The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the nineteenth mainline game. It was released simultaneously worldwide for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017.

Story
Link awakens from a deep sleep and a mysterious voice guides him to discover what has become of the ruined Kingdom of Hyrule. Link meets an Old Man and learns from him that 100 years prior, a great evil known as the Calamity Ganon rose up and laid waste to Hyrule. Unable to be defeated, it was sealed within Hyrule Castle while the ruins of the land were ravaged by nature over time. Although trapped, the Calamity Ganon has grown in power, and Link must defeat it before it breaks free and destroys the world.

Development
The Zelda HD Experience, a The Legend of Zelda tech demo of the Wii U, was shown at. On June 20, 2011, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Nintendo is planning on creating an HD The Legend of Zelda title.

Breath of the Wild was officially announced in the Wii U Direct presentation on January 23, 2013. Eiji Aonuma stated that the game intended to challenge what was expected of The Legend of Zelda games, such as the player having to complete dungeons in a specific order or that it is a single player experience. The game was expected to have a long development time, so Nintendo released for the Wii U to decrease the gap between releases. During, the first video of the game was shown, revealing Link riding Epona, in addition to a Guardian and Hyrule Field. Link was seen wearing an outfit similar to the one used in. Eiji Aonuma responded to fan reactions to the character's design stating that the character was not explicitly stated to be Link, but later stated that he was joking.

During the Game Awards 2014, Miyamoto and Aonuma showed a new gameplay video. It demonstrated the scale of Hyrule, which was designed with the open world concept of the original The Legend of Zelda in mind. It also showed the use of the Sailcloth and the use of beacons for pointing out important landmarks in the huge overworld. Different from previous games, riding horses is done automatically, with Link only needing to steer. This was made in order to focus on the surroundings with the fully controllable camera and on combat with the Sword or Bow while riding. Link is also able to vault and slow the game in order to attack enemies more precisely. If an enemy is hit by an Arrow, a metallic sound will play. Enemies also show a life meter above them, similar to when the Hero's Charm is worn in The Wind Waker.

The game was originally planned to be released in 2015, but due to new ideas added during the game's development, the release date was pushed forward past 2015. During E3 2015, Shigeru Miyamoto reassured in an IGN interview that the game is still planned for a Wii U release and has some "great footage," but is not ready to be shown yet. During the Nintendo Direct in November 2015, it was announced that the game is still slated for a 2016 release. In financial documents released in March 2016, the game was shown to have been delayed to a 2017 release. This was also confirmed later in Nintendo's Twitter. Breath of the Wild was also confirmed to be released simultaneously on both the Wii U and Nintendo Switch.

During E3 2016, the first playable demo was shown. It showed many new features of the game, such as the Flurry Rush, the creation of Food by collecting Materials, the use of enemy weapons, the return of the Stamina Gauge, new mini-dungeons called Shrines, and the Sheikah Slate, a new item which has multiple abilities called Runes. The demo only featured the Great Plateau area.

Timeline Placement
The plot of Breath of the Wild directly refers to events that take place 10,000 years and 100 years prior the game's setting. However, neither of these events are placed obviously within the established timeline of The Leged of Zelda. Before the game's release, Eiji Aonuma revealed that Breath of the Wild takes place after.

Many locations from, or reminiscent of locations in past Zelda games appear throughout the game, referencing several entries in the game series. These include the Arbiter's Grounds, ruins of Lon-Lon Ranch, the devastated Temple of Time, and various springs, devoted to Hylia. Additionally, most landscapes are named after characters and landmarks from previous Zelda games, although these could be easily interpreted as easter eggs instead of significant hints.

At least two references found in-game may be interpreted as direct hints to the timeline placement of Breath of the Wild, even though they seem contradictory: First, the history of the Zora includes a tell about the sage Ruto who aided the Hero in his fight against Ganon. These events only unfolded in the Adult Timeline, if they indeed refer to the same princess Ruto encountered in. Additionally, during the first recovered memory, Princess Zelda appoints Link as her knight by performing the Ceremony of Legend. She recites words which may contain references to the adventures of past heroes in SS undefined,, and (notably). This may hint at a timeline placement after, in the far future of the Child Timeline. However, while not quite as audible in English, at least in the German version additional verses of the legendary words can be clearly heard in the background, which may also reference and  and thus the other two timelines, respectively.

amiibo Support
Breath of the Wild is compatible with all lines of amiibo figures, scan-able by using the amiibo Rune ability, which can be activated via the game's options menu.

All regular amiibo will grant random items and materials, while most The Legend of Zelda-related amiibo will summon treasure chests, containing rarer and sometimes exclusive items (like costumes or special weapons related to the respective games). Additionally, Epona and Wolf Link may be summoned into the game, using the Super Smash Bros. Link and the Wolf Link amiibo, respectively.

Limited Editions
Various limited editions for the Switch version are set to be released worldwide. In North America, the Special Edition includes the game, a tapestry map, a Sheikah Slate carrying case, a soundtrack with 24 songs, and a Sheikah Eye coin. The Master Edition includes the same contents as the Special Edition plus a Master Sword statue. In Europe, the Limited Edition includes the game, the soundtrack, and the Master Sword statue. In Australia, the Limited Edition includes the game, the tapestry map, the soundtrack, the Sheikah Eye coin, and the Master Sword statue. In Japan, the Collector's Edition includes the game, the Link (Rider) amiibo, the soundtrack, the tapestry map, and an interchangeable alternate cover. The Deluxe Collector's Edition includes the same contents as the Collector's Edition plus the Master Sword statue and 20 postcards. The Wii U version does not have any limited editions.

Pre-Order Bonuses
By pre-ordering the game in various retailers, a bonus item was also included. These include a black t-shirt featuring the Sheikah Eye in the Nintendo Official UK Store, a Z icon keyring and a poster featuring artwork from the game in GAME retailers, a wristband in Grainger Games, two double-sized art cards in Argos, and a pin badge in ShopTo. In GameStop retailers, a poster featuring the game's cover artwork was included.

Updates
An update for the retail, Wii U version of the game containing extra game data is required to be installed in order to run the game. The update requires 3 GB worth of space to be installed.

DLC Packs
On February 14, 2017, Breath of the Wild producer Eiji Aonuma announced that a series of paid downloadable content would be released for the game, known as the Expansion Pass. The Expansion Pass is available for purchase for ¥2500 / $19.99 USD / $28.19 CDN / €19.99 / £17.99 / $30.00 AUD / $33.00 NZD alongside the full game beginning on March 3, 2017. The Pass is available for both Wii U and Nintendo Switch and features a staggered release of content, though individual content packs cannot be purchased individually. Each Pack and its contents are as follows:

Trivia

 * Breath of the Wild is the first main game in the series to be localized into Russian and Dutch. Eiji Aonuma himself appeared in the Russian and Dutch Nintendo Switch presentations to introduce the game to Russian, Dutch, and Flemish players. Although the Dutch localization is text only whilst retaining the English voice-overs, the Russian localization covers both text and voice acting.
 * During development of Breath of the Wild, various designs for Link were planned, including him riding a bike in a tracksuit and a musician Link wielding a guitar. Other concepts for the game included Hyrule Wars and The Legend of Zelda Invasion, the latter featuring an alien attack.