The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Gameplay Features Combat And A Beautiful Hyrule

Hyrule has never looked better in this all-new gameplay demo for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Nintendo’s upcoming actioner that places Link and Co. in a vast, and ruddy beautiful, open world setting.

Hailing from The Game Awards 2016, last night proved to be a big one for the Big N’s action-adventure title, which beat out Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mass Effect: Andromeda and God of War to be named the Most Anticipated Game going into 2017. That’s quite the feat, though going off this new gameplay snippet, it’s not too difficult to see why. It’s not continuous, but we do get to see plenty of footage showing Link exploring stunning vistas and lush, diverse environments riddled with enemies ready to pounce.

Captured on the Wii U version of the game, this is seemingly from a never-before-seen area of Breath of the Wild – far away from the Plateau are showcased during E3 – where we’re introduced to picturesque towns, chatty NPCs and even airships. However that may be, it’s fair to say the Big N is remaining tight-lipped when it comes to the actual story.

It’s been a long time coming – a new Zelda was first teased alongside the Wii U in 2011, remember – but Breath of the Wild is finally beginning to take shape. Early on in development, Nintendo claimed this new installment would “re-think the conventions of Zelda.” Can it live up to those lofty expectations?

Still no word on an official release date just yet; all we know is that The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild will launch for both the Wii U and Nintendo Switch at some point next year.