Zelda has been a staple franchise of the Nintendo game universe for decades, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild promises to be a core part of that universe. Though it will be the 19th installment, it looks like it will be one of the most remarkable.
The Nintendo Japan YouTube channel has released several videos showing gameplay from the upcoming blockbuster.
There have also been some funny GIFs made of the teasers, like this one from Polygon where Link stands completely motionless for nearly twelve hours.
As indicated by the video and GIF above, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild stands apart from its predecessors in various ways. It seems to be more open-world than previous titles, as players can play through the dungeons of the game in whatever order they’d like. The videos also show voice acting and HD resolution rendered by a detailed physics engine.
The open-world aspect of Breath of the Wild is one of the most remarkable. Reports indicate that it is as much as twelve times larger than that of Twighlight Princess.
In addition to the sheer size of the game, players also have the ability to explore it at their own pace and complete dungeons in any order.
Breath of the Wild will be the first main Zelda title to feature voice acting. However, only a few main characters are voice-acted — e.g., Princess Zelda and the Great Deku Tree. Reportedly, only some of the main scenes were to have voice acting initially, but in the end it was decided that all the cutscenes would have voice acting.
As with other Zelda games, in Breath of the Wild players control protagonist Link. He can climb on most surfaces, and the world is full of various items that will aide Link in his journey.