Zelda Player Kills Guardian With Anime-Ass Swordplay

From the mid-air pause to the powerful slice, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was just a mod, some creative cinematography. But the next eight minutes of the video breaks down how it was done, and while it’s almost all in Japanese, the language of this game is universal, so you can fairly easily follow what’s going on.

It starts with practising what’s known as a TCR, or Thunderclap Rush. The high jump and pause comes from dropping some chu chu jelly on the ground and striking it. Then there’s some messing around with Urbosa’s Fury and Stasis effects. Followed by some practice with a bomb glitch that lets you fly around, and finally a real-time demonstration of how it all comes together for the kill shot.

I love this. Firstly for the kill itself, of course. Like I’ve already said, it’s wild that we’re five years on from the release of the game and we’re still seeing new and cool stuff come out of its community. It proves that Nintendo’s approach to open world design for Breath of the Wild, which prioritised a playful, sandbox approach, has so much more longevity to it than, say, Ubisoft’s efforts.

But I also appreciate the structure of the video itself. I’m someone who could never, ever do something like this on my own, so being able to see how the sausage was made—both just so I know, but also so I can admire the work that went into it—is greatly appreciated!