Breath of the Wild May Reflect the Original Legend of Zelda

By Joe Skrebels

All Zelda games are cut from the same green cloth to some extent, but Nintendo' been pointing out some very specific connections between 1986's The Legend of Zelda and the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In a new blog post titled Hyrule: Then and Now, four connections between the games are singled out. Some are more obvious - the fact that both begin with a mysterious old man offering you items to help you survive, or that both include rafting across rivers.

However, it's the connections between the two Hyrule maps themselves that are both more cloaked, and more intriguing.

It's pointed out that the final dungeon of The Legend of Zelda is shaped into a skull shape, while a skull-shaped cavern has been a focal point of more than one trailer for Breath of the Wild.

Similarly, the location known as Spectacle Rock in the original game (which has recurred throughout the series) also returns in Breath of the Wild in slightly more mountainous fashion:

Spectacle Rock, as seen in The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Borrowed locations and neat motifs are nothing new to the series, but Nintendo's rarely been as keen to point them out before. It even teases that there will be more to come: "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?"

Breath of the Wild was originally scheduled for a 2016 release, the year The Legend of Zelda celebrates its 20th Anniversary, so it's highly possible that Nintendo is designing the former as something of a reflection and/or celebration of the original's world (something it also did with A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds).

We'll find out when Breath of the Wild is released for Nintendo Switch and Wii U on an as-yet-unspecified date in 2017.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he looked at the Zelda timeline documents for too long while writing this. Follow him on Twitter.

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