When it comes to fan games and projects, some of the most interesting ones are those that completely change the way you way. Whether it’s adding Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom abilities to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, giving Mario FLUDD or Cappy in Super Mario 64 or making any other sort of major change that completely shakes up the original game’s systems, it’s always neat to see a beloved in a new light.
And now, it seems something similar has happened to Breath of the Wild too. Why? Because Crementif and team have created BetterVR, a system that lets you play the entirety of the Wii U version of the game in first person using a VR headset. Here’s a trailer showing it in action:
As well as the GitHub page to download the project:
It’s an impressive setup to say the least. Indeed, while Nintendo’s own attempt at this was rather lacking, with the LABO headset integration mostly coming down to a slightly more immersive third-person view, this is VR as we all know it. You play the game as Link from a first-person perspective, you use gestures and motion controls to do things like swing weapons and light fires, and you basically experience the whole thing as if it was your adventure. It’s VR as it’s meant to be used, and a way to make the game significantly more immersive than ever before.
Of course, as the GitHub page itself points out, there are a few bugs and issues here and there. Weapons can be unreliable, as can abilities like Magnesis when used on distant enough targets. The physics have been tweaked a bit gravity wise, so certain shrines and puzzles may not be completable via the intended method. And things like ladders are apparently a bit glitchy too, with the download page saying you should look away from them while climbing.
Still, it’s a fan made project that’s still in its early days, and a very impressive one for what we have so far. So, while it may not be Nintendo quality in terms of every quality-of-life feature and detail, it’s still a solid effort.
As for whether the company in question will let it remain online for the foreseeable future… well, that’s always a bit of a gamble. Personally, we’ve always seen the panic about ‘Nintendo Ninjas’ as vastly overblown, with the stats we’ve gathered showing that 99.99% of fan projects don’t actually come under fire from the IP owner. This is especially true of mods and ROM hacks, since their distribution method and general setup means they’re in legally grey territory that’s more likely to swing towards because legal compared to complete fan games. So, the lack of Breath of the Wild assets in this mod, and the fact it’s only being distributed as a set of mechanical changes applied to an existing copy of the game likely means it’s good here.
But hey, you can never be too sure, especially after the media coverage from sites like DSOGaming and My Nintendo News. Hence if you want to try out the mod and haven’t done so already, we’d highly recommend you download all the files for safekeeping in case the worst happens. And we’d recommend you do the same for just about any other fanwork you enjoy in general.
Regardless, Breath of the Wild now has a VR mod you can play on Cemu, and you can download it right now. So, what are your thoughts on it so far? Is it a fun game to play in first person like this? Could Nintendo take any inspiration for the next actual Zelda game?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, on social media, or on our Discord server today!
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