Collecting Korok seeds turned Breath of the Wild into a gorgeous hike

I started chasing down all 900 Korok seeds, convinced that this was a stupid thing to do. I envisioned the process as a Sisyphean task. All I used to do was collect seed by seed without thinking…seeds. I thought collecting them was only for the sick and die-hard fans. However, several weeks into my pursuit – which is still not over – I am now convinced that this is in fact the ideal way to enjoy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,

Now hear me out: I’m not saying that people who don’t go after korok seeds aren’t “real fans”. far from it. Seed collecting is a completely different type of gameplay from the mainline quest and the boss fights that came with it, which were challenging even as a seasoned Zelda fan who loves 3D action-combat games. In contrast, collecting seeds has been a delightful and leisurely way to revisit breath of the wild In 2023.

Like any good hero, Link has some tools to take on this particular challenge. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time climbing then you will definitely need the Storm of Revolt. Additionally, I beat all the DLC for the game, so I had some important items like the Master Cycle Zero (Link’s tricked-out motorcycle), a Korok mask that moves when near a seed, and the Travel Medallion, which allows you to place a teleportation waypoint anywhere on the map you like. I also had, luckily, about 200 arrows to start with, because you have to play a minigame where you shoot fast-moving balloons to get as many seeds as you can. But among the tools, the most important resource I used was an online map that saved and tracked my progress.

like to play with eldon ringYou need to be prepared to laugh first and be disappointed later. It still kind of sucks that you can’t climb well when it’s raining. Some seeds feel like a genuine challenge, while others feel like the developers are secretly laughing at you personally as you bend over backwards to earn a measly Korok seed. For example, in Lurelin Village you have to throw a stone at the ceiling to complete a shape and get a seed. It sounds so simple and easy, but it is not.

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Image: Nintendo via Play Gamez

The top of the building is pretty high, so a regular toss won’t cut it. I tried several different methods to get the seeds to come up. I first cut all the trees at some angle in the hope that they would land on the roof and form a bridge (they didn’t). I then tried using stasis and basically played rock golf and went up one (the angles weren’t right). Next I tried using the stasis method except I would mount the rock to a stump and fire it from there. I tried every stump but no combination of angles worked for me. I thought about using octo balloons but I didn’t have any and didn’t want to go get them for a korok seed. (I probably should have, though.) In the end, I went further away and launched from a hill and went for a long shot instead of a high shot. The rock finally landed and I cheered freely from the privacy of my desk.

seeds that require that level of tinkering with breath of the wilds Sandbox elements are few and far between. That level of challenge really made me appreciate how cool the vast majority of korok seed hunting looks in comparison. For the most part, much of the seed hunting consisted of casual lounging and admiring the scenery. I would go to a field with the intention of collecting specific seeds, but by the time I found one seed, I was close to the next. I was able to chain my prey together.

When playing through the main game questline, there weren’t many landmark names that I remembered. I remembered some places like Dueling Peaks because of their relevance early in the game, but honestly not outside of the main landmarks like Hyrule Castle, Temple of Time, Death Mountain, and so on. But as I chased the seeds, I really began to appreciate that the developers named every peak and valley, every creek and meadow. The smallest meadow can have shallow puddles of water that reflect light with a dazzling shimmer. Collecting Korok’s seeds illuminates the grand scale of its expansion breath of the wilds scenery.

I don’t want to underestimate the amount of time this will take. Even listening to audiobooks or podcasts while I play, the grind will be brain-numbing and sore if I try to squeeze it into a tight time frame or some kind of deadline. It’s a tough job, but I think it’s a job the developers want the players to be successful at. Once you find a Korok, it marks it on the map. So if you get to the end and – Hilia forbids – you’re missing some seeds, you can technically go back to your map and cross off the references you’ve collected (even if That’s a little too administrative for my own taste).

It’s easy to argue that the results don’t seem to warrant the effort. If you collect all 900 seeds, you’re essentially rewarded with a golden turd. It’s really absurd, but also, which I think is beautiful about chasing seeds. It is collecting for the sake of collecting. This one’s for those whose brains are itching until they hit that 100-percent completion mark, and those content traversing through the vast and varied terrain of Hyrule. It varies breath of the wild In Nintendo’s most amazing running simulator yet.