Hyrule: Then and Now

If you’ve been keeping an eagle-eye on everything we’ve shared so far for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, coming to Nintendo’s upcoming home gaming system Nintendo Switch and Wii U in 2017, you may have already spotted some familiar sights. Many of these similarities hark as far back as the original The Legend of Zelda, released in 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

But how does the world of Hyrule from the original compare to the ruined kingdom of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Let’s take a look!

Is that a familiar face I see?

Note: screenshots taken from the Japanese versions of The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Do you recognise this old gent? In both games, you encounter this old man shortly after beginning your adventure. In The Legend of Zelda, he gives you the sword that you’ll use to strike down evil throughout the land – how nice! However, in Link’s upcoming adventure, you’ll have to find craftier ways to source your weaponry – including nabbing them from enemies!

While it’s true the old man won’t give you any weapons to set you on your way, you could always borrow a torch from him or pocket a few of the baked apples he has laying around nearby. You never know when a baked apple might come in handy while you’re out in the wild!

What a spectacle!

In The Legend of Zelda, there is a rock formation which – if you look at it a certain way – almost looks like a pair of spectacles. Can you see it? No?

It was because of this similarity that this formation was known to some as Spectacle Rock, and you can find this same location in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild too! It may be a bit more…mountainous than before, but still kind of looks like a pair of spectacles.

Really? You still can’t see it? You’ll just have to judge for yourself when the game comes out.

Floating on

In The Legend of Zelda, there was a raft that you could hop onto which would move automatically across water! In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, when the river looks a tad too cold for Link to be swimming in, a raft is really the only way forward.

If you look closely, you’ll see that Link is generating the breeze needed to cross the river. By doing this, he can also adjust the direction the raft moves in – pretty nifty stuff!

A bone to pick!

Nothing says “tread carefully” like spotting a skull in your surroundings! This was certainly the case for the final dungeon in The Legend of Zelda, which was shaped like a skull. You’ll spot a similar blast from the past in this giant skulled-shaped enemy hideout from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But what looks like a cool place to hang out (to some people), is actually riddled with weaknesses. See that lantern? If you aim through the eye and hit it you might just cause enough havoc to clear the whole place out!

Rumour has it that there are lots more connections between The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Why not make it your mission to find them all?