Breath Of The Wild Left This Feature On The Cutting Room Floor

Now that "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" is more than four years old, the game has all but sealed its status as a modern classic. One of the things that has made the game so rewarding is that its immaculately crafted world still reveals secrets, such as a chest that took four years to open. In fact, one fan just uncovered a hidden feature, poisoned water, which appears to be a scrapped in-game mechanic.

"Zelda" content creator Waikuteru shared a video on YouTube demonstrating the existence of the unique aquatic feature that Nintendo chose not to include in the final build of "Breath of the Wild." Waikuteru found the discarded feature in the game's code and modded their copy to interact with it. The video shows that the poisoned water has its own unique visual characteristics and distinct interaction with Link's in-game abilities, as well as separate rules for how it affects the player and NPCs.

In their YouTube video, Waikuteru shared examples of how poisoned water might have influenced "Breath of the Wild," and demonstrated just how impactful the deadly addition could be. Here is everything gamers need to know about the newest "Breath of the Wild" secret that wasn't discovered for years.

When restored to the game, the poisoned water has a somewhat otherworldly purple hue, which makes it distinct from the realistic teal-colored bodies of water that gamers see in "Breath of the Wild." That visual cue turns out to be quite valuable, as an accidental dip in the lavender liquid can quickly prove fatal.

Waikuteru managed to determine the damage dealt by poisoned water down to a very exact number, noting that Link takes two damage every 15 frames, which translates to an entire heart every second he is in contact with the liquid. In contrast, enemies take five damage every 60 frames, equivalent to a little over one heart every two seconds.

The video also demonstrated that while most of the physics that govern water in "Breath of the Wild" continue to apply to poisoned water, allowing Link to use a raft to traverse it, some rules are slightly different. For instance, players cannot use Cryonsis on poison water, meaning they cannot build ice blocks from the contaminated liquid. However, enemies still have the potential to drown if they are pushed into deep water, making it even more deadly.

While the YouTuber doesn't offer specific instructions on how to reintroduce the liquid into "Breath of the Wild," their comments on the video do note that the game files are built into the retail version of the game and are "ready to use in everyone's game copy!"