By the timeBreath of the Wildhad entered development,NintendorecognizedThe Legend of Zeldawas in need of change. Although the franchise had continued to review and sell exceptionally well, fan reception was waning and certain criticisms were becoming more consistent– empty worlds, slow pacing, and a low difficulty curve are problems that plague virtually every game in the series starting withThe Wind Waker.
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This all changed whenBreath of the Wildlaunched with the Nintendo Switch, recontextualizing theZeldafranchise and laying the foundation for a brighter future. There’s no denying thatBreath of the Wildis one of the bestLegend of Zeldagames, but its cut content could’ve made it even better.
Updated on June 13, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest open-world games ever made. Nintendo absolutely knocked it out of the park with some truly revolutionary open-world design, letting players actually understand what’s important by just looking at these structures with their eyes instead of having to rely on a map that is absolutely littered with icons that need to be completed like a checklist. Of course, even the best game around hasseen several cuts all the way till development, and this list will take a look at some of the most notable things that were removed from Breath of the Wild prior to release.
15An Explorable Mount Agaat
Mount Agaat is a figure seen in the distance nearthe border ofBreath of the Wild. Trying to reach this area is a futile endeavor, with Link always falling into the abyss before coming back to the traversable sections of the map.
However, players who have hacked into the game have found various surfaces on Mount Agaat that have proper collision detection. This means that Link was supposed to explore this area at some point before this area was ultimately scrapped.
14The Master Sword Returning To Korok Forest
There are several pieces of unused text present inBreath of the Wild’s game files. One such unused piece of text reveals a mechanic that was thankfully discarded during development.
The text basically states that the Master Sword has returned to Korok Forest, which implies that the sword would probably go back to its pedestal after its durability runs out. This would’ve been a massive annoyance to deal with over and over again, and it’s great that Nintendo understood this problem and nipped this mechanic in the bud.
Link has used various versions of a glider to float around in his 3D adventures. The Sailcloth serves as a version of Link’s glider thathe used inSkyward Sword.
Given the connection of this game withBreath of the Wild, it’s easy to see why Link had the Sailcloth as a paraglider early on in this title. However, in a bid to make this latest Zelda story more independent, these connections were toned down and Link used a normal paraglider instead.
12A Mysterious Magic Meter
It seems thatBreath of the Wildwas supposed to have a fleshed-out magic system at some point. This can be seen in the fact that the game was fiddling around with a Magic Meter of sorts early on.
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This was obviously discarded early on and the Wizzrobe wands became the only way to cast magic in this game. It’s possible that this mechanic might come back inBreath of the Wild 2, but nothing is guaranteed at this point.
11The Sheikah Slate Revealing An Enemy’s Hitpoints
The Champion’s Tunic is the most iconic piece of armor Link has that is worn in most of the promotional material. This armor is pretty decent early on and lets players gauge the hitpoints of an enemy too.
It seems that this was actually a feature reserved for the Sheikah Slate, with Link being able to scan enemies to reveal their hitpoints and perhaps some weaknesses as well. However, it seems that Nintendo wanted players to get into encounters without dealing with too much nonsense, and the reveal of hitpoints was left as an exclusive ability of the Champion’s Tunic instead.
10The Picori
The lore surrounding the Four Swords arc tends to come up scarcely, more often than not ignored outright, but Nintendo actually planned on referencingThe Minish CapinBreath of the Wild. Originally, the Picori would appear throughout Hyrule and Link would even be able to shrink and visit their villages.
As this would distract from Hyrule at large while also introducing complications (how to juggle what’s effectively two worlds) the Picori were ultimately cut. That said, it isn’t likeBreath of the Wildis devoid of NPC variety. The Gorons, Zora, and Rito are the most dynamic they’ve ever looked, and the Gerudo finally have a fully developed culture.
9Fishing
Nintendo’s design philosophy withBreath of the Wildwas centered around removing waste and cutting out the fluff fromThe Legend of Zelda. As a result, any item that couldn’t serve a dual purpose was to be cut– the game would have no room for one and done equipment like in previousZeldatitles.
Unfortunately, this meant the removal of the fishing rod and therefore fishing. In practice, this design philosophy doesn’t hold up as well as it should– instead shining a spotlight on how underused some of Link’s Runes are.Breath of the Wildis such an expansive, relaxing world. The fact Link can’t fish feels like a waste.
8Hookshot
The Hookshot is one ofThe Legend of Zelda’s most iconic items, first introduced inA Link to the Pastand reappearing more often than not. While the Sheikah Slate is filled with more than enough goodies to play around with (and a physics engine that makes excellent use of the game’s chemistry) it’s hard not to miss the Hookshot.
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Nintendo removed the Hookshot deliberately, recognizing that it would take focus away from both climbing and paragliding, but it could have still been included as a late-game reward– or even as a dungeon item to ensure players could emulate some degree of climbing during the Divine Beasts & Shrines.
7Beetle
Along with the Hookshot, Nintendo was planning on including the Beetle as a part of Link’s Sheikah Slate. One of the more unique items introduced inSkyward Sword, the Beetle allowed players to pick items up from afar (or even kill smaller enemies) while controlling a remote-controlled Beetle.
Unlike the Hookshot which would have played off the game’s geography too much, it’s likely the Beetle wouldn’t have played off it enough. More importantly, the Beetle’s controls were intimately tied to the Wiimote and likely couldn’t make a natural transition to a traditional control scheme. Then again,Breath of the Wilddid begin life as a Wii U game.
6Usable Broken Master Sword
The durability mechanic isBreath of the Wild’s double-edged sword. On one hand, it encourages players to actually use their entire armory. On the other hand, it encourages players to hog all their best weapons and outright avoid combat. The Master Sword serves as an opportunity to wield a permanent weapon, but even it breaks after too much use.
Interestingly, a usable broken Master Sword exists in the game’s file– complete with the exact same damage values of the regular Master Sword– but it’s specifically the version of the blade that’s been infected and tainted with malice. Perhaps fighting too many Guardians would have warped the sword’s appearance originally.
