BOTW #27

It’s been a very long time since I’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But I figured it was time for another play session (and blog entry). This first section actually took place back in May, believe it or not.

May Play

While near Hyrule Castle, I explored around the docks area. Lighting a torch there opened up the Saas Ko’sah shrine. I completed the combat test inside to wrap up my 117th shrine.

I continued looking around and gained entrance to the library. There, I found a fruitcake recipe. Once I found a cooking pot, I made the fruitcake. I needed it for a side quest back in Riverside Stable. I gave it to a stable worker named Gotter, and he gave me 100 rupees.

Side Quests: A Royal Recipe - Complete (Screenshot from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch)

At this point, I caught up on some “maintenance.” I exchanged Korok seeds for shield/bow slots, I enhanced some clothing items at the Great Fairy Fountain, I exchanged four spirit orbs for another heart container, and I stocked up on arrows. And that wrapped up my playing time in May.

December Days

Seven months later, I finally picked up the game again. I climbed up Death Mountain and looked at the map for suspicious places to investigate. I found some new Korok seeds, and I thought I was about to find something better at the abandoned North Mine. This tiny island had a red rock that looked like it could be blown up. I thought maybe there was a shrine underneath.

A suspicious red rock in the Death Mountain area of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I made my way around to the appropriate cannon and blew up the rock. To my dismay, the only thing underneath was an air vent. All my hopes went up in a puff of hot air.

I eventually moved on to the Faron area, where I ran into Kass. He told me of a shrine at the site of a forest dragon’s jaws. But…he then told me I already solved it.

Kass: Ah, you've already solved it, I see...

So I didn’t get a new shrine, but it did mark a shrine quest off my to-do list. My shrine quest count was at 40/42, but I still have not found anyone to tell me about the remaining two…at least until last night.

While exploring Mount Granajh, I found a destroyed house and an opened book. It was called the Mountain Peak Log.

Read the Mountain Peak Log?
Yes, it’s peaked my interest.

I read it, and it told me of a nearby shrine and the clues that the author couldn’t figure out. This began a shrine quest, and this one did not automatically complete itself. That meant it was an active, open shrine quest! I was kind of excited to find one of these again!

It didn’t take me long to figure out what I needed to do. However, I had to wait for a certain time of day. It was so satisfying to see a new orange shrine again. 😛

A new orange shrine pops up out of the ground in Zelda: BOTW.

The inside was one of those “you’ve already proven your worth just by getting here” things, so I quickly grabbed the treasure and completed the shrine.

While looking at the map, I noticed something else that most of you probably knew years ago. Next to the name of each shrine, there will be a treasure chest icon if you’ve collected all the treasure inside that shrine. Very helpful! So I spent some time teleporting to various shrines to collect treasures I missed the first time. Unfortunately, the treasures generally aren’t anything that’s super helpful.

Shortly after that, I wrapped up my Breath of the Wild playing for 2019. Here are my current stats…and yes, my overall completion percentage is finally over 50%. 😂

  • Completion percentage: 52.44%
  • Shrines: 118/120
  • Korok seeds: 335/900
  • Shrine quests: 41/42
  • Side quests: 73/77
  • Hyrule Compendium: 360/385

Only two more shrines to go! I’ll see you next time, but I have no idea when that will be. 😛 Have a happy new year, and a great 2020!