Breath of the Wild Switch Log, Entry 7

flying over Hyrule with the Great Plateau in the background, as seen from Spectacle Rock

Don't worry, I'm not confusing games here. Last week a longtime reader asked me if I was going to rush Breath of the Wild to 100%, before Tears of the Kingdom releases. I was only laughing, but look who is laughing now... Well, it's still me, but I'm laughing at myself.

The fact that Tears of the Kingdom reads your latest Breath of the Wild save file (Normal Mode only), when you start a new game, was all the motivation it needed for me to finish what I had started about five weeks ago. The idea that the new game picks up from some unfinished save game triggered all my compulsions regarding Zelda at once, so it had to be done...

Ironically, from what the current consensus seems to be, I was already good to go. The only confirmed changes at the moment are the ones that I had quickly discovered myself: that it carries over your horses and that the Picture of the Champions will be in the houses in Hateno. I have yet to see confirmation that your Breath of the Wild save will have any influence on dialogues and alike, or anything else for that matter.

And since my focus was to obtain the Master Cycle Zero before the launch of Tears of the Kingdom, I was doing everything right. I even had all the special horses, though this might not even matter, because they probably are somewhere to be found again in Tears of the Kingdom. So, from what it seems, it's only really the picture that matters, as a token that you've completed all the main quests in the previous game.

Still, I couldn't stand the thought that there might be more. Something that people haven't discovered, because it involves a lot of golden poop, for example. I wouldn't want to invest hundreds of hours into Tears of the Kingdom only to realize that I won't get the fullest experience due to my unfinished save in Breath of the Wild. I don't expect this to be the case, but I also didn't expect any sort of connectivity to begin with, so on the off chance that I'm wrong again I wanted to prepared...

And so my playthrough of Breath of the Wild turned from "no rush" into "No, rush!", because I didn't want to dilly-dally with this and finally start playing Tears of the Kingdom. But with about half of the game world still left unexplored, this was nothing that could be done within a day or two... I went from 56% map completion to 100%, which took me over four days in total, where I've spent an unhealthy amount of playing during these days. Please don't ever copy that.

A Major Test of Patience

The first day of this endeavor was really tough, where I was hating myself for doing this. Containing my excitement for Tears of the Kingdom while re-playing Breath of the Wild was by far the hardest part, which goes so far that I had to take sedative drops to get some sleep.

But it was also funny to go against the mainstream here, where everyone and their mother on my Nintendo Switch friend list was playing Tears of the Kingdom, while I was still putting all my hours into Breath of the Wild, as if I didn't hear the sound of the starting pistol. Some people even approached me and wondered what I was up to. One was even afraid that I hated Tears of the Kingdom so much that I went straight back to the "better" game. It was a unique situation, for sure.

on top of the South Lomei Labyrinth wearing only climbing gear

Anyway, I started things with the Forgotten Temple. Then I went from the South to the North Lomei Labyrinth, around the Gerudo Highlands, but through the entirety of Hebra Mountains. It certainly got me excited for the idea that this whole area might have turned into one giant dungeon, I can tell you that. But overall it didn't feel as bad as in the past, where it probably helps that it can't rain there.

Having all Champion abilities and the Master Sword upgraded, as well as the Master Cycle Zero in my inventory also made for some smooth going. I was never really able to use all these things to this extent, where in my Master Mode run I got these only very late in the game, but it certainly makes a difference in speed. You have Urbosa's Fury ready in most fights, Revali's Gale recharges very quickly, and you can drive through even the most unfriendly terrain with the Master Cycle Zero. Plus, I also already had three full stamina wheels, so I could just mash the jump button whenever I climbed somewhere.

Ironically, that I was a bit in a hurry also made me appreciate some things that I didn't like as much in the past. For example, I often lamented about how many of the shrines are Blessings or Test of Strengths (29 and 20 respectively), where now they truly felt like a blessing that I didn't have to clear some puzzle for the third time over. Just give me the prize and move on.

sporting a hammer and a Korok Mask, looking at Rito Village and the Hebra Mountains in the distance

Now, once I was past the large chunk that are the Hebra Mountains, the goal came closer and closer in sight, while I was having more and more fun. And this is where I realized that this might be for the better, even if there is nothing else that carries over. I'm at a point where I still enjoy playing Breath of the Wild. It's my favorite game, after all. It might not be any longer in a couple of months, because Tears of the Kingdom is so much more interesting, and then I will have a hard to come back to this game.

It already started with opening treasure chests on a full inventory. Tears of the Kingdom solved it in exactly the way I always wanted it to be solved, so I couldn't help but think about the chests in that game each time I found another Golden Bow at the Gerudo Highlands. (Why are there so many, Nintendo?!)

I also still find the randomly spawning enemies, especially at night, very annoying. I'm not sure how Tears of the Kingdom handles those, but I don't recall any from my brief time with the game so far. Hopefully, there will have been some fine tuning here, at least, because Breath of the Wild just spawns them in your face whenever to slow you down needlessly.

Overall, I'm sure that there will be many improvements that will make Breath of the Wild taste not so good any longer. So, it was probably for the best that I was doing this right now, or else I might never finish this save file. I also replayed Skyward Sword before Breath of the Wild came out, and it took over four years for me to get back to it. I don't expect it to be this bad with Breath, but you never now.

Preparing Hyrule

Of course, there was also the thought in the back of my head that completing side quests may have an impact on Tears. Even though this was unconfirmed, I still wanted to have all quests cleared in the very least...

Kass playing the accordion in front of his children, while Link is hiding in a bush

It also felt right to help all the people in Hyrule one more time, before going into the next adventure. Like, I wanted to get Kass back home to his family. I wanted to get everything done in the Hyrule from six years ago, before I move on to the Hyrule of the present.

Though, some side quests were a bit annoying. My favorite example is probably the "Weapon Connoisseur", where Nebb often wanted to see something of where I already had an upgraded version in my inventory. I have Dragonbone Moblin Club and he wants to see a basic Moblin Club. I have a Meteor Rod and he wants to see a Fire Rod. A have a Guardian Battle Axe++ and guess what... he wants to see a Guardian Battle Axe+. What's wrong with that kid? Doesn't he want to see the even cooler stuff?

Some shrine and side quests also escaped me entirely, simply because I walked past by the respective characters / entities, sometimes even multiple times. Or their side quests only got activated later, like after clearing a Divine Beast, and then I never bothered with approaching them again. Those quests in question were:

Death Mountain's Secret
Defeat the Frost Talus
Good-Sized Horse
Into the Vortex
The Ancient Rito Song
The Silent Swordswomen

With "the Ancient Rito Song" I even missed one shrine entirely, where I completely forgot about the pedestal and never noticed it during my travels. I also missed the Toto Sah Shrine again, which is hidden in a cave somewhere. The wasn't the first time I missed this, in fact it was the second to last shrine I had discovered during my original playthrough on the Wii U. I really need to improve my cave sensing abilities going into Tears of the Kingdom.

Distractions

This journey wasn't just all about checking all the boxes, where after a while I was just starting to do certain things, because I wanted to experience them one more time, even when they are not necessary for completion. I was taking the Lord of the Mountain all the way to my house in Hateno, for example... He didn't want to stay, though.

riding the Lord of the Mountain past the Great Plateau

the Lord of the Mountain next to my house

Or I was playing some mini-games that I haven't touched since 2017, because they aren't worth the trouble, since you mostly just earn small amounts of Rupees or useless items. But it was fun to give some of them a try again.

The Pondo's Lodge mini-game is great once you've figured out the exact position for a strike. You need to stand on the bush to the left and aim at the small stones at the top of the slide. It works every time and I'm sure those markings were left by the developers intentionally.

defeated a Lynel with a Savage Lynel Crusher on the Gerudo Highlands

And fighting Lynels for sports (and good weapons) never gets old. These fights are great and hopefully some good practice for Tears of the Kingdom.

On the Zonai's Trail

After my first big tour from one Lomei Labyrinth to the other, I moved on to the Typhlo Ruins, where I've discovered another neat trick for myself. Other than the Master Cycle Zero, you can also use Daruk's Protection to light up your surroundings. It was quite useful whenever I had to put my torch aside.

The purpose of this tour was also to get nice pictures of all three leviathan remains for the respective side quest, so it technically it ended at the Eldin Great Skeleton. Afterwards I had to clean house around Lanayru Bay, go for some open spots around Hyrule Field, and then fight my way through the Hebra Mountains.

Finally, the last area where I haven't been at all yet, not even at the tower, was Faron, where I completely forgot how amazing the jungle atmosphere was around this part. I almost feel like this area is a bit too small for what it was supposed to be. And while the connection to the Zonai from Tears of the Kingdom might not be the greatest, it still felt like a meaningful last part of my journey for Hyrule.

Link with a Korok Mask and Wolf Link next to a Zonai dragon head statue

For the woods I also unleashed Wolf Link, who I have rarely used before. While I didn't teleport as much that it would have been inconvenient, I'm usually afraid that he gets himself killed whenever I engage with stronger foes. But in the Faron Woods he's at home and also quite useful, because he takes care of all those annoying Octoroks for you.

My journey ended with the hunt for the monument shards at the Palmorae Ruins, which resemble the Mirror of Twilight and which might also be connected to the Zonai, somehow. So, the Kah Yah Shrine was my last shrine during this run, a fitting finish this last part of my travels.

Hyrule Castle Master Dungeon

While Faron was the last area where I had never been before during this playthrough, Hyrule Castle was the last area that I had yet to fully explore. As you may recall, in this run I went to the castle early, before completing any of the Divine Beats, where I was sneaking up to the top at the north side and then clearing the boss rush. Now it was time to prove what a powerhouse I have become by clearing the entire castle, looking for treasures and Koroks.

facing Hyrule Castle from the Castle Town Ruins

And the atmosphere of this place is still beyond. I absolutely love everything about this, especially the music. It's just this dangerous area, perfectly integrated into the world, with lots of underground tunnels and hidden areas. If any of the dungeons in Tears can live up to this, I will already be quite happy.

in the top area of the castle with the Korok Mask

I also fought Calamity Ganon again and here I noticed something important about Tears of the Kingdom during the last part of the battle... But we'll get to this once I've returned to the new game. And it was nice to see the extended ending one more time before I move on.

The Last of the Koroks

With all shrines, shrine quests, and side quests cleared, all that was left to do was hunting for any missing overworld bosses, but for the most part any missing Koroks. I've come so far, I might as well just finish things completely and get all of Kilton's medals and that giant golden poop for a third time.

I've worn the Korok Mask most of the time during my playthrough. And while following the treasure chest beeping noises and my quest goals, this scored me above 750 Koroks already, before I started using the very good Zelda Dungeon map. This isn't too shabby, but also not as great as I had hoped. The radius of the Korok Mask is quite limited, so it's easy to run past by one, especially those rocks at deads ends you can find on many of the cliff walls.

So, yesterday my Master Cycle Zero was going at around 15kph (Koroks per hour) to pick up the remains, where the very last Korok hid at the North East side of Mount Floria. It's a perfect example of how the Korok Mask might not pick up on nearby Koroks, because I had been driving around the area before to pick up the other Koroks nearby, but this guy managed to stay hidden...

You've found all of the hidden Koroks! You should tell Hestu the good news!

Even if I had studied my Hero's Path for obvious gaps, this one would have completely eluded me. Most of the other last missing Koroks were at the Hebra Mountains (of course), where I had played the shield surfing mini-game a couple of times. This leaves trails on your Hero's Path, but they don't really count, so about three Koroks avoided me at the sidelines of the slope.

Third Time is the Charm

And here we go. After fully completing the game on the Wii U, in both Normal and Master Mode, I did it one more time where it might actually count for something. And it feels good to have this done before finally starting Tears of the Kingdom, even if it meant a delay.

completed inventory, wearing a blue Tunic and Cap of the Wild

Well, there is still one thing left to do: fully upgrading all armor pieces. This involves hunting some critters, but also farming dragon parts and Star Fragments... where my patience has limits after all. This is truly some mindless busywork that I can do later, once I'm done with Tears of the Kingdom. (And this wouldn't count for the new game in any case, since none of the armor carries over. Even some of it were to carry over, you would probably have to upgrade them all over again.)

I technically don't even count this towards 100%, since you can sell most of the armor pieces at any point. Only the fixed armor pieces should be upgraded, which are the Zora set, the Champion's Tunic, and the Hero of the Wild set. The last two are some of the worst offenders, however, where I haven't even bothered with the Champion's Tunic since the early game... It's still nice to have a complete collection at the end with everything possible upgraded, however.

And this is it for now. I'm at peace and ready to move on to Tears of the Kingdom, six days late. But it feels good to have this finished, where I certainly should have aimed at the 100% from the beginning and started some weeks earlier with this playthrough. But what's done is done.

Hero's Path

This is how my complete journey looks right now on the map:

I like how "organic" some of these paths feel, where I was going around the borders of cliffs, lakes, and such. But some of it turned into a bit of a mess due to the Korok hunt at the end, where I was going straight for certain points on the map.

Gallery

Breath of the Wild is a gorgeous game with some amazing lighting effects from the sun, which create only the most beautiful landscape scenes. I kept hitting the screenshot button so often that I accumulated over 200 screenshots in the last days alone. Since pictures are far more impressive than words, I thought that I'd share some of them in a "small" gallery: