Few games have fueled fans' imaginations in recent years like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo’s open-world game has a distinct take on the series’ world and characters, which has inspired a lot of Breath of the Wild-themed fan creations since its 2017 debut. Some of this art has pictured what the game might look like if mashed together with other popular games and movies, like the animated classic Princess Mononoke.
Studio Ghibli has turned out a number of acclaimed films over the decades, but many consider Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 epic about the conflict between man and nature as one of its best. The movie has been a major influence on a lot of media in the years since, including video games, so it's not all that surprising to see it inspiring fan art for Breath of the Wild, which has plenty of Ghibli-inspired art already.
There’s also something about the game itself that meshes with this movie in particular, as the illustrations shared by comfycorduroy on Twitter this weekend show. The two properties focus on vast and vibrant natural settings with a deep sense of history, and the way comfycorduroy recreates some of Princess Mononoke’s scenes using Link, Zelda, and other characters from Breath of the Wild works well.
The Legend of Zelda community has created a lot of content based on the latest game. In addition to illustrations like comfycorduroy’s, there have also been fan animations based on Breath of the Wild (some of which also carry a bit of Ghibli inspiration), scale models of the game’s weapons and locations, custom Switch and Amiibo models, as well as numerous mods for the game itself.
All this content has served to keep fans engaged with Breath of the Wild while they wait to dive back into its world. That wait will end soon with the release of the prequel Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in November, followed by Breath of the Wild 2 at some point down the line. Chances are a fresh wave of fan content will result from these releases, too.
Aside from its movies, Studio Ghibli has become well known for its distinct aesthetic that has been recreated by the Ni No Kuni series and other types of fan art. Just last week, a Korean artist named Mincho shared their recreations of scenes from The Last of Us 2 in Ghibli’s style, which goes to show how versatile that style can be even outside of fantasy settings like Princess Mononoke and Breath of the Wild.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available for Switch.
Source: Comfycorduroy