There's a Glitch That Turns off Link's Cartoon Cel-Shader in 'Breath of the Wild'

Breath of the Wild is without a doubt one of the most profound titles currently available on the Nintendo Switch. It's a game that has been heavily applauded by fans new and old thanks to its profoundly large world, hefty amount of puzzles, and re-worked combat systems. It's also one of the most beautifully animated games in the current era of gaming thanks to its cartoon shader, which makes the game look like a living painting.

However, what if you had a chance to disable that shader and make it appear like it should have used the graphics from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? One such thing has happened as a Redditor under the name of Rangers_Of_The_North whom has discovered a bugged spot on the bridge over Lake Hylia, where the glitch disables the games cartoony graphics shader. if you do what he says? You get to see Link in a rather awesome new way. How'd he do it? Lets take a look:

While on the hunt for korok seeds on my master mode run, I discovered a strange glitch on the bridge over Lake Hylia. On the left side of the gate there is a broken concave section that I rested at. While zooming in to get a better look, I saw that Link's look has completely changed! He looks like a doll, he has a shine to him and the shadows on his body became realistic. Other things changed too, fire enchanted weapons, bombs, even Fierce Deity armor have altered looks. The lighting effects of fairies have an awesome glow to them too!

After reading the Redditor's post, my own curiosity got the best of me. So what did Link and I do? We saddled up and began to make our way towards Lake Hylia. There I did just as he stated, moved to the broken concave section of it, rested, and decided to zoom in on Links face and guess what? It changed. The lighting effects changed. He no longer looked like he belonged in a comic strip by Marvel or DC. Instead he looked like he belonged in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I even took note of the other subtle changes he had listed. But it raised a question that's been bugging me since the games launch: Why hadn't Nintendo offered to let us change from the cel-shaded engine?

These small changes were quite pleasing, enjoyable, and easy upon the eyes. I even found myself a bit more immersed by the games subtle changes. Small things such as fires, the glow of a fairy, and even the lighting around me seemed to stand out more. Sadly, however, when I let my spot on Lake Hylia? It went away after I found myself quick traveling, which makes one wonder if this bug was intentional or if Nintendo was simply unaware of this small graphical hitch in their game.

You can check out how Rangers_Of_The_North did this glitch in detail on Reddit here where he or she posted more pictures and details about this glitch. He does note that fire does seem to bug out a bit once you initiative this graphics bug. This bug does raise the question as to whether or not Nintendo had originally considered using the graphics engine from Skyward Sword, but changed their minds at the last minute.

Regardless, it's cool to see that Nintendo has worked hard at changing up how their game looks, and that if the bug is intentional, that they purposely had put it there for only the most hardcore of their fans to find.