The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, our intrepid hero struggles not to starve to death while managing 5 different stables.

Prerelease Info

Unused Areas and Hidden Objects#

On both platforms, unused flowers can be found out of bounds inside the Great Deku Tree (which has a partially modeled room) and underneath the Yiga Clan Hideout. It's possible these were either an easter egg by the developers or a way of marking areas to test in the development process.

Another thing that can be seen outside the boundaries is in the Test of Strength shrines, where an enormous pit/room seems to be located underneath the floor. This room extends past the walls of the arena and connecting rooms above ground, and is sometimes separated from the main playing area by another layer of small pits and walls the player can walk through.

There's also a room behind the locked door at the top of Hyrule Castle. However, this door never opens in normal gameplay, so the purpose of the room behind it is unknown.

Finally, the pit Master Kohga falls into actually does have a bottom modeled, complete with textures. However, the player is never able to see all the way into this pit, nor access it in any way.

The area outside of the Major Test of Strength + shrine in DLC Pack 2 also has a ton of unused rooms and content outside of the boundaries. For instance, there's a gigantic empty chamber underneath the floor, in which going near the back wall causes Link to infinitely die and respawn. There are also two large areas filled with water to the left and right of the start and 'end' rooms, another layer of empty space underneath the floor (with openings into said rooms), as well as various pits of water between these areas that Link cannot escape from.

Mount Agaat is fully modeled with collision in most places too, despite being at a location players can't actually visit or climb due to the edge of the world barrier. What's more, there are various plateaus and walkable areas behind the mountain too, which the player would normally have no way of seeing due to the aforementioned barrier. This may imply the developers intended the player to be able to explore this area at one point in development.

Interestingly, the one place this mountain doesn't have collision is the summit, which despite being modeled, cannot be walked on for more than about 20 feet. Given that every other area can indeed be walked on (including the plateaus and mountainsides at the very edge of the map), it's unknown why this is the case.

Usually, unseen plants can also be found out of bounds near the Lakeside Stable, in the water layer underneath Hyrule. Presumably, these were placed there for the developers to move somewhere else later on, and they didn't remember to delete/move them when the time came to do so.

Additionally, the cliffs to the west of Rito Village also seem to have full collision too. These areas can not only be explored on foot as Link, but used to summon your horse or the Master Cycle Zero, or to place down the Travel Medallion for a future shortcut. Given that you can't usually even see these areas (let alone get past the invisible walls to visit them), it's unknown why they're explorable or even fully modeled like this.

Unused Graphics#

Alternate Icons#

Razorclaw Crab Used Unused	Ironshell Crab Used Unused	Bright-Eyed Crab Used Unused
Rushroom Used Unused	Octo Balloon Used Unused	Unknown Lower Equipment Icon 1 Icon 2 Icon 3

Album#

Yorozuya KaiwaThe original file, control codes and all.

Translation#

Com_Talk_12
Welcome to Prized Possessions.
Feel free to take your time!

Com_Talk_13
You wanna sell some Shop_SelectItemName? How many?

Com_Talk_14
I can give you ShopTradePrice Rupees for Shop_TradeItemNum Shop_SelectItemName. Deal?

5500
Yes

Com_Talk_15
Sorry, I can't buy that right now.

5501
No

Com_Talk_16
You might want to take that off before you try to sell it to me.

5502
Buy

5503
Quit

5504
Buy something

5505
Sell something

Com_Talk_20
Adventuring can be a struggle, even in weather like this. せっかくだし と取っておきをなら並べるよ！

5506
Quit

Com_Talk_50
You wanna buy Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? That'll be ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

5507
Buy all

Com_Talk_51
Shop_SelectItemName, eh? How many do you want?

5508
Sell all

Com_Talk_52
For Shop_TradeItemNum Shop_SelectItemName, the total comes to ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_53
Huh, that's a shame. It's quality stuff.

Com_Talk_54
Hey, now. Doesn't look like you have enough Rupees!

Com_Talk_55
I just noticed that it looks like you're already carrying a lot of stuff. Get rid of some or sell it to me!

Com_Talk_02b
You're doing me a favor... Thanks, pal.

Com_Talk_56
Just one Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? That'll be ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_02c
Thanks!

Com_Talk_05b
Take your time deciding.

Com_Talk_00
Which will you sell me?

Com_Talk_02d
Alright. I'll ask again another time

Com_Talk_05c
Alright. か買いと取りなら まかせてくれ！

Com_Talk_01
You're selling Shop_SelectItemName? I'll buy it for ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_05d
What are you selling?

Com_Talk_11b
Alright. Thanks!

Com_Talk_30
You wanna sell Shop_TradeItemNum Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? I'll give you ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_02
Cheers, pal. You selling anything else?

Com_Talk_11c
Be sure to stop by again sometime.

Com_Talk_31
You're in the market for Shop_SelectItemName? How many?

Com_Talk_60
Shop_SelectItemName? That'll be Shop_SelectItemPrice Rupees.

Com_Talk_03
Something else I can help you with?

Com_Talk_11d
Come again!

Com_Talk_61
Oh, that's a shame. Don't forget to take a look at what else I've got!

Com_Talk_04
Oh, that's too bad.

Com_Talk_33
Just the one Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? That'll be ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_05
I'll buy anything!

Com_Talk_34
You want every Shop_SelectItemName I've got, yeah? That'll be ShopTradePrice Rupees for all Shop_TradeItemNum. Deal?

Com_Talk_06
Which do you want to buy?

Com_Talk_35
You wanna sell all Shop_TradeItemNum Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? I'll give you ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_07
Sorry, pal. I'm out of stock right now.

Com_Talk_36
Looks like we're done here, then. Thanks for spending so much!

Com_Talk_08
Looks like you don't have enough Rupees. Stop by again after you've earned a few more.

Com_Talk_37
I don't have anything left to sell you today. Thanks for spending so much! You wanna take a look at what I have on backorder?

Com_Talk_09
Looks like your pouch is full. Sell or get rid of something, and come back when you have some space.

Com_Talk_10
You wanna buy Shop_SelectItemName, yeah? That'll be ShopTradePrice Rupees. Deal?

Com_Talk_11
Come again!

System Text#

\System\BuildTime.txt#

To do: Check the update data for both platforms and the switch kiosk demo

This file is present in the EU and JP Wii U versions of the game, but not the US Wii U release or the Switch release. The former two share the same build time.

Dec 26 2016 11:29:08

The Wii U 1.1.0 version (title version: v33) has the following build time:

Feb 21 2017 21:58:59

System/BuildTime.txt does not exist in Switch 1.0.0 or 1.5.0 and likely does not exist in any public Switch release.

\System\RegionLangMask.txt#

This language config file contains some untranslated developer comments.

Original:

# シャープで始まる行はコメントとみなされます。（途中からコメントはダメ）
# 1行目がリージョンと言語のフィルタ（スペース区切り）
# JPja USen USes USfr USpt EUen EUes EUfr EUde EUit EUpt EUnl EUru KRko CNzh TWzh
# 2行目がRomType。2行目がなければRomTypeは空文字列になる

Translation:

# Lines that begin with a sharp are regarded as comments. (No leaving comments in the middle.)
# The first line is a region and language filter. (Demarcated by a space.)
# JPja USen USes USfr USpt EUen EUes EUfr EUde EUit EUpt EUnl EUru KRko CNzh TWzh
# The second line is the RomType. If there isn't a second line, the RomType will be an empty string.

There are two extra (and not commented-out) lines in the Switch version:

After commented line three:

JPja USen USes USfr EUen EUes EUfr EUde EUit EUnl EUru

After commented line four:

Normal

Miscellaneous Content#

Unobtainable Chests#

To do: Expand with info from this video.

There are three chests in the game that are unobtainable by normal means. The Sheikah Sensor+ will detect them, but they are either out of bounds or stuck in place. All three can be obtained via glitches or, in the Aris Beach chest's case, using stasis on the chest and knocking another object into it.

• Hateno Village [contents: Purple Rupee]: This chest is detected in front of the inn in Hateno Village, but it's nowhere to be seen. It's possible that this chest was accidentally positioned below the terrain, causing it to fall into the void as soon as it spawns.
• Aris Beach [contents: Opal]: In the ocean to the east of Aris Beach there's one chest that's buried into the ground, but unlike other such chests cannot be pulled up with Magnesis. However, it can be dislodged by stasising it knocking another object into it.
• Rassla Lake [contents: Royal Shield]: Similar to Hateno Village, there's a chest detected in Rassla Lake which is nowhere to be seen and probably suffers the same fate as its brother.

Misplaced Objects#

For some reason, there's a single Shock Arrow located many miles above the Southern Oasis, at position -3835.04, 2000.00, 3593.62. This is not only ridiculously high in the sky, but so far up there that the game's height limit/ceiling usually stops you reaching it, with the only known ways to obtain the item being to use glitches or hacks to bypass said limit.

There's also a duplicate of the One-Hit Obliterator that endlessly falls near Vah Ruta. This cannot be collected, since it will always act like the 'dormant' version found in the Shrine of Resurrection when interacted with.

Unused Enemy Attributes#

Presumably, due to them being based off a similar template, all enemies have in-game flags set for whether they can be damaged by Urbosa's Fury, falling long distances, or falling into hazards like water, mud, and lava.

These include both overworld and story bosses, enemies found inside certain shrines (like Test of Strength Guardians), etc. For instance, Monk Maz Koshia takes fall damage at a rate of 5HP/meter if the player somehow let him fall over 999km, and dies instantly if he falls into the lava. ²

Interestingly, these attributes also include ones for Dark Beast Ganon beam damage (GanonBeam-Small/Medium/Large/Hugee respectively). However, no enemies can ever appear in the battle with Ganon, and the vast majority don't even spawn when in the last boss mode. Yet they're all flagged to die instantly if hit with the beam, implying the setup for the final boss may have been different early in development.

Unused Shield Bonus#

There's an unused bonus that shields can get called 'Shield Surf Up', which reduces a shield's friction. This isn't available via normal means, but can be gotten with the Weapon Modifier Corruption glitch.

Unused Test NPC#

Test_Npc_Umii_Hylia_M_Normal_Middle.sbeventpack contains an event related to a removed NPC testing dialogue options. Link is given a choice of 4 options which then results in the NPC allowing Link to provide a choice of another 4 dialogue options. What the NPC is asking Link and what Link answers is unknown as the text has been removed, but if it still existed the text file would have been known as Test_Npc_UMii_Common_M_00.

Oddities#

Breakable Chests#

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this. Specifically: Need images of said key items and armour

For whatever reason, it's possible to break metal Treasure Chests with the cannons found in the Abandoned North Mine. These are unbreakable via any other means, and let you do things like see the overworld models for key items and armour.

Old Man Dialogue#

Hyrule Bass are the only fish found on the Great Plateau, and therefore the only type you can normally use when cooking the Spicy Meat and Seafood Fry for the Old Man. If you use a different type of fish obtained via an amiibo, his dialogue does not change to reflect the different type of fish used.

King Dorephan's Post Quest Check#

Normally, the Vah Ruta questline is auto-started on approach to the throne room and cannot be backed out until completion. If for some reason one is able to speak to Dorephan outside of the questline and call his post quest dialogue, it will check for completion and call a blank text box. The text box itself is listed as entry 100 which does not exist and is a placeholder value. One might expect an unchecked flag to link back to the main questline, instead it will close the event and dialogue with no progression. This suggests that you originally spoke with Dorephan manually to start the questline before the pre-rendered cutscenes were completed or that quest and post-quest dialogue were once combined into one event.

Daka Tuss Shrine#

By dropping the metal dish and jumping in the water at the same time, it is possible to get stuck under the dish if it lands in the water upside down.³

Divine Beast Terminals#

Found in the event pack (Demo044_0.sbeventpack) for activating the terminals, is evidence that there were more terminals planned than five. Both Rudania and Naboris have cut entries for activating an additional terminal and also calls voice acting and subtitles if any such lines still existed. While only the event itself still has the entries for these two, looking at the text file shows that all Divine Beasts have the same number of missing text entries that would correspond for two additional terminals. Each of the unused terminals would have been the first two in the progression sequence of activating the terminals. This suggests that even seven terminals may have been planned for the divine beasts before settling on five total.

Internal Project Name#

The game's internal name is "U-King", according to the executable's filename: U-King.rpx. This follows the trend of the internal names of other Zelda games released in the same timeframe: Ocarina of Time 3D is known as "Queen", A Link Between Worlds is known as "Jack", and Majora's Mask 3D is known as "Joker", while Tri Force Heroes is known as "Alice".

Oddly, this is the same card rank used by Wind Waker HD with the only difference being the first letter (Cking/U-King).

Regional Differences#

Switch Game Icon and Box Art Differences#

The game icon displayed on the Switch's Home Menu is different depending on the system region set in the console settings. While the Japanese and North American icon are similar, the European/Australian version is entirely different. Curiously, although the European box art matches its Home Menu icon, the Australian box art uses the North American/Japanese box art.

Japan	North America	Europe/Australia

In-Game UI Changes#

The temperature gauge on the bottom right section of the HUD shows °F in North America and °C in every other region.

North America	Japan/Europe/Australia

Additionally on the map menu, degrees are shown in Fahrenheit in North America and Celsius elsewhere.

Time is displayed using 12 hours with AM/PM in North America, while it is 24-hour time in Europe and Australia. In Japan, AM/PM comes before the number, and interestingly, it is using PM 12:00 and PM 12:55, unlike other Nintendo titles where it instead would use PM 0:00 and PM 0:55.

North America	Europe/Australia	Japan

Revision History#

Version 0.9.0#

This is the base version of the game with no updates. Once one of the required updates is installed, the version number is updated. The game will crash if it is attempted to run without the update files by spoofing the Version.txt in System. That said, it is still possible to run the rpx for v0.9.0 by moving the required v1.0.0 files over.

Version 1.0.0#

Version 1.0.0 is the version of the game that has the disc's own 2 GB update installed, which contains files required to run the game. This was the version that the Switch release came with.

Version 1.1.0#

Version 1.1.0 was an update released on launch day in the eShop. It adds the Downloadable Content purchase option to the title screen.

Version 1.1.1#

Version 1.1.1 was released on March 31, 2017. It improves the frame rate, but mainly for the Switch version.

Version 1.1.2#

Version 1.1.2 was released on April 11, 2017. It includes three fixes:

• Arrows shot from enemies are no longer collectible after the first 20 ones. This fixes a certain exploit where a player could farm arrows using horseback Bokoblins.
• A bug was fixed where the Wolf Link amiibo would spawn a Wolf Link with 20 hearts (rather than 3) when registered with a Twilight Princess HD save file that did not enter the Cave of Shadows (just starting a new game and saving right away was enough).
• A bug was fixed that when Master Kohga fell into the hole, he wouldn't teleport back out, and the boss battle would end prematurely, making the Divine Beast Vah Naboris Quest unbeatable.

Version 1.2.0#

Version 1.2.0 was released on May 1, 2017. It adds a "Dual Language" option for both versions of the game, allowing any region to choose any audio language with different accompanying subtitles (i.e. English voice acting with Mexican Spanish subtitles or vice versa). For the Wii U version, a separate data pack must be downloaded before use. A DLC menu was added to the options menu. One interesting thing to note is that the exit sound on the camera is now broken. In addition, the camera no longer preserves zoom level between uses, and now defaults to the lowest zoom setting whenever it is activated.

In an attempt to patch a glitch that allowed players to escape from Ganon with the Bird-Man research minigame, the relevant event flow (MiniGame_HillTower_BirdMan) was altered to always reset any effects of landing in the castle sanctum:

• When landing, the player is warped to (-1746.71, 329.065, -772.847).
• When landing, the sky palette (colors, sky effects, etc.) is reset to override the Hyrule Castle palette.
• When landing, the IsPlayed_Demo141_{0,1,2,3} and LastBossIncompleteGanonGenerateFlag flags are cleared.
• Every frame while flying, the FirstInHyruleCastleBossRoom flag is cleared.

Additionally, GameData configuration was changed to not save the FirstInHyruleCastleBossRoom flag. That flag is checked by the actor placement code to determine whether some actor spawns should be skipped for the final battle mode. This made NPCs, shrines, enemies, and towers not disappear even after doing the glitch.

As a direct (and likely unintended) consequence, actors that should normally not appear during the final battle mode reappear after a save reload as the FirstInHyruleCastleBossRoom flag does not persist after a save reload.

Version 1.3.0#

Version 1.3.0 was released on June 29, 2017. It adds the first of two planned DLC expansions for 2017, dubbed "The Master Trials". The DLC includes 8 new pieces of clothing, a series of trials, a "Hero's Path" map feature that allows a player to retrace up to 200 hours of gameplay on the game's map screen, the ability to set a single custom warp point (with warping similar to how shrines and towers work in the game), a Korok mask to assist in finding the hidden Koroks around the world, and a Master Mode with increased difficulty; Link sustains more damage while weapon/enemy type/placement is altered somewhat. The DLC, if purchased, displays version 2.0 under the game's version on the title screen.

As well, a few regressions introduced with the v1.2.0 patch were fixed (camera not preserving the zoom level between uses, exit sound being broken, star constellation missing in one of the shrines), as well as a bug where no vocal cues would play for the abilities if the player set the language to Japanese.

The placement code was altered to check for the IsPlayed_Demo145_0 flag when setting up spawns: the FirstInHyruleCastleBossRoom flag is now automatically set when IsPlayed_Demo145_0 is set. This effectively reverts parts of the 1.2.0 changes and makes players once again unable to keep NPCs, shrines, etc. after escaping from the Ganon battle.

Version 1.3.1#

Version 1.3.1 fixed a glitch involving Kilton's "kill all bosses" mission, where killed bosses wouldn't count towards the number needed to get the medals. A feature was added, where when launching the game from certain pages in the Nintendo Switch News page, players would receive items mentioned in the news article.

More precisely:

• One PauseMenuDataMgr function was changed to return the number of items in the player's saved inventory instead of using the loaded inventory data (which might be a temporary quest inventory). This function is used by GameDataMgr to query how many arrows the player has.
  • This effectively patches the arrow restock glitch that allowed players to trigger restocks even if they had more than 50 arrows in their inventory simply by warping into the Trial of the Sword and waiting for midnight.
• In the Switch version, the nxargs subsystem and supporting code were added to GameScene for the "receive item by reading news" feature.
• Several changes were made to the Enemy defeated handlers (in the actor code) to make sure enemy defeats are counted correctly when Master Mode enemy rank up is active. This change is mentioned in the official changelog.
• The Trial of the Sword game data reset glitch was patched; technical details are unknown at the moment.

Version 1.3.3#

Version 1.3.3 added support for the 4 champion amiibo, including the special Divine Beast helmets. This update also added Rex's salvager gear from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. A glitch involving "Hero's Path" where an "X" mark wouldn't appear when Link dies was fixed. Unintentionally, this update removed the ability to buy the Hylian Shield from the secret shop in Tarrey Town.

Version 1.3.4#

This update was pushed out very quickly, to fix the issue of being unable to buy the Hylian Shield from the secret shop in Tarrey Town.

Version 1.4.0#

Version 1.4.0 added The Champion's Ballad DLC pack, which includes more shrines, an extra heart container/stamina vessel, new armor, story additions, a new Divine Beast, and the Master Cycle Zero.

Golden enemies now contribute to the scaling point counter. Because of an oversight, they used to be unlisted in LevelSensor.byml (the configuration file for the enemy and weapon scaling system). This change is retroactive.

Version 1.5.0#

Added language support for Korean, Chinese (Simplified), and Chinese (Traditional). Only subtitles have been added and voice acting will be in Japanese if any of those languages are selected. This is the final update for the Wii U version.

• The DLC2 boss' teleporting AI was slightly modified.
• Physics parameters (mass/inertia/impulse) for a few actors (DgnObj_DLC_SliderBlock_B_02, DgnObj_DLC_SwitchTarget_A, Priest_Boss_ShadowClone_Bullet) were changed.
• GameData: The Kass quest flags were made program-readable. This was presumably required for the new quest flag checks to GameDataMgr (see Quest flag overrides for more details).
• Message and UI: The staff roll screen was edited to credit the Chinese/Korean localization teams. Message files in all languages were updated to match the new staff roll UI layout.
• New languages were added to the Switch version.

Version 1.6.0#

1.6.0 was released on 26/04/2019.

RomFS Changes#

• Actor: Most actor metadata were updated. Most actors now require a larger instance heap, which suggests the core actor code was updated.
• GameData: three new flags were added (Ichigeki_Pedestal_Appear, DisplaySpecialMode, DisplaySpecialOnce).
  • Note: Ichigeki = 一撃 refers to the One-Hit Obliterator.
• UI and Message: layouts and messages were updated for the new VR mode.
• System: The version file (System/Version.txt) was updated and is now "1.6.0".
• Minor changes to effect files and graphics (presumably for VR mode).

A complete diff for core resource files (actors, maps, logic, AI, messages, etc.) is available here.

Executable Changes#

• The game appears to have been compiled with link-time optimisation (LTO) enabled, resulting in significantly more bloated functions and much more aggressive inlining. Even library functions (e.g. sead, nvn) are now inlined.
• The internal version string is now 0000002e (it was 0000002d in 1.5.0).
• nnSdk was updated and now requires a 7.0.0+ system.
• nnMain now does nn::oe::SetCpuBoostMode(1), which makes the console use performance configurations 0x92220009 and 0x9222000A, or 0x9222000B and 0x9222000C (source). This results in a higher GPU clock and sometimes higher CPU clock.
• Other changes are currently unknown because how difficult it is to reverse 1.6.0 code.

Official Changelog#

• We have made the game compatible with the VR Goggles from Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit.
  • You can set whether you’d like to use the VR Goggles from “VR Goggles” in “Options” under “System” in the in-game menu.
  • This feature is also introduced on the Nintendo Labo website. (https://labo.nintendo.com/kits/vr-kit/)
• We fixed some other issues so the player can enjoy the game.

Version 1.8.0#

Released on June 3, 2025.

• Added support for the Nintendo Switch 2 edition.
• Made the game run smoother.
• Added text support for Brazilian Portuguese.
• The teleportation texture for Link and Blight Ganons is updated.
• Fixed other issues. It's unclear what has been fixed intentionally and what has been fixed by mistake.
• A notable glitch called the Bow Lift Smuggle Slide (BLSS) no longer works.
• The Hinox Curse glitch no longer works. Similar glitches still work, but have more limited effects.
• The Inventory and ARMS (Aqua Reverse Memory Storage) glitches now require the Horned Statue to perform them consistently.
• Other glitches are harder to perform or take more time due to the gaming running better. One exception is the infinite Guardian parts glitch, which has been made more consistent.

Version 1.9.0#

Released on February 18, 2026.

• Added text support for Thai in the Nintendo Switch 2 version.
• Fixed some issues.

References#