The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has reflected on how late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s unexpected passing had impacted the development team.
“The sadness runs deep. This is approaching spiritual talk, but we had the sense that he was watching over our work,” Fujibayashi had explained. “That became a source of motivation, a drive for us to improve and be better.”
It is understandable that his sudden loss would have seen the team mourn, and it is heartwarming that they were able to take comfort in feeling that Iwata was still watching over them and willing the team to succeed.
That motivation is admirable, but many have expected that a tribute to Nintendo’s beloved leader would appear in Link’s open-air adventure. For even Star Fox Zero‘s credits sequence had closed with the heartfelt message: “This game is dedicated to our wingman who fell in battle.”
Seaniccus believes that he’s discovered it. That tribute comes in Botrick, a watchman that patrols the road near to Outskirt Stable south-west of Hyrule Field.
The resemblance is uncanny, with the round-faced character not only having a parted fringe but square-rimmed glasses that will remind many of Iwata. Once you strike up a conversation, the character directs the player to Satori Mountain and, scaling to reach its peak, you can discover a lone cherry blossom tree – the only one that can seemingly be found in Hyrule.
That would certainly be a fitting tribute, but we will mark it as a rumour for now until Nintendo either confirm or deny the speculative discovery.
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