By the time Breath of the Wild had entered development, Nintendo recognized The Legend of Zelda was in need of change. Although the franchise had continued to review and sell exceptionally well, fan reception was waning and certain criticisms were becoming more consistent– empty worlds, slow pacing, and a low difficulty curve are problems that plague virtually every game in the series starting with The Wind Waker.
This all changed when Breath of the Wild launched with the Nintendo Switch, recontextualizing the Zelda franchise and laying the foundation for a brighter future. There’s no denying that Breath of the Wild is one of the best Legend of Zelda games, but its cut content could’ve made it even better.
Updated on June 6, 2022 by Ritwik Mitra: Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest open-world games ever made. Nintendo absolutely knocked it out of the park with some truly revolutionary open-world design, letting players actually understand what's important by just looking at these structures with their eyes instead of having to rely on a map that is absolutely littered with icons that need to be completed like a checklist. Of course, even the best game around has seen several cuts all the way till development, and this list will take a look at some of the most notable things that were removed from Breath of the Wild prior to release.
15 An Explorable Mount Agaat
Mount Agaat is a figure seen in the distance near the border of Breath of the Wild. Trying to reach this area is a futile endeavor, with Link always falling into the abyss before coming back to the traversable sections of the map.
However, players who have hacked into the game have found various surfaces on Mount Agaat that have proper collision detection. This means that Link was supposed to explore this area at some point before this area was ultimately scrapped.
14 The Master Sword Returning To Korok Forest
There are several pieces of unused text present in Breath of the Wild's game files. One such unused piece of text reveals a mechanic that was thankfully discarded during development.
The text basically states that the Master Sword has returned to Korok Forest, which implies that the sword would probably go back to its pedestal after its durability runs out. This would've been a massive annoyance to deal with over and over again, and it's great that Nintendo understood this problem and nipped this mechanic in the bud.
13 A Sailcloth Instead Of A Paraglider
Link has used various versions of a glider to float around in his 3D adventures. The Sailcloth serves as a version of Link's glider that he used in Skyward Sword.
Given the connection of this game with Breath of the Wild, it's easy to see why Link had the Sailcloth as a paraglider early on in this title. However, in a bid to make this latest Zelda story more independent, these connections were toned down and Link used a normal paraglider instead.
12 A Mysterious Magic Meter
It seems that Breath of the Wild was supposed to have a fleshed-out magic system at some point. This can be seen in the fact that the game was fiddling around with a Magic Meter of sorts early on.
This was obviously discarded early on and the Wizzrobe wands became the only way to cast magic in this game. It's possible that this mechanic might come back in Breath of the Wild 2, but nothing is guaranteed at this point.
11 The Sheikah Slate Revealing An Enemy's Hitpoints
The Champion's Tunic is the most iconic piece of armor Link has that is worn in most of the promotional material. This armor is pretty decent early on and lets players gauge the hitpoints of an enemy too.
It seems that this was actually a feature reserved for the Sheikah Slate, with Link being able to scan enemies to reveal their hitpoints and perhaps some weaknesses as well. However, it seems that Nintendo wanted players to get into encounters without dealing with too much nonsense, and the reveal of hitpoints was left as an exclusive ability of the Champion's Tunic instead.
10 The Picori
The lore surrounding the Four Swords arc tends to come up scarcely, more often than not ignored outright, but Nintendo actually planned on referencing The Minish Cap in Breath of the Wild. Originally, the Picori would appear throughout Hyrule and Link would even be able to shrink and visit their villages.
As this would distract from Hyrule at large while also introducing complications (how to juggle what’s effectively two worlds) the Picori were ultimately cut. That said, it isn’t like Breath of the Wild is devoid of NPC variety. The Gorons, Zora, and Rito are the most dynamic they’ve ever looked, and the Gerudo finally have a fully developed culture.
9 Fishing
Nintendo’s design philosophy with Breath of the Wild was centered around removing waste and cutting out the fluff from The Legend of Zelda. As a result, any item that couldn’t serve a dual purpose was to be cut– the game would have no room for one and done equipment like in previous Zelda titles.
Unfortunately, this meant the removal of the fishing rod and therefore fishing. In practice, this design philosophy doesn’t hold up as well as it should– instead shining a spotlight on how underused some of Link’s Runes are. Breath of the Wild is such an expansive, relaxing world. The fact Link can’t fish feels like a waste.
8 Hookshot
The Hookshot is one of The Legend of Zelda’s most iconic items, first introduced in A Link to the Past and reappearing more often than not. While the Sheikah Slate is filled with more than enough goodies to play around with (and a physics engine that makes excellent use of the game’s chemistry) it’s hard not to miss the Hookshot.
Nintendo removed the Hookshot deliberately, recognizing that it would take focus away from both climbing and paragliding, but it could have still been included as a late-game reward– or even as a dungeon item to ensure players could emulate some degree of climbing during the Divine Beasts & Shrines.
7 Beetle
Along with the Hookshot, Nintendo was planning on including the Beetle as a part of Link’s Sheikah Slate. One of the more unique items introduced in Skyward Sword, the Beetle allowed players to pick items up from afar (or even kill smaller enemies) while controlling a remote-controlled Beetle.
Unlike the Hookshot which would have played off the game’s geography too much, it’s likely the Beetle wouldn’t have played off it enough. More importantly, the Beetle’s controls were intimately tied to the Wiimote and likely couldn’t make a natural transition to a traditional control scheme. Then again, Breath of the Wild did begin life as a Wii U game.
6 Usable Broken Master Sword
The durability mechanic is Breath of the Wild’s double-edged sword. On one hand, it encourages players to actually use their entire armory. On the other hand, it encourages players to hog all their best weapons and outright avoid combat. The Master Sword serves as an opportunity to wield a permanent weapon, but even it breaks after too much use.
Interestingly, a usable broken Master Sword exists in the game’s file– complete with the exact same damage values of the regular Master Sword– but it’s specifically the version of the blade that’s been infected and tainted with malice. Perhaps fighting too many Guardians would have warped the sword’s appearance originally.
5 Link’s Family
It’s not very often that Link has family in the games. A Link to the Past gave him an uncle who very quickly died; Ocarina of Time gave him a mother who was dead in the backstory; and The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, & A Link Between Worlds all give Link different shades of a family with varying degrees of importance.
The Hero of the Wilds actually does have a family– they just don’t appear in the game. Concept art reveals that Link had both a father and a sister, both of whom died while Link was in the Shrine of Resurrection.
4 Alien Invasion
All things considered, Breath of the Wild’s concept art is strange even for the series. Comparing everything that led up to BotW compared to all the concept art in, say, the Hyrule Historia is like night and day. Most alarmingly, Breath of the Wild’s concept art would seem to suggest that the game would be framed around an alien invasion.
When looking at the Guardians' overall design and recognizing that the game’s plot is very much an invasion story, it’s actually not that wacky of a premise. At the same time, it is a bit much for The Legend of Zelda. Once the series breaks that sci-fi gate down, there’s no turning back.
3 Non-Amiibo Epona
Even though Breath of the Wild places an emphasis on taming horses, keeping them in stables, and personalizing them, the game omits the series’ most iconic horse of all: Epona. But perhaps that’s exactly why Epona is excluded. Were she featured in the base game, everyone would naturally want her as their personal horse– it’s the same principle preventing Link from storing the Lord of the Mountain.
That said, in-game data suggests Epona was a conscious cut. The existence of a Hyrule Compendium photo seems to imply Epona was in the base game and only became an Amiibo unlockable after the fact.
2 An Older Link
Breath of the Wild has some of the most fascinating concept art in the series– beyond just the alien invasion. There exist images of a noticeably older Link without his arm. He has a bandaged face with facial hair peeking out and is considerably taller & more muscular than usual.
It’s unlikely Nintendo was ever committed to the idea of an older Link leading Breath of the Wild, but the last time an older Link appeared in concept art was for The Wind Waker, with Nintendo confirming that Link was originally meant to physically age over the course of the game.
1 The DLC That Became Breath Of The Wild 2
There’s still quite some time before Breath of the Wild 2 releases (likely even more so considering the current pandemic) but it’ll likely be very close in quality to the original Breath of the Wild– especially since the sequel began life as DLC. Breath of the Wild 2 is very much a case of history repeating itself as Majora’s Mask began life as an Ocarina of Time expansion.
Taking into consideration that Breath of the Wild 2 is being built on the exact same foundation as its predecessor, it’s safe to say the game will be mechanically sound. That said, Nintendo decided to pivot from DLC for a reason. It’s likely that Link’s speculated arm mechanic will shake up the core gameplay loop quite a bit.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U.