Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - tråden

Hello. I'm Fujibayashi, Director of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
From now until June 30, we plan to update this site daily with information related to DLC Pack 1, which can only be purchased as part of the Expansion Pass. The Master Trials pack includes new armor you can acquire by finding the right chests.
In this first post, I’ll be discussing the Korok Mask.

The Korok Mask is styled after the appearance of Koroks in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker game, which was originally released in 2002 on the Nintendo GameCube™ system and then remastered for the HD remake on Wii U™ in 2013.

Koroks are hiding all over Hyrule in this game, and the Korok Mask is a new item deeply related to these hidden creatures.
There are many suspicious locations in this vast world of Hyrule. So during development, we started saying things like, "It would be fun to discover something if it were placed at a location like this, don't you think?" Initially, we placed some random rocks in spots like these, just as an experiment.

<i>Can you guess the original concept behind this stone object? You can find the answer at the end of this post.</i>
But as development continued, we concluded that simply placing rocks somewhere isn't intriguing or challenging enough to be rewarding, even if you were to find them. Instead, we suggested hiding some small creatures there for the finding. So that's how these Koroks, who would normally only live in Korok Forest, ended up scattered across remote areas of Hyrule.
Now, let's get back to the Korok Mask. It isn't something that exists simply to give you a taste of the Korok life when wore. If you walk by a hidden Korok while wearing it, it will actually shake to clue you in about it! This mask will help you find many hidden Koroks, so I hope you will enjoy using it.

<i>That stone object was actually the pedestal where the Master Sword was located in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii™.</i>

Hello. I'm Iwamoto, Assistant Director of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
With DLC Pack 1, The Master Trials, you can acquire the armor of a Phantom (this DLC is only available through the purchase of the Expansion Pass).

Depending on your experience with the series, some of you may be wondering, "What's a Phantom?" Well, Phantoms are a type of knight appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks games for the Nintendo DS™ system. In those games, the mysterious armor they wear does not take damage when attacked from the front.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was called a "stylus action adventure game" in Japan, but at the beginning of development, one of our initial ideas was to include a type of gameplay that would let you sort of play tag with unbeatable enemies in dungeons. In the finished game, Link would actually die with just one attack from a Phantom, so it required Link to advance through The Temple of the Ocean King by hiding from them and sometimes using traps to his advantage. Come to think of it, that's somewhat similar to his relationship with Guardians, isn't it?

Phantoms also appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and this time, Zelda could possess them and solve puzzles alongside Link! Seeing a hefty Phantom act like a princess was a pretty funny sight at the time.

This time, Link can dress as a Phantom, and the armor you get in this game has the same look as the Phantoms that Zelda possessed in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks! If you wear this Phantom armor in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it will increase Link's attack power.
In addition to the Phantom, there are other armors based on previous The Legend of Zelda game characters, such as Tingle and Midna. We'll go over those in our posts tomorrow and Wednesday.

Hello. I'm Takizawa, Art Director of The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild.
In DLC Pack 1: The Master Trials, players can find Midna's Helmet in one of the chests hidden in the world (this DLC is only available through the purchase of the Expansion Pass).

Midna appeared in the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game for Wii™ and Nintendo GameCube™, and she played an important role as Link's partner. On the Wolf Link amiibo™ figure (which was released alongside the Wii U remake of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), she's perching on Wolf Link.

Creating a "buddy" character who would stay next to Link at all times and battle in tandem with him was a first for a Legend of Zelda game. The challenge started with brainstorming among designers for ideas, and we eventually finalized this character through a trial-and-error process for her shape, facial expressions, actions, etc.
In early prototypes, as a placeholder for Midna, Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was riding on Wolf Link as he ran around Hyrule.


<i>How does Midna show emotion? We fine-tuned her facial expressions over and over.</i>
There was a secret project we were considering working on before The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii, and Midna inherited the character profile for the "goblin/devilkin" character that would have been featured in that project. Looking back at the development notes from that time, there are some descriptions left on the notes clearly reminiscent of Midna, including "the appearance looks like a monster or a child," "can't tell if she's enemy or ally," "can't really tell what she's thinking," "sometimes selfish, but sometimes cute and naïve." That's why initial design sketches for Midna looked a lot like this "goblin" character.


The actual Midna's Helmet was the physical manifestation of extremely powerful shadow magic passed onto the royal family of an alternate world, but when Link equips it in the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game, it will add "Guardian Resist Up" to Link's defense. This will give Link more armor options when facing Guardians, so I hope you will utilize it well. My recommendation is to use this Helmet while exploring the world with Wolf Link!

Tomorrow, Ms. Shirakawa who worked on the game design will passionately talk about the outfit of 35-year-old man who wanted to be a fairy.

Sav'aaq! I'm Shirakawa, game designer for The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild. In this title, I worked mainly on NPC and field-event designs.
Today, I would like to talk about Tingle's Outfit, which you can acquire by finding one of the chests offered in the DLC pack 1, The Master Trials. (This DLC is available only through the purchase of the Expansion Pass. Full version of the game is required to use this DLC.)


Tingle first appeared in the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask game for the Nintendo 64™ console, and he has since appeared in a variety of other games. He became popular (?) enough to star as the main character in some games (originally launched in Japan and Europe). He's even got a whole website dedicated to him (website in Japanese)!
I remember how shocked I was—shocked right down to my bones!—when I first saw Tingle.
I thought "he's such an unsettling character...but...he's also so adorable..." When I started thinking about it, I realized that sometimes hate can slowly turn into love. If you didn’t care about someone at all, you wouldn’t feel “love” or “hate” for him…

I'm sure there are people out there who "hate" Tingle. However, if you hate him, that means you must "care" about him a little bit! And THAT means your feelings toward him might change, in time. Which is why we developed a game featuring him as the main character!
Tingle's not your typical Nintendo character, and if we wanted to create a game with him as the main character, then we were going to make him do and say things typical Nintendo characters would never do! That's the goal we set for ourselves, and it was...very...challenging. But one thing is clear: Tingle made his mark on the world of Hyrule, and now Link is dressing up as Tingle! I'm so proud!
When you wear all 3 pieces of Tingle's Outfit together, they grant you the "Night Speed-Up" effect. So please try on Tingle’s Oufit and run around at night.
Tomorrow, the series director, Aonuma, will talk about The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Hello, I'm Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild.

DLC pack 1, The Master Trials will finally be released tomorrow, and today, I'm going to introduce you the final piece of equipment, Majora's Mask. (This DLC is available only through the purchase of the Expansion Pass. Full version of the game is required to use this DLC.)





The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was originally released for Nintendo 64™, and the remake was released for Nintendo 3DS™. Majora's Mask is the scary, cursed mask mentioned in the game's title.



When the development team started discussing including armor items associated with previous The Legend of Zelda games, I was the first one to speak up: "Please add Majora's Mask!"

When you acquire this mask in the Master Trials and equip it, it has the effect of making minor enemies like Bokoblins, Moblins, and Stal enemies think that Link is part of their group, so that they won't attack Link. (Although Kilton might complain: "You're hurting my business!" ) If you're not good at combat, I recommend you try this mask out.


<i>"We're all friends!"</i>

The mask's design is true to the original, but its size was been modified many times to match the size of Link, as if he's Skull Kid wearing Majora's Mask. It looks even more creepy at night... But don't worry—the moon will not fall in this game.



OK, tomorrow is the release day. The director for DLC, Tominaga, will update this post next.

Hello. I'm Tominaga, a game designer. I am also the director of The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass.



Finally, DLC Pack 1, The Master Trials has been released! This pack offers content that'll be enjoyable for those who are currently playing the game AND for those who already beat the game and are currently taking a break. It's available for purchase at the Nintendo eShop.

From Trials of the Sword to Hero's Path Mode, I can recommend everything included in this pack to you. However, if I had to pick just one feature, then my recommendation would be the second playthrough in Master Mode, where enemies are ranked up and represent much tougher challenges.

Master Mode is not just a harder difficulty mode. It also includes enemies that don't appear in the normal mode, and it offers you a new gameplay experience. In order to advance the story in Master Mode, your skills and knowledge gained by playing the normal mode will definitely be useful. It's extremely fun to blast through Master Mode while fully utilizing my past experiences!


<i>In Master Mode, some enemies and chests are located in midair! You may even be able to restore your Stamina Wheel if you use it wisely.</i>

Also, even if you've already beaten the game once, there must be many things you didn't notice or see before in the vast world of Hyrule. I recommend changing the order in which you visit locations like towns and villages in the second playthrough—it might give you a different impression. Above all, I hope you will enjoy the world of Hyrule even more.

Lastly, we are currently working very hard to deliver you DLC Pack 2, called The Champions' Ballad, this holiday.

When you purchase The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass, you will get access to both DLC Pack 1 and Pack 2 (when it releases). We are hard at work on DLC Pack 2 right now, making sure you can explore this world even longer, so please stay tuned.

Now, please go enjoy The Master Trials!