It can be argued that one of the most anticipated Nintendo titles for 2017 is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ahead of the game's somewhat vague 2017 release, a new trailer which hinted at a beloved character was shown during the preshow of the 2016 Game Awards, which kicked off Thursday night.
A Brief Appearance From Zelda
The new trailer showed off a lot of new elements from the forthcoming game. For one, nonplayable characters, or NPCs, were featured alongside towns, both of which are staple elements in every mainline Zelda entry.
Gathering from the locations shown in the trailer, Breath of the Wild's open world looks to be even more staggering in terms of geography than what players have assumed from the extensive playthrough back in June during E3.
But perhaps the single most interesting visual tidbit from the trailer is what looks to be an appearance from none other than Princess Zelda herself, donning an outfit similar to Link's. Such a similar costume might propose a playable female Link counterpart this time, but that notion has been quashed during E3, leading many to believe that the girl in the trailer is unmistakably Zelda.
Breath of the Wild Delays
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has spent a long time in development, to the strong disappointment of fans. To offer some perspective, the game was first shown as a tech demo back in E3 2011 during the Wii U unveiling.
Breath of the Wild, the game's official subtitle, was officially unveiled back in 2013 during a Wii U Direct presentation. As a way for Nintendo to keep fans tethered to Zelda given Breath of the Wild's long development period, it released an HD remaster of The Wind Waker for the Wii U, which was also a way for the company to diminish the gap between Zelda releases.
The game was planned for a 2015 release until new ideas and elements were added, extending the game's development period. It was pushed back once again for a 2016 release during a Nintendo Direct presentation in November last year. Finally, in March 2016, the game was pushed further back for a 2017 release.
Despite the delays, Breath of the Wild still won the Most Anticipated Game award at the 2016 Game Awards.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available for preorder now at Amazon, GameStop and Best Buy. It comes out for the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo's upcoming hybrid console, Switch sometime in 2017. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president is expected to show off more Breath of the Wild content during the Game Awards.
