As we continue to move forward into the semester, our projects become more involved. For some this may be interviewing a large amount of WWU students in the hopes of collecting high quality data. Project 5 has come up with little to no resistance. We have begun the process of lining up interviews, as well as taking in depth notes on the lore of the five games we have chosen to look into. With that in mind, a few interesting bits of information have popped up during my lore run through of Breath of the Wild, the most recent in a long line of Legend of Zelda games. While exploring the lore, and how it is incorporated into the game, the very beginning of the game stood out to me.
I give fair warning. SPOILERS ABOUT LEGEND OF ZELDA BREATH OF THE WILD ARE BELOW. THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING. I AM NOT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY SPOILERS YOU DID NOT WANT.
In the first bit of the game, after the opening sequence, and the beginning tutorials, the player, Link, is met by the Old Man, who reveals himself to be King Rhoam. He ruled over Hyrule 100 years ago, before Calamity Ganon destroyed it. Long since dead, Rhoam lied in wait for Link to awaken, and provided an in depth expository explanation about the reason Hyrule is the way it is, unlike any of the other Zelda games so far. He explained that there was a vicious war, and that four of the most respected warriors in Hyrule, the Champions, had fallen. He also told of how Link had been defeated by Ganon’s forces, and how Zelda had placed him in the Shrine of Resurrection, in hopes that his light would shine upon Hyrule once more. In this expository scene, he detailed why Hyrule was as it was, and set Link up for the path the game developers suggest. That being to follow the roads beneath the Great Plateau east, towards one of the few remaining villages in Hyrule. After he had completed his task of helping Link find his bearings, King Rhoam of Hyrule passed on, with a final plea, asking Link to save Hyrule.
OK the spoilers are over now you can look again.
So far, most of the lore-telling in Breath of the Wild has happened through expository scenes that the player must encounter to complete the game. This is useful information when considering our next steps of the project. As we are now, the final project is on track and moving along.
Good detail on your observation. It will be interesting to see how you weave your observations in with your findings from the interviews.