A streamer has modified The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so that every single enemy in the game is a Golden Lynel. Golden Lynels are special versions of the standard Lynel, already one of the most difficult enemies in the game. The Golden Lynel was introduced in the game's Master Mode DLC as an ultra-rare variant with dramatically increased health and damage output.
Breath of the Wild is a truly legendary game, and it's endured in popular culture ever since its release in 2017. It was such a massive success for Nintendo that the company is working on both a sequel and a prequel at the same time. While Nintendo works on these official titles, the modding community has embraced the original open world game in a variety of stupendous and fascinating ways. If there's a change that can be made to the iconic title, there's probably a modder who's made it. Someone even put a full track from Mario Kart 8 into Breath of the Wild, complete with time trials and rewards.
But not all mods are so whimsical. Polygon reported on streamer PointCrow, who broadcast some gameplay from Breath of the Wild with one significant change. With a bit of tweaking, PointCrow replaced every single enemy in the game with a deadly Golden Lynel, and then struggled to survive in the nightmarish world he had created. He shared a highlight reel on YouTube to give everyone a taste of the chaos, and there are few sights more demoralizing than seeing an entire enemy outpost dotted with shiny golden juggernauts. Key to PointCrow's survival was Majora's Mask, a bonus DLC item that makes it harder for rare items like Golden Lynels to spot Link. This item couldn't protect him completely, however, especially when he had to take it off to fight for the legendary Hylian Shield. Watch it all unfold below.
Breath of the Wild's prequel, Age of Calamity, will use Koei Tecmo's signature Dynasty Warriors style combat to tell the story of the war that devastated Hyrule 100 years prior to the events of Breath of the Wild. It looks like an exciting title for a multitude of reasons, but it's still a few months off. The mysterious and hotly anticipated sequel is even farther away; fans still don't even know the title of that game. The modding community is a good way to breathe new life into the first game and tide fans over till the new games come out, but making every enemy a Golden Lynel surely won't be for everyone. In fact, they make the game all but unplayable. On the bright side, it's still a lot of fun to watch.
The video game streaming industry is in many ways even more creative and delightful than the video game development industry on which it depends. Projects like Twitch Plays Pokemon and PointCrow's bizarre experiment prove how ingenious video game fans can be. A world full of Golden Lynels is definitely not what Nintendo had in mind for Breath of the Wild, but thanks to PointCrow, it's now a reality, and it's a very entertaining one to boot.