Zelda: Breath of the Wild has one of Nintendo’s best pranks

polygon.com:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild contains 120 shrines sprinkled across every section of Hyrule, many of which are out in the open, exposed to the elements on hilltops or lying dormant in a peaceful valley. But some are completely hidden, waiting for you to complete a quest or a puzzle before they emerge from the ground.

While replaying Breath of the Wild during the wait for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, I recently took another run at the Korgu Chideh shrine. 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.

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. Simple enough. But there are some harsh conditions: The game takes away your weapons, shields, armor, food, and all other stat-buffing supplements. You’ll have to find new gear on the island. To make things tougher, the quest disables the ability to save your