Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Game Informer features (#4: details about the dungeons)

As announced the other day, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is on the cover of Game Informer this month, which means the game is getting month-long online coverage on the magazine’s website. There will be various features, covering the following topics:

• how the game truly re-examines the Zelda formula
• plenty of details about the new dungeons
• what’s in store for the future of 2D Zelda games
• Eiji Aonuma’s favorite Zelda games
• and more…

Yesterday, the fourth online feature was published, and it’s about the dungeons. As mentioned many times before, there are over 100 shrines to be found in the game, but also more “standard” dungeons (like in previous Zelda games). Those are quite larger, with a series of interconnected rooms filled with puzzles, and generally ending with a boss battle.

Nintendo has been surprisingly secretive about those dungeons, to the point where we know absolutely nothing about them. Fortunately for us, Game Informer was able to play through one of the dungeons, and so provides us with some neat details about it.

First of all, the map has changed radically, and is now displayed as a 3D model. The player can see specific location they need to visit, but no floor-by-floor layout like in previous Zelda games. Also, there are no more compasses to be found, to help you find treasure chests and other interesting elements.

Here’s what Eiji Aonuma had to say about that:

Dungeons have always been like mazes, so we needed that compass to let the user know where the bosses were placed. But then, as you probably saw, you can kind of see the goal right away. You won’t get lost – you just have to figure out how to get there.

The dungeon Game Informer got to play was smaller and less labyrinthine, but it’s not clear whether this is the case for all dungeons. But it’s clear their overall structure is quite different this time around, and that they’re not necessarily easier.

For example, there are no “central items”, that are used in most puzzles in a specific dungeon (like the hookshot in the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). In the dungeon they played, Game Informer already had all the items they needed to complete it. This changes quite a lot of things, especially for the boss, whose weak point will not necessarily be tied to a specific item.

It seems there’s also a friendly voice guiding you through the dungeons, offering hints and warning you about the boss. However, it’s not clear whether this is the case in all dungeons, who that mysterious voice belongs to, etc.

Before heading into dungeons, you need to prepare and make sure you’re well stocked up in items (such as arrows), since you might run out of them at the worst moment (let’s say.. during the boss battle).

Game Informer also mentions “pockets of a poisonous, sentient liquid that hurt to touch”, apparently called “malice”, with little eyeballs sprouting from them. Attacking those eyeballs apparently cleared away the malice. It does seem like something specific to the dungeon they played, but it’s not clear if it can also be found in the other ones (or even outside dungeons altogether).

The dungeon they played also featured the famous “crystal switches” that have appeared in so many other Zelda games to date, and as usual, you can hit them with your sword, arrows, bombs, and more.

Finally, another element that might be specific to the dungeon they played: after activating a switch with the Sheikah table, they were able to tilt the dungeon to order new paths or make things slide around.

Click here for the list of Game Informer online features for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U, Switch) comes out on March 3rd, worldwide.

Source: Game Informer