The full map for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has leaked just a few days ahead of the game's release date. I understand if you want to hit that "Back" button and avoid any possible spoilers for the campaign, but if you can tolerate a little bit of foreknowledge (the map doesn't have any markers or other indicators), let me tell you… It's pretty spectacular to just sit and imagine all the adventures that will unfold across those endless mountains, valleys, and forests.
Here's the smaller version of the image, via GameFAQs user Helsionium. The full-sized, 24,000 by 20,000 pixel map is also available at a hefty 145 MB.
Getting a sense of scale without any markers on the map is tricky. But I'm pretty sure that dark spot near the top-center are the ruins of Hyrule Castle, which serve as the decaying prison of Calamity Ganon. Here's an in-game look at the castle from one of the trailers.
See how the corrupted castle still looks huge and imposing even though it's far away enough to blend into the horizon? Now go back to the map and see how that entire landmass is a bitsy circle near the center of the map. Yeah, we're talking about a lot of real estate here.
Granted, it's not the size of the map that makes an open-world game good, it's what it does with it. But our latest hands-on preview gives me hope that there will be something fun to try on every little pixel, whether it's plotting out a siege of a bokoblin camp or foraging for rare cooking ingredients.
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