Games with alternate endings aren't a novelty. The tactic has been employed an inordinate amount of times, from 2002's Way of the Samurai, to 2012's Mass Effect 3, and to 2015's cult indie-developed hit Life Is Strange. There's some more: Resident Evil, Chrono Trigger — the list goes on.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will also have an alternate ending, as confirmed by Eiji Aonuma, the game's producer, to IGN Portugal.
As it turns out, the game will be more than just a blast-through-and-be-done-with-it affair. He revealed that Breath of the Wild will gift players a second alternate ending that will only be unlocked should they "meet certain criteria."
"If you do a few things, you may see a different ending," he says.
Breath Of The Wild Alternate Ending
At this point, what those "certain criteria" might be is up for wild speculation, but considering Breath of the Wild's massive open world environment, pinpointing those certain tasks or prerequisites might be a tall order, surely. Anyhow, the game comes out early March — same time as Nintendo Switch — and frenzied Zelda die-hards will probably take no time at all digging through several play-throughs of the game to catch that alternate ending Aonuma speaks so enigmatically of.
To hone the point further, several players this early have already worked out shrapnels here and there, deducting tidbits of information gleaned purely from the map that comes with the Special Edition of Breath of the Wild, so it's not hard to imagine players uncovering a plethora of details when the game actually hits shelves. What details will be important to trigger the alternate ending, however, will be the real centerpiece, which all in all should be a worthy endeavor aside from the game's main story.
Of course, this is Zelda, a series often regarded as the token hardhead when it comes to peppering the game with puzzles, a layered and compelling story, and more puzzles.
Breath Of The Wild Release Date
Breath of the Wild, with its original and alternate ending in tow, comes out March 3 for the Nintendo Switch and the Wii U, confirmed to be the last first-party title for the latter platform.
Breath of the Wild's release date, which capped the Nintendo Switch event on Jan. 12, came as a sigh of heavy relief — aside from flashy bouts of revelry — by fans who had grown concerned over when it'll actually come out. Luckily, Nintendo itself quelled that unrest by releasing a new trailer for the game Jan.12, along with a confirmation that'll be part of the Switch's launch lineup.
The game was showcased as a tech demo for the Wii U, back then skinned under a starkly different art style. Since then, its release date has been in flux, much to the dismay of fans who have heavily anticipated the game.
Details of Breath of the Wild's story remain very slim, but the trailer does hint that the main gameplay pushes back Link 100 years into the past to see "what happened." There's also scenes of Princess Zelda weeping under a dim downpour of rain, overlapped with a soundbite that suggests Zelda's efforts were for naught. Whatever those effort might be, along with what Link will find out, will be revealed come March.
Can't wait for the Breath of the Wild? Feel free to make predictions about the alternate ending in the comments section below!
