Collecting Korok seeds in Breath of the Wild transforms the game

I started chasing down all 900 Korok seeds, convinced that it was a fool’s errand. I thought of the task as Sisyphean. All I would do was mindlessly collect seed after seed after seed after… seed. I assumed that only sickos or die-hard fanatics would collect them. However, several weeks into my chase — which still isn’t over — I’m now convinced it’s actually the ideal way to enjoy The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.

Now hear me out: I’m not saying that people who don’t go after the Korok seeds aren’t “real fans.” Far from it. The main quest, and boss battles were very challenging for a Zelda gamer who is used to 3D combat games. Collecting the seeds was a wonderful and relaxing way to revisit Breath Of The Wild By 2023.

Link, like any hero worth his salt, has some tools to help him overcome this challenge. You will definitely need Revali’s Gale if you don’t want to spend copious amounts of time climbing. Additionally, I beat all the DLC for the game, so I had some important items like Master Cycle Zero (Link’s tricked-out motorcycle), a Korok mask that shakes when a seed is nearby, and the Travel Medallion, which allows you to place a teleportation waypoint anywhere on the map you’d like. I had 200 arrows at the start of my journey, which was a blessing, as you need to shoot balloons moving fast to collect many seeds. Even though I was using a variety of tools, my most valuable resource was an interactive map that saved and tracked all my progress.

Like playing? Elden RingIt is important to start laughing and only then become frustrated. It still kind of sucks that you can’t climb well when it’s raining. While some seeds are a real challenge, others can make you think that the developers secretly laugh at you as you work hard to obtain a single Korok seed. You can get seeds in Lurelin Village by throwing a rock onto a roof. It sounds so plainly simple and easy, but it’s not.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

The top of the building is pretty high, so a regular toss won’t cut it. To get the seeds up, I used several methods. I first cut all the trees down from certain angles in the hopes they would land on the roof and form a bridge (they didn’t). I then tried to use Stasis and basically play rock golf and get one up top (the angles weren’t right). Then I tried the Stasis technique, but I would place the rock at the top of a stump to fire from. No combination of angles I used worked. I thought about using Octo Balloons but did not have any and didn’t want to go get them for a single Korok seed. I probably shouldn’t have. Then, after walking further from the target and launching off of a steep hill I decided to go for a low shot instead of a high. As I sat alone at my desk, the rock landed.

The seeds that need this level of tweaking Breath of the Wild’s The sandbox is becoming more and more rare. This level of difficulty made me realize how relaxed the majority of Korok seeds hunting was in comparison. The majority of Korok seed hunting was done by casually meandering around and admiring the landscape. I would go into a region intending to collect specific seeds, but by the time I got one seed, I’d be close to the next one. It was easy to chain together my hunting.

While playing through the main game questline, there weren’t many landmark names that I remembered. Dueling Peaks was a location I remembered because it played a role early in the game. But, honestly, there wasn’t much else outside of the major landmarks such as Hyrule Castle and the Temple of Time. As I hunted for seeds, it became apparent to me that developers had named each peak, valley, creek, and meadow. Small puddles that shimmer in the sunlight can be found even on meadows. When collecting the Koroks, the beautiful detail was revealed. Breath of the Wild’s scenery.

I don’t want to underestimate the sheer amount of time it takes. If I had to fit it in a short timeframe or meet a deadline, the grind would be agonizing and brain-numbing. It’s a daunting task, but it’s one that I think the developers want players to succeed in. Once you find a Korok, it’s marked it on the map. So if you get to the end and — Hylia forbid — you are missing a few seeds, you can technically go back through on your map and cross reference the ones you’ve collected (even if that’s a little too administrative for my own taste).

The result is not worth the effort, it’s easy to say. You get a gold turd if you manage to collect all the 900 seeds. It’s actually absurd, but also, that’s what I think is beautiful about chasing the seeds. It’s collecting for collecting’s sake. It’s for people whose brains itch unless they hit that 100-percent complete mark, and those content to meander through the vast and varied terrain of Hyrule. It’s a turn Breath Of The Wild into Nintendo’s most stunning walking simulator yet.