With modders porting a variety of Legend of Zelda titles over to PC, the modding possibilities are endless. You can go the funny route and add Shrek to your game in Breath of the Wild, or you can go the serious route and enjoy a stunning Zelda 64 experience. Whatever your fancy, there's a mod for you. So, as part of our Legend of Zelda week to celebrate the iconic franchise's anniversary, here are 10 of the best Legend of Zelda mods to dive into before Breath of the Wild.
Zelda 64: Dawn and Dusk
Zelda 64 utilizes Ocarina of Time's engine to deliver a completely new experience for players to enjoy. This mod was inspired by the Ura Zelda expansion that never made it to the N64, taking that vision and bringing it to life with new dungeons, design tweaks, new maps, and more. This is meant for PC emulators, but you can technically play it on N64 systems, as well. You can learn more about that, and how to get started playing, right here.
Joke Mods Galore
There are so many joke mods out there for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, including bringing the infamous Thomas the Tank Engine into the mix (seriously, this train is everywhere). Good 'ol Tommy can be joined by Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, Grand Theft Auto characters like CJ — Even Waluigi can join the fun. These mods are simple reskins, transforming bosses, NPCs, and Link himself into somebody else, someone that definitely doesn't belong in Hyrule.
But that's what makes it fun:
Second Wind
There are many impressive mods out there, but for those Nintendo fans itching for new Breath of the Wild 2 news, this particular mod comes at the perfect time. This Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild mod is called Second Wind and is pretty much an all-new fan-made expansion that gives new quests, NPCs, crafting, and so much more. Even better? It completely overhauls key parts of the original story, like shrines.
The Second Wind mod is impressive. It has over 50 impassioned fans working to make this a functional reality, including detailed new NPCs to meet and new gameplay aspects to explore. Second Wind came to be when a group of players felt that Nintendo didn't properly utilize Breath of the Wild's potential. Because of that, those players took to making this particular extended option with Second Wind. It aims to tweak the existing title while adding new gaming aspects to enjoy to deliver a finalized play experience that will leave Zelda fans feeling fulfilled. In addition to new experiences, the team also overhauled much of the original game as well, including shrines.
This mod can be downloaded right here.
Dark Hyrule
If you want your Legend of Zelda experience to be dark like your soul (overplayed goth joke for the win!), then the Dark Hyrule Fantasy mod is just for you. The Legend of Zelda franchise, for the most part, has always been light and vibrantly colored, but the Dark Hyrule mod aims to change that. Dark Hyrule Fantasy offers a much more sinister environment for Link to explore when playing through Ocarina of Time.
This isn't an expansion mod like the one seen above, but it does dramatically change the gameplay experience. See for yourself right here.