Well Nintendo went with an nontraditional approach at E3 this year and did’t bother with a stage show or direct show. Instead they opted to do their treehouse live segment which has been popular the past few years, but use this as their main source of revealing data.
They did this to broadcast the new Legend of Zelda game as-well as make a few announcements about Amiibo and revealing new info on Pokemon and other games like Paper Mario: Colour Splash.
As their show was live for hours I didn’t actually watch any of it unfortunately. A first for me and a Nintendo show. So I’ve been playing catch up with the news myself. Hopefully I’ve got everything covered below.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Well there it is, Zelda’s official title is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The reveal trailer is simply gorgeous.
Details about the game:
- The game is open world from the very start. There are some areas that will be inaccessible though until a certain item is acquired.
- There is a stamina meter for Link, while full stamina Link can climb, swim and run.
- Dynamic weather in the game. Wind spreads fire, Lightning strikes metal, rain puts fire out.
- Temperature plays a role in the game and can damage Link. If it’s too cold a fire needs to be built, or better clothing is needed.
- There will be NPC’s in the game, they were removed from the demo
- The area explored in the demo is 2% of the full game.
- The map is not full of any markers, you place markers where you wish. If you stumble across something inaccessible that you want to come back to later, place the marker.
- Gathering items and cooking are a massive feature of the game. You won’t find hearts in the world.
- Hunting animals. Different animals out at different times of the day.
Creator Eiji Aonuma has said that this is based on the original Legend of Zelda, A game that drops you in the world and lets you go.
You can beat the game without finishing the story:
“Users may not actually get the full story depending on how they play this game and how they strategize and solve puzzles,” producer Eiji Aonuma told Polygon. “Users are able to go to the very end goal without revealing why Link woke up the way he did and where he did. Whether you want to reveal the storyline and find out why Link woke up, or you want to just go straight to the goal, that’s an option totally up to the user.”
When asked, Aonuma confirmed that a player could go directly to the final boss of the game from its opening moments if they wanted. However, he also stressed that he didn’t view this as an ideal way to play.
“Anybody who can go straight to the goal without doing anything else — there’s two possibilities,” Aonuma said. “Either they’re a really good gamer, or they could be somebody that’s a little bit crazy. But it’s not impossible. I created the game like that.
If you use the Wolf Link Amiibo from Twilight Princess, he appears in Breath of the Wild as a helper. He can hunt for you and attack enemies for you.
Amiibo
There will be a new range of Zelda Amiibo out in 2017 for use within Breath of the Wild.
Nintendo announced a new series of amiibo figures specific to the game that includes Link with a bow (“Archer”), Link on horseback (“Rider”), and a “Guardian” that is the first amiibo with flexible parts. The existing Wolf Link amiibo works with the game as well: When players tap a Wolf Link amiibo to the Wii U GamePad controller, Wolf Link will attack enemies on his own and help players to hunt. He has three hearts, unless players carry over save data from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Wolf Link disappears when his hearts run out.
As well as new Zelda Amiibo, there is a new Mario series of Amiibo out soon too.
Pokemon Sun & Moon
We got a first look at some new Pokemon the latest entry to the Pokemon series.
Paper Mario Color Splash
A release date has been confirmed for Paper Mario Color Splash. We can expect to play it on October 7th 2016 for WiiU. Amazon listing has also hinted that there is a likely special edition to come, as currently it lists a standard edition only.
There will be more from Nintendo Treehouse today, so will update as the news hits.
– Murr
