GamesActionThe Legend of ZeldaLegend of Zelda: Breath of the WildAfter Zelda fans theorized wildly on the source of this Breath of the Wild Nintendo DS demake, the original creator has come forward: “it’s so funny seeing people speculate about this"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesActionThe Legend of ZeldaLegend of Zelda: Breath of the WildAfter Zelda fans theorized wildly on the source of this Breath of the Wild Nintendo DS demake, the original creator has come forward: “it’s so funny seeing people speculate about this"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: @Ermelber (Twitter))
Sorry to break the news, but if you’ve been wildly speculating on the origins of a certainLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilddemake that made rounds on Reddit and Twitter recently, the mystery has a far less juicy culprit.
The demake in question sees a fully mapped out version of Hyrule, completely rebuilt for the Nintendo DS. It might be void of the towns, villages, and other building structures you’d find in the actual 2017 Nintendo Switch game, but the terrain itself is staggeringly accurate to the world map. Impressive as it is, though, it’s the nature of how this ROM was discovered that led many Zelda fans on a wild goose chase of speculation and conspiracy theorizing.
Breath of the Wild but its on a DS - YouTubeWatch On
Breath of the Wild but its on a DS - YouTube
Breath of the Wild but its on a DS - YouTube
Found on an old DS flashcard purchased on Chinese commerce platform AliExpress, the ROM file reimagines Breath of the Wild as a pixelated DS game. Reverse image searches revealed that clips of the demake were first published on Chinese DailyMotion-like siteBilliBilliin 2019, though the poster of said videos (as well as the identity of the ROM creator themselves) was a total mystery. This layer of intrigue left plenty of room for self-proclaimed internet detectives to work their magic, coming up with a host of theories of varying levels of extravagance.
YouTuber JustJasen posted a detailed deep-dive into the demake, linked above, where he speculates the creator as being based in China. This could have made sense, given how both AliExpress and BilliBilli are Chinese-based companies and that BilliBilli is relatively unknown to Western audiences. When Ermelber, an Italian modder and game developer, claimed the ROM as his own person project made with friends, JustJasen’s theory turned out to be false – though the two’s friendly interactions onTwitterreassure me that there are no hard feelings here.
It’s certainly been a wild ride for all involved in the speculation, though sadly, nothing super conspiracy theory-worthy after all. It doesn’t take away from Ermelber’s work in recreating a low-rez Hyrule being an impressive feat in itself, even if he didn’t intend for the world to see it.
After playing Breath of the Wild for 14 hours straight on a long haul flight, I now appreciate the thing I found most challenging about Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
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