50 Fun Facts About Breath of the Wild

On what date was Breath of the Wild released?

It arrived the same day the Nintendo Switch itself went on sale, and it was also the last Nintendo-published Wii U game.

Link sets out to stop which ancient evil from destroying Hyrule?

Its physical form is a grotesque spider-like monster; in the finale it becomes Dark Beast Ganon.

How long had Link been asleep before the game begins?

He wakes with no memory, and pieces his past back together by revisiting the places in his lost memories.

Link wakes at the start of the game inside which chamber?

It sits on the Great Plateau, and later the same chamber becomes the doorway to the Champions' Ballad DLC's final trial.

Which Champion was the Zora princess who piloted Vah Ruta?

Mipha's healing power, Mipha's Grace, revives Link once after he falls in battle.

Which Sheikah Slate rune lets Link stop an object in time?

Hitting a frozen object stores up the force, so a stasis-locked boulder can be launched across a field when the timer runs out.

Zelda hid the Master Sword in which location, under the protection of the Great Deku Tree?

Reaching it means navigating the Lost Woods, where straying from the path sends Link back to the start in a swirl of fog.

Breath of the Wild was the first mainline Zelda game to feature what in its cutscenes?

Link still says nothing; the team recorded every cutscene rather than only key scenes, as originally planned.

The sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, was released on what date?

Nintendo had finished the game by March 2022 but held it back for a full year of polish.

What is the vast underground region added in Tears of the Kingdom called?

It is pitch dark and roughly the size of the surface map, lit only as Link throws brightbloom seeds and activates lightroots.

Which Zora prince, Mipha's younger brother, asks Link to help stop the endless rain over his domain?

He ferries Link up the reservoir on his back so Link can fire shock arrows into the rampaging Divine Beast.

What happens when a Blood Moon rises at midnight?

It also respawns weapons and ore, so the world never runs dry no matter how many camps Link clears.

How many Korok seeds are hidden across Hyrule?

Only 441 are needed to max out inventory; the rest exist purely for completionists.

What does the Old Man give Link so he can leave the Great Plateau?

He only hands it over once Link has cleared the four plateau shrines, and reveals his true identity at the same time.

Unlike in earlier Zelda games, what happens to weapons and shields as Link uses them?

Only the Master Sword is unbreakable, and even it needs a rest after heavy use.

Who directed Breath of the Wild?

He previously directed Skyward Sword and The Minish Cap, and started his career designing haunted-house attractions for theme parks.

Who produced Breath of the Wild?

He has produced the series since Twilight Princess and once considered leaving Zelda after The Wind Waker before Miyamoto talked him out of it.

The Old Man on the Great Plateau turns out to be the spirit of whom?

He was Hyrule's last king, killed when the Guardians turned on the kingdom, and he lingers to brief Link on what happened.

Vah Rudania, the salamander-like Divine Beast, forced which volcano to erupt endlessly?

The Gorons live on its slopes and, apart from Yunobo, are too afraid of the beast to go near it.

Vah Medoh, the Divine Beast that circles Rito Village, resembles which animal?

Its name is the odd one out: the others are named after Ocarina of Time sages, while Medoh may honour Medli, the Rito sage from The Wind Waker.

How many heart containers must Link have before he can pull the Master Sword?

Trying with fewer drains his hearts one by one and can actually kill him.

Which other category did Breath of the Wild win at the 2017 ceremony where it took the top prize?

It was nominated in the other three but lost them; it also took Best Action/Adventure Game.

What was the first DLC pack, released in June 2017, called?

It added Master Mode, the Hero's Path map tracker and the Korok Mask alongside the Trial of the Sword.

Completing The Champions' Ballad DLC rewards Link with which vehicle?

It runs on fuel made from dropped materials and is technically Link's very own Divine Beast.

Which studio developed the spin-off Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity?

The Koei Tecmo team behind Dynasty Warriors; the game became the best-selling Warriors title ever within four days.

Yunobo, the timid Goron who helps Link, is the descendant of which Champion?

He inherited Daruk's Protection, a shield of energy that Link exploits by firing Yunobo out of a cannon.

Members of the Yiga Clan can be lured out of position with which food?

Their hideout is littered with fruit crates, and the guards will abandon their posts to grab a dropped bunch.

After Link hands over every last Korok seed in Hyrule, what does Hestu give him?

Hestu's Gift is a golden lump that fans instantly recognised for what it is; the only bonus is watching Hestu dance.

According to the game's director, what are Korok seeds actually?

Which explains why Hestu's Gift for finding all of them looks the way it does.

How many shrines are scattered across Hyrule in the base game?

The Champions' Ballad DLC adds 16 more, taking the total to 136.

Which Divine Beast whipped up an unending sandstorm over the Gerudo Desert?

The camel-shaped beast is named after Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit, and its storm comes with lethal lightning.

After the Master Sword runs out of energy, how long does it take to recharge?

It is the only weapon that cannot break, but heavy use leaves Link swordless for a stretch.

The game's physics run on a modified version of which middleware engine?

Aonuma said the physics 'underpins everything in the world' and once found a whole test area blown away by the wind.

Link is right-handed in Breath of the Wild, unlike earlier games. What was the change made to match?

The sword buttons sit on the right side of the GamePad, and the choice stuck even after the Wii U touchscreen features were dropped.

Who provides the English voice of Princess Zelda?

She was the first official English voice of Zelda in the franchise's 30-year history and returned for Age of Calamity and Tears of the Kingdom.

The layout of Hyrule was based on the area around which real Japanese city, the director's hometown?

Fujibayashi overlaid a map of the city on the game world and used real walking times to judge distances between landmarks.

Which cut feature let Link swing 'like Spider-Man' and broke the climbing mechanic?

Ideas that would not fit, such as flying and underground dungeons, were saved for the sequel instead.

In Age of Calamity, which small Guardian escapes through a time portal and changes the course of history?

Its arrival in the past creates a new timeline in which the Champions can be warned before the Calamity strikes.

The Great Calamity struck Hyrule on which of Zelda's birthdays?

She had just climbed Mount Lanayru in a last attempt to awaken her sealing power, which only surfaced when Link fell defending her.

Which colour of Lynel appears only in Master Mode?

Master Mode bumps every enemy up a tier, so the standard game's silver top rank gets a new one above it.

The Hylian Shield sits in a chest guarded by which enemy in Hyrule Castle's Lockup?

With 800 durability it outlasts everything else in the game, and Granté in Tarrey Town sells a replacement if it ever breaks.

How many photographs taken by Zelda a hundred years earlier are stored in the Sheikah Slate's album?

Each one shows a real place in Hyrule, and finding the spot where it was taken unlocks one of Link's lost memories.

In which Great Plateau shrine does Link obtain the Magnesis rune?

It is the first shrine most players enter; the other three plateau shrines hand out Remote Bomb, Stasis and Cryonis.

At launch, Nintendo recorded the game's voice-overs in how many languages?

A May 2017 update finally let players mix and match voice and subtitle languages, a popular request from fans of the Japanese cast.

Which prehistoric Japanese period did the art director cite as inspiring Sheikah technology?

The period's mysterious clay figures and rope-patterned pottery echo through the shrines and Guardians.

The Trial of the Sword's final trial consists of how many rooms?

The three trials run 12, 16 and 23 rooms, and one death anywhere sends Link back to the start with nothing.

The design of the Guardian Stalkers was based on which classic Zelda enemy?

The original 8-bit versions looked huge next to Link, which led the team to the cephalopod-like legs and the game's ancient-tech theme.

How many Korok seeds does it take to fully expand Link's weapon, bow and shield inventories?

That leaves 459 seeds with no use at all beyond the reward for finding every last one.

Completing every shrine in the base game earns Link which armour set at the Forgotten Temple?

It recreates Link's classic green tunic and cap, and its set bonus boosts the Master Sword's beam.

Which of these composers worked on the game's score?

She had previously scored Spirit Tracks; the soundtrack was written mainly for piano and leans on ambience rather than melody.