The Wild Tale of a Fan-Made Breath of the Wild DS Demake Captivates the Internet
Posted on November 06 2024 by Nicole Scott
Recently, Zelda fans took to social media in an excited frenzy — someone was making a demake for Breath of the Wild.
A Reddit user by the name of robmeason posted a video on the r/Zelda subreddit of them seemingly playing the game on their DS. The famous map was on the bottom screen and the player was controlling a slightly more pixelated version of Link on the top. They obtained a flash cart from the Chinese site AliExpress and was surprised by the random file.
Rumors started making rounds. People theorized there was a secretive developer somewhere in Asia, and their massive project was unexpectedly leaked. YouTube creator JustJasen posted gameplay footage of the demake. All the file allowed was exploration in a “low-poly version of Hyrule.” There was no combat, but the entire environmental map, sans towns and structures, was available.
As fantastical as the stories became, eventually the ROM creator Ermelber caught wind of the hype. He responded to an article discussing the discovery by saying it was an old project of his:
It seems an old ROM of a project I was working on with friends leaked online, it’s so funny seeing people speculate about this as some sort of obscure piece of media by a mysterious Chinese dev, while it’s simply just something we made several years ago. LMAO https://t.co/DzGAZczZQd
— Ermelber (@ermelber) October 20, 2024
Unfortunately, there is no mystique here — just an experiment catching virality within the Zelda fandom.
Needless to say, JustJason posted a pinned comment on the video, and started by clarifying, “Final Update: My theory about the developer being from China turned out to be very very WRONG.” The ROM files are no longer being shared, per the request of the original creator.
What do you think of this wild demake story? Would you play it if it were available? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: RobMeason (via GamesRadar)
Nicole Scott is writer for Zelda Dungeon from suburban Appalachia. She loves drinking espresso, seeing live music, building LEGO sets, being a completionist, and snuggling her two probably-alien cats, Tizo and Alarielle.
