Despite it only being a little o⛦ver a f🧜ull year since its release, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is already being con🔴sidered one of the greatest video games of our time👍. After the rather unpleasant Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild was the breath of fresh air The Legend of Zelda needed to thrive in a modern context. It took the tired open world format and it radicalized it into what Nintendo calls “open air.” Nintendo changed the nam꧋e of the game entirely and offered fans their first taste at true freedom and exploration since the original Legend of Zelda all the way back on the NES.

Breath of the Wild has not been met without cr♔iticism, however. While the majority of fans and critics agree that the core gameplay is as solid as it’s going to get, the narrative has been met with mixed results. The fragme꧃nted style of storytelling, along with a weaker cast, have made BotW an easy target to be deemed one of the worst stories in the fr𓆏anchise. It leaves much to be desired, with a few plot holes and far too many unresolved threads for its own good. It’s a large stain on an otherwise pristine game.

25 How Did Zelda Fight Ganon For 100 Years?

The fact Zelda fights off Calamity Ganon for anಞ entire century without so much as again is easily one of the𒁏 strangest aspects of Breath of the Wild’s narrative. Not only is left completely unexplained in-game, there’s absolutely nothing in the series’ lo🐈re that can help make sense of the act. It’s easy enough to buy Link sleeping for 100 years given there’s a literal building called the Shrine of Resurrection, but there’s nothing to help make sense of Zelda’s 100 year duel.

When it doubt, though, we turn to the gods. The only way Zelda could have fought off Calamity Ganon f🎃or 100 years is with divine intervention on Hylia’s behalf. Skyward Sword establishes Hylia as Zelda’s source soul in the reincarnation cyc🐭le, so it’s not impossible for Hylia’s influence to keep Zelda alive for so long. Of course, nothing in the game actually hi🅘nts at this being the case, so make of it what you will.

24 The Logistics Of The Blood Moon

Although the Blood Moon makes sense iꦿn the context of Breath of the Wild, it doesn’t work whatsoever when thinking back on the rest of the series. Zelda claims that the Blood Moon is the result of Gan♏on’s power peaking. That’s a fine enough justification, but it comes with a problem: Calamity Ganon is supposed to be o💟ne of the weaker Ganons.

What came first: Ganon or the Blood Moon? 

His resurrection has been botch so many times, that he’s begun losing his sens💙e of identity. The Blood Moon is also a phenomenon that never occurred with previous Ganons. Ganon in A Link to the Past is arguably his strongest depiction in his monster form, yet his p🐠ower reaching a peak does nothing to the moon. It’s a nice idea, but one that isn’t exactly compatible with the rest of the franchise.

23 The Subtle Changes Of The Gerudo Lore

Introduced as one of Hyrule’s major races in Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo are a predominant🗹ly matriarchal society where, either through genetics or the wacky working of fate, a single man is born into the tribe once every 100 years to become king. Ganondorf is that one man in Ocarina of Time, but come Breath of the Wild he’s but a legend.

Only time will tell if Nintendo will bring another male Gerudo into the series. 

Not only that, it’s implied by the Gerudos now having a female leader that the 100-year-old prophecy is no longer relevant. While the Gerudo do sell armor for men within the town, there’s no sign that a single man lived there 100 years ago or currently lives there in the game’s storℱy. It could be that Link somehow managed to miss meeting the Gerudo man for that century for whatever reason, but it seems more lik🦹ely that BotW simply isn’t ܫfollowing this piece of Gerudo lore anymore.

22 Where Did All The Dungeons Go?

Everyone knows that Breath of the Wild lacks in conventional dungeons in regards to the gameplay, but where are the literal, physical dungeons that have existed in every single game?🎐 Seriously, this is still Hyrule, right? Where are all the temples? There used to be a Water Temple in Lake Hylia! Is it just gone now? Why isn’t the Forest Temple near the Lost Woods? Why is the𒅌re no Shadow Temple near Kakariko?

Why are there no temples in general? Did Calamity Ganon just obliterate e🎉verything resembling a dungeon so not to confused Link? It’s easily one of the strangest details left out from Breath of the Wild. It makes sense Nintendo wouldn’t want to acknowledge dungeons within the game given the🦄 emphasis on Shrin🥂es and Divine Beasts, but it seems like such an oversight that serves to make Hyrule feel less real.

21 Link Should Be Allowed In Gerudo Town

Although Gerudo culture is ve✱ry strict with who can and can’t enter the Gerudo Town, Ocarina of Time sets a precedent for the Gerudo accepting men who prove themselves within the fortress. Upon freeing all the captives and defeating a Gerudo guard four times, the Hero of Time is given a free pass to explore the fortress and make himself welcome. This is a privilege🍌 that would make a lot of sense to be given to BotW Link, but never comes to fruition.

The Hero of Time literally invaded the Gerudo and was welcomed with open arms.

In the bac🍎kstory, nothing implies that Urbosa gave Link, Princess Zꦦelda’s sworn knight, free reign to the town. In the main game, even after helping stop Vah Naboris, Link still isn’t given access to Gerudo Town without a disguise. This would be the perfect reward for clearing the desert’s main quest, but it goes completely ignored. It doesn’t make sense that Link would be allowed in OoT, but not BotW.

20 The Goron Mount Rushmore Makes No Sense

If you’ve ever taken🅺 the time to analyze who’s on the Goron Mount Rushmore in the Goron village, chances are you realized that something was off. If you’re a big Majora’s Mask f🥃an, you realizeജd that Darmani was on the mountain for some bizarre reason. Regardless where Breath of the Wild falls on the tiꦡmeline, there’s just no logical way Darmani would be on a Goron Mount Rushmore.

For starters, nobody met Darm⭕ani b𝔉ut Link. It’s entirely possible Link would pass on his story to the Gorons after leaving Termina, but that doesn’t change the fact that Darmani is a Terminan hero, not a Hylian one. His existence means nothing to the Goron of Hyrule so him being immortalized in stone in Hyrule would be totally illogical.

19 How Does Link Really Feel About Mipha?

In the same way Princess Ruto was in love with the Hero of Ti💯me in Ocarina of Time, Mipha is in love with Link in Breath of the Wild. ღThey’re implied to have been childhood friends, with Link spending quite a fair amount of time in Zora’s Domain growing up, and Mipha 🌞even intended on proposing to him when the time came. It’s clear that Mipha loved Link. What isn’t clear is how Link felt.

Whether it be because Link doesn’t have his memoriღes or simply because he’s an ov🥃ert recluse in BotW, he doesn’t seem to reciprocate Mipha’s feelings, let alone acknowledge them. At least in the English localization of the game. In the Japanese version, Link’s journal is written in first person meaning that he could, very well, have commented on his feelings on Mipha at some point. At the very least, the Japanese version would make his feelings clearer whereas the English version is conඣtent playing coy.

18 Does Link Truly Remember Zelda?

One of the last scenes players will see upon beating the game is Zelda asking Link if he remembers her. The game cuts out before he can answer, but the question still stands. Does Link actually remember Zelda? While he can relive and remember fragments of his ꧑past, he n﷽ever actually remembers everything.

This means that, while Link has a better understanding of who he was and the life he left behind, his memories of Zelda would be skewed. He technically remembers her by the end of the𒐪 game if you collected all his memories, but it would be a fundamentally different interpretation as he now has the context of his amnesia to view his memories through.

17 Link’s Divine Beast

All of Zelda’s Champions have Divine Beasts save for Link. This isn’t a case of Link not being a Champion, either. He wears the Champion’s garb, he plays a Champion’s role, and he’s part of the Champion’s crew. For all intents anꦦd purposes, Link should have a Divine Beast as well, yet Breath of the Wild never makes a🅰n earnest attempt at clearing up why he doesn’t have one.

Of course, it'd be a horse. 

Until the DLC, that is. In the Champion’s Ballad DLC, Linꦛk goes through one final dungeon where he faces off against a Sh♏rine Monk. In winning their battle, Link is bestowed a motorcycle that he can use to ride around Hyrule. Here’s the thing, though: this motorcycle is Link’s Divine Beast. Not only does it seem made for him, it’s built just like the other Divine Beasts. The only difference is that Link didn’t find his until after Calamity Ganon woke up.

16 Is The DLC Canon?

In discussing the DLC, it’s important to also question the canonicity of it. On one hand, the Champion’s Ballad is a relatively harmless DLC that expands on the narrative in a meaningful way. On the other way, the rest of the DLC is actua🅷lly kind of incompatible with Breath of the Wild’s lore. In accepting Champion’s Ballad, one also has to accept instไances like the Nintendo Switch T-Shirt.

The only way to make proper sense of the DLC is to pick and choose what is and isn’t canon. Champion’s Ballad doesn’t inte🔥rfere with the logistics of the game while the T-Shirt does. With that in mind, the former can be canon, but the latter can’t. At the same time, both pieces of content stem from the same DLC package. Can you really pick and choose in such a context?