Scenery Porn / The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

And you can explore every nook and cranny of it.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Scenery Porn: the Game. Take Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, fuse them together, and you'll approach how ceaselessly beautiful and breathtaking this game is.

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• Just the game's box art is the epitome of Scenery Porn. Link, standing with his back to you, looking out at the colossal world before him, with a lovingly painted view of the landscape in a color palette that is both incredibly somber, yet is still unmistakably hopeful and triumphant. It perfectly sets the tone for the game that you're going to play, and you haven't even opened up the box for it yet.
• As pictured above, the view from the cliff outside the Shrine of Resurrection on the Great Plateau, which you see right when you begin the game. This colossal view of the world, which perfectly shows off just how massive and breathtakingly beautiful the game's world is. And then you realize that you can explore every single inch of that view.
• Probably the crown champion of this trope present is Satori Mountain. It's a vast mountain region covered with every possible grace you could imagine: a fruiting apple orchard, a diverse mushroom grotto hosting every available type, a grove fruiting with Hearty Durians, a fertile lake full of fish, and just to top you off, yet another garden full of every last beneficial plant the game hadn't already stocked there. Then you pick up a random rock and find a re-spawning diamond underneath it. There are some hints that the mountain has become such a paradise as the spirit of a previous inhabitant keeps guard there, as you can find some signs of settlement, but none of man-made steppes or coves.
  • The crown jewel of this miniature utopia is the natural pond. At the mountain's peak sits a small pond where Blupees (mystical rabbit-like fae creatures) congregate, with the pond's waters shaded by a huge, beautiful cherry blossom tree that can be seen from one whole side of the mountain. On occasion, when Satori wakes up, the mountaintop will be overtaken with a blue-ish green light and swirling mist, which is when the beast-like spirit himself has entered the sakura grove. The unique music that plays here embodies the ethereal, eerie, mystical vibe resounds in any player in this situation.
• Lake Hylia. It's about as big as the one in Twilight Princess, with a bridge crossing it to match, but this time you can experience every vertical inch of it. Not only is it beautiful at any time of day (but especially sunrise or sunset), Farosh makes regular visits to this place, rising out of the water and floating serenely through the air before coming back down again.
• Zora's Domain. Just the sight of it welcoming you makes the hellacious journey up the trail worth it. It is very clear where the developers spent the most energy crafting an obscenely pretty locale, because the home of the Zora people is a massive stone monument carved into the landscape, almost entirely made of carved luminous stone. The rainwater sloping off of all the plazas and bridges and overhangs just makes it even prettier. The twinkling, serene music is just the icing on the cake.
• The Tabantha region is home to sprawling hills and plains, and deep valleys. The pinnacle of it all is the Rito Village, a huge naturally-made pillar rising from the center of Lake Totori. The largely-wooden village has been constructed with care around the pillar, with open-air platforms and the bird tribe making their living sleeping out of hammocks that look absurdly relaxing. It gets even more breathtaking once the Divine Beast quest there is finished, with Vah Medoh perching atop the pillar with wings spread wide. It also doesn't hurt that the music is a loving reprise of Dragon Roost Island.
• Gerudo Town, a true oasis. Within the desert lies a marble-white city carved into bedrock with brick flooring, of all things, which is open to the sky so you can always see the blue of it, or the stars at night. Channels carved into the walls bring water where it needs to go, and the stonework of the entire town is a work of art accented with gold and jewels. Perhaps the only thing rivaling the pristine palace out in the sand is the beauty of the women within it. Riju's chambers are particularly regal, being well-shaded and decorated with plants and poufs surrounding her throne.
• Perhaps verging on Scenery Gorn, but Death Mountain presents its own awe-inspiring locales. The Maw of Death Mountain, where the trail upward begins, presents an intimidating view of the volcano's full height, as well as the dangerous crags covering its surface. Surrounding this area are shallows filled with water that serve as hot springs heated from below, creating natural saunas to relax in. Due to the volcanic eruption, Goron City isn't at its best—the Abandoned North Mine is an entire quarry submerged in a lake of lava. But go up from there and scale the actual mountain, and you'll quickly be presented with a near-vertical climb presenting a panoramic view of the entirety of Hyrule stretching out before you.
• Lanayru Mountain is no joke, either. You'll probably wander up that way only once you've gotten strong enough to get past the Lynel and Hinox guarding the gate at Lanayru Road heading up to the snowfield. There's a path winding all the way up the mountain, bitterly cold and full of chilly hostiles. You don't have to go all the way to the top, but if you do, you'll find that about halfway up, the music changes to a dreary, ominous tone that, provided you've explored enough, you'll recognize as a dark twist on the music that accompanies the Spirit Dragons Dinraal and Farosh. Odd crystals form a crown around the mountain's top, and a freaky blue glow emanates from the peak. Travel all the way up, and you'll be confronted with the beautiful but terrible sight of Naydra, glowing dark blue and overcome with Malice, draped across the mountaintop like a snake. The task to free her from corruption will lead you across the entire Lanayru range, letting you see the huge expanse of snow stretching out before you. Once that's done, you go back up to the Spring of Wisdom, where a grateful Naydra grants you a scale to present to Hylia.
• The Gerudo Highlands. The snowy ranges shadowing the wastelands resemble a much flatter Hebra, with huge snowfields stretching out before you. Up atop the range at the eastern end is Zirco Mesa, which is perpetually plagued by a clinging fog for unexplained reasons. On the back side of the Highlands, nestled into Mystathi's Shelf, is the statue of the Eighth Heroine, a mysterious figure from Gerudo legend. But most impressive of all is Gerudo Summit, a lengthy but shallow canyon with snowfields on either side forming walls. Farosh will occasionally make a pass through this canyon, driftting a mere ten feet above your head, and it's totally possible to fight the Lynel roaming the snowfield on the south side while he floats carelessly by! Also hidden here is the Sword of the Eighth Heroine, resting as if it had crashed here eons ago.
• The entire Akkala region. Sandwiched between volcanic Eldin and the plateau housing the Lanayru region, Akkala is rolling hills, grand beaches, flowering groves, and beautiful lakes and rivers the entire way through.
  • The back of Lanayru, where Akkala territory officially begins. The land drops off steeply, creating a wall with several massive waterfalls from Upland Zorana and Toto Lake that cascade down into Lake Akkala.
  • Akkala Citadel, aka Scenery Gorn. A grand fortress where the last warriors of Hyrule made their final stand against the corrupted forces of Calamity Ganon...and lost. A massive stone fortress rises atop a plateau, with trees sprouting from untouched gardens amid pools of Malice and Guardian remains, in addition to several active Skywatchers still patrolling the area. Akkala Tower sits atop this place.
  • Torin Wetland, a natural orchard of trees colored red, orange, and yellow, where dozens upon dozens of motionless Guardian carcasses lay, a so-called "Guardian Graveyard" that hides two fully-functional ones stalking the nonetheless-beautiful area.
  • Ordorac Quarry, a mining site filled with hostile Skywarchers, would deter visitors, if it did not also host the Spring of Power. Said spring is a man-made pond, with several waterfalls flowing into the area and evergreen trees laying leaves on the water's surface, with stone steps leading up to a statue of Hylia.
  • Rist Peninsula, a beach where an in-game recreation of the Spiral Jetty is found.
  • Ulria Grotto, a massive stone ravine dropping smoothly to a water basin at its bottom. Perfect for sightseeing and paragliding practice.
  • The Akkala foothills, where the whole region stretches out before you in all its beauty. If you want to see it all one go, you can go up to the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab (where several Guardians have been harvested) and shield surf across the whole locale!
  • Deep Akkala is home to Tempest Gulch, a set of bone-white crags running through the beautiful hills like a pair of bone fangs. The Rok Woods and Akkala Wilds can also be found here, another natural orchard and rolling hillock, as it happens. But perhaps the prettiest part of the whole place is...
  • Skull Lake, a lake formed out of the same bone-white bedrock as the Breach of Demise, with single Totori-like pillar rising up from its depths. In the waters of the lake can be seen huge flowers, underwater lilies of vibrant colors, for no apparent purpose except natural beauty.
  • The last feature Akkala brings is man-made: it's Tarrey Town, a settlement you yourself help carve out of the very bedrock, supplying it with housing and a functioning market, and a selection of individuals from all walks of life who help make a natural land bridge and a plateau into a bustling little village! The way it looks when it's hosting a wedding is particularly tear-worthy.
• Tarrey Town counts as one. Not only is the entire town a beautiful settlement but it houses all kinds of species throughout the overworld: Zora, Gorons, Gerudo, and Rito. In addition, you can help in building the town too!
• Lurelin Village is a given, since it's a village right on the beachside. The colors of the ocean when the sun is peaking over it is nothing short of absolutely stunning.
• The Lost Woods. Traveling through them is already enchanting enough with all the mist and twisted trees surrounding you, but when you get to Korok Forest, the real beauty of the location hits you; a plethora of plant life, as far as the eye can see, and in the center of it is the Master Sword in its pedestal, with three Silent Princess flowers surrounding it. Two on the left, one on the right.