Breath of the Wild’s opening is iconic. It follows the classic format of having Link waking from a dream, but this time, our hero has been asleep for 100 years. The Hyrule he knew is gone, he doesn’t know where he is, and anything he did know has been forgotten.
The Shrine of Resurrection itself is such an interesting choice for where to begin the game. We’re not starting off in a place of safety and comfort, like we do in Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time with Link’s home. Neither are we starting with a moment of connection between Link and a loved one, which is what we see in Twilight Princess and Majora’s Mask. This time, Link awakens alone, with only a mysterious voice to guide him.
Although this version of Link knew Zelda and his destiny before, he’s lost his memories and is awakening in a state of childlike innocence. He is as naïve as the first-time player of this game, and the setting reflects this so well.
The Shrine itself is strange and mysterious. With its blue lights and strange resurrection chamber, it looks like it belongs in a science fiction movie rather than an epic fantasy game like Zelda. The mysterious runes look ancient, but they also look like things you might see in Alien or The Fifth Element. There are strange constellations on the walls to top it off. The bed Link lies in is clearly a piece of advanced technology, a strange machine that held him in suspended animation as it healed him. All in all, it looks like the interior of a spaceship.
Incorporating tech into the traditional Zelda setting we’re so familiar with sets the tone for what we’re about to experience beyond the Shrine. In this Hyrule, there is tension between nature and technology, along with tension between history and progress. Robots and mechanical beasts may have appeared in previous games like Skyward Sword, but Breath of the Wild is the first Zelda game to grapple with ideas like this in earnest.
Beyond this is the way the Shrine of Resurrection prepares the player for the game. Link is rebuilt, awakened, and then led through the rest of the Shrine, where he picks up the Sheikah Slate and learns the basic controls of the game. After coming to grips with the Sheikah Slate, he opens a chest and puts on the clothes he finds inside, signaling to the player that there will be Armor Sets to collect throughout Hyrule. And this all happens before the player even gets to the true tutorial area.
The Shrine of Resurrection gets forgotten sometimes. When people talk about how Breath of the Wild made them feel, they talk about that first leap into the Great Plateau, the wonder of seeing the whole of Hyrule stretching before them. Yet they forget the feeling of waking up in a sci-fi stasis chamber, the shock of watching that initial cutscene, and thinking it’s so unlike any Zelda game they’ve seen before.
