Major Discovery: BotW’s Adventure Log = Link’s Diary?!
At this point, our beloved game Breath of the Wild has been out for around half a year already. If you have played the game, you are probably very familiar with the Adventure Log feature in BotW that helps you keep track of all your missions and side quests. Or else its pretty much impossible to remember if you were catching chickens for this guy or collecting weapons to show that kid who’s boss.
But here’s the thing- Have you ever thought about the Adventure Log’s origin? Who or what is helping Link keep track of his missions?
If your answer is the Sheikah Slate or the “system”, which is what I’ve always thought, I’m gonna go ahead and assume you own an European/American copy of the game. Because apparently, in the Japanese version of the game, there is evidence that shows that LINK is the one who wrote the adventure log to keep track of his own journey.
So Link wrote the Adventure Log. Big deal. It’s not like this is gonna change the gameplay in any way.
…True. However, Link didn’t JUST record his missions in the Adventure Log. According to the Japnese version, Link would often type up some of his own thoughts and comments on what he was doing aside from his current objectives. This could give us a deeper insight of Link’s character.
This is what shows up after you complete The Hero’s Sword quest. The content of the two versions are very similar, but notice the use of “自分” (myself) in pic 1. This is evidence that the adventure log is written by Link, who’s talking about himself in first person narrative, instead of “the system”. With that in mind, the Japanese version can be translated to:
(I) Finally retrieved the legendary Master Sword. (I) Don’t know if it’s just an illusion, but the sword itself seems to be delighted about this.
To this moment, Princess Zelda is still inside Hyrule Castle, fighting to suppress the Calamity.
She is still holding on to the faith in me, believing that I will definitely come for her…!
But with the power (that I have) now, can she really be saved (by myself)…?
You see what they did there?
The English version replaced every first person pronoun Link has used with “you”!
As someone who owns an American copy, and has never set the system language to Japanese, I was absolutely SHOCKED when I was told about this (credits at the end).
Remember how we could find diaries of NPCs all across Hyrule? Link’s was right under our noses this whole time!
Now that you know about this, does your adventure log seem a bit different from before?
(I) finished visiting all 13 of the locations in the old pictures. I remembered everything I’ve been through together with Princess Zelda.
In those memories (of mine), Princess Zelda always strived to complete the task burdened onto her…
Even if it’s just a moment sooner, (I) want to save her as quickly as possible
(I) want to see her smile again, with these eyes (of my own).
The translation on this one is just OFF. I can’t believe the English version completely omitted the last part, and replaced it with some kind of mission instruction.
Link has been fighting all this time to see Princess Zelda’s smile again with his own eyes.
Not to mention those side quest logs. Once you realize that all of the entries were written by Link himself, the seemingly trivial information recorded in those suddenly opens up so many more hidden sides of Link. It basically re-introduced Link as someone with normal human emotions instead of the silent hero depicted throughout the game.
The caring Link, who was worried about a girl he only met twice for putting herself in danger:
…(I) ventured inside and found part of the Royal Guard’s Series, famous among equipment collectors.
When those were shown to Parcy, the traveler at the stable, her curiosity about it seem to be provoked more than ever (by me). (I) Hope she won’t do anything reckless…
The compassionate Link, who felt glad for other peoples’ happiness:
As a sign of appreciation for bringing the town together and as compensation for the work done (by me), a hefty amount of gems that were unearthed during the town’s construction were given by Hudson (to me).
(I) wish the couple could live happily ever after.
The reckless Link, who apparently felt thrilled when he managed to knock out some monsters with his new companion:
(I) captured the giant horse in Taobab Grasslands
So that’s why. It’s indeed a really big horse. It trampled whatever kind of monster in its way with ease when it galloped. That was really cool.
When it was brought back to Straia (by me), he was very surprised.
Link the foodie, who carefully noted down new recipes he learned along the way for future use:
(I) brought Kiana the goat butter and hearty blueshell snail required for cooking seafood paella. She shared some of the dish (with me) as thanks!
The playful Link, who tried to mimic the way Gorons speak- by adding “goron” at the end of every sentence- after he passed the Test of Will and became one of the bros:
Ah… (I) kinda want to write down Kabetta’s Bro Motto, but there’s not enough space goron?
The empathetic Link, who felt nervous for the guy in this side quest, then relieved when the couple finally got together:
The last line on the left is the Japanese equivalent of What the heck…
I guess the statue is a bit too weird even for our great adventurer.
Finally, we have the entry that shows up after you complete the DLC trial:
(I) finally conquered the merciless Trial of the Sword.
(I believe that) Princess Zelda would be quite happy about how much I’ve improved
As we all know, Breath of the Wild is a game that focuses a lot on the freedom given to the players. Even the main story line is broken down into the form of memories, waiting for the players to find. As the players venture on into the wild, they would eventually find the information they need to learn about this world. The amazing amount of details you can find about Hyrule and its people is an important reason why BotW is so attractive.
On the contrary, the info available about our protagonist is very limited. The only piece of description that directly describes Link is in Zelda’s diary, where she points out that he is a very quiet person, and that’s it for our hero.
Link had always had the most extensive character description. Right under our noses.
Nintendo got us. They got us GOOD.
SIX months after the game’s launch.
P.S.: Fun fact about BotW Link- he seems to like the sand seal game a lot. Of all the entires about racing minigames, the sand seal game is the only one where Link wrote “(I’ll) try to get a better score next time!”
He’s so adorable I can’t //////
Disclaimer: I did not discover this.
This discovery was made by a Chinese gamer @北欧大白兔 about a week ago. To make sure that her theory is correct, she cross referenced the English version of the game, only to discover that the language is completely emotionless and robotic. Therefore, to allow more people to see who Link REALLY is, I was asked to write this post based on the Chinese article she published.
Link: http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404145837893616605
Pic credits: @lulubuu0609 (She’s an amazing artist btw check out her blog)
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