Breath of the Wild fixed stamina, it's perfect now, we did it

Circle is good.

#breathofthewild #uxdesign #uidesign

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Art by @anglesdraws on Instagram
Edited by Sam Kern and James DeLisio
Written by Sam Kern and Kevin Hayden
Footage from Arlo's "Big Fat Review of Breath of the Wild"

[Afterthoughts]

Some people are pointing out that I didn't mention the yellow bonus stamina wheels. Here's my thoughts about them: they're fine. They're fine. They're fine. They're totally fine. They're good. They're ok. They're alright. They're fine.
In seriousness though: they're a serviceable way to solve a problem. I don't love the extra space they take up, but since they're consumed relatively quickly, it's an extremely time-bounded problem. Having them in the upper corner of the UI also strikes me as a very funny way to remind the player "oh, hey, don't forget, you have extra stamina." Having these UI elements in an unrelated corner is a bit funny to me; I certainly don't think it's an elegant solution. Quite a bit about the bonus stamina wheels makes me go "hmmm." But mostly, they're fine.

[wizawhat]

Never thought I'd see someone talk about a stamina meter for 18 minutes but you certainly did and certainly did a great job on this video

[mr.england]

Me before this video
- Yeah, the stamina circle is good.

Me after this video
- ALL HAIL THE CIRCLE!!!! IT IS LOVE, IT IS LIFE!!! LET IT SHINE GREEN IN ALL ITS GLORY IN ALL OF ITS DAYS!!!!

[crystalcritique]

You can tell that a video is well paced when it’s able to have a fully fleshed out analysis of a green friggin donut, and by the time it’s over, you realize that it went on for 5 minutes longer than you think it did! Seriously awesome stuff!

[SecretDiamond]

In Tears of the Kingdom, when entering Bullet Time (shooting bow in the air) it doesn’t deplete constantly, instead each shot consumes a bit of your stamina, so in it was “Shoot wildly, your on the clock now” to “take your time, and make it count”

[NeroNyte]

I remember my first time playing, I was curious how it would look when I upgrade my stamina. I thought, maybe I'll just lose stamina slower? Maybe get another wheel on the side? The moment I saw it was starting to add a small extra circle around the outside, I was like, "I am only upgrading stamina now until it's full." It's just so satisfying getting more CIRCLE

[sammakki]

You know, I've always really liked hearing professionals and passionate people talk about the small things in the world. Just... The tiny things they enjoy the most. It's really nice to see there's a whole world out there that I never even thought of, y'know?

[bigmanjubb]

It’s impressive that somebody can talk about a green circle for 20 minutes and not make someone like me with a microscopic attention span bored. True talent

[deepfrymeme]

This reminds me of the “air meter” specifically in the Mario galaxy games. They drain depletes slowly when flutter kicking, but drains faster when stroking. It also changes to more aggressive colors depending on how low your air is. I think that’s pretty cool.

[ihrnsedai]

As a colorblind person I never knew complementary colors were supposed to make each other stand out. For me it makes them harder to see. Fascinating

[hannahkosten]

I'm convinced. It's a good circle.

[Zeutomehr]

Another nice thing about it is the way it always moves out of the way of Link's animations.
It's never fixed on some point on screen, but instead always moves around Link to be close to the centre while not covering Link

[dred_dreamr]

I think there is also some praise to be given to the additional stamina wheel you get when you eat certain foods, too! The golden colour lets you know that it is a privilege, something which shouldn’t be wasted and the familiar shape and position instantly lets you know what it’s for. Additionally it’s separation from the main wheel hammers home the idea that it is a temporary luxury, alongside the fact that it is physically smaller letting you know that it is ‘lesser’ than the main wheel.

[redriolite]

As a student in UX Design, this is actually something I haven't paid any attention to until now and it's honestly mind blowing how good this little green circle is at communicating information. I was taking notes during the entire video lmao. Kind of a must-watch for anyone entering this field of design !

[Tralfazz]

The two UI designers on Breath of the Wild were:
Hiroko Nishibe and Daigo Shimizu

Nishibe also worked on Skyward Sword, so she likely had some strong influence over the stamina wheel. All her Zelda-related credits at Nintendo are in UI design.

Shimizu's prior Zelda experience includes Wind Waker HD.

[CourteousH]

This. This is what video essays should be. You talk about what is on the screen. You make cohesive points about your subject. You say interesting things to inform and describe. Superb!

[geomancer]

I'd like to add, the player can understand the function of the thin outer circles because they've had time to get accustomed to the thick base circle. They understand the original function. By the time they level it up, they need less real estate to keep track of it and inform them.

[nj]

Honestly this made me feel ashamed for never appreciating the stamina wheel before. Like I was ignorant to how elegant and important it is. It's big and obvious but ironically adds to the naturalism of the game because your eyes don't constantly jump around to check your stamina. Huge risk by the design team to slap a UI element right on top of Link but it paid off huge.

[zeppie_]

I think you glossed over one more amazing decision, and that was to punch a HOLE through it. This is not just a stamina wheel, it's a stamina _donut_ now. Just by that simple change, it's no longer a barometer for your stamina, a compass or clock that points into the direction of it's depletion. With the middle part obscured, the circle has become a line, a path, evoking the visual of a linear draining bar, giving it flow and direction.

Calling it a circle would be doing it a disservice. It's a beautiful, rotund, sweet donut.

[shinyPIKAx]

This video probably taught me more about UI than any other. It reminds me of how in Gears of war, your health is how much of the cog you can see in the middle of your screen and how much gore is obscuring your vision, encouraging you to take cover and heal. Once you can see again, the sight and clarity let's you reassess the fight, and decide how you're going to engage the next target.