Here we are! Bonus round for Halloween, coming right up!

It’s hard to say anything about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t already been said, but I’m going to ramble about it anyway. It’s my blog and I get to ramble about whatever I want!

No other Legend of Zelda title has made me feel the way that Breath of the Wild has, and a lot of that is due to its music. Like Metroid Dread’s, it’s divisive, but for me, it succeeds in doing exactly what it set out to do and is better for it. I cannot honestly imagine Breath of the Wild with a traditional Zelda soundtrack. It wouldn’t be the same without it, and I like the way that it is.

Which brings us to this track.

Naturally, it plays in this game’s take on the Lost Woods, but it also plays in other areas as well (I have seen other uploads of this track call it “Maze Forest”, which fits the areas it plays in). But I’m going to talk about the Lost Woods here.

The Lost Woods, as can be expected, is not an area you can simply easily walk through. There is a certain path you must follow, and straying too far will of course send you back where you started. The fog will close in around you and there you are again, the forest itself mocking you. In order to make it through, you have to follow where the wind goes, and the best way to track this is by watching the embers of torches. Good luck.

You can also make this eerie experience considerably less so by summoning Wolf Link, who is not subject to Lost Woods logic and therefore free to run around killing everything in sight.

The music itself… It’s appropriately cold and eerie. The minimal instruments give it an empty, haunted feel. The main melody is urgent, beckoning you further into the forest even as it seeks to keep you away. There’s an element of danger, but there’s an odd playfulness to it as well. The forest is playing a game with you, but you’ve gotten lost among the twisted trees and the chilling wind. The fog has gotten thicker, and you can’t hear the crackling of the fire anymore.

Maybe you should just turn back while you still can.

Happy Halloween!