One The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild player has made the stunning discovery that the bomb-flying glitch easily carries Link to Hyrule Castle - but too quickly for Ganon to actually render. This strange Breath of the Wild glitch, publicized via Twitter just a few weeks ago, involves a series of actions that cause the game to enter a bugged state and send Link through the air.
Breath of the Wild has grown in popularity lately as a result of players finding new glitches and their potential exploitable uses. Several of these glitches involve instances where Link is either flying or being tossed wildly through the air, manipulating the game’s physics. Others are minor and, admittedly, more innocent; such as one bug that caused a BOTW player to glitch into first-person view. However, some of the more game-breaking glitches in particular have gained wide traction among fans, specifically speedrunners. These larger glitches, like the one utilized in this video, enable players to completely avoid defining aspects of Breath of the Wild and rush right to the end.
User Chicken_Vomit_ posted the video to Reddit, showcasing Link as he flies at a meteoric speed across Hyrule to the castle sanctum where Ganon awaits, only to find that the calamitous boss has not yet rendered. The bomb-flying glitch alone surprised some other users, but the result of this glitch was even more striking. The video's frame rate hitches are immediately noticeable, and indicate a possible slowed rendering and an apparent override on Ganon’s spawn. Although the calamity ooze is present inside and outside of Hyrule Castle, there is no villain to greet Link. Instead, Link is left alone in the sanctum with a floor that shows a hollowed out Hyrule Castle underneath.
Fans have been calling the glitch used in the video “bow lift smuggling.” Players can recreate this glitch through a series of actions that includes taking out a bow, unequipping and equipping a shield, and picking up a bomb. According to comments on the Reddit post, speedrunners have already adopted it into their toolkit of exploitable glitches, likely at a slower pace so that Ganon can actually spawn. Open-world games draw comparisons to BOTW because the game sets the standard for how much freedom to expect in playstyle. Glitches like these certainly enable players to have more freedom on non-linear tracks and play however fits to their style.
Flying glitches in Breath of the Wild are an interesting touch to a game in which the primary travel mechanism is gliding. While the series of in-game actions that result in game-breaking phenomenon are interesting, they avoid the physics designed by Nintendo and compromise immersion. That being said, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild designers purposefully left glitches in the game that they deemed entertaining. But it’s likely they never meant for players to completely avoid Ganon spawning.
Source: Chicken_Vomit_/Reddit