Zelda: BOTW’s Eventide Island is one of Nintendo’s best pranks

The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the WildThere are 120 shrines scattered throughout Hyrule. Many of them can be seen out in open areas, on hillstops, or in peaceful valleys. Some shrines are hidden and waiting to be solved.

Polygon has announced a Zeldathon for 2023. Follow us as we journey through The Legend of Zelda, starting with the 1986 original game and ending in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

You can replay the video Take a deep breath of the wild The wait is not over. Tears of the Kingdom: Zelda’s LegendRecenty, I went back to Korgu Chideh. In order to access it, I had to travel to Eventide Island and undergo one of the open-world game’s most grueling quest lines. It’s praiseworthy in terms of level design, but it also displays Nintendo’s sometimes twisted sense of humor — and it can be outright annoying to deal with if you don’t go in prepared. It’s a booby-trapped, Hitman-esque level where the odds are stacked heavily against you, and it’s amazing.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Eventide Island isn’t easy to reach. It’s an empty spot along the southeast coast of the game’s giant map, and unless you’ve heard of it through word of mouth, you might not have stumbled upon it unless exploring out of curiosity alone. You can fly there via Link’s glider (although this requires a lot of stamina) or use a raft. You can’t easily escape, either; the only way to leave is to swim all the way back to the mainland — that is, unless you’re Very creative.

Upon landing on the island, the quest’s rules will display on screen: Move three orbs to various locations to win. It’s easy enough. However, there are harsh realities: You lose your weapons, armors, shields and food. You’ll have to find new gear on the island. To make things tougher, the quest disables the ability to save your game, so you’ll lose everything (again) if you die.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

It initially seems unfair, even though you do have your Sheikah Slate and its runes — the bag of tricks you obtain in the early game. With Magnesis you can telekinetically move magnetic objects by using Magnesis. You also have the power to explode things with bombs and make water platforms with Cryonis. That means this could be a particularly hard quest if you’re more comfortable fighting with degradable weapons than Link’s reusable runes.

Each enemy requires that you have an in-depth understanding of each one to be able to defeat them all. Take a deep breath of the wild’s game mechanics — especially stealth, luring enemies into traps, and being brutally accurate with bows and bombs. You need to know how to get the most damage with crappy weapons that’ll break quickly, backstab what few unassuming enemies you can, pull off critical headshots, cause distractions, and on top of all that, use the environment to your advantage.

Eventide Island is a long and difficult task that can be completed in a few hours depending on your level of skill. With each new attempt of this quasi-roguelike experience, your equipment will be gone, but your knowledge of the island’s layout remains. I won’t pretend that the knowledge alone will help you win; you’ll likely have at least one heated gamer moment when dealing with some fidgety physics, or when an overwhelming rush of enemies gets in the way of an orb. It is a rewarding moment to finally reach the shrine. Take a deep breath of the wildhas to offer.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

It’s been about six years since I first made my way to Eventide Island, and my appreciation for its design only grows. It’s a fun yet torturous sandbox where Take a deep breath of the wild’s many game systems work in symphony. Most of all, I love how this quest toys with the game’s relationship with the player, almost as if to say, “If you fly over here, acting all independent and curious, we’re going to let you do that. Just know that you may get your ass kicked in the process — right up until the moment where you triumph.”