“Lurelin Village” serves up a soft palette of bongos, steel drums, and acoustic guitar fingerpicking, setting a breezy, tropical mood. The plucky “Korok Forest” theme weaves a dense thicket of tambourine, xylophone, strings and harpsichord, occasionally brushed aside by English horn and clarinet. “Hateno Village” is reminiscent of Zelda village themes at their sweetest, sporting smooth marimba rolls, string trills and an easy-going uilleann pipe melody. Longtime Zelda fans need only take a listen to any of the nine village themes on the album to feel right at home. That’s not to say that Breath of the Wild is devoid of more traditional music.
As a result, the field themes likely won’t please everyone – all the more-so outside of the context of the game – but open-minded listeners with an appreciation for a calmer, piano driven take on Zelda music will be happy with their inclusion. These soft and decidedly bland tracks are a definite departure from the grandeur of, say, Ocarina of Time’s legendary “Hyrule Field” theme. The common ground between these themes is their collective ambient focus. “Field (Intense Heat)” is basically a shimmering synthesized heat wave over sandy wisps of white noise, while “Wasteland” tasks a piano and santur with exploring shifting modality. “Field (Freezing Cold)” chills the ears through a combination of icy percussion and shrill synths with elongated reverb tails, while “Cave” warms the soul with a soothing piano chord progression and fuzzy synth pads. “Waterfront” evokes the image of a harbor as a handpan leans in and out of its phrases like a buoy. “Plateau” is a meditative track comprised of twinkling piano and elongated pan flute phrases, impressing upon the listener an image of tallgrass swaying in the wind.
This statement holds truest in the album’s field themes. Breath of the Wild just happens to take a more calculated approach to organizing sounds – and silences – than any previous Zelda game.
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Nothing, it turns out, could be further from the truth: the full soundtrack is a massive six-hour package of diverse musical material. Some gamers confuse Breath of the Wild’s minimalist nature for an indication that the game contains a minimal amount of music. What’s the verdict on the most radical Legend of Zelda soundtrack to date? Body Opinions from both camps have had a year to marinate, but now the full official soundtrack is finally available to judge on its own merits. The fanbase, on the other hand, was polarized: some swore by Breath of the Wild’s innovations, while others mocked the effort as directionless ambience.
Critics loved the new direction, showering the in-game soundtrack with praise and accolades.
Trading in tried and true Zelda traditions for a more modern approach to game score, Breath of the Wild’s soundtrack surprised many with its sparse and dynamic musical flavor. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, however, warrants tacking a new descriptor onto the list: controversial. Take your pick, but these same words have tended to describe most Legend of Zelda soundtracks since the inception of the series. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrackįantastical.