The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Despite the fact that players have invested countless man hours into the game since launch, cool things are still being discovered - and the latest involves the title's realistic weather system.
As you'll be aware if you've been trying to scale some of Hyrule's lofty peaks, it rains a lot in Breath of the Wild. However, the rain isn't just there to make climbing harder - it also causes puddles to form in parts of the landscape.
One Reddit user decided to take a screenshot of the same location at four different times to show how puddles work in the game. During the storm the area covered by water is quite large and pond-like, but when it ends the liquid begins to vanish, soaking into the earth. When the sun comes out the water evaporates to the point that you'd wouldn't believe a puddle was ever there.
Little touches like this are what make this game such an amazing and immerse experience. Is this something you've noticed yourself, or, like us, did you not even realise until now how much thought and attention has gone into creating the world of Hyrule until you saw this sequence of images? Rain some comments in the section below to tell us.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 82
I hadn't noticed..... But cool.
Didn't notice, too busy trying to shoot dragons and NOT get what I need
One minor complaint I would lodge against the game is the amount of rain, there's way too much. Real pain when in the middle of climbing, even if you know it's coming.
It's little things like this that just adds up to cause a big smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart when I play.
@RedMageLanakyn
Agreed. It's also a pain when the rain keeps you from being able to rest by the fire.
To activate one shrine in particular, you're supposed to stand atop the shrine platform during a Blood Moon. I built a campfire by the shrine and rested for several days to trigger the Blood Moon, but on some days it just kept raining, rendering me unable to start the fire back. I eventually just gave up the shrine quest for the time being, as it got too annoying.
BotW is a great game overall, but I do wish the rain were either less frequent or didn't interfere so much with core gameplay mechanics.
It's your own fault for lying when you were 17.
@Not_Soos I had that same problem with the blood moon shrine and found a relatively simple solution. If you go to twin peaks stable, there's a guy there named Hilo who will tell you the moon cycles. If he says something like "I can feel it, the moon is different tonight", that's your cue to fast travel to the pedestal before midnight. If it's raining you can sleep at the Inn, or otherwise at the campfire.
Am I the only one that likes the effect of getting struck by lightening
While it may be cool and realistic that Link can't climb in the rain, it's a poor gameplay mechanic. All it does is force you to sit around and wait. That's never good in a game. It could be easily mitigated too. The climber set bonus should have been "surefooted" allowing you to climb in the rain anyway. The stamina bonus is cool, but surpassing the rain would have been better.
The puddle thing is certainly cool, I hadn't noticed that.
That's really cool. While waiting for rain sucks, it adds so much realism to the game, and the campfires that you can make to skip the rain kind of stop it from being a problem.
@Nintendo_Ninja The rain puts out campfires.
Tell me which looks more realistic. That? Or this?
Wave Race Blue Storm. Every single rain droplet gets a ripple in the water. Even during heavy rain and choppy waves. Even with reflections from the scenery. Even with crashing waves in lightning storms. No slow down. A fricking GameCube game has on par or better water graphics and physics compared to a brand new game. You want to show off realistic water, Nintendo? Bring back Wave Race.
Had just noticed it last night, and incidentally in the exact same spot as in the images above, too! Lol. Thought the same thing: "How cool is that!?"
@RedMageLanakyn Ahh, sweet, thank you. I was hoping someone would tell me an easier method.
That's cool.
What would be really cool though is if the game that is selling like gangbusters and getting rave reviews had an ample supply of the amiibo to go along with it. I realize most of the amiibo don't do all that much, but some, like the Guardian, are very cool looking, and Wolf Link gives you the Wolf companion. My wife was in the Nintendo NY store today and they told her they weren't getting any more of the Wolf Link in. People will be getting a Switch this holiday, and Zelda, and might like those amiibo. My nephew is getting the Switch and Zelda for his birthday this Sunday, the amiibo were for him. Probably just get him Snipperclips instead.
Alot of people hate the rain for being an inconvenience.............well welcome to nature buddy. The weather waits for no man. Does it suck? Yes. Does it put out fire and make climbing walls nearly impossible? yes. Should Breath of the Wild have rain at all? Yes. As the world is suppose to be 1 giant obstacle for Link, and nothing is a bigger obstacle then having rain pour down at the worst possible moments.
I agree too much rain. But I hadn't noticed that before. Still love the game to death.
@PlywoodStick Is it a game about rain?
@Setery10 as long as it's not me getting struck
@Mii_duck nice Travis reference.
@Not_Soos I hope this isn't too spoiler-y for that shrine, but you can just go there on the night of the blood moon, you don't have to be there when it happens
I have no problem with the rain. I think it balances Link's impossible climbing skill nicely. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that I can climb anything and anywhere, but it's quite an overpowered skill, tbh. The rain forces me to re-arrange my plans, get creative, find another way, or do something else, come back later. It's not like there isn't anything else you can do in Hyrule while waiting for the rain in a certain area to stop.
I had only one instance so far where I really cursed the weather system: Needed to scale a wall for a Korok challange. At the bottom the forecast showed sunny for the next three hours, once I was half way up the wall, there must have been an area border, and the forecast display switched to all rain, and I started to slip. Back at the bottom it was all sunny again... So I couldn't even plan when to start, and basically it came down to luck. THAT was a bit unfair, but other than that I think it only adds to the game that there are (temporary) limits to how far you can go with your "climbing superpower".
Another cool little touch in the game.
I wouldn't mind the rain if there were more sheltered areas around where you could make a fire and wait it out. Mountains don't really have many caves or anything to speak of, so if you're midway up a large mountain and it starts raining, you're out of luck unless you can find an alternate route, or are lucky enough to find a ledge or something to build a fire under.
@rushiosan Well, BotW is indeed about more than water, but it's still funny that an over 15 year old GameCube launch title has on par or better water graphics and physics than a brand new open world game...
@Danpal65 Cool, thank you. No worries, I'm not overly sensitive about minor Zelda spoilers in a game with hundreds of hours of content like most people are. Besides, I already know what I need to do, so being told a quicker and less tedious route is greatly appreciated.
A bit unrelated, but am I the only one who needed help finding his way through the Yiga fort? How to get to the boss outside didn't seem very obvious to me.
@PlywoodStick The Gamecube has some flawless-looking masterpieces like Wind Waker and Star Wars: RS 2. I completely agree with you.
'immerse' is not an adjective
I'd knock the game for having too much rain but then I'd be IGN. Also, it's only natural and realistic that you can't climb during the rain. You can usually see it coming on your weather forecast thing in the corner. Personally, I have a bunch of wood with me, look for a place to make a campfire and sit there until the rain stopped. Sure, it can be annoying but where's the fun in always having it your way?
I didn't notice this. So these pools of water presumably don't show up as water on the map screen?
@GoldenGamer88 Now that you mention it, I'm shocked IGN didn't dock points for that.
" BotW 7.8/10 - Too much rain, not enough receding puddles, and lots of Pokemon 3rd gen flashbacks."
This little detail made me really happy. This game really is just a fun sandbox to explore within. I slowly am understanding all those people who say the main character of the game is infact Hyrule itself or whatever.
To people complaining rain puts out fires, find shelter. Even a place where a rock curves out a bit, literally hug the wall when you drop your wood to make a fire. I rarely am unable to find ANYWHERE to set up a fire.
Though there was ONE instance where I was in an area surrounded with bottomless swamp and it started thunder storming - the way back was a metal box getting pummeled with lightning and the way forward was a flat incline I needed to climb. I literally had to just sit and wait. But that was one moment out of over 130 hours.
I like it how many people hate the Rain, yet they don't seem to realize it's part of one of the most interesting elements in the game.
Comments lesson summary: If you hate the rain in the game you aren't trying hard enough. Try all sorts of stuff. That's a huge part of this game.
@Not_Soos why don't you make a fit under the big tree thing that Kass is standing on in that area? You can start a fine underneath that because it's sheltered from the rain.
@Not_Soos. Sorry, fire...... not fit.
Wow...
If Animal Crossing Switch can implement those realistic weather system, OMG...
@Not_Soos I just built the campfire on top of the tree, under the hut right next to the diary, worked for me even on rainy days
Man Nintendo sure thinks of every thing. Props Nintendo.
Nice I suppose, but I often felt that while I was playing, I wished less time and effort went into the physics and weather engine, and more time went into making substantial content. One thing they nailed though is the combat. Simple controls, but fun and very engaging, at least when the frame rate doesn't drop to single digits or halt altogether during more intense fights.
In short, realism isn't necessarily fun, and it's not like the game isn't full of unrealistic elements as well.
You can still make it up many surfaces even with the rain.Cliffs are out of the question but many other surfaces are still manageable.After 4 climbing motions jump up ,you'll slip down a bit,then after 4 more,jump again.Just need to make sure you don't slip before jump or you'll never make it.Also let your stamina go right down to the bottom and your last jump is double the height.Make sure you have climbing gear on too as that little extra speed can make all the difference between making it or not.
@RedMageLanakyn Yeah that's one of my only major complaints, too. I got stuck in two separate rainstorms while in the middle of doing one of the hardest towers in the game (in Akkala Citadel Ruins), and there's not really much you can do other than just kind of stand around for ten minutes (or abandon what you're doing, which is super lame after spending 20 minutes getting halfway up some high precipice).
@Mii_duck But, that's not fair, even the sun is shinning I can't avoid the lightning.
@PlywoodStick The advantage Wave Race has, of course, is that there's literally nothing else going on in any of those scenes. It's easy to make the water look good when it's the only thing in the game.
I was trying to swim across a stream and I couldn't help but think that it seemed like the water was deeper, faster, and over taking the shoreline...and that it wasn't like that before rain started. this is by far the best open world game I've played. And it's on Wii U, which everyone said couldnt play something like this.
Well, every open world game I've played on my pc/PS3/4 have all has technical issues of varying degrees, and they were much much worse then anything I've expierenecd on either version of this game.
OMG Nintendolife! Stop with all the spoilers!!
j/k.
I like that the moon goes through all the phases waxing and waning. Very neat.
@DanElectrode
I don't know why people feel the need to rip on older Nintendo games to try to make current ones seem better. The draw distance and resolution clearly aren't as good on the Gamecube game, but there's alot going on in the game. Go play it before you rip on it.
@DanElectrode If I had to play the game over again I think the first thing I would do would be the Akkala Divine Beast, just for the ability you get from it alone. I did that one last not knowing what it would give me. Would've saved a lot of climbing that's for sure.
@aaronsullivan I found ways around it, like I described above. They do give you a warning system which is nice too. If anything it was mildly annoying until I maxed out the stamina wheels, now i just brute force my way up a cliff, or fast travel somewhere higher.
@RedMageLanakyn Yeah I'll definitely get Revali's Gale first on any future playthroughs.
@cleveland124 I wasn't ripping it, just saying there's a lot more going on in Zelda's massive overworld to consume the consoles resources versus Wave Race, where rendering the water is a much more central concern (and I own both Wave Race games, FWIW).
@DanElectrode Logically, a game that fully utilizes hardware based on late 1990's technology should not be even close to holding a candle in any aspect whatsoever to a game that fully utilizes technology from the late 2000's. No matter what is going on in the game. However, Nintendo does not operate using logic.
Since you own the games yourself, you also know that they look a lot better in motion than in still images, especially using component cables. Using 4K internal resolution in Dolphin only furthers the realization of how ahead of their time the Wave Race series was.
@Not_Soos You can hide under the mushroom rock looking trees and make a fire there. The rain falls like real life so finding shelter under any large structure will keep you and the fire dry.
@Alshain01 You can climb in rain. You just have to pay attention to how Link climbs. It will cost you over 2x the usual stamina drain, but depending on how much climbing gear you have, you can take a couple "steps" up a climb then jump. You'll slide back down, but you will have made forward progress when just trying to climb without jumping would usually be in vain.
@DatFunkySmell Yeah but if it's a particularly steep/long climb you will need to eat a stamina filler several times where not raining you wouldn't have to eat at all. So in those cases it's simpler just to wait on the rain... which is a bad game mechanic. So your solution to the bad game mechanic is worse than the bad game mechanic.
@PlywoodStick I totally hope they bring back Wave Race and I secretly think this will be an E3 announcement (fingers crossed!!).... but you can't seriously compare the graphics in that to Zelda. But yes, it was fantastic. On a separate but related note, I much preffered the 64 style over Blue Storm, but obviously graphically it improved woth Blue Storm.
@FTL For everything not water related, there's no comparison. (Obviously, ten years of hardware apart. ) But yeah, BotW's water graphics and physics are not a clear winner over Wave Race Blue Storm. And yes, I also feel more fondly about WR64 than BLSt, not to mention WR64's water physics were far more impressive circa 1996!
@Alshain01 I have never been stopped by rain, nor have I ever needed to eat stamina food once I got more than 1 stamina wheel. It's not a bad mechanic. It's a sudden, unexpected challenge; but one that can always be circumvented. Considering that the entire game is about being able to think up a solution on the fly, the sudden rain only adds to that. Beat the Rito Divine Beast, if the rain is that bad.
@DatFunkySmell Sit around and wait is a bad game mechanic... period. Always has been, always will be. Many have tried it, and it always is terrible. If you think it can always be circumvented, you haven't done a lot of climbing.
@Alshain01 I've played for over 190 hours according to my Switch profile. I have found and completed 108/120 shrines, 300/900 Korok seeds, and have been to the peak of every mountain in the game. I have climbed EVERYTHING. I only got the full set of climbing gear 2 days ago. I did it the hard way and never felt wronged by the rain. I just powered through it or thought of a way around it.
@DatFunkySmell I'm on my second runthrough, this time alone I have 750 Korok seeds. I did Necluda before getting the Zora armor (in fact I just got it a few hours ago). I've gone after every hidden chest that my Shiekah Sensor + detected (Minor spoiler, you can detect chests with Shiekah Sensor+... and it makes the game a heck of a lot easier on rupees). I'm pretty sure you haven't climbed everything, certainly not as much as I have.
It's funny, I'm almost 30 hours into the game and I have not had a single rain yet or a thunderstorm. I have seen fog, sandstorms and snowfall though and snowballs which have the most awesome physics ever. This game is so great. I'm happy if there weren't any other games coming this year to any other platform. I'm quite busy with Breath of the Wild for a loooong time to the future.
The attention to detail in this game is just stellar. I really didn't expect it.
@Kolzig,
It may depend on the time of the day, when you are playing. I for example had lots of rain. Also there are parts where it constantly rains on purpose. Maybe you haven't been in those areas yet.
@Alshain01 Geez, okay. I don't know how you can make that assumption that I haven't climbed everything. For someone who has done SO MUCH, it's really weird that you're still struggling with water. I don't use the Sheikah Sensor + because it ruins my experience and really don't appreciate your condescending attitude. I beat the game long ago and am not trying to find all the Korok seeds. Nor do I have anything else to prove to you. You complained about the rain and labeled it a "bad mechanic". All you've really proven is that you haven't really learned much at all about how to play the game effectively.
The "hidden' chests are behind obvious bomb walls and under most bodies of water. No Sheikah Sensor + required.
@Kolzig The Eastern half of the map is where it rains the most. Sounds like you've been exploring West.
@Henmii @datfunkysmell Yes, that sounds quite correct, I've been only on the west side so far. I haven't followed the story at all yet.
@DatFunkySmell Not being condescending, just letting you know if you haven't gone after all the Koroks, you haven't climbed everything. There are a lot of places that the story doesn't take you to.
The rain itself is not a bad mechanic, the sit around and wait is a bad mechanic.
@Alshain01 I'm not going after all the koroks. If I find them, great. But I'm looking for shrines, bosses, and anything else that might catch my eye. Tall things fall into that list of stuff. I've climbed everything. Not having 700+ korok seeds is not indicative of that considering most of them are under rocks.
@DatFunkySmell Rocks... sitting on top of tall peaks... that you haven't climbed.
@Alshain01 Because every Korok seed is on top of a mountain, right? At this point, you're insulting me. The rain is an obstacle to overcome. Get good at climbing. Bye.
@DatFunkySmell Oh no! I insulted some random guy on the internet, whatever shall I do?
It's a bad game mechanic Nintendo should avoid in the future to make their games better. Try doing some climbing in the game and you will understand.
I hadn't noticed this, but that's freaking awesome.
@Alshain01 There's been once or twice that I've felt put out that I couldn't climb some sheer cliff at the moment because it was raining, but typically it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I could see the argument for it perhaps not being the best gameplay decision Nintendo could have made, but when compared to previous gaffs like unskippable dialogue, pointless controller waggling and ... just... FREAKING FI.... Yeah, I'll deal with a few inconvenient rainstorms any day.
@WaxxyOne I'm not saying it's a game breaker or anything. It's just something that could use improvement. Earlier I said a good way to fix the problem without taking away the feature was to make a set bonus that could circumvent it. That way, after collecting the right items, you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
@Not_Soos you know you can set a camp fire under the big tree and the rain won't put it out.
To all the people complaining about the rain, no its not bad game design. Detox the conditioning and learned heplesness of gamerbrain syndrome programmed into you from the last decade plus of terrible game design from the worst generation and start thinking again.
There is like half a dozen ways to get up a mountain when its raining, plenty of which dont include climbing at all and can be busted out in some variation or another almost anywhere or anytime.
Same thing for lighting a fire.
Oh its raining the woods getting wet so you cant light it? Well what would you do in real life? Would you just sit there like a hepless moron?
Todays gamers would. Your dissapointed predecessors, would not.
As your video game predecessor, I would like to say I am not disappointed in those that don't want a hurry up and wait game mechanic. And I am not disappointed in you for wanting games to continue to get better than I had with my Atari 2600 as a child.
@Alshain01 You've been ignored.
@Alshain01
Or you know... you could just Get Good at climbing or finding another way up the mountains or towers.
Your argument and solution is the equivalent of asking for some rediculoud game breaking buff.
Oh no I can't kill Lynels!!! Nintendo should nerf them or I'll have to walk around them.. or make me gear that's impervious to Lynel attacks. Or you know... I could learn to use the games mechanics (shield bash, dodging, other methods) to defeat them for their loot and gear. Just saying.
@DatFunkySmell Ok then. If you think you are hurting my feelings, you aren't.
@CR33D Not even close to the same thing. One is a matter of skill, the other is a matter of sitting around and waiting after getting halfway up a cliffside. There is no way to get better at climbing in the rain other than more stamina.
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