The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NOT MOBILE FRIENDLY!) (Last Update: September 6)

[Mega64]

Click here to open the update!

Note this is a poor idea early on since you can take fall damage in this game. It should become slightly better once we get the paraglider, though.

Speaking of which! We’ve done all four shrines, so we’re about done with the Great Plateau! But first, a couple of things.

This wood chest cannot be Magnesised, but we can take advantage of it floating!

It contains an Opal.

Up top is a frozen block of ice.

Fire of all varieties work, some better than others. Right now the only reliable fire method I have though are Fire Arrows, so four of these melt the ice…

…and net us a Korok!

The Old Man said to go where the four shrines intersect. Hard to see from here, but that is describing the Temple of Time.

Now that we have four Spirit Orbs, the goddess statue is shining.

You guys ultimately voted for the Stamina Vessel. Which works for me because that’s what I picked before asking you guys and it means I don’t have to replay this section again.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u06/016.mp4

We gain a fifth of a stamina wheel. We can have three circles max, so we can only get ten Stamina Vessels before we can no longer increase stamina (outside of foods that temporarily boost max stamina, of course). More stamina is always nice because it makes exploration easier, and exploration is always fun to do in this game.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u06/017.mp4

Suddenly, someone shouts out to Link. Considering we’ve literally only met one other person on this plateau, it can only be…

Here I am… Get up here-quickly!

Fortunately, there’s a ladder to the roof right outside the temple.

I was not aware of this ladder the first time I played this game. Fortunately the front end is varied enough to make climbing it the old-fashioned way viable.

Once we reach the old man, we get a rather lengthy cutscene that serves as this game’s backstory. It’s got some voice acting and some nifty visuals, but I’ll also recap it here.

https://youtu.be/Y9rkMlgEGrs

Now, then… The time has come to show you who I truly am.

I was…the last leader of Hyrule. A kingdom which no longer exists.

Music: The Last King of Hyrule

Yes, the old man watching over Link was no mere wanderer, but the spirit of the last king of Hyrule, one hundred years before Calamity Ganon struck.

The music here is a nice callback to the Hyrule Castle theme, first appearing in Link to the Past and then popping up here and there in other games since.

The Great Calamity was merciless… It devastated everything in its path, lo, a century ago. It was then that my life was taken away from me.

I did not think it wise to overwhelm you while your memory was still fragile. So rather than that, I thought it best to assume a temporary form.

I think you are now ready.

Music: 100 Years Ago

The demon king was born into this kingdom, but his transformation into Malice created the horror you see now.

But there was also…a prophecy. “The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear. And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground.”

It wasn’t long before we discovered several ancient relics made by the hands of our distant ancestors.

One hundred years ago, there was a princess set to inherit a sacred power and a skilled knight at her side.

We selected four skilled individuals from across Hyrule and tasked them with the duty of piloting the Divine Beasts.

…a name that would solidify their unique bond. The princess, her appointed knight, and the rest of the Champions were on the brink of sealing away Ganon…

Ganon was cunning, and he responded with a plan beyond our imagining.

He appeared from deep below Hyrule Castle, seized control of the Guardians and the Divine Beasts, and turned them against us.

However…

Link…

Music: A King’s Request

My dear Zelda.

You fought valiantly when your fate took an unfortunate turn. And then, you were taken to the Shrine of Resurrection. Here you now stand revitalized, 100 years later.

Even now, as she works to restrain Ganon from within Hyrule Castle, she calls out for your help. However, my daughter’s power will soon be exhausted. Once that happens, Ganon will freely regenerate himself and nothing will stop him from consuming our land. Considering that I could not save my own kingdom, I have no right to ask this of you, Link…

You must save her…my daughter.

Somehow, Ganon has maintained control over all four Divine Beasts, as well as those Guardians swarming around Hyrule Castle. I believe it would be quite reckless for you to head directly to the castle at this point. I suggest…that you make your way east, out to one of the villages in the wilderness.

She will tell you more about the path that lies ahead.

Make your way past the twin summits of the Dueling Peaks.

It’s a lengthy cutscene for sure, but it also sets up what exactly happened to Hyrule a hundred years ago as well as sets up both our overall goal (Destroy Ganon) and our immediate goal, should we choose to do it of course (visit Kakariko Village and consult with Impa). Of course, we’re still missing a lot of finer details, but those will get filled in over the course of the game.

At this point, the voiced cutscene ends and we’re back in-game, though with a bit more dialogue still…

Music: Temple of Time

And we’ve finally got the Paraglider! This baby is essential in our travels, one of many reasons being we can’t leave the Great Plateau without it. Now we can travel through all of Hyrule!

Which also means we’re finally done with the tutorial section of the game.

And…I think that’s it. I told you everything I can…

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u06/111.mp4

And there goes our only companion thus far.

We’ve got our two new quests.

And here are the results from the last quest for good measure.

Also, an upgraded bow. Nice.

Before we finish things off here, let’s do a couple more things.

First, scaling the Temple of Time nets us another Korok.

We also get a nice bird’s-eye view of the surrounding area. We can explore all of it now.

So, how big is Hyrule?

This is the Great Plateau…

…and this is the rest of Hyrule. The yellow dot is where Kakariko Village is.

So, uh, this might take awhile.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u06/129.mp4

Paragliding is simple. Press X to open your paraglider in mid-air. This lets you cover large distances, which is very handy since the distances in Hyrule are…even greater than “large”. It does require stamina, though it doesn’t use too much unless you’re going really far.

To close things out, we’re going back to the cabin to check on one last thing.

Well, two.

The diary’s been updated now that we’ve learned who the Old Man really is.

Link… Bit by bit, you may come to realize who I am. I am sorry for not revealing my true identity to you sooner. The truth is, after you awoke from your long Slumber of Restoration, I did not know how to tell you all there was to say.

Perhaps deceiving you was not the right thing to do. Still…you must admit I put on a great performance! But all joking aside…what I ask of you is of the utmost importance, dear hero. I implore you, with all my heart…defeat Calamity Ganon and save my precious daughter, Zelda. I understand this is no simple task I am asking of you, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can do it. I do not doubt it for a moment. I see courage in your eyes, just as I did 100 years ago. I believe in you, Link.

And with that…we’re ready to explore Hyrule!

We’ll do this in two phases. First phase, I’ll ask people for input on what we should do. After I have enough suggestions that are popular and/or I like, we’ll then do an overall vote and I’ll follow through on it to the best of my ability (meaning if everyone chooses “Go kill Ganon” I probably won’t be successful, plus it’d kinda make for a short and anticlimatic LP if I do).

I’m gonna aim for 6-10 suggestions, including the two the game has for us (listed below). After I have enough I like, I’ll throw up a vote for around a day or so.

Go to Hyrule Castle and (attempt to) kill Ganon.
Visit Kakariko Village.

Bold your suggestions. If you like someone else’s suggestion, please say so! And I’m always open for suggestions on other gameplay ideas, like what clothes (if any) to wear or any reasonable gameplay gimmicks. I’ll try to accommodate as much as I can, within reason of course.

Next time, the adventure truly begins! …Probably.

[heyboots]

Hurray, the game finally opens up, literally. The rest of the map doesn’t load in until you have the Paraglider so even if you somehow found a way to get off the plateau without dying, you will just map out and die.

Being boxer-briefs link is cool but lets go find some sweet clothes somewhere.

[Mega64]

Poll is up! It’s a checkbox poll so feel free to pick multiple choices if you wish. I’ll run it until around this time tomorrow.

And yes, I’m going to start wearing clothes.

[Zero-ELEC]

Head south.

Also, get ye clothes?

[Mega64]

Nice. I’ll probably travel in a relatively straight line to the edge of the map where it points, or at least as far as I possibly can. Of course I’ll make detours if necessary.

[Mega64]

Click here to open the update!

Stealth in this game is pretty similar to how you’d think it would work in real life. Simply sneaking in front of an enemy won’t work. Likewise, making lots of noise will draw attention quickly. Cover helps, including tall grass. Darkness is also handy.

By popular demand, Link is now finally wearing clothes! The Switch T-Shirt (since all three shirts I own have the same defense) and the Hylian Trousers (since they give a hefty three defense). Link can actually take hits now!

So I held a vote on where to go now that we’ve got complete freedom. Our winner…

Suggestion for when we’re done with the plateau: Throw a random weapon, note the direction it lands, then walk in that direction (retrieving weapon optional).

Must say I’m pretty fond of the suggestion myself.

Our weapon! And our destination is…

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/006.mp4

…here! The sword is pointing to the southeast, and honestly that’s probably one of the better directions we could go starting out.

Looking out that way is a large bridge, and beyond that a tower. We’ll certainly be making a detour to that tower!

And with that, the adventure truly begins!

We land next to a ruined building. Nothing else of note.

And here’s all the stuff we’re not going to visit anytime soon.

Meanwhile, here’s the Great Plateau from ground level. Certainly looks huge from here!

There’s much more diverse wildlife out here, all ready to be hunted.

Yet another bug that resists the cold.

It’s hard to tell from screenshots, but it’s raining right now. You can kinda tell from how slick the rock is.

Rain is the bane of every BotW player. It extinguishes fire, which is itself a nuisance, but more importantly it makes climbing more difficult, causing Link to slip after every few steps. There are some handy benefits to rain though, which I’m sure I’ll get into later once it becomes relevant.

Fortunately it’s not raining where this platform is, so I can climb up with relative ease.

Right of the bridge are some islands. I could get to them with extensive use of Crynosis, but they’re a bit too out of the way right now.

There’s also a Bokoblin camp overlooking the entrance to the bridge.

Unfortunately, my bows’ range are too short and I can’t hit this guy.

I do take out several of them thanks to a well-placed explosive barrel, though.

As for the rest…

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/024.mp4

If you try to shoot your bow in mid-air, time slows down to give you more time to shoot, albeit at the cost of stamina. Once you have more stamina and better bows, you can really do some damage.

One of the Bokoblins survived and has a present for me.

Not all these camps have chests that require defeating every enemy. I can just grab these Ice Arrows as is!

At this point, the regular Bokoblins are little threat. The blue one is still kinda risky.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/028.mp4

But not as risky as my own stupidity! Lucky to survive that one.

Then I run away to lick my wounds. Technically I could just eat food mid-battle and whoop its ass, but I’m going to try to avoid food abuse during battle since it can quickly trivialize the game.

This is the Bridge of Hylia, the bridge that spans over Lake Hylia, another reoccurring area throughout the series. It’s fallen in disrepair over the past century, though.

At the center are a new enemy, the Lizalfos. They first appear as a mini-boss in Ocarina of Time before becoming regular enemies in the latter 3D games. They’re trickier to fight since they jump around a lot and avoid close combat when possible. They prefer to attack from a distance with spears, bows, and boomerangs.

Yes, boomerangs.

One well-placed arrow knocks this guy off.

Sometimes things just work out for some spectacular up-close screenshots.

I knock the boomerang off one of them and take it for myself.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/038.mp4

Boomerangs are simply another weapon type in this game. You can use it as a melee weapon if you want, but they really get fun once you throw them. The trick is you have to time pressing A to catch it when it comes back to you. Else you won’t catch it and will have to backtrack to grab it again. But once you master them, nothing beats walloping your foes from a distance.

And wallop I do! Lizalfos are annoying to fight close-quarters, so boomerangs and bows help a ton.

With that, we’ve got a ton of new items to look at. First…

Horns and Talons. Their specialty drop are their tails, though the regular Lizalfos never drop them.

More spears. And speaking of spears…

This chest has another spear, this one made by the Zora. Zora are one of the series staple races, fish-man hybrids that live in various water areas in Hyrule. I grab this one since it’s a solid strength for a spear.

Finally, more rusty weapons. Nothing too exciting.

Oh, and another Korok, of course.

Eventually I reach the end of the bridge.

And come across a new enemy, the Stalizalfos. They’ve got the agility of regular Lizalfos but the miserable durability of the Stalkoblin.

Bombs make short work of these guys and save us some weapon durability.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/052.mp4

Also I boot a couple skulls off the bridge before the Stalizalfos accidentally jumps off itself. Victory!

Then Keese appear, but one bomb will kill them quickly.

A fox! One bomb oughta be enough.

Oops.

Paid off, though!

This is how far we’ve traveled, by the way. Still got a bit of a walk to go.

Since this tower’s on the way, might as well climb it to scout the area!

Many of these towers have weird gimmicks that make it more difficult than simply scaling them. This one’s not too bad, it’s mainly that there are a lot of enemies surrounding it. Nothing Link can’t handle by running away.

Uh-oh. This guy’s a Black Bokoblin, the next tier up from Blue. Definitely can’t take him lightly.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/064.mp4

Time to use the big guns on this guy.

Then I freeze him, which lets my next attack deal more damage and gives me some breathing room.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/067.mp4

The one-hand weapons simply do Link’s signature 360-spin attack. It’s effective enough here.

Somehow, I manage to kill this guy without getting clobbered.

OH MY! Over triple the power of our next-strongest weapon. One hit from this would’ve killed us easily. With our current armor, it’d have killed us in one hit even if we had ten hearts (damage is a simple Weapon Damage - Armor, where 1 damage = Quarter Heart).

We also get a ton of apples from that tree, and ten more arrows from the chest.

The club was easily the prize for that fight though.

I go for the monster loot for more guts and encounter a Blue Lizalfos. They’re the next tier of Lizalfos, able to spit water as a projectile at Link.

I’ve had enough bloodshed for now though and book it to the tower.

Anyway, once you reach the tower proper it’s pretty simple.

Climb, rest at the platforms, then climb some more. You don’t have to do anything tricky here.

Eventually…

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u07/080.mp4

…we activate the tower. This does several things.

First, it activates fast travel to the tower. It’s always handy to be able to teleport to a high area!

It also unlocks the map for that area, letting us see landmarks like roads and whatnot.

And the first time we activate a tower outside the Great Plateau, we get another neat bonus.

The Sheikah Sensor will alert us when we’re near shrines.

It gives off a noise when you’re walking in the direction of a shrine near you, and if you have the HUD on the icon will have one to three bars depending on how close you are.

It’s got some limitations. It handles differences of height poorly, and it might miss some shrines related to quests, but overall it’s handy during the game if you’re going to use it to find the game’s whopping 120 shrines. It’s not required to find them all to get the game’s best ending, though.

So this is how far we’ve traveled today. A good distance for sure, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of Hyrule’s secrets.

Off in the distance is a shrine, and in the direction we’re going to boot!

And next to it is a rather odd-looking structure. What’s over there?

We’ll find out next time!

[blahmoomoo]

FYI, the videos in update 6 are broken.

[Mega64]

The host broke for awhile. I had to use an alternate host for this last update.

Anyway, they’re back up now.

[Mega64]

Click here to open the update!

You’ll get this a lot early on since it usually pops up right after you die.

Last time, we set out into Hyrule, crossed a large bridge, and climbed our second tower. Now we’re off to follow the path of a sword we threw in the air.

We end up near this small grove.

Hearty Truffles give extra temporary hearts when cooked and consumed. There’s a trick to all temp heart foods that make them incredibly broken, but more on that later.

We also see our first instance of ore.

Smash the ore with a weapon (the Iron Sledgehammer being more effective than most weapons, though any high-damage weapon could break them in one hit) to get various gems and other items. These mostly give amber, though we can find ores with more valuable gems later.

This one gives rock salt, an item primarily used for cooking. In general though, cooking-oriented items are not worth it except to make specific recipes, and usually you’ll only want those for quests.

Eventually we reach the massive clearing that houses the shrine and the mystery structure. A bit closer to us…

…horses! There’s no Epona in this game (unless you have a specific Amiibo, then scanning it will add her in). Instead, you’ll have to capture and soothe wild horses. You can have multiple horses, though, and you can name them, which I’ll certainly let you guys do!

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u08/012.mp4

Unfortunately, catching a horse is not that easy. That’ll have to wait, though, as Link is not the only being that can ride horses.

Bokoblin riders are common where wild horses roam, ready to attack with bows and melee weapons. One hit will knock them off and let you fight them as normal, though.

Anyway, for now, let’s make our way to the structure.

Music: Stables

This is our first of many stables we’ll encounter in our travels. Stables are generally small outposts scattered throughout Hyrule where we can barter with travelling merchants, rest, and eventually deal with any horses we have. There’s also usually some quests involved as well.

The music itself is an arrangement of Epona’s Song, which first pops up in Ocarina of Time and shows up in a few other places.

Anyway, we’ve found real live people for the first time in a hundred years. Time to get to chatting!

The name’s Beedle, but you can call me- Actually, let’s just stick with Beedle. But even if you forget my face, you can remember me by my beetle-shaped backpack! Despite these dangerous times, you’ll find me traveling all over Hyrule to fulfill your shopping needs. I stock many special bugs and must-have items for travelers, and I always charge a fair price…or my name’s not Beedle! I also but all sorts of things, if you’re in need of rupees. Gemstones in particular fetch a high price!

Beedle first appears in Wind Waker and pops up throughout the series after, usually as a bug-loving merchant. He’s pretty much the same here, usually wandering between the various stables and offering things for sale.

Always (or almost always), Beedle will sell arrows (both singles and a set of ten at a discounted price) and various bugs, though in this case he’s selling Octo Balloons as well. We’ll get plenty of those in our travels later, plus Link is kinda broke.

Of course, we can also sell stuff. Gemstones do have uses outside of selling them, but generally it’s easy enough to get them, especially stuff like Amber, that if you’re short on money it’s recommended to sell gems to reach what you need.

I’m going to need a bit of pocket change in the next update most likely, so I sell three of my amber.

Unlike previous LP’s I’ve done, I’m not going to go through the trouble of making portraits of every single NPC I meet in this game. Instead, I’ll be using a generic Sheikah symbol for the more generic NPCs like stable residents and random travellers.

Anyway, this guy is going to do my job for me and explain how stables work.

Then allow me to explain. You can board your horse companions with us and then summon them as you please from our network of stables. You may have come across wild horses during your travels… If you catch one and ride it here to register it, it will become your horse companion. One person can board up to five horses, and you’re able to swap horses in and out as you please.

It costs a small fee to register horses, but nothing significant. Big thing is you can store a horse at one stable and take it out at another, which is handy.

Horses can be kind of a pain if you’re the type to navigate by climbing mountains and paragliding everywhere, but if you prefer sticking to the roads horses are very handy since they’ll stick to paths automatically.

Next up, let’s learn how to catch a horse.

OK. To catch a wild horse, all you have to do is approach it from behind - slowly, so it doesn’t notice you - and then hop on. But these are wild animals we’re talking about, so if the horse you’re riding starts to act up, try soothing it. It will eventually settle down, and when that happens, bring it to me. It may take a while for wild horses to get used to being ridden. They may change directions or slow down on their own until you earn their trust and respect. If your horse disobeys your direction, you’ll want to gently redirect it and then calm it. And if you continue interacting that way, your horse will naturally begin to trust you and become more obedient.

That’s a lot, but the important thing is to sneak up on horses, then soothe them into letting you ride them. More wild horses will require you to have more stamina to hold on long enough to soothe them effectively. After that, it’ll take awhile for your horse to obey you, so simply soothe it when it starts doing its own thing. Horses with higher stats tend to be harder to soothe and win over.

There’s a few more NPCs here. If you see someone talking with an exclamation point, that means they have a quest to offer.

I grew up taming horses 'round these parts. I’m confident there’s not a rider in Hyrule better’n me. And I got just the way to prove it - a li’l game to test which fella’s better in the saddle. One I almost never lose.

We can’t really do this right now since we don’t have a horse, but might as well find out how it works anyway.

There are 10 obstacles to navigate. Best time wins. If you’re not an ace in the saddle when the game starts, I guarantee you’ll be one by the time it’s through! The difficult part about this is the fact that you can’t just try to recklessly ride as fast as you can. In order to clear the obstacles on the path, you have to be able to control your horse very well.

There’s various horse gear you can obtain to fancify your horses, and this is one way to get some. But, again, have to have a horse first to wait, so let’s put this on the backburner.

If you have a horse, we can help you change its gear or mane style. We’re always happy to meet new horses, so stop on by!

Not all stables will change your gear and mane.

It…probably is? Maybe we were here a hundred years ago. No way of knowing that now, though.

I see. These plains are home to many quality horses. In the past, nomadic tribes would gather here, but…

Dealing with hooligans? Sounds like a job for Link!

Oh, really? I’m so glad to hear that. I’m counting on you!

This is our first side quest. They generally lead to a variety of rewards, and of course some are more difficult and/or tedious than others. At least this one is rather simple, though.

Otherwise, nothing else here besides a dog.

There’s usually people hanging out inside the stable, but this one is pretty barren. If we talk to the stablemaster on this side, he’ll let us rest at the inn to recover health. Generally not worth it since eating food’s cheaper and there’s usually a campfire nearby to pass time at.

Let’s go ahead and take care of these hooligans, shall we?

A well-placed bow shot knocks these guys to the ground pretty easily.

And from there, the usual.

We do find another new weapon, and just in time for my broadsword to break!

I really like how many of these screenshots work out. The art direction and the animations really make this game pop at times, especially in these giant grass fields.

After I knock two out, I spy some travelers making their way to the stable.

And it looks like there are a lot of monsters near the stable too. My only hope is to try and dash past them!

Hyrule is a dangerous place. Travelers will generally stay on the roads, and even still you’ll usually have to save a few being accosted by monsters.

Anyway, there’s two of these guys left.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u08/081.mp4

And then I get blindsided and die. Welp!

Let’s try that again.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u08/084.mp4

I knocked a Bokoblin off this guy, and apparently after that he stuck around. Rescueing captured horses make them a bit friendlier to Link than they’d be otherwise.

We can have full-fledged combat on horses. Of course, bows are a staple.

But melee weapons are also effective, especially stuff like spears that are better suited for horseback combat.

SPEAR MAGIC

I didn’t die this time!

This is a small token of my thanks!

Horses really love it! Try sharing it with one, and you’ll see what I mean!

So the reward is a carrot, but it’s really more the tip we just got. We can feed that to our horse to give it a stamina boost. It’s also a way to make us think, hm, maybe we could feed other animals as well…?

Let’s talk to her one last time to get some interesting clues about the area.

Giant Horse:

If you head west of here, you’ll reach a place called Taobab Grassland. A really big horse lives there. And by big…I mean REALLY big.

Horse Resurrection:

Not far from here lives the mysterious god of horses. If a horse dies, he can bring it back to life. Sounds crazy, right? But it’s true.

So now we’ve got some leads on things to do in the area. What do you guys think? At the very least I’m going to do the shrine next update, but if you’re interested in the obstacle course, giant horse, or horse god (or anything else) let me know. Otherwise I’ll continue traveling southeast.

Oh and NAME OUR HORSE! Limit of nine characters. I won’t do a formal vote for this stuff, just mouth off your suggestions and what you like in the thread and I’ll pick one I like and/or that’s popular.

[ReturnofFable]

I actually don’t know what horse god is, I think I missed it on my playthrough. Then again, I never used horses but I’m curious on what it is.

[KingCarnival]

Horse God sounds like a good course of action!

[Handel]

Hmm. Those look like speckled shorts on that horse. Sorta.

Speckle for the horse name.

[Mega64]

A ton of different names, none that really stood out to me in particular, so…

Spot

Speckle

…I’m combining these into Spockle. It’s fine, it’s a starter horse with likely bad stats anyway so we probably won’t see much of it once we get more horses. Keep some names in the back of your head for later though, especially if I do find that supposed giant horse!

Next update probably won’t be until Friday, though if I’m lucky I might sneak one in earlier.

[Mega64]

Giant Horse is the hardest boss in the game.

[Mega64]

Click here to open the update!

I generally never bother with bait. It’s more effective to just sneak up on fish while swimming, or flat-out kill them.

We’ve got our first horse, so now’s a good time to register it. This way you can access it from any stable, assuming it doesn’t die of course.

The red is hard to see, but there’s a 20 rupee cost for registering a horse. This is a bargain so sure.

A variety of names, but Spot and Speckle stood out, so I combined the two.

There are three horse stats that can go up to five stars. Stamina is basically how many times you can spur the horse to go faster before it has to rest. Temperament determines how difficult it is to bond with the horse, and the bond is how far along you are on a scale of a hundred.

Saving Spockle’s life and it having a gentle temperament cuts out a ton of work for us. Spockle’s immediately going to be significantly more obedient than most horses we’d normally tame.

Down on the D-Pad lets us whistle our horse to us. It’s also handy to distract enemies, who will come toward the sound of the whistle. There’s also a glitch where you can alternate between the whistle and run buttons to run with infinite stamina, though the position your hand has to be to pull it off isn’t really worth it.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u09/007.mp4

And off we go!

Actually let’s do this shrine first so we have a quick travel spot to this stable. Generally where there’s a stable, there’s a shrine nearby.

This is a puzzle shrine, and a rather simple one.

Same thing here as the final “puzzle” of the Magnesis shrine.

This is really one puzzle. There are four raised platforms, one of which has a ladder. The other three are inaccessible at the moment.

Left side is a room barred by doors. The chest has another Traveler’s Bow.

A couple guardian scouts, no biggie.

Though this one has a melee weapon. It’ll lunge it at you close-range and fire projectiles at you long-range to discourage fighting from a distance.

When defeated, it drops its spear. It’s a nice upgrade, so worth a grab.

Beyond the platform to the right is where the monk is. So we have to figure out how to get up there.

The name of the shrine generally gives a good hint as to how to approach that shrine’s puzzles, and this is no different.

The left door is attacked to these stones, but if we blow them up…

…Magnesis will let us use the door as a bridge.

It also lets us access this Opal.

All the shrines end the same way, so I’ll spare you from that. Got another Spirit Orb, though!

There’s a new traveller here. We tell her we’re passing through.

Ah, I see. Well, I love it here. There are so many horses around. It’s just so delightful. You know, I heard a rumor that there’s a fountain near here where you can revive lost horses. That’s why I traveled all the way here. I…I wanted to be reunited with a dear friend, a horse I lost a long time ago…

Feedback was to take a detour from our current route to visit this horse god. So let’s do so.

Another utensil that can be used as a weapon.

The map has a “Lake of the Horse God” to the southeast. Seems like as good a place to investigate as any!

We’ll have to take the road by horse to the west and then southeast. Alternatively, we could’ve just climbed over stuff without a horse, but we did just get Spockle, so might as well put it to use!

Music: On Horse (Day)

Once you’re far enough away from civilization and going full speed, this music plays. During the day, it slowly transitions into Zelda’s Theme, one of the classic series themes stemming back from Ocarina of Time.

The road is rather narrow through here.

Eventually we reach the Horse God Bridge, which probably means the Horse God is near.

At the end is…uh…

Various Summerwing and Winterwing Butterflies surround it.

Of all the things to find here, I wasn’t expecting this.

Sweet boy…

Uhhh… How can I refuse?

I am Malanya…

If my power is returned to me, I may be able to help you out in some way… So please… I beg of you… Help me regain the power I’ve lost…

When my power has been restored, I should be able to be of use to you, who loves horses so.

I think it’s safe to assume this…thing…is the horse god, though they have no power.

So how do we help it regain its power? You may think a special item, or undergoing a difficult quest.

But nay, what we need is cold, hard cash. Cash we unfortunately don’t have.

What’s this? You don’t have enough rupees?

For now, we can’t do anything about it. If we sold everything we have we might scrounge up the money, but it’ll be easier to come back later when we get more things to sell. Then again, getting the money wouldn’t be that difficult. Either way, we’ll address this later.

The map has stamps we can use to mark locations, which is handy here even if the map itself makes this area rather obvious.

This briefly increases max stamina, which can be quite handy.

Nothing to do but go back, though this weird hole does stand out. You know what that means.

Follow the mountain up to these rocks.

Then push the rock down towards the hole…

…and then push it in from the other side after it overshoots its target.

What a shock!

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u09/063.mp4

On the way back to the stable, I run over a goat and get some free meat.

Sure!

Oh, but you should know I’m only interested in horses that are raised with lots of love! How’s your horse faring on that front?

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u09/071.mp4

I can tell this little one is just head over heels for you. That settles it! I’ll gladly help you out with some gear!

We have no other bridle or saddle yet, so all we can change is the mane.

We’ve got ten to choose from.

I opt for floral mane for now, but if you guys want something different let me know!

The other thing I was asked to do was investigate the Giant Horse. It’s all the way at the Taobab Grassland, pretty much clear on the other side of the area. It’ll be awhile before we get there.

So let’s pin the area and get to it!

Music: On Horse (Night)

There’s different horse music for night. This time, after awhile, it plays the main Zelda theme, a staple since the very first game. It’s one of the very few places the theme plays too, appropriately enough. Apparently the piano is also a sped-up version of the flute you get from Link to the Past as well.

Same initial path as before, but now at the fork in the road we go west instead of southeast.

This leads us along the southern edge of Hyrule.

I see an interesting structure and, because this is Breath of the Wild, decide to go on a detour (of a detour (of a detour (of a detour))).

Along the way we run across Electric Keese, which…well, the name kinda explains itself, doesn’t it?

I’m not interested in fighting them for now, so we just ride past.

I get to the structure and see a Lizalfos. Seems simple enough.

Crynosis for some leverage…

Simple!

Even got a nice bow upgrade out of it.

Oh, I forgot to mention there’s two Blue Lizalfos as well!

They’re hardier and almost take me down, but I get the first one easily enough.

There’s some good loot on them. This shield is our strongest by far yet.

Seriously, I love doing battle screenshots.

The higher-tier Lizalfos drop tails, which can be useful for various things.

Also higher-tier boomerangs, which I’m more than happy to have.

The chest here contains the final type of arrow, Shock. These things are effective against metal objects and wet things. They’re especially effective in the rain, but generally they’re a solid get.

I then scout for underwater chests since there’s usually one or two around areas like these, and what do you know!

Not all chests have items. Some have cold, hard cash as well!

Then another floating chest to get Crynosis’d.

And more money.

There’s a new type of fish swimming around beyond us.

A shame that armor can’t defend against bombs. Defense boosts are pretty handy, so not a bad get.

In the distance are some glowing ore rocks. In the foreground is a sparkling light running along the shallow water.

It’s a Korok.

As for the ore…

These sell for a good bit of money, but they have some really nice uses as well.

Flint is mediocre, but it’s a solid and cheap way to start a fire if nothing else.

A bunch of bombable rocks unlock…another rock.

And that rock has a Korok.

A star missing a rock on one edge? And a rock nearby?

Yep!

OK, that’s enough faffing around. It’s time to get to that giant horse already.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u09/120.mp4

Well, one last thing for this update. There’s a new enemy, the Talus.

They’re rather sturdy, though a sledgehammer will take them down easily.

And alternatively, you can simply pick them up and throw them. They drop all sorts of stones and gems.

Next time, we’ll get into the hard-fought battle between Link and the giant horse. Expect lots of death.

[Zero-ELEC]

Horse God requires money to work… Are we sure it’s a god and not like a scam or some kind of pyramid scheme?

[Mega64]

Pay money to resurrect your horse…

I don’t know, seems legit to me!

[Mega64]

Click here to open the update!

Grass obscures Link well. Great for sneaking up on wild life!

We’re currently on route to find this rumored giant horse. Along the way, we reach this camp with two men, one having a side quest for us.

We’re doing an ecological study on the wild animals in the area. We’d heard that there was a giant horse living in this region. Apparently it can’t be found anywhere else…

This seems particularly relevant to our interests! Let’s here more on this giant horse!

The really big horse in this region is likely part of a rare, local species. However, with all the monsters roaming around, we simply can’t go any farther. To be so close to discovery…

I approached it, thinking at first that it was the giant horse we’ve been looking for, but… Oh, it was terrible… Just from looking at you, I’d guess that you’re an adventurer, right? You certainly look strong.

That was the plan to begin with, so sure.

Ah, you’re a lifesaver!

Do you think you could catch it and bring it back here? Don’t stress out over the request, though!

So our current objective is also our current objective for the side quest. Gotta love it when things work out like that!

Considering we just only recently got a horse, not very confident.

Hm… I don’t like the sound of that. The monsters out this way are strong critters.

I’m curious what this drill is.

Ever heard of horseback archery? They invented it way out east somewhere. It takes a lot of coordination to shoot targets with a bow and arrow from the back of a galloping horse. I expect you’ll run into mounted varmints now and again, so this’ll be a good way to get some practice in.

Eh, not right now. I think we’ll be fine.

We’re near a fire, so let’s show something busted. Cook something that gives you extra hearts…

…and the meal not only boosts your hearts, it also restores your health to maximum! It’s…pretty busted, honestly.

Might as well mix up a weak-yet-long-lasting attack elixir as well. Never know when we’ll need it!

Right, our objective. The area between us and Taobab Grassland is mountainous, so to make it on horseback we’ll have to go southwest and then north. And apparently there’s a lot of fearsome foes along the way.

But how bad could it really be?

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u10/033.mp4

…Oh.

If you look closely, you can see at least five other mounted Bokoblins in the background of that previous video. So new plan. We’ll go parallel to the path from the safety of the mountains. There’s no enemies up here.

However, it’s too mountainous for Spockle to navigate effectively, so we leave them here. It’ll teleport back anyway once we go to the stable, and it’s not like we can take both Spockle and the giant horse with us.

This journey takes awhile, as the path is very lengthy on foot.

That must be that horse monster the man was talking about.

We won’t be fighting it today, just keep it in the back of your mind for the future.

There’s a second one further along the path as well.

I come across a regular Chuchu. They’re not threatening, and drop ordinary Chuchu Jelly when defeated. This stuff does nothing on its own but can change based on elemental exposure. Something to keep in mind.

These things are hard to find and catch, so lucky me finding one in the open like this!

I then realize I haven’t really looked around on my journey up these mountains for odd things.

Then I find an odd thing.

As I said, this takes awhile. This game’s map is huge, after all!

And, eventually, paydirt. The giant horse hangs around a group of smaller horses.

Time to swoop in for our prize.

I spot this on my way in.

Horses run away from Link when approached. Stealth is key.

Stealth also helps me grab this bug.

So we just have to sneak up until the right moment, and then…

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u10/058.mp4

…Uhhhh. So this may not be that easy.

When trying to mount a wild horse, usually you’ll have to try to soothe it before it will submit. To do this, Link expends stamina to hang on while soothing the mount. If you succeed, the horse relents and you can ride it as your mount. Fail, and Link gets knocked off and has to try again.

Tougher mounts such as the giant horse requires more stamina, stamina we don’t have. We’d probably have to do at least seven more shrines to get the stamina we need.

There’s always another way.

This is not the way, but it’s kinda interesting anyway so why not.

Yeah, I’m not having luck this way.

Electricity resistance can be handy. Then again, so can pretty much every other effect.

I left a trail of apples. Then I scare it off, wasting said apples.

I have another idea, though. First, we’ll need a cooking pot.

…First, we’ll need a lit cooking pot.

Much better.

I stack up the two stamina-boosting items I have…

The extra stamina isn’t much, but it may give us the edge.

This is also the closest we can teleport back to the giant horse at this time.

It’s still a bit of a journey to get back, of course, but it’s otherwise uneventful.

Eventually we make it back where we were, with a better plan in hand.

Alright, time to try again!

…Nope.

So, fun fact.

You can eat while riding a horse. I do have some stamina recovery food handy.

The small stamina gain isn’t enough though.

We’re not defeated yet, though. Remember the Hearty Truffle from before? How the meal it made also gave us full health recovery?

The stamina-boosting food works the same way.

I eat it right as I’m getting knocked off, so too late to take advantage of it this time. But now I feel we can finally conquer this beast once and for all.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u10/088.mp4

…OK, this time we can finally conquer this beast once and for all.

Ride…

Eat…

Love!

We finally did it. We’ve tamed the giant horse. The steed is now ours.

Now we’ve got a long journey ahead of us, full of dangerous foes.

The giant horse, like most other horses, does not start out obedient. It will sometimes slow down on its own or move in a different direction.

The trick is to soothe it so it’ll go back to obeying you. At least until it acts out again.

I somehow manage to evade the enemies we face.

I take a shortcut to avoid most of the mounted Bokoblins.

Then ride past the couple I do encounter.

https://mp4.mega64.net/botw/u10/100.mp4

…but not the Keese.

Blue for drowning, yellow for electrocution!

This time, I finally make it back in one piece, giant horse in tow.

Now to wake up the guy to finish our quest.

That horse… It’s huge… I’ve never seen one that big! That is definitely an endemic species!

Might as well!

Thanks, I’ll be right back.

Ah, hmm. Quite interesting.

It’s definitely different, seeing something with your own eyes rather than just reading about it. Thank you! This is to thank you for helping with our investigation!

Our reward’s a nice silver rupee. Not too shabby!

And also the giant horse, of course (of course).

And we’re done with both our detours! Next time, back to the direction we were heading toward. Or maybe somewhere else, you tell me!

Also name our giant horse. Nine letters

[ReturnofFable]

Name the horse Ganonlite.

[heyboots]

Name the horse Ganonlite.

Heck yeah!