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The Music of Breath of the Wild | GMTK Extra

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The bottom line

Breath of the Wild's score uses restraint, with quiet piano and silence for a melancholy ruined kingdom, and saves its big tunes for the right moments. That restraint makes the rare bursts of familiar or hopeful music, like Tarrey Town's, hit harder.

Key takeaways

  • Quiet piano and silence suit a sad, ruined Hyrule. 1:24
    • Link wakes with no memory, and his friends are dead or missing, so the game is tinged with sadness and regret.
    • The music often fades out completely, leaving only ambient sound and Link's footsteps.
  • The score changes with the place and the time of day. 2:09
    • There is separate music for the desert, woods, Death Mountain, snow and ruins, which is rare in open world games.
    • Town themes keep the same song but slow their tempo at night.
  • Classic Zelda themes are hidden in the score as rewards for players who notice. 4:03
    • The main Zelda theme plays only as a ghostly echo when you ride a long way at night.
    • Death Mountain's music matches Dungeon 9 from the first Zelda game.
  • Music also guides the player and warns of danger. 6:58
    • Music from the stables, the Fang and Bone shop and Kass's accordion carries from a distance and leads you to them.
    • Combat tunes start when enemies spot you, when a guardian targets you, or when the blood moon is about to rise.
  • The Tarrey Town song grows fuller with each new arrival and shows hope for Hyrule. 7:33
    • The Goron add a horn, the Gerudo a sitar flourish, the Rito wind instruments, and the Zora a subtle extra depth.
    • Each addition comes from a main town's music, so the song stands in contrast to the melancholy elsewhere in the game.

Breath of the Wild has some incredible music, and I think composer Manaka Kataoka shows real restraint in how she withholds these banging tunes and famous bits of music until the perfect moment.

Mark, Game Maker's Toolkit

Chapter summaries

0:00 Each Zelda game sets its mood with music

Zelda scores match the feel of each game, and Breath of the Wild's is not the best but has much to love.

  • Nintendo picks a different musical mood for each Zelda game 0:29
    • Ocarina of Time sounds heroic.
    • Wind Waker sounds optimistic, and Majora's Mask sounds foreboding.
    • Breath of the Wild does not have the best soundtrack in Zelda history.
    • Nintendo has always reflected each game's vibe in its choice of music.

2:09 Old Zelda songs return in new places

Breath of the Wild hides older Zelda music throughout Hyrule
Town themes quote their originals openly, while the series' best-known melodies appear only under specific conditions.

The score pays tribute to earlier games, both in town themes and in tunes buried for players to find.

  • Town themes mostly echo earlier Zelda games 2:28
    • Goron City, Zora's Domain and Gerudo City reference Ocarina of Time's music.
    • Rito Village references Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker.
    • Dragon Roost Island is one of his favourite Zelda songs ever, so arriving in Rito Village was a moment for him.
    • The Kakariko Village theme is the odd one out, and it is unclear what is going on there.
  • Other classic tunes are hidden for players to find 3:58
    • The fairy fountain music and Epona's theme are easy to hear.
    • Riding by day brings Zelda's lullaby, played very slowly.
    • The hiding mirrors how Hyrule lies hidden under the ruins of Calamity Ganon.
    • The shrine music is evocative and otherworldly.

5:33 Standout tracks and warning cues

Beyond the hidden references, the score has big set pieces and clever triggers.

  • Ganon's castle theme nods to classic Zelda and still stands alone as a great track. 5:54
    • It is epic and puts you in the mood for the final boss.
    • Another track recalls the light world dungeon music from Link to the Past.
    • Korok Woods is singled out as great music.
    • The ancient laboratory theme is called super weird and good.
  • Combat music starts on some unexpected cues. 7:21
    • Standing on a rock monster's head switches the music to a combat tune.
    • The music reacts to the player's position, not only to being spotted.
    • The same shift happens when a guardian targets you.

7:33 Tarrey Town's growing song

Each new resident adds an instrument to Tarrey's song
Each added layer comes from that race's home town theme, so the finished song gathers all of Hyrule in one place.

A town song that gathers every race's music is the score's clearest sign of hope.

  • The side quest "From the Ground Up" builds a village whose music grows with it. 7:33
    • Buying the house in Hateno Village unlocks the quest.
    • You gather lots of wood and bring unhappy people from across Hyrule to Tarrey.
    • At first the music is hopeful but quiet, like the town itself.
    • The reviewer's favourite piece of music in the game.
  • The finished song is a full-bodied melting pot that contrasts with the melancholy elsewhere. 9:17
    • It stands for different peoples and cultures coming together.
    • It shows that Hyrule can live on and thrive.
    • Kataoka's restraint pays off: big tunes arrive at the right moment, and the rest is quiet echoes of a long-dead kingdom.

In the growth library

Mark Brown, creator of Game Maker's Toolkit. Shows how Breath of the Wild's sparse, regional, and layered music supports its melancholy tone, guides exploration, and rewards players with hidden callbacks. The Tarrey Town theme, which gains instruments as each race joins the village, is the example that makes it worth watching.

More from Game Maker's Toolkit · The whole library, and ask it anything

Transcript74 lines
0:00

Hi! My name's Mark and this is Downloadable Comment, which is what I'm calling these spin-off bonus videos where I get a chance to follow-up my most recent episode of Game Maker's Toolkit, and cover the same topic - but from a different angle. In this one, I want to talk about the music in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Because, while it does not have the best soundtrack in Zelda history, there's still so much to love about this game's score.

0:29

Now, each Zelda game has a very different vibe, and Nintendo has always reflected this in the choice of music. Ocarina of Time is heroic.

0:47

Wind Waker is optimistic.

1:00

And Majora's Mask is foreboding.

1:20

So what about Breath of the Wild? Well, Link has woken up in a ruined kingdom, all his friends are dead or missing, and he has lost his memory, to boot. This is a melancholic game - and the quiet, slow, and subdued piano music really fits the bill.

1:48

Plus, the music often fades out into complete silence, leaving you with nothing but ambient sounds and Link's footsteps. As much as this game is about going on an adventure - it's one that is tinged with sadness and regret. It's a bummer, basically. While the music is subtle and atmospheric, it does change dramatically depending on where you are in Hyrule. There's music for the desert, the woods, Death Mountain, snowy areas, ruins, and other places. It's actually kinda rare for open world games to have scores that fit the different areas on the map.

2:28

Each town also has its own theme, of course, and they mostly echo previous Zelda games - though, I'm not sure what's going on with Kakariko Village. Goron City, Zora's Domain, and Gerudo City, though, all reference Ocarina of Time's music, and the Rito Village references one of my favourite Zelda songs ever - Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker.

3:20

I had, a bit of a moment when I first got here in Breath of the Wild. Also, the music in these towns changes depending on the time of day. It's always the same song, but the tempo and whatnot, shifts down during the night.

3:58

Anyway, these aren't the only Zelda songs to appear in the game. Lots of classic tunes are in there, but hidden away - kinda like how Hyrule has been hidden under the ruins of Calamity Ganon, wink wink! I just winked at a microphone. So you've probably heard the fairy fountain music and Epona's theme.

4:30

But you might have missed the main Zelda theme, which only appears, like a ghostly echo, if you ride your horse for a great distance at night.

4:52

During the day, Zelda's lullaby plays instead - though, it's very slow.

5:09

Also, this music from Death Mountain... is the same as the music in Dungeon 9 in the first Zelda game... And the shrine music, which is just very evocative and otherworldly...

5:43

sounds like the light world dungeon music from Link to the Past. Ganon's castle also references classic Zelda games but is also just an absolute belter.

6:17

Super epic. Really gets you in the mood for taking on that end Boss. Other, just generally rad music includes the Korok Woods...

6:37

And the ancient laboratory which is just super weird and good...

6:58

The music in Breath of the Wild also helps you find important things in the overworld. The music for the stables, the Fang and Bone shop, and Kass's accordion can all be heard from a distance, and lead to you areas of interest. Plus, the music warns of you impending peril as it shifts to combat tunes when enemies spot you, or when you stand on a rock monster's head, or when you're being targeted by a guardian, or when the blood moon is about to rise.

7:33

My absolute favourite piece of music, though, is part of the side quest "From the Ground Up". And if you haven't finished that side quest yet, go check it out - you need to buy the house in Hateno Village to unlock it. Anyway, this quest is all about building and populating a small village called Tarrey Town. You'll be asked to gather wood - lots, and lots of wood - and also find unhappy people throughout Hyrule, and give them a new life in Tarrey.

8:00

Now, when you first visit the village the music sounds like this. Hopeful, but kinda quiet - just like the town. But as you bring in more and more people, the music starts to evolve. When you welcome the Goron to Tarrey Town, the song gains this horn. When the Gerudo joins the village, you start to hear this sorta Sitar flourish in the music.

8:51

The Rito brings in some wind instruments. And The Zora addition is quite subtle, but it adds some extra depth to the music.

9:17

Each additional instrument or melody comes from the main towns in the game - from Goron City to Zora's Domain. And what you get is this tremendously full-bodied music that represents this melting pot of different people and races and cultures all coming together. And this is such a juxtaposition to the melancholy music, found elsewhere in Breath of the Wild. Because this song, and this town, shows hope that Hyrule can live on, and thrive.

9:49

Pretty cool, right?

10:20

So, there we have it. Breath of the Wild has some incredible music, and I think composer Manaka Kataoka shows real restraint in how she withholds these banging tunes and famous bits of music until the perfect moment. Other times, you're just left with the quiet, atmospheric echoes of exploring a long-dead kingdom. Lovely stuff.