In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you're thrust into this vast, open world where you can do almost everything you think of. See a mountain? You can climb it. Want to kill Gannon right away? You'll get utterly destroyed but you can try it! See a camp of enemies that you don't know how to take on? Observe your environment and experiment with the tools at your disposal.
Since the game doesn't hold your hand and basically just says "Go!" with no directions, you may need some tips and tricks to help you fend for yourself. Although the game is more fun to play by just discovering all the things you can do, there's nothing wrong with getting a bit of help to get you started! Below you'll find some essential tips to help you survive the lands of Hyrule.
1. Search every inch of the map
While we don't recommend that you go explore every inch right away as you might put yourself in some perilous situations, it's wise to thoroughly search each every tree, rock, crevice, cave, and house in the areas you explore. This could give you life in a situation where death is certain. Not only should you do this when freely roaming, but you should take advantage of this in battle. Even if you feel you might not use a tree branch as a weapon when fighting enemies, you should pick it up off the battlefield because an enemy might beat you to death with it.
2. Do not underestimate your enemies
Typically in video games, AI are flawed and can come off as pretty stupid. In Breath of the Wild, they aren't flawless but they're pretty smart. Enemies use their environment to take you down, they cleverly aim their bow and arrows at you to hit you even when you're behind cover, even attacking them in certain ways might make them stronger. If you try to light them on fire, it could light their club on fire making them deadlier!
Some bosses you encounter will even pick up the average tree and swing or throw it at you. It's very wise to be aware of your surroundings when fighting enemies in Breath of the Wild and to carefully think out your attacks.
3. Learn to cook like a professional chef
Food and elixirs are a vital piece of Breath of the Wild. You'll make the most out of the food you find by cooking it and combining it with other foods to make dishes that give you a variety of benefits like stamina or health upgrades. You can cook foods by selecting the hold option on foods/ingredients in your inventory and dropping into one of the campfires that has a bowl over it. You can learn new recipes from talking to people or simply experimenting with different foods and finding the results. Of course, you can't combine apples with toenails and expect a good meal. If you mess up, you'll get a substantially weaker piece of food but it'll heal a heart or two in a pinch if you need it.
Food can also be cooked in a much simpler, less beneficial way by throwing it into a regular campfire or lighting it on fire with a torch or arrow. It'll cook things like meats so it gives you more health, but it won't create dishes that give you those extra benefits of stamina, weather resistance, etc..
In addition to all those benefits previously mentioned, depending on what you make, you can sell foods for a hefty price and become a rich man!
4. Everything is a weapon
Lots of your weapons will break over time, so you may need to scavenge around for whatever you can in between battles (or even during) to help you fight off enemies. Everything from a rock on the ground to a small breeze is your ally (or your enemy), you can use a big leaf to cause a small gust of wind that'll knock an enemy off a cliff or you can push a rock down a hill into a group of unsuspecting enemies. The world is your oyster, use it to your advantage.
5. If you think it, you can probably do it
There will be times where you need to really think outside the box. Realistically speaking, it probably isn't super outside the box but video games require a different kind of logic when playing them. Real life physics and logic typically don't apply because, at the end of the day, these worlds are created by people who spend years tirelessly making them as extraordinary as possible. Somehow, Nintendo has created this fantasy world in Breath of the Wild that feels life-like in terms of the rules of our world. You can cut down trees and make a makeshift raft, you can start a fire by striking flint with some metal, you can even complete puzzles in ways that they weren't meant to technically be completed in. The best part of Breath of the Wild is just discovering all the wonderful things you can do.
If you're looking to find Link's iconic Master Sword, click here to read our guide! For more The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild guides, stay tuned to GameZone!
