The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild took many risky steps forward for the Zelda franchise and, ultimately, these risks paid off. Breath Of The Wild is an expansive and beautiful game in every sense of the word. It allows the player to move along its scenario at any pace with many other activities around to distract them if they so choose. At times, Breath Of The Wild’s world can feel a bit overwhelming. However, for many, the huge nature of this particular venture is what sets it so far apart from other Zelda games.
Regardless of this difference, Breath Of The Wild is still a Zelda game at its core. The player still controls Link, they are still tasked with ultimately defeating Ganon, and the game still gives the player many fun items to further explore the world around them. Perhaps the developers of the title were aware of how different Breath Of The Wild feels compared to an average The Legend of Zelda title. To perhaps help remind recurring players of the series they are playing, or simply to act as cute Easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans, many things within Breath Of The Wild’s world pay homage to older Zelda titles in cool and creative ways.
The most obvious reference to older Zelda material in Breath Of The Wild comes in the form of locations and names. Rather than having a full sea to sail across like Wind Waker or having an expansive sky to soar like Skyward Sword, Breath Of The Wild plays it straight. The land that players explore is still Hyrule itself, and certain towns like Kakariko Village once again appear. However, references to older Zelda lore also appear in Breath Of The Wild’s item inventory.
Breath Of The Wild’s Homage To Wind Waker & Others
The most intriguing reference in Breath of The Wild comes in the form of the Rock Salt item. In-game, it serves as mineral ore, and it can be found all around the world map. Many fans may not realize that this particular resource pays homage to The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker. Rock Salt’s item description refers to it as a relic of the “ancient sea.” This brings to mind Wind Waker’s great sea. Although its hard to say if this reference was done intentionally, it does seem like an oddly specific detail to mention within the description.
Another item in Breath Of The Wild also pays homage to past Zelda ventures. The Sheikah Slate was supposed to be created by “an ancient Sheikah technology.” Although the elements of this reference Breath Of The Wild’s story, its name itself is a reference to the Sheikah tribe mentioned in older Zelda games. In fact, all throughout the Zelda series (mostly in Ocarina Of Time and Skyward Sword) the Sheikah tribe is referenced consistently. They mainly settle in Kakariko Village, which becomes a prominent location in future Zelda titles as well. Given that Breath Of The Wild is supposed to happen after Ocarina Of Time on the Zelda Timeline, this most likely has little story relevance, but is nonetheless a cool reference.
Although Impa is the only remaining member of Sheikah tribe in Ocarina Of Time, that game also makes reference to Sheikah lore. In Ocarina Of Time, Princess Zelda presented herself as the mysterious “Sheik.” Sheik’s outfit has the eye-like symbol that is often associated with the Sheikah tribe on her garb as well as having red eyes, another common characteristic of the Sheikah. Although Ocarina of Time was obviously released before Breath Of The Wild, it’s still very interesting to see all the accuracy and detailed source material being faithfully followed nearly two decades later.
Overall, Breath Of The Wild has many interesting references to the previous installments in the Zelda series, for fans who want to go digging for them. The lore in the Zelda franchise is rich, and it’s refreshing to see such accurate homages to previous titles pulled off so well in the present.
