Hyrule Warriors Legends: Link's Awakening DLC Detailed

Koei Tecmo just released the update page for the next DLC, which will be released in one week, on June 30th in Japan. This is about half a month earlier than I anticipated, but here is a summary of what we will get:

• Marin with the Sea Lily's Bell, calls Windfish
• Linkle with Pegasus Boots, gets Cucco support
• Koholint Map in NES 8-Bit style, mixed with some Link's Awakening DX sprites
• Hearts and Weapon Upgrades for Marin are on the map!
• New Level 4+ weapons for existing characters, have two elements
• 16 new Color Costumes
• 15 new Fairy Clothings
• Level Cap increased...

There's also a translation and screenshots on Perfectly-Nintendo.com. Update: You can find a video here. It will also be released in Europe next week.

So, there are some good news and some bad news...

Marin really just has the Sea Lily's Bell as her weapon type, while I hoped that we get to see all eight Instruments of the Sirens in action, e.g. when she's calling the Windfish. At least this leaves the option to give her other instruments as alternate weapons in the future. Her voice sounds a little bit too childish for my taste, but overall she seems very well done. Can't wait to drop the Windfish on everything.

The Pegasus Boots (as well as the Roc's Feather) were a common guess on GameFAQs for Linkle's second weapon type. I personally had trouble imagining these items as weapons, which is why I focused on the companions instead, especially the Flying Rooster. But it looks like it's a combination of the two, she will be accompanied by Cuccos with the Pegasus Boots moveset and even fly with one, though it doesn't seem to be the blue Flying Rooster. Seeing the artwork now, the Pegasus Boots do make a lot of sense for Linkle, since she likes to run around a lot (aimlessly) and uses her boots as holsters. However, this kick-based fighting style feels very weird, because so far most characters have fought with weapons in their hands. But I suppose it's similar to the Spinner.

The weapon upgrades for Marin's Bell and Linkle's Pegasus Boots are on the new Koholint Map and so are Marin's additional Heart Containers, as I had hoped. On the Wii U the DLC characters and weapons (save for the free ones) were kept and sold separately, so in the end there was nothing really to do for them. And I'm glad that this changed here, because the standalone characters are rather boring. And they will still be standalone in the Wii U version.

The map itself follows the 8-Bit NES style, so my hopes that we're going to get the GameBoy style for the rest of the DLC were finally crushed. Yes, this was to be expected, but it just looks so ugly. And some screens are not even recognizable:

This seems to be the entrance to the Mysterious Woods, but it just looks so wrong... I'm not a fan and they just should have went with the 8-Bit GameBoy style instead. But they probably had trouble with keeping the map small. The original Koholint on GameBoy was 16x16 screens large, which is twice as large as the normal Adventure Map. But the above screen already combines four of the GameBoy screens into one.

And it seems that like with the Termina Map you actually have to go for the eight main dungeons to collect all the Instruments of the Sirens to wake the Windfish and get access to the final square. There also seem to be "Nightmare Rules" on certain screens. (Update: And they used the Mt. Tamaranch music, which is great. Love that song.)

At least the color costumes seem to be pretty awesome. There is a silver costume for Link with a red scarf, which looks pretty cool, a pink costume for Linkle, which looks pretty cute, and seemingly a Richard costume for Ghirahim, which would be an awesome reference. And there's Link's Awakening styled fairy clothing, lovely.

There also are new Level 4+ weapons to collect. I wonder, how they are called ingame, since the Level 4 weapons were basically just Level 3+ weapons. Is it "Magical Sword++", then? Good thing that I haven't invested in any Level 4 weapon yet and it seems like every character will get a Level 4+ weapon over the course of the three upcoming maps. I hope these weapons will always have eight slots, so you don't have to worry about slots anymore and can focus on ranks and stars, but that's probably not happening. Still, they have to be better in some way, because they can't increase the attack strength without making the Legendary skill (which gives a fixed base value) obsolete. They seem to add a second element to the weapon type, though, which is interesting and can probably be a huge advantage. In some cases it should be obvious, e.g. Agitha's parasol will probably be a Light Lightning type weapon. Or Twili Midna's Mirror will be a Light Darkness weapon. But there are other cases, which shouldn't be obvious at all...

Getting stronger weapons to power up the characters further would be more than enough for my taste, but Koei Tecmo just had to do a level cap increase again... Like the tedious Challenge Mode this should have stayed as a Wii U exclusive feature. I only got two characters to Level 99 so far (Cia and Link) and leveling overall feels a lot slower in this version, which was fine, because they rebalanced everything so nicely that you can play through the entire Adventure Mode without ever grinding. It's all pretty well done so far and I seriously hope that the Koholint Map is not going to be the new Twilight Map, where there's an awful difficulty spike that kills all fun in the game and turns it into Hyrule Grinders 2.0.

Due to the E3 I didn't have much time to make progress in Hyrule Warriors: Legends, so I still haven't started the Termina Map yet. I only did some clean-up in all other areas, like collecting all hearts on the Adventure and Master Quest Maps, as well all Hard Skulltulas in Legend Mode. In the Boss Rush mission on the Rewards Map I already had the feeling that I'm totally underleveled with Level 99, because a single Red Beam of Doom from Ganon can cost you the A rank, so I already suspected a Level cap increase at this point. I just hope that they won't make it necessary to go beyond Level 99 to play the Koholint Map. There are just way too many characters now to level them all up.

Tri Force Heroes x Breath of the Wild DLC?

Maybe Nintendo has given up on Tri Force Heroes, but I haven't and I'm still giving potential DLC some thoughts. If you didn't know this already, data miners had found out about six DLC costumes and two additional DLC areas after the game's release, as documented on The Cutting Room Floor. We got one of the areas and two of the costumes with the first update, but we never saw the rest.

Originally I thought that the rest of the DLC might be some 30th Anniversary celebratory content, which might have gotten cancelled together with any other 30th Anniversary plans, when they delayed Breath of the Wild. But there's another possibility. What if they have planned to add some promotional content for Breath of the Wild?

• Outfits based on Link's gear in the game.
• A Sheikah Shrine area.
• Additional Lucky Lobby Ball Song with the game's theme.

They could dive a little bit in the technology stuff here already, where Sheikah Shrine trials would fit the level based structure of Tri Force Heroes quite well. Instead of the typical Triforce portal at the end of each floor, they could have the three Links gather around a Sheikah Eye. This would be more puzzle based, after the Den of Trials was entirely combat-based. But one of the Guardians could even become the boss of the area.

The new outfits could feature Link's blue tunic from the game and maybe also some other gear from the game, like the Chain Mail. Or there could be outfits based on new enemies, like some Bokoblin outfit. But one or two outfits from the game probably would be enough, because there are still lots of potential outfits based on classic Zelda left, e.g. the Fairy Costume. This could also be mixed, for example having a costume based on the Old Man, who's both from classic Zelda games, as well as Breath of the Wild. Or as a reward for the Sheikah trial you could get a Sheik costume.

Now, for example the blue Breath of the Wild tunic could upgrade the Bow with Fire Arrows or some new arrow type. Fire Arrows certainly would be helpful throughout the game without completely breaking it.

If such a DLC really will happen, it does make sense that they haven't released it yet, because they have to show us more of the new game first, before such a content pack could be appreciated. I still could see something like a Zelda Direct happening later this year, where they talk more about Breath of the Wild, but also show us upcoming DLCs for both Tri Force Heroes and Hyrule Warriors: Legends (the latter could also get some Breath of the Wild costume for Link).

Of course it's more likely that I'm beating a dead horse here and Tri Force Heroes is simply done. But I'm just entertaining thoughts.

Breath of the Wild: Timeline Merge Theory

Timeline theories are back! For the next months Zelda fans all over the world will quarrel about the timeline placement of Breath of the Wild and what the game possibly could do to the timeline.

And Nintendo already did a good job of confusing the fans again, because the clues are all over the timeline. A hero in stasis for 100 years, Koroks and talk of an "ancient sea", the Sheikah, bridge structures akin to Twilight Princess, ruins from Ocarina of Time and scenery from the classic Zelda games. Anything after Ocarina of Time could be possible! This blog already gave an overview of timeline theories right after the first E3 presentations, but let us deepen our thoughts here.

The arguably biggest Zelda games after the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES have been A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. And all of these games represent a strong pillar inside the timelines. Skyward Sword got to be the first game, a story about how the cycle of good and evil in Hyrule began. Ocarina of Time was not only one of the most revolutionary games of all times, it also is the center point for the timeline split, where the stories of Zelda divide into three branches, where the other big games unfold...

Now, some theories put Breath of the Wild between Ocarina of Time and one of the pillars of the three branches: A Link to the Past, The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, even theorizing that the hero in stasis might be the legendary Hero of Time. However, this would put the new game in the shadow of the old ones. Especially Ocarina of Time has been overshadowing the series ever since and with Breath of the Wild you want something monumental and new, something that leads into a new era of Zelda, away from the conventions of Ocarina of Time that accompanied us for nearly two decades. If instead it just does a transition from one known Zelda game to the other, this new step for Zelda will feel quite meaningless, because storywise it would just end in the usual status quo of the series.

Others therefore have speculated that this game will create a new branch on its own, e.g. a timeline, where Ganondorf gets his wish at the end of The Wind Waker. But splitting the timeline further wouldn't only make it more complicated, it would also destroy the current pattern of the timeline.

What pattern? The way the timeline got divided into three branches follows the symbolism of Triforce. It's in Ocarina of Time, where the Triforce gets split into three pieces for the first time and it's also in Ocarina of Time, where the timeline gets split into three pieces and from where further stories unfold. Each branch of the timeline even could possibly represent a Piece of Triforce with its stories and in meaning.

• The Adult Timeline represents the Triforce of Wisdom, since Zelda in the form of Tetra and that of a ghost is more active than usual, while both Ganon and the Hero have been absent for a very long time.
• The Child Timeline represents the Triforce of Courage with Link's solo adventure into the scary and twisted world of Termina, as well as the overall dark tone of the following games in the Era of Twilight and Shadows (where both Ganon and Zelda like to take a backseat).
• The Downfall Timeline represents the Triforce of Power with Ganon's rise to power and an overall big focus on the villain of the series. It's also the branch, where you directly take the Triforce of Power from Ganon in the first game.

A different interpretation of this might lie in the way the timeline got split: Ganondorf defeating Link represents Power, Link triumphing represents Courage and Zelda preventing it all from happening represents Wisdom. In that case the Child Timeline would follow Wisdom and the Adult Timeline follow Courage. It's a different, but the main idea is the same: the timeline split symbolizes the split of the Triforce one way or another.

Of course this is just a hypothesis and not confirmed, but it should be clear that Nintendo introduced a third branch to the timeline for reasons of aesthetics and meaning. And for the placement of a new Zelda game inside the timeline this has become as important as ingame facts. Zelda games that were released on the same system and that share the same visuals usually end up sharing a spot on the timeline as well, much like Tri Force Heroes became a sequel to A Link Between Worlds, even though the new multiplayer game could have easily fit somewhere else.

And with Breath of the Wild they want to open new doors. If this game is a success, they should immediately want to work on a NX sequel, instead of spending five years on the next iteration. Breath of the Wild opens a new era, where Sheikah technology is a thing and where we have the largest Hyrule that we've ever seen. New games in the new formula should follow Breath of the Wild in the timeline. And this is why Breath of the Wild is best placed at the end, where it has room to breath and to create something new, far away from the shadows of the previous 3D games.

The most promising point probably would be after the NES Classics in the Downfall Timeline. Zelda II - The Adventure of Link already introduced a massive Hyrule and we never have returned there ever since, while the new game really wants to return to the roots. Breath of the Wild even uses the artworks of the classic Zelda games as a big source of inspiration, bringing both the original view of Hyrule and the traditional resting place of the Master Sword to life. And it's also the timeline, where Ganon constantly has been a large threat and the theme of resurrection has been central. It's even entirely possible that the Temple of Time survived somewhere in Hyrule over the span of the Downfall Timeline, since we never really see all of Hyrule in one game.

But also the Adult Timeline looks like an interesting candidate, where it's possible that the Koroks have succeeded in their mission and new lands were created. Some even speculate that the Old Man from the demo is the King of Hyrule, maybe even Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, who somehow survived. It's possible that the new Hyrule from Spirit Tracks and the new lands together formed a much larger, newer Hyrule. Otherwise this timeline looks more like a dead end, where you either need another game world covered in rails or where you have to explain, why the rails have vanished.

The Child Timeline doesn't look as promising as the other two, primarily because we've already seen the Temple of Time completely ruined and overgrown by the Sacred Grove in Twilight Princess. Also, Ganon got sealed within the Four Sword at the current end of this timeline, which feels like another dead end. It was probably supposed to lead the way to another Four Swords game, but this never happened and with Tri Force Heroes they seemingly abandoned the Four Swords idea for multiplayer. The bridge structures similar to the Great Bridge of Hylia and Bridge of Eldin could have existed in other timelines as well, e.g. there's this huge bridge in Zelda II over a part of the ocean. And while Wolf Link makes a beautiful cameo here, it's probably not considered as canon.

There is, however, something else to consider: the stories of the Zelda games are usually written around the gameplay ideas. A Hyrule covered in rails was the product of a game, where Link was supposed to travel by train. The Twilight Realm and Midna exist, because they wanted Link to transform into a wolf. While the new main "hook" of Breath of the Wild seems to be the Sheikah technology, it's not as simple with this game as having one new gimmick... This goes back to some rumors that Hyrule Blog shared last year about this being the Ultimate Zelda Game in development, where they looked at all Zelda games to bring back all the best gameplay features, as well include many references to the different games.

And from what we've seen, these rumors may come true. We saw the Koroks from the Wind Waker and it was even hinted that Breath of the Wild will have its own ocean segment. We get the snowboarding, Bomb Arrows and Wolf Link from Twilight Princess. We have the Adventure Pouch, Stamina Meter and treasure collecting from Skyward Sword. We even can spot some island flying in the sky in the distance. We have the ruined Temple of Time and Hyrule Castle (Town) from Ocarina of Time. We have the classic Old Man, who may as well be some King of Hyrule. We have the Master Sword pedestal from A Link to the Past. And we have the classic view on Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda.

That's not even all and there's probably much more. Maybe there's a section in the game world, where you still have rails and can ride the infamous Spirit Train. Maybe there are towns named after the sages, much like in The Adventure of Link. Maybe we get to see Gorons, Zora, Rito, Mogma and all the races. Maybe it's all coming together in one gigantic Zelda experience.

And if this is their approach to Breath of the Wild, the timeline placement needs to be equally meaningful. A story, where everything is coming together. A story, where the timelines finally get merged again.

In terms of symbolism this would be perfect. With Ocarina of Time the timeline split into three fragments, much like Triforce. And with Breath of the Wild these fragments will finally be reunited, forming one giant Hyrule spanning all the Hyrules from past games.

How would this be realized? A clue could be hidden within the game's villain, "Calamity Ganon". That's not just the Ganon as we knew him, it's something new, something that can take many forms...

Ganon is the reincarnation of Demise and someone, who gets resurrected multiple times throughout the ages. It's possible that he became aware of his other reincarnations in other universes and that he somehow got his hands on the Triforce again, where he made the wish that he not only wanted to rule over all Hyrule, but also wanted to become the ultimate version of himself.

These wishes can have side effects, as we know from the backstory of A Link to the Past, where Ganon wished to rule over Hyrule and the Sacred Realm turned into a dark version of Hyrule instead. This time it could have had the side effect that not only the Ganon of all times, but also the different versions of Hyrule got merged into one, forming both "Calamity Ganon" and the largest Hyrule that we have ever seen, filled with elements from all the different games...

A simpler approach would be, where he found out about other Hyrules in parallel worlds and wished to reign over them all, which then caused the merge of both Hyrule and Ganon. In any case, Calamity Ganon tried to rule over the newly formed Hyrule with the Triforce, but ultimately got sealed by the Sheikah and their technology (which may have been influenced by the technology of the Thunder Dragon) inside Hyrule Castle, together with the Triforce...

There's an interesting observation from Geek.com, where the Triforce symbol is nowhere to be found within the demo, except on the ruins of past structures, like the Temple of Time. Otherwise it's only symbols of the Goddess Hylia without the Triforce between the wings and the symbol of the Sheikah. And this may add up, if we entered a new era, where the three Goddesses of the Triforce are no longer viewed as a symbol of religion, after they allowed Ganon's rise to power and the creation of this new Hyrule. The only hope now lies within the Goddess Hylia and the legendary Hero.

There are other possible scenarios, of course. With Hylia being so prominent, she could even be the one responsible for creating this new Hyrule. It's possible that she is the Goddess of Time from Majora's Mask and has power over time. Maybe the unified timelines is something that made Hyrule prosper at first, even led to the creation of the Sheikah technology. The creation of Calamity Ganon could have been an unforeseen side effect.

Well, these are just examples of how things could play out, but the idea remains the same: with Breath of the Wild the Zelda series enters a new era with a massive game, where everything is coming together. And such a game shouldn't just be another chapter somewhere on the timeline, it should open a new chapter for Zelda, where the timelines are coming back together as well.

The old timelines wouldn't go away and if Nintendo wants to do another traditional Zelda, for example a follow-up to Four Swords Adventures, that's still possible. The timeline merge would create an entirely new timeline without further splitting the existing one. It would also create a new universe for Zelda, where they are free of all the previous boundaries. Where everything is coming together.

Breath of the Wild: Let's Have Gravity Arrows!

Probably one of my favorite games of all time is Trine 2 and it shares quite some things in common with the new Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. There is a big focus on physics puzzles in the game and usually there are multiple solutions for the same puzzle. Depending on what skills you have unlocked, there are easier ways and harder ways. And the way I understood it with Breath of the Wild, Nintendo wants to try a very similar approach, where you can go for the Sheikah Slate Runes or try to use things from the environment to do whatever you want to do.

Trine also took quite some things from the Zelda series and one of my favorite features are easily the different arrow types: Fire Arrows, Ice Arrows and especially the powerful Bomb Arrows. But there's also one type that hasn't been seen in Zelda yet: Gravity Arrows!

Wherever they hit, they will leave a gravity field and everything inside moves in slow motion. You can use it to slow down enemies and to place boxes midair, which will only sink slowly inside the field, in which you can jump much further due to the reduced gravity.

(image sourge: Months Behind Reviews)

There are so many possibilities with it, it's easily one of the most fun features in the game. And that's something I would like to see in Breath of the Wild as well, at least for the later game. Imagine you have a metal plank, but it's too short for the gap. In that case you would place the gravity field on one end, place the plank inside the gravity field and then quickly walk across it.

Such a gravity manipulating feature would probably be realized by the Sheikah Runes, but there seem to be weapon alternatives to some of the runes already, e.g. Ice Arrows and the Cryo Rune or Bomb Arrows and the Bomb Rune, so an arrow that places a gravity field in a larger distance might also become a thing.

Overall the Bow seems to be one of three action item pillars in the game (the others being melee weapons and the Sheikah Runes) and I suspect that there will be quite some different arrow types in the game and not just the ones that we already know. There could be Grapple Arrows for example that attach a rope somewhere. Or Sound Arrows that lure and distract enemies (kind of like a replacement for the Scent Seeds). Poison Arrows to damage your enemies over time. Or actual Light Arrows that brightly illuminate the area.

In the past (around the N64 era) I also imagined Darkness Arrows, which would create a black hole that sucks in enemies and objects in the proximity. And much like having an axe or spear this old wish of mine may come true as well. You could gather enemies in one spot and then finish them off with a Bomb Arrow. Yes, that's something you can do in other games, like Overwatch, but that doesn't seem like a knock-out criterion anymore.

There are quite some possibilities with the bow here, whether it's new ideas or ideas from other games, and Link may as well become the most versatile archer in video game history.

Link's Wild Rupeeland

This post will anger some fans and amuse others. But during the presentations of Breath of the Wild I kept wondering, why the small "Get Item" sound, whenever you pick something up from the ground, felt so strangely familiar. I kept thinking about other games that I played with lots of loot and then it struck me: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland! In this game you freshly pick up tons of junk and every time it makes this two-note sound effect, which is very similar to the one in Breath of the Wild, only higher pitched. And there are quite some similarities between the two games.

The loot is just one example. You collect food, minerals and other things from the environment, as well as body parts and weapons from enemies. There are over 140 different items in the game to collect...

Some items act as keys for dungeons or are wanted by certain people, but the majority you either use for cooking or to sell them, very similar to Breath of the Wild. In Link's new game it seems like you won't find Rupees in the wilderness, but you can sell treasures to get Hyrule's currency. So, this part has seemingly become a little bit more realistic, much as the health situation.

Hopefully every consumable item is replenishable in some way. You should be able to buy all weapons and ammunition or otherwise you might run out of Fire Rods during the course of the game, which wouldn't be much fun. Like in Skyward Sword every treasure item should be farmable in some way, including the minerals. In Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland certain resources like plants, mushrooms and vegetables regrew after a while and I suppose it will be similar in Breath of the Wild.

And for example the Talus guy gave you minerals after you defeated him, where it would be possible that he respawns after a while. At first you will find plenty of minerals within the environment, but that's a finite resource, where some other way of getting would be required later in the game, if you still need more.

Anyway, besides the loot, another thing that reminded me of Rupeeland was the fact that you glide down to new areas. In Rupeeland you use Tingle's balloon from a high tower to reach new areas as well. The higher the tower gets, the further you can go on the overworld.

And there's no music on the overworld, it's all just ambient sounds, where the game has a very nice atmosphere. I suppose, this also reminded me of the game, when I saw Breath of the Wild this week. There's still music Rupeeland, where one of the most memorable and atmospheric tracks is the Deku Temple music. But you also have music inside the town or when you fight enemies.

Now, this made me want to replay Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and I might do that later this year, as part of my 30th Anniversary Replay Tour.

Good Bye, 30th Anniversary

(image by Rasheed)

This was to be expected after the announcement that Breath of the Wild wouldn't be released before March 2017, but now that the E3 is over, we can safely assume that Nintendo doesn't have any plans for the 30th Anniversary of Zelda.

We basically got our unofficial anniversary celebration in March, where Nintendo released many new Zelda things right after the anniversary date with Twilight Princess HD, the Wolf Link amiibo, the Twilight Princess Picross and Hyrule Warriors: Legends. And especially the latter will keep me entertained throughout the entire year with all its DLC.

But with the delay of Breath of the Wild, any other anniversary plans probably got cancelled. Anniversaries are always marketing moves and with the new big game from the table it probably didn't make sense for Nintendo to celebrate. Instead they will focus on Pokémon, which is celebrating 20 years and is going to see new big releases this year with Sun and Moon.

If Nintendo really did anything for 30th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, I would have expected two things mainly: the announcement of a Zelda Anime movie and more DLC for Tri Force Heroes.

Kimishima already implicated that something like a Zelda Movie will be possible for the future and I suppose that we're going to see first announcements after the release of Breath of the Wild. Some fans might not be too happy about the focus on exploration, instead on cutscenes and story, and a Zelda Movie could just give them what they want, while Zelda returns to being a real game. And some anime in the artstyle of the new game really could be lovely.

About Tri Force Heroes, I already said my piece two months ago: the game is dead and the only hope would have been the release of more content. Data miners found place holders for four more costumes and one more area, but sadly we never got those. And it might be possible that Nintendo planned some special anniversary content, similar to the Four Swords: Anniversary Edition, but they cancelled it with the delay of Breath of the Wild. GREZZO is now working on a new game, so Tri Force Heroes is probably done for good. Too bad, some additional content would have been great and I was hoping that they would improve some parts of the game, especially the singleplayer... But that's probably not going to happen. At least not until they remake this game in ten years.

I'm also not expecting anything about the 30th Anniversary of Metroid. Federation Force will be released right after the anniversary, which is on August 6th, but they'll probably just release this game quietly, instead of angering the fans any further. I don't think, it was even showcased at E3, now was it...?

Classic Zelda Artworks Coming to Life

The one thing that impressed me certainly the most about Nintendo's E3 presentation of Breath of the Wild was the fact that they finally brought the infamous NES Zelda artwork to life, where Link stands on a cliff and looks at the vastnesses of Hyrule:

I always was in love with this artwork and what it stood for, as you might see from the background image of this site, and already when Skyward Sword got showcased at E3 2010, I had hopes that the game would deliver me this experience, but it didn't. Skyward Sword had some interesting and beautiful playgrounds, but it all was very restricted and confined.

With Breath of the Wild I might finally get the kind of Zelda experience that I always wanted. If you see something on the horizon, you can just go there. Hyrule is fully yours to explore and that feels exciting.

Another vision that absolutely came to life in the trailer was the classic resting place of the Master Sword from A Link to the Past:

Even the light falls in the same angle!

And I wonder, if these aren't the only artworks that Nintendo wanted to realize ingame. For example there is one classic artwork, where Link fights some giant one-eyed worm (probably Lanmola) on the overworld:

That is a stretch, but it's somewhat similar to the Guardians and I like how Aonuma pictured the original Octoroks as giant creatures (funny enough, that's exactly how the Octoroks were portrayed in the Animated Series, which also predated fairy companions, horses and shield surfing). And his vision of the giant Octoroks now lead to the Octobots, which certainly feel like a scary thing.

There's also this:

The way Link has all equipped gear on him including the Sheikah Slate, his current melee weapon, bow and shield, is very reminiscent of this old NES artwork, where he carries around nearly all ingame items. Of course he has still tons of junk in his Adventure Pouch, which you can't see on him, and he certainly won't be carrying a raft on his back, but they probably were inspired by the idea of Link carrying his current gear around.


And one artwork that I really would love to see come to life ingame is this old piece, where Link uses the Triforce against Ganon at Death Mountain:

A similar scene against Calamity Ganon would be epic.