Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild player successfully snipes an enemy from 1.4 kilometers away

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-01-13 17:34 (JST)
Translated by. Ari Clark

On January 10, Japanese gamer ZeldaNeko posted a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild trick-shot video, which became a worldwide sensation. The gameplay stunt involved firing a shot from the Great Plateau, where the game begins, to strike a Guardian that was 1400 meters (1.4 kilometers) away. The video includes not just the firing of the shot, but also confirmation that it actually hit the target, a brilliant feat that seems to be the talk of the gaming community.

The starting point for this stunt was the ruins of the Temple of Time. After getting ready, Link promptly jumps into a freefall while riding his shield. He fires an Ancient Arrow off into the distance, then bounces off a Bokoblin and goes blasting off into the sky. He glides through the air at an unbelievable speed, and you can just barely make out the arrow that he fired, high in the sky.

As he continues to glide, the video shows the Guardian actually being struck by the arrow, and then ends. This proves that the trick-shot hit an enemy 1.4 kilometers away. The distance of 1.4 kilometers was measured using the method of another gamer called Yukino (discussed further below). In any case, you can’t call a feat like sniping an enemy from such a long distance, not to mention catching it on video, anything but “magnificent”.

In fact, Yukino is another example of a gamer causing a sensation by sniping an enemy at a distance, after sniping Dark Beast Ganon (see related article, in Japanese). Yukino struck their powerful foe with a Light Arrow from 1100 meters away. It was an extremely ambitious self-imposed challenge, and it shone a spotlight on the actual game mechanic that allowed attacks to land from over a kilometer away, as well as the virtuoso skills and driven ambitions of the gamer who actually put that mechanic to the test. Meanwhile, Yukino personally complained that the challenge was “artlessly simple”. It would seem ZeldaNeko attempted to replicate this ambitious challenge, while at the same time evolving it further.

ZeldaNeko’s stunt was also quite sophisticated from a technical viewpoint. It was not a matter of simply firing the shot, then jumping after it to see where it went. It involved an entire bag of clever tricks. The key to the whole thing was the Bullet Time Bounce (BTB), in which the player shield-surfs off the top of an enemy character’s head while controlling Link. This move requires the player to draw the bow in midair, go into slow-motion mode, and then fall directly toward the enemy’s back.

If they can steer the shield well enough to land a direct hit on the enemy, Link will be “launched” into the air at an incredible speed. That’s the Bullet Time Bounce. The gliding demonstrated in this video used a combination of the BTB and a variety of other techniques. The BTB may seem easy at a glance, but it requires a lot of practice to launch Link in the intended direction. It’s a much more difficult technique than it seems.

Careful preparation. Accurate sniping. A swift and precisely aimed Bullet Time Bounce. By combining all these advanced techniques within The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, gamers can concoct unbelievably crazy scenarios and record them on video. When we actually asked ZeldaNeko about the story, they said they gathered information from YouTube, Twitter, and various other websites to attempt the stunt.

They also said that they were influenced by the aforementioned gamer, Yukino, and their sniping of Dark Beast Ganon, but that they were also inspired to start working on this stunt by DrillCaramary’s video, “Sniping a Guardian from the very edge of the draw distance”. Moreover, they estimate that the maximum sniping range might be about 2000 meters.

In fact, ZeldaNeko’s rise to prominence within the Breath of the Wild fandom has been comparatively recent. They have only been posting videos since August 2020. They apparently started posting videos with the motive of showing other users how they had transported a Guardian Stalker to the Zora’s Domain. They performed amusing feats of every kind at an astounding pace and preserved them as videos on Twitter and YouTube, while also continuing with their other creative endeavors, such as pixel art.

While a newcomer, their strong curiosity, knack for making things happen, and tireless hard work quickly made them into a prominent figure. When we asked how many attempts (and how much time) it took to pull off this latest stunt, they said it took “a full month” since their last sniping challenge. Each attempt took about 2 minutes, so including the ones that they failed to catch on video, the total time added up to a number that they’d rather not think about, they commented. It certainly sounds like a difficult process.

The flashiness of this latest stunt has attracted a lot of attention, but the world of Breath of the Wild gaming stunts goes a lot deeper than this. For example, ZeldaNeko has pulled off all sorts of other interesting tricks, such as attempting a stylish long-distance strike using a Wind Bomb, or bringing some Hinox to Hateno Village. There are many other examples of Japanese gamers who constantly research and try new tricks, such as Peco, who takes stylish pictures of battle scenes, and Okameinko, who constantly digs up new oddities. The international Reddit community also constantly submits fun new moves. This group of power gamers never stops coming up with new ways to enjoy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

This 1.4 kilometer sniping challenge goes beyond the magnitude of the feat itself, to show how the fan community is thriving. Recently, players have been figuring out new ways to play a New Game+ with the Bow of Light carried over. Just beating the game normally is impressive enough on its own, but it also seems like a lot of fun to play in their own slightly bonkers way.

According to ZeldaNeko, they picked up a lot of in-depth knowledge about game locations and the movements of monsters while doing research for their long-distance strike. They said the real thrill of this playstyle isn’t just the joy of success, but the chance to enjoy the world of Zelda from a different point of view while attempting these unique stunts. Breath of the Wild is truly a game that allows for a diverse variety of playstyles.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently available for the Nintendo Switch. A prequel called Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has also been released.