While we're waiting for Breath of the Wild 2 to take us back to Hyrule, a fan-made mod has shown us what a different world it would be with more photorealistic rendering.

The 4K video from Digital Dreams uses a custom ray-tracing preset for ReShade, a tool which can be used to add new effects to existing games. You can check out their Patreon if you want to try it out yourself - though first you'll need to emulate Breath of the Wild on PC, which may put you in a legal grey area depending on where you live.

Or you could just enjoy the nine minutes of gameplay Digital Dreams shared with the ray-tracing preset enabled. It makes for a remarkably different feeling world, with trees and structures casting stark shadows across the landscape. The mod also seems to change the quality of the light itself to favor a more golden hue.

I'm not sure if I'd want to play through the whole game with it looking like this - the vibrant, original look of Breath of the Wild is pretty close to perfect in my book - but it's still a captivating way to enjoy Hyrule in a new light. Or you could just spend a few hours pushing together all the Old Men (who are supposed to be the same Old Man) on the Great Plateau for a family reunion. They're equally valid, for there is no wrong way to breathe in the wild.



Posted: Aug 11, 2021 10:37 am
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-with-ray-tracing-looks-like-a-whole-new-game/