The wait is over and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is finally here and pretty much every critic is saying this is a can’t miss title.
When you start up Breath of the Wild for the first time you aren’t greeted with a main menu but instead you’re thrown into a cutscene and then you start playing. You end up at the top of a cliff overlooking Hyrule and then you’re off to do whatever you want.
This game is a departure from the traditional Zelda games so it can be a bit disorienting for new players and Zelda veterans alike. This is a complex game so you may need some help.
Here’s some tips and tricks you need to know about Breath of the Wild.
Cook All Your Food Ingredients
This may seem like a no brainer but one that helped me out is collecting all the wild mushrooms I saw. However, something I didn’t know was that cooking them will make them heal you over more. Sure, you can just eat them and restore you health little by little but that’s not efficient.
If you collect five of an item, you can put them all in your hand and cook them all at once. Once they bounce around in the pot for a little bit, you’ll get them back and you’ll see they have a much better healing rate for you. You can also cook mushrooms and other items to give you bonuses like increases to your stamina, total health and allow you to survive the cold.
Don’t forget to cook your food. It’s important.
Climb The Towers
One of the first things you do in Breath of the Wild is climb to the top of a tower and reveal the map of the area you’re in. It acts much in the same vein of Shadow of Mordor. Maps are dark if you haven’t been to the top of the area’s tower but once you get up there then the map will be revealed and show you the terrain.
The top of the towers give you a good vantage point to scope out shrines which brings me to the next tip.
Do The Shrines
If you come across a shrine, don’t skip over. The shrines will reward you with spirit stone. You turn those in for an increase in health or stamina. I would pick health, things hurt in this game – a lot. You will come across treasure chests that reward you with various goodies and I found myself a weapon that doesn’t break with three swings in one too so it’s worth it just for that.
Don’t Mess With The Guardians Unless You’re Prepared
When I first entered the world I made my way to the Temple of Time and came across one these guys. He popped out of the ground and aimed his laser at me and I thought worst case scenario was I would get hurt a little.
Nope. I died. That was before I had proper equipment though.
If you’re feeling brave, you can kill one and get a bunch of ancient materials from it.
Pay Attention To Your Environment
The environment is also a big help in many fights if you’re paying attention. You can get the drop on a group of enemies and instead of engaging them head on, you might be able to roll a boulder on top of them. You can use the cover of darkness to sneak up on an unsuspecting foe and do a critical sneak attack. There’s actually a sneak option in this game. Make sure to pay close attention to the environment because you may discover some tricks of your own.
Don’t Be Afraid To Die
In all my years of playing the Zelda titles, I’ve never seen the Game Over screen as much as I have in this one. Things hurt you pretty bad in this game so you need to make sure you have a good stockpile of food on hand before you go into a fight. Gone are the days of just losing half of a heart piece when a bomb goes off near you, if that happens in Breath of the Wild it’s Game Over.
The game autosaves often so you don’t have to worry about losing too much progress when you die. This is a big open-world title that encourages exploration, so take chances. If you die, it’s a lesson learned. My first time climbing a mountain(yes, you just climb up a mountain) I used my stamina bar jumping up and fell a long way to my death. I know not to jump freely up a mountain now.
