The best Amiibo for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild doesn't even come from the game's dedicated line of figurines, but is instead one created for Twilight Princess HD. Purchasing Nintendo's collectible Amiibo toys offers the opportunity to get rewards in-game, and The Legend of Zelda has plenty of Amiibo to choose from, including nine specifically designed for Breath of the Wild. Unfortunately, their functionality pales in comparison to the Wolf Link Twilight Princess HD Amiibo, which is by far the best one usable in BOTW.
Nearly every Legend of Zelda Amiibo that's been released can be used in Breath of the Wild, with an exception for the one featuring Zelda and her Loftwing that was made for last year's release of Skyward Sword HD. Six Zelda Amiibo are part of the Super Smash Bros. lineup, but will still dispense items when used with BOTW. Most others made specifically for The Legend of Zelda also include usable clothes and weapons from the game they're inspired by, and some from the Breath of the Wild Amiibo series even contain exclusive helmets designed to look like the Divine Beasts.
The Wolf Link Amiibo, however, does not drop any items for the player, and instead spawns Twilight Princess' beastial version of the hero as a companion. It was originally used in Twilight Princess HD to unlock the Cave of Shadows, a companion gauntlet to the Cave of Ordeals, features comparable to BOTW's Trial of the Sword challenge mode. New content for Twilight Princess is neat, but shouldn't have been gated behind an Amiibo, and its use with BOTW is arguably better anyway. Once a day, BOTW players are allowed to summon Wolf Link, who then follows the player, fights enemies, and hunts wildlife.
Even Breath Of The Wild's Best Amiibo Is A Hassle To Use
Anyone who purchases a Wolf Link Amiibo to exclusively use in Breath of the Wild will be disappointed to find their companion only has three hearts. Nintendo has made this feature unnecessarily convoluted, requiring players to transfer data from Twilight Princess HD in order to get a Wolf Link with maximum health. First, all 20 hearts (10 less than the maximum number of Heart Containers in BOTW) will have to be earned in Twilight Princess HD, which requires players to reach nearly the end of the game. Players will then have to complete the Cave of Shadows without taking any damage, whereupon the game will prompt the player to save their Amiibo data, making all 20 hearts transferable to Wolf Link in BOTW.
While those with the means could purchase a second-hand, 20-heart Wolf Link Amiibo or use third party products to spoof the figurine's near field communication signal, it would be much better if Nintendo had simply made it less complicated to engage with such content. It's such a novel and fun idea that Nintendo for some reason didn't bother to iterate on with any of the Breath of the Wild series Amiibo. Wolf Link keeps Breath of the Wild fresh, adding a new dynamic to gameplay that has already proved to keep players engaged for dozens of hours, yet it's the first Zelda Amiibo Nintendo ever made. All those that followed are not nearly as interesting in Breath of the Wild, just giving the player a mostly random assortment of items.
Breath Of The Wild's Wolf Link Keeps Things Fresh After The Story Ends
