Unremarkable and odd places in Breath of the Wild 

I like to imagine Zelda is fending off Gannon in the castle while link is spending hours of precious time looking at unremarkable and odd locations that make him feel a little strange

Fun fact about the second spot. In master mode, a lone red bokoblin spaws there. Obviously the only one in the game on that setting. It basically exists so you can actually complete the compendium. Elsewhere there is a single green lizalfos and a single red moblin

The top of the Kakariko Village mountains are always really weird. There's stuff up there but it's clearly just built as a backdrop for the village below so you got a bunch of disjointed mountains and purposeless lakes that make it hard to get around

One place that always struck me as odd is Mount Agaat. It's the mountain forming the western border of Gerudo Highlands, and despite having a name, you can't climb it. If you try, the invisible wall tells you that you can't go that way. It even looks like it should be in bounds on the map, as the northeast portion is directly north of in-bounds areas of Gerudo Desert. Thus, it's the only named map location you cannot go to, which is very odd indeed.

I can tell Breath of the Wild's world is built well because no matter where I am, I find myself looking around and thinking "I would totally build a house and live here, right on this spot"

The Great Deku Tree branches being all the way in the lost woods is the tree equivalent of sleeping at night and not having your feet covered by your blanket.

One of the most weird places I found my first time playing the game was the rock quarry over on the east side of the map that only has like 1 shrine and nothing else.

in Wind Waker when you can see the version of Hyrule that's like frozen in time under the ocean and you can just walk a little bit outside the castle but you can never go out there and explore it all....that filled me with such incredible longing to go see what else there is. The edge of Gerudo kind of makes me feel that, too

I love the gerudo desert because for large stretches of land it’s empty apart from occasional statues or pillars. these patches of isolated architecture don’t really seem make any sense - you can’t really imagine any ancient people living there or creating them. most of the world feels logical and purposeful, but these bits of the desert feel pretty abstract. the odd, abandoned loneliness of it it reminds me of a giorgio de chirico painting.

My Botw moment was my husband and I were having Link go up a hill and the music changes to classic Japanese strings. And going a little further my husband asks "Is that a *dragon?*" And walks right towards it, getting electrocuted in the process. Absolutely enthralling moment. His favorite was stumbling upon his BOY BEEDLE. just pure unrestrained delight in finding an old friend.

the hebra mountains have always had a weird feeling to me. the quiet to near non existent music that plays, how quiet and muffled every sound is, how little sounds there actually are, the bland white of everything you can see; something about the mountains disquiets me so much. maybe it’s the fact that it’s one of the few places with no civilization. no towns, no random travelers, it’s all monsters. there are so many monsters up there. when i first came across selmie’s cabin, i had gotten so used to the constant anxiety of the mountains that i was genuinely expecting the cabin to be a trap, or that whatever i would find inside would be long dead. if i’m being honest, not to be cliché, but being deep in the hebra mountains is the first time in any zelda game that i ‘felt like’ link. i forgot myself up there. i felt like i personally was searching for any sign of life in that wasteland of a mountain. every enemy i encountered felt like a real fight for my life. i did one long expedition through the hebra mountains when looking for the leviathan there, and needless to say, i have seldom visited since. absolutely an odd place full of heebie jeebies sorry for how long this is

Top back corner of gerudo village is a girl eating tons of watermelons and she leaves the rinds in the little irrigation river so it flows all the way down and around the tops of the walls and piles up at the base of a waterfall fountain on the bottom layer but she is very secretive and the rinds float individually all the way through if you follow them

Honestly playing tears of the kingdom has made me appreciate the emptier world of botw. The lonely and melancholic vibes are just immaculate, and are just what i look for in games.

That second spot has a red bokoblin on master mode, which makes it less unremarkable but more odd i guess lol

I remember trying to reach the tip of the Deku Tree's branches, but the Fog always catching me before I could

3:33 Well, you might experience "stepping in a prairie dog hole and twisting your ankle" or "having the owner of the land come over a hill on a 4x4 with a shotgun telling you to get off his property". But nothing is certainly a good possibility too.

I love wandering around in 3D games. You always find a little spot that's probably just there to fill in the void, but somehow it's calming and beautiful.

3:20 - I grew up in a rural farming community, not with the truly giant fields like out in the west and midwest, but still lots of sizable tracks. I can confirm that finding yourself out in the middle of a field, suddenly and surprisingly alone, is a really ethereal feeling. You come to a neighbor's field in the morning, and the corn or silage or fescue is so tall it's well over your head, maybe even taller than your eye level while sitting up on a tractor, and then by midday the field is completely open and empty. Maybe it's your job to go around and get up the hay bales, or maybe you head out into the middle of the field to retrieve a tarp that blew away, but if you find yourself out in the middle of that suddenly empty field, you'll find yourself very abruptly feeling out of place, and maybe a little agoraphobic. It's definitely a strange vibe.

All of the shrine quest specific areas like the Rist Peninsula in Akkala, Typhlo Ruins, the Zonai labyrinths and Thundra Plateau all give very strange vibes. Maybe it's because their design is so specific to doing the quest and that they take up so much space that, upon return, it feels like the area has depleted all that it's got to give and is now just empty space on the map. Eventide Island is still very pretty and chill though.

I remember my childhood house, which was maybe a mile and a half of farmland away from the school. Sometimes I'd imagine while walking through them, that the field, which were devoid crops, would expand endlessly while I was walking towards my place. It was meant to be a scary what if scenario, but it actually was pretty soothing to think about. My favorite thing about the fields though was the time I just laid down in them, looking at the sky. The nothingness and stillness of the situation was exactly the feelings these videos give me. My house was directly visible yet entirely sequestered from the fields.

My favorite vibe place is the labyrinth in the upper north east. I remember the first time discovering it and going there. It seemed alien. Like a perfectly constructed geometrically symmetrical object in a vast open natural world. Loved the juxtaposition

If you enjoy getting up the deku tree, you should try climbing the giant malice pillars around hyrule castle. They’re possible to climb but also somewhat of a pain, and can lead to some very fun glitchy shenanigans

If you go further west in that area behind Death Mountain, that Lynel actually has two friends nearby. They form a perfect trifecta of sword, club, and spear, so they were definitely placed there intentionally, if not by Ganon then at least by the devs

I think the tabatha labyrinth interesting for the one abandoned camp within it, there was someone here and now there isnt, that idea about missed connections puts some kind of emotion in me that I cant quite describe

I can't believe how surreal these locations are. And I never noticed that the Deku Tree's branches sway.

i feel like you need to do one of these on shadow of the colossus, that entire game's map feels like a fever dream, everywhere you go feels unremarkable and odd yet strangely peaceful and beautiful. everytime i think of that game i just thinking about the cliffside and big open empty fields and think about how id just love to lie down on the grass and die there ???

My first time playing I discovered a hole in the side of death mountain, i was looking around the edge because no fireproof elixir and i stumbled across it. I've never been able to find it again. I think inside there is one of the most UAO places

The edge of the gerudo desert felt like in the first level of Spyro 1 where you fight the rams and catch the one thief and then you see the barrier towers and there's just endless green mountain that you can't get to.

One of the weirdest parts of that first location is that this little unremarkable strip of land at the northern edge of Hyrule... is part of Dinraal's route. Dinraal flies through there, and I have no idea why. Dinraal, unlike Farosh, only has ONE route... and a good 1/3 of it is spent in this weird edge area.

Your job analogy half way through the vid reminded me of one time when I was working at a store, first time in 3 years since I was working there, I was asked to go bring something from that store to another store of the same chain. And I just got to go outside on a sunday afternoon and go into the city for like 30 minutes. And it had the same feeling as going out of bounds in a videogame. I was half expecting to start seeing 2D trees and really low framerate animations if I just kept going. Weird stuff. It was almost as if the whole city was one big odd and unremarkable place

That outer edge of death mountain is so great and I kinda wish more happened in it

I think this video is actually really special. This is just a video of you appreciating the magic of the simple joy of a video game. It is just so genuine to hear you talk about the thoughts and feelings the games elicit in you, and even though it’s so personal the mood is still super light and breezy. It’s something I don’t really see on RU-vid much and I miss these sorts of things. Thanks for making this.

I absolutely adore this series. It's just everything I love about games and just art in general. You really do a great job driving home how subjective the human experience is, and that subjectivity is what I love the absolute most about games ♥️

2:53 The wierdest thing about this place is that if you play in master mode the only red bokoblin in the whole game is in this spot.

This is the same energy that made me explore Shadow of the Colossus endlessly back in the day. So glad Botw and Totk can bring this type of vibe back. Very liminal.

One that stood out to me: Shadow Hamlet Ruins. What's the deal? It's a named location, but there's next to nothing there. One of the first places I'm going to explore next weekend in TOTK.

The 4th spot was so unnecessary for the devs to build, but they did. Think about that. It's neither odd nor unremarkable, but the wide open area on teh Great Plateau by the King's cabin is just so laid back. And Whistling Hill in Hyrule Field is just the right amount of lonely.

There's a little hot spring between Mount Rozudo and Koto Pond that I love. Although there is a Korok puzzle there, it's still a random place for a hot spring to show up.

I always liked standing off to the side, or behind, or where ever I can and stare at the Sheikah monks at the end of the shrines from the wrong angle. The room was built up with a certain view point considered, but that's the end goal. You can wander a bit before you go talk to them.

There's a place in the mountains I found by Kakariko, I think it was to the west, and you start going down there's an abandoned house just there in the cliffside and something about it just really got me. It's so secluded and peaceful (disregarding some bokoblins that are not too far off down them mountain)

One of my favorite breath of the wild places, is one of the mountains by kakariko village- one with no koroks, nothing of interest at all, but it has one of the best views for seeing all the divine beasts just pointing at hyrule castle, in my opinion.

Please please continue making videos like this and never stop. Your content has some of the most honest and unconditionally comforting vibes I've ever seen on RU-vid.

It's so surreal seeing you at more than 40k subscribers and I'm so happy your channel blew up

i love places and vibes like this, makes me feel human i wouldnt want these spots to have "something" to do in them, it'd remove the realistic feeling of "stuff is happening here and there, but probably not here you can sit here for a while"

i really love this series, please keep doing more of it. my favorite spot on the map is one i couldn't pinpoint but i could definitely find my way back to if i wandered long enough, which is this one spot on the west side of hyrule field where there's a single tree on a hill and nothing else around it - no koroks, no paths, not even any other trees. another one of those spots like the grassy gulch you mentioned where the theme park ride pauses and you can just exist for a while.

I think that ridge of rock spikes separating the edge of the Akkala sea from the void on the west side deserves a mention. This flimsy-looking rock formation holding an ocean at bay is weird enough, but you also have the view of the perfectly geometrical labyrinth sitting in the water to the east and the towering landscapes on all sides.

The Northern part of that canyon makes me feel uncomfortable, but not because of Death Mountain. Look at the cliffs on the other side, now think about how different they look when compared to the Eldin region. There's a massive disconnect in soil types which make it feel completely foreign. It gets even worse when you immerse yourself in the game and look at the canyon from the Hebra Region. It just stops snowing for no reason! The cliffs don't even look like they're made of any rock or soil type found in Hyrule, but I might be wrong.

Thank you for making this. Map edges have both entranced and haunted me my entire life. You’ve tapped into thoughts I never knew how to verbalize until now. GameCube 👍

South of the Satori Mountains, halfway to the Dalite Forest, there's a little plateau with dense tree growth (look for a dense clump). It's south of the Stalnox in that area, and it's more easily accessed from the mountain than from the bottom (teleport to the Shrine there). In this spot you can find just about every type of mushroom in the game, and in reasonable quantities as well (IIRC some 2-3 of each type). This location is back in Tears of the Kingdom, allowing you to harvest a nice variety of mushrooms pretty quickly.

my favorite weird place is also at the edge of the map but it’s on the top right side of the map. it’s so cold and desolate and there’s only a tiny strip cut off by the mountain. i was so shocked to see there was a shrine there

My favorite unremarkable place in BotW is Lake Illumeni. There's a small burnt hut there, but it's really peacefull

Thanks for making this, it's helping me prepare for my upcoming holiday to Hyrule. I'll have to check out these spots

5:59 I hadn't noticed before that when you stand in the sand, your feet clip into the ground a bit. That's a very subtle touch, but it is what you would expect when standing in fine sand: for your feet to be a little buried. 10:47 this is a very pretty image imo. I think its the pinkish orange leaves + the blue atmosphere.

I love climbing the deku tree, my favorite place is Eastern reservoir lake, I love going up there because no one else is there. The water sounds are so calming. it was somewhere with a lot of attention and after you beat the divine beast there's no reason to go back up there, at least not for any reason the game thinks and I think that's wonderful. I loved all the spots you pointed out all of them are really good

I spent a lot of time in the first location because I naturally saw my first dragon there, Dinraal. I would climb up the Death Mountain spiky bits a little way, make a campfire and set the time to night... and then try and get good pictures of Dinraal for the compendium. I didnt know to shoot at the dragons yet, I just thought they were neat.

one more well-known spot you should absolutely check out is the unclimbable hole in the peak of mt hebra, its hard to miss its huge and unclimbable and actually has quite a bit of lore behind it. i love your unremarkable spots series and was overjoyed to see it done with botw which is my favorite game to play. my favorite part of the game is finding small holes to climb in. youre very cool glad to see this hope you're doing well❤️

i ran into the first place in the shadow of death mountain on my first play through and i felt the same way like wth is this liminal space? also i wandered straight from there into the creepy dark shadow woods with the shadowy ink enemies and i was so scared. didn’t help that i was staying up at night and playing it 😂

That second area, if I'm not mistaken, is the one place in the entire map where you can encounter a Red Bokoblin in Master Mode. There are dedicated locations all over the map where the lowest tier enemies that normally don't spawn in Master Mode are allowed to hang out just to ensure you can still find them for completing the compendium. There's a tucked away pond in the mountains around the path to Zora's Domain where the only Green Lizalfos can be found, a hot spring in West Hebra were you can find the only Red Moblin, and of course Ploymous Mountain is where the only Red Mane Lynel can be found.

Always love new videos in this series! Liminal spaces in video games that partly take you out of the game but at the same time make the game so much more real in it's 'normality' since it's easier to relate to it.

I’ve been watching your videos for quite a while, and I can’t thank you enough for the content you create. You remind me so much of my uncle who introduced me to the Zelda series around the time Wind Waker was released, and he passed away a few years ago. He was very sick around the time Breath of the Wild released, and I’ve been thinking lately how much he would have loved to see Tears of the Kingdom as well. You have his charm, his humor, his ability to appreciate even the most seemingly insignificant things, and the way in which he could say something that both means so much and absolutely nothing at the same time (and that is a compliment). Thank you for everything you do!

Perfect. Just what I needed to get in the mood for TotK. This will certainly be watched several times in the next few day.

I too relate to the feeling of “I wonder what would happen if I were to stand over there in that place that I have no reason to stand in.” I can go stand in my siblings room on the second floor even though i’m watching TV on the first floor and I have no reason to stand in my siblings room, therefore I will not. Doesn’t stop my siblings room from being there though. I’m not, but it is. I won’t… probably.

I click as soon as i got the notification... I think the second place's purpose is for giving you an area to look down towards before you get the paraglider. Those places on the edge of the map are fun to throw bombs and watch how far the supernatural wind pushes it in the other direction. The corners of the Blessing Shrines seem odd to me, with the water seeping into the bricks.

You should definitely check out some of the locations in Age of Calamity. Most levels don't involve you going through every section of the map, so sometimes there are these empty spaces in a corner somewhere, and it feels weird, especially since the prequel is supposed to show a less "post apocalyptic" Hyrule.

One of my favorite odd places in BotW has to be inside the Great Deku Tree's mouth. It was the first odd place I clipped into, and was met with the surprise of a single flower inside. I asked Mii Verse if I should burn the flower, and I got like 5 Yeah's. And so I did. Good times.

I'm a big fan of existentially odd and unremarkable places. And unbeatable bosses are always worth a look. So please, keep making videos like this. Also, those 2D branches are just great. They bring back fond memories of N64 tree-walls!

i always find myself going back to the deku tree’s branches, especially trying to see if i can windbomb out of the lost woods. nice to see others appreciating it

A nice dose of existential dread to finish off my Monday, thanks Austin!

I have never seen a video in this series and I'm happy t found me. I love the contradictory nature of the title it's so fun as an odd place in the name is somewhat remarkable, yet I completely understood the vibe of one of these locations. To me my favourite odd and unremarkable place in all of Hyrule which I constantly keep the travel medallion at is the top of Hebra peak. There is only 1 korok there and it's always snowy when I make my way there, but from the highest point on the map(or second highest idk if death mountain is higher) is just awe inspiring. Any time I complete a task like beating a divine beast or beating ganon I always travel back there to really put in perspective what I've done in the game. It's beautiful to look over hyrule and know that everything I'm doing will cause the survival of everywhere I view, making my tasks seem that much more important. This hyrule is so great

I love these videos! They remind me of how I often play games. These spaces are not just odd, but also weirdly soothing.

Great content as always. Been revisiting botw over the last few months, and getting lost in odd spaces. I had a similar moment of clarity to your Gerudo desert, looking out at the sea at the islands beyond Eventide. There's no way to get to them, but it certainly evoked a curiosity beyond the confines of the game.

I love the eastern snowy part of the Gerudo Highlands that always has the snowstorm over it. There’s not much up there and it’s just a nice place to chill Edit: I think it’s called Zirco Mesa

your monologues are relaxing as heck keep up the amazing work.

One area in Breath of the Wild that’s always felt fairly off to me is the East Reservoir Lake by Zora’s Domain, where the Divine Beast Vah Ruta is initially located. Since the area was mostly made as a big arena to house the Beast and it’s opening setpiece, it’s just about entirely barren once you complete the dungeon inside and it leaves the area, giving the lake the uncanny emptiness of a boss arena after a fight. Another odd thing about the area that adds to the weird vibe is that during the dungeon segment, as with all the Divine Beasts, once you enter, you can’t just walk out or jump off, or you’ll die instantly. With the 3 other Beasts, either the environment is deadly enough or the fall distance is big enough that you figure it’d kill Link on impact, but with Vah Ruta, all that happens is that he falls into a big lake, which you know wouldn’t hurt him during normal gameplay. For me at least, the lake being treated as a bottomless pit during the dungeon segment gives it a slightly ominous feeling; you can swim around in the water as normal after beating the boss, but it _feels_ like you shouldn’t, since it was treated as an instant death earlier.

The edge of the map being an unbeatable boss is a great point. Quiet places in nature, real life or in a game are a mindfulness exercise. Games have often felt like being in a fishbowl if I spent too much of my free time on it without touching grass, or in my case tending to my garden. I didn't realize how mentally necessary it is to have the ability to wander anywhere, even if there was nothing there for you and you couldn't survive. We may be tied to our jobs and families in real life, but I'm so glad we have the blessing of being able to wander.

love these videos, always brightens up my day. keep doing u austin.

Austin: this place on the map reminds me of how powerless I am in the grand scale of the universe Also Austin: also funny cloud lol

Been waiting for this one LETS GOOOOOOO

The top of the Deku Tree is one of my favorite spots in BotW! I think you can even get caught by the Lost Woods mechanics on one of the branches that sticks out very far. A very good selection of places, Austin!

The gerudo desert has a lot of these places where the map gets all staticky, I love just being lost

I love the desert, I've always been so attracted to deserts in games and i instantly seek them out just to walk through in circles for hours, I live in a desert and I constantly daydream of just walking out into the bliss of endless sand

I always love watching your videos! Thanks Austin!

I will always be here for this series pls keep making more!

love this series - this is exactly the type of stuff I love to find in video games. Ever since I was a kid these type of areas just struck me in a certain type of way.

I love the specificity of 'they all go to play gamecube', you can tell this happened to Austin

my favorite "unremarkable and odd" place is your channel. it just always has good vibes but is much further from the beaten path than expected (you deserve more subs!)

Getting up to the Spooky Music tippy ends of the Deku Tree is one of the very best moments of the game for me. The fog! The wiggles!! Absolutely.

I don't exactly know how to put into words how much I love this series and this channel, it's so brilliant

I just had a really bad time at the court house annex dealing with a title transfer that I even had an appointment for, and I came back to this and you made me laugh. This was gorgeous, Austin.

10:33 this spot was way cooler than I imagined it being, that is awesome. great video austin

I immediately knew where that second one was because it was the first place I got curious to explore after leaving the plateau. Feels like there is a secret to be found.

great video as always. big fan. I'm happy if you keep making more videos like this

i think this is my favourite of your many great series. please continue making them, and thank you for this.

These videos are honestly the first true feeling of peace I've had in weeks - so thank you for that x

I really liked the hilltop area with the 3 gorons having a sweating competition. It had stuff so the developers intended you to go there but I feel like I easily could have missed it. Had good vibes

this is just a delightful little video :) when i was exploring the top of the map, in the grassy hills behind hyrule castle near the korok forest, i encountered a glitch where a chest would repeatedly spawn and despawn in midair. it was like i got a little peak into a frayed seam that makes up the big tapestry of this game.

This series is so cool. Please make more!

I remember going to the first place in purpose (I think for a korok or the leviathan skeleton) and having a bit of trouble with that lynel. It really is a very disconnected place, but it's somewhat calming in that disconnection.

I dont know what i love more, this unremarkable series, or the hair clips you never seem to be without

Its gonna be so interesting to see how many areas change in Tears of the Kingdom. There will be so many changes to discover in familiar spots, ON TOP of sky islands and potential caves. These empty spaces that seem underdeveloped will most definitely be expanded upon in the sequel, and I can not wait to revisit the new Hyrule