The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 2017  action-adventure game  developed and published by  Nintendo  for the  Nintendo Switch  and  Wii U  consoles. The game is an installment of  The Legend of Zelda  series and is set at the end of  its timeline . The player controls an amnesiac  Link , who awakens from a hundred-year slumber, and attempts to regain his memories, save princess  Zelda  and prevent the further destruction of  Hyrule  by  Calamity Ganon . Similar to the original 1986  Legend of Zelda , players are given minimal instruction and can explore the  open world  freely. Tasks include collecting various items and gear to aid in objectives such as puzzle-solving or side quests. The world features minimal structure and is designed to encourage exploration and experimentation, and the main story quest can be completed in a  nonlinear  fashion. Development of  Breath of the Wild  took place over five years, following the responses from some fans who wanted a larger game world to explore. Wanting to rethink the conventions of the series, Nintendo introduced elements such as detailed chemistry and  physics engines .  Monolith Soft , known for their work on the open world  Xenoblade Chronicles  series, assisted in designing landscapes and topography. The game was originally planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U exclusive but was delayed twice. Released on March 3, 2017,  Breath of the Wild  was a  launch game  for the Nintendo Switch and the final Nintendo-published game for the Wii U. Two waves of  downloadable content  were released in 2017 via an expansion pass. Breath of the Wild  received universal acclaim, with praise for its open-ended gameplay, open world design, and attention to detail, although it received minor criticism for its technical performance at launch. It won several  Game of the Year  awards and has since been cited as one of the  greatest video games of all time .  Breath of the Wild  is also the top selling game in the series and one of the  best-selling video games of all time , selling more than 27 million copies by 2022. A spin-off,  Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity , was released in 2020. A sequel,  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , is scheduled for 2023.