existing in it.

i think the tp connection is just the fact you can use wolf link.

i know rock salt can be formed anywhere but the item description says "the ancient sea" i dont know of any zelda game besides the wind waker ones where there is an ancient sea.

hyrule castle not being on a lake can be explained by the koroks sucking that water up too. and it not being in ganons head could just be that they turned ganon into a pedastal. it may not even be the same castle. it may have been a rebuilt one.

plus geography changes in zelda is nothing new.

we know there was ATLEAST 100 years and if it takes place after spirit tracks that would mean its atleast 200 years after wind waker.

this will be the biggest version of hyrule ever. and weve seen weird changes even between games (for example, the master sword moving between ocarina of time and tp)



look how huge that map is. and that may not even be all of it

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http://steamcommunity.com/id/slozon/games/?tab=all

Skyrim = 346 hours.

yeah, i can definitely see getting 100 hours atleast out of this game.

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OR maybe they moved the master sword and thats what released ganons soul and started the decay of the nation in the first place

[Symphonic]

This will be a long post, copied from here. It brings up many considerations that I enjoyed reading, about the timeline of BotW.

Part 1: Important Timeline Clues.

1. The monks mentioning Goddess Hylia: She is only mentioned before in the era of sky (Skyward Sword) and as we know; in the backstory to that game she reincarnated herself to Zelda. For this reason, by TMC/OOT’s time onward, the deity of Hylia has been forgotten despite locations and peoples sharing her name. But perhaps those close to the Goddesses or Royal family might still know of her former existence and the true nature of Zelda. Perhaps the sheikah and monks might of known despite it being in the future. But the question is why do they speak of her in the present tense as if she still exists as a Goddess? Is that something to read into or are they just treating it like an alter ego type deal? Either way, this indicates the game taking place earlier in the timeline closer to the SS side of things as opposed to the AOL/ST/FSA sides.

2.The prior presence of the Sheikah: The sheikah are mentioned as having a relatively recent and powerful presence in the kingdom. They were recent enough to have intact technology laying around. They are heavily mentioned in OOT/SS as well but by the time of ALTTP/TWW/TP; they are pretty much extinct and forgotten. In ALTTP, the only indication is the presence of reincarnating Impa. And these Impas are only connected to the Sheikah tribe by heritage rather then an active membership/mentioning of the tribe. Aside from symbols, they are completely gone without mention in TWW-onward. In TP, the only link to the Sheikah is Impaz. And while they actually make a direct reference to her "ancient tribe", it is never directly named showing its lost influence/memory. All this again indicates a timeline placement closer to SS or OOT.

3. Link is resurrected: Unlike every single Zelda game, this Link is not native to this period of time. Instead he came about 100 years prior. But somehow he fell in a stasis of sorts and was magically "resurrected" via the resurrection chamber. Even the towers are named resurrection towers. Who is this Link? And why would he need to be resurrected? Was he somehow fallen? Defeated? Died even? This is either a new Link or and old Link. Under the case its an old Link, I think it could only take place after one game considering the relatively happy outcome of all the other Links. If its a new Link with us never witnessing this event 100 years ago, that opens the door to more possibilities. More on this later.

4. 100 years and Ganon: We know that Ganon is in a weakened or even imprisoned form; but he is still an active threat, sealed within Hyrule Castle and ready to burst out. He is also referred to as Ganon, not Ganondorf. This isn't an origin story folks. His transformation is complete. We also know that the events that lead to him being weakened in this state happened 100 years ago around the same time BotW Link was put into stasis. There was an important event that these both shared. 100 years is also a relatively small amount of time in between major installments for the series. In contrast games, like TP and TWW are theorized to have taken placed hundredS of years after OOT and parallel to each other on their respective timelines. So perhaps this opens the possibility of this game taking place in between 2 already established games of the franchise?

5. Temple of Time: The Temple of Time has only appeared in select Zelda games. And in its appearance, it has varied in name, location, visual appearance, and even state of decay. As we all know geography is messy business in Zelda so perhaps that can ignored. But the state of its location such as being a forest, field, or town can be considered. The thing that is so striking about this ToT is its striking resemblance to OOT's ToT. I mean it looks like they ripped the design right out of the market place and aged it/decayed it. It looks nothing like the Sealed Grounds nor is it brand new. So I believe this makes it less likely this game is in between SS/OOT. Its been flooded/destroyed and is not seen in TWW.

And while it has heavy decay (especially on the left side of the building), its remaining walls, roof, and overall structure is still in shape. It also is surrounded not by a town, not by a forest, but by ruins and a field. In contrast, by the time you get to TP; it has been decayed to the point the roof is gone and only the bottom of the walls remain. It has also been overtaken by forest. It's left side is especially decayed being how you enter it the first time. And in ALTTP its decayed even further with only the pedestal of the Master Sword remaining. The entire surrounding structure is gone and is surrounded purely by forest. This implies to me that BotW's ToT is the middle ground between OOT and TP/ALTTP. It is OOT's ToT at the beginning/mid point of decay. The town has decayed into ruins or even nothingness around it resulting in a field. And the forest has not yet begin to grow.

6. A pre-established Hyrule/Master Sword in decline. That seems to be the big theme of this game. The Kingdom is in decline, a shadow of what it once was. Even the Master Sword has seen better days showcasing decay. And despite it surviving for centuries between games, the only other game we have seen visible decay in it was ALTTP where it looked even worse off then what it does now in BotW. Strange. Either way this kingdom is not new. So what games in the franchise left off with the kingdom in disarray?

7. Hyrule Castle exists. Take this for what it means. It is taken to be a pre-established structure. At the very least this could mean its not new limited the possibility this is a SS sequel. At most, it could mean it succeeds a game in which the Castle was left in a decent state. But then again, everytime we have seen the castle be destroyed; we have seen that it was rebuilt by the time the next game rolled around. See OOT-ALTTP, OOT-TWW, and TP-FSA for examples.

8. Bridges similar to that of the Bridge of Hylia/Eldin can be seen: Could these be the same bridges either in the past or future in respect to TP? The main one we have seen so far (during E3 and the trailer) does not seem exactly like TP's bridges but it does seem very similar in design, especially with the Bridge of Hylia. Does this link the game close to TP either as as a prequel or a sequel?

9. Koroks!: What are these little fellows doing here? Does this mean the game has to be post OOT on the adult timeline? I mean they only appeared in TWW and was the result of the 2nd Deku Tree (Deku Sprout from OOT). It was also implied the cataclysm of the Great Sea also caused the 2nd Deku Tree to alter their forms from Kokori to Koroks. Of course this could be mixing up causation with correlation. They might just be the result of a new Deku Tree taking over with only the old OOT Deku Tree making Kokori. In which case, its entirely possible for Koroks to appear in other timelines. The key is for their appearance to make sense; BotW has to be in a timeline that follows an OOT outcome where the Deku Sprout (2nd Deku Tree) was born and allowed to mature. We never witnessed this event in the child timeline as t he Deku Sprout only came about during the adult period. Plus there was no indication or mention of the Deku Tree in TP which makes one further doubt things. But the fallen timeline is based off the adult timeline and is theoretically possible for their to be the 2nd Deku Tree in it. So this points to the game being post OOT in either the fallen or adult timelines.



Part 2: My personal theory and interpretation: BotW takes place in between OOT and ALTTP on the downfall timeline.

I tried to showcase the points in a neutral way the allows the reader to come up with their own interpretation. I'm sure some of my views got laced in there none the less. And to be honest some of those clues are ambiguous and can be taken different ways at this point. But taking different interpretations into account; I believe there is an INCREDIBLY strong case to make that the game takes place in between OOT and first major game of each of the three timelines (ALTTP, TWW, and TP).

My general theory is the game takes place 100 years after OOT and will explore the story of the fallen hero of time. Why was he defeated and what happened to him. It will showcase the kingdom in decline as a direct result of the imprisoning war. And it will set things up for ALTTP. The whole third timeline split is relatively novel it being a huge surprise from Hyrule Historia. It didn't seem like Nintendo really planned for it and it was a recent development by them. And when you think about it, it doesn't make sense. There is a clear mechanism seen in OOT in why the adult/child timelines split and co-exist. But the downfall timeline feels like a "what-if" timeline that isn't properly linked with the rest of the series. Why did the hero even fall to begin with? What happened to him? I think Nintendo will use this game to further elaborate on this and patch the missing links. But here are my reasons why I believe it takes place in between OOT and ALTTP and I will address it by the above points:

1. The mentioning of Hylia. Unless this game is a prequel to SS (which there is tons of evidence against that), its pretty obvious that the Hylia the monks speak of is not an active Goddess. Her reincarnation cycle has already began (prior to SS). Rather the Monks and other important figures of the Kingdom knows this remains to be seen. They might be referring to Zelda or her spirit rather, recognizing Zelda's true nature and Hylia's will. Or perhaps they don't know and just think Hylia is being a reclusive deity who is not directly involved (the way a lot of religions view their gods lol). While not mentioned in OOT/TMC (other then the presence of Hylians, Lake Hylia, and possibly the Sand Goddess), it is entirely possible the royal family/Sheikahs knew about her. And its possible the monks might still know of her by 100 years post OOT (BotW's time). Its actually likely being that the sheikah are ancient spirits from SS-OOT's time. But the more you advance time like towards post AOL or post TP, the less likely it is she would be remembered.

2. The sheikah are heavily mentioned as a past entity in this game. They don't seem to be present anymore aside from monks. But there technology is all over the place (in ruins though). In OOT, they are heavily mentioned and maintain a somewhat active presence with Impa (who is directly affiliated with them unlike her future incarnations). But none the less, they have already declined considerably compared to what they were pre-OOT. Which is why we don't see their technology in that game (perhaps it was dormant then). By ALTTP, TWW, and TP; they are all but forgotten. I think this game will serve as the middle link. Being just 100 years after OOT, they are still relevant enough to be named and have direct storyline relevance. And they seem to be even more ancient and fargone then they were with OOT. But not yet enough to fade into obscurity like ALTTP/TWW/TP which takes placed hundredS of years after OOT.

3 & 4. BotW takes place 100 years after OOT. The event that occured 100 years before was the hero's defeat in the downfallen timeline along with Ganon's imprisonment/ the imprisoning war. The exact mechanics of all this will have to be revealed as more story details come out. But for now, thats why Link has to be resurrected because he died/fell to Ganon. Perhaps the Royal Family/Zelda/Sheikah put his body in the resurrection chamber where he comes to during BotW. Ganon is imprisoned in the castle perhaps due to a weakening seal of his in the Dark World/Sacred Realm. Oh also notice how the game refers to him as Ganon as opposed to Ganondorf. Thats because he already became Ganon at the end of OOT.

Read this excerpt from Hyrule Historia concerning the downfall timeline's origins: "Of all possible outcomes, Link, the Hero of Time, faced defeat at the hands of Ganondorf. The thief obtained the three pieces of the Triforce, transformed into the Demon King, Ganon, and continued to threaten the world for future eras. The conflict surrounding the triforce continues without end, the blood of the Gods weakened, and the kingdom of Hyrule shrank to a shadow of its former self."

Who knows, they might do more elaboration on this with the in game story. But the important thing is he starts off in a similar state post downfallen OOT (imprisoned and weakened and GANON, ready to pounce out), and he ends up still imprisoned in the dark world at the end of this game.

5. The Temple of Time. As stated before, there is heavy evidence this incarnation of the ToT is the aged OOT ToT. It honestly looks right like it should after 100 years of disuse and dis-repair. By ALTTP's time, it will be fully decayed (a process that can be witnessed mid cycle, parallel in the TP timeline). And forest will be overgrowing it. In BotW's time, Castle Town around it has decayed/been destroyed completely sans some remaining ruins around the temple. The forest hasn't started growing yet giving way to the field that surrounded OOT's market/Castle Town.

6. The Decline of Hyrule/Master Sword. Establishing BotW takes place between OOT and one of the timelines, this is one of the strongest pieces of evidence its in the downfall timeline. In between OOT and TWW, there is somewhat a period of decline but that is because Ganon breaks free and actively rules Hyrule. In BotW, he is imprisoned still. Also no hero appears during this time so Link's appearance in BotW kind of puts a wrench in that. Finally, the country gets flooded pretty quickly and we know the rest. In TP, the kingdom is doing relatively ok at the beginning sans being overtaken by twilight. But after ALTTP is where the magic happens.

Hyrule Historia labels this timeline as "The decline of hyrule and the last hero". Following this is this excerpt: "Until the era of the Hero of Time, the kingdom of Hyrule was mostly inhabited by the Hylian people, whose existance was linked to their goddess, Hylia. Hylians possessed a special power, it was said that their long ears allowed them to hear the voices of the gods. However, the kingdom fell into ruin during the Imprisoning War, and the bloodline of the Hylians weakened with the ages, until their existance was naught but a thing of the past. The sages' power also waned, and Hyrule once called the Kingdom of the Gods became nothing more than an ancient legend."

These events take place post OOT but pre-ALTTP. Holy crap, that sounds just like the backstory to this game and a declined Hyrule in ruins..... And then you look at the Master Sword. Its aged through centuries in countless games, and while it might lose its power; it maintained its blade and appearance. ALTTP was the only game where it is shown visibly decayed and tattered, symbolizing the waning of the Hyrule Kingdom/ sages. Until BotW... It looks only partially decayed though. Seriously, its design looks like a mid-point of OOT and ALTTP's Master Swords....

7. Hyrule Castle exists. I just bring this up to demonstrate Hyrule Castle always exist in the following game succeeding its destruction. Just because its gone at the end of OOT doesn't mean it couldn't of been rebuilt by the BotW. Hell, ALTTP's castle had to come from somewhere.

8. Similar Bridges (Elding/Hylia) to TP being in the game. Some folks think this means that these similar bridges might mean this game is a prequel or sequel to TP. Of course, they could just be an example of shared Hylian architecture with them not being the same structures. It is also possible the bridges were built in multiple timelines too and Nintendo is just bringing a recent convention of Hyrule into the next game regardless of timeline placements. See the Eldin/Lanayru/Faron provinces being present in SS ala TP despite the fact they weren't present in OOT. So I don't think their presence threatens a placement of BotW in between OOT-ALTTP.

9. Koroks! As stated before, I firmly believe they could exist in multiple timelines. The only thing there presence establishes is the existence of a mature 2nd Deku Tree (OOT's Deku Sprout). We witnessed the Deku Sprout coming about after the Forest Temple in the adult period of OOT. These events are included in the adult timeline so it makes sense that the 2nd Deku Tree/Koroks would appear in TWW. Since the adult period never happend in the child timeline, it makes sense we didn't see either of them in TP. But being that the downfall timeline is an offshoot of the adult timeline; it is entirely reasonable to expect that the event of the Deku Sprout being born still happened. And its reasonable to think we might see the 2nd Deku tree in BotW in the downfall timeline. Although he might need to be killed off/ put in an obscure land to explain his absence in ALTTP.

TL;DR for the whole topic:

Breath of the Wild totally takes place in the downfall timeline in between OOT and ALTTP. If you have a specific question, ask me why.

[Immitis]

i would like to say, that like the gorons before spirit tracks. we dont know the status of the shiekah in the wind waker timeline. its possible the remnants of the shiekah left and founded their own island then returned when hyrule was unflooded.

[Symphonic]

Temple of Time in BotW:


Temple of Time in OoT:


Compared to the overgrown temple of time in Twilight Princess and A Link to the Past. The forest has basically taken over.

[Immitis]

more evidence this is a grown up toon link

"Link in #zeldabreathofthewild might be Wind Waker Link. A lot of his voice clips are based on his but re-recorded"

[Kazgrel]

It looks genuinely awesome. Still, i'm not going to buy a Wii U just for a single game.

Ultimately, this is the fate any and all Nintendo games have, for me at least. I bit on the Gamecube 15 years ago, and while I enjoyed Melee and Metroid Prime, there was nothing else I felt compelled to buy for it, namely because a year or so after I got my GC, I built my first PC, so PC gaming got it's hooks in me and I haven't bought a console since.

[Immitis]

[Symphonic]

more evidence this is a grown up toon link

"Link in #zeldabreathofthewild might be Wind Waker Link. A lot of his voice clips are based on his but re-recorded"

I don't think it can be in the Wind Waker timeline, like I used to think, simply based on the thread I quoted earlier. Here is a post that specifically refers to TWW timeline: https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/6329...2794/854141595

[Immitis]

I don't think it can be in the Wind Waker timeline, like I used to think, simply based on the thread I quoted earlier. Here is a post that specifically refers to TWW timeline: https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/6329...2794/854141595

that doesnt really change my mind. i dont see why hyrule and new hyrule cant coexist, or, depending on how many years are between this game and spirit tracks new hyrule having returned to old hyrule and i dont see why the temple of time couldnt still be standing. its where the triforce was held. i think it have an easier time holding up than other buildings and i dont see why ganon needs to be anyone different. we never saw a physical body just a giant cloud of darkness which could just be his spirit, maybe hes a cloud instead of a man/pig because hes dead (although that same problem exists for the adult timeline, as ganon was dead in those as well

[Mister Cheese]

Man I'm in the boat where I'll just let everyone else figure this out. I'm too lazy to look into it. In before Miyamoto pulls a Kojimbo where this isn't the real Link and the real one died somewhere and we have to fight Ganon on his behalf or something like that.

[Immitis]

Man I'm in the boat where I'll just let everyone else figure this out. I'm too lazy to look into it. In before Miyamoto pulls a Kojimbo where this isn't the real Link and the real one died somewhere and we have to fight Ganon on his behalf or something like that.

you mean wind waker? because wind waker is a timeline where the hero of the winds took the place of the hero of time after he left the timeline

[Cosmic Janitor]

Man I'm in the boat where I'll just let everyone else figure this out. I'm too lazy to look into it. In before Miyamoto pulls a Kojimbo where this isn't the real Link and the real one died somewhere and we have to fight Ganon on his behalf or something like that.

I'm more surprised that people actually try to make sense of the nonsensical timeline Nintendo released..

[Mister Cheese]

you mean wind waker? because wind waker is a timeline where the hero of the winds took the place of the hero of time after he left the timeline

Not even that. People are saying this link could have been created by the Sheikah as a backup or something. Like an artificial human. He's not even the real hero. You're just being lead to believe he is.

[Immitis]

Not even that. People are saying this link could have been created by the Sheikah as a backup or something. Like an artificial human. He's not even the real hero. You're just being lead to believe he is.

well.. it is called the tower of resurrection. i wouldnt be surprised if that happens