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Native

The Legend of Zelda

Nintendo Switch The Legend of Zelda running on PC through native. Free and complete.

How this port works

This is a native port: the game was rebuilt to run as a real PC program with no emulator in the loop. That usually means better performance, arbitrary resolution and mod support — and it is why these run well on modest hardware.

Decompilation of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch 1.5.0)

How to install

  1. 01The Legend of Zelda is free and complete — no external files are needed.
  2. 02Download the latest release from the project's GitHub page.
  3. 03Download the Windows build.
  4. 04Extract it into an empty folder outside Program Files.
  5. 05Run the program.
  6. 06Set resolution, frame cap and input before playing.

These projects ship no game data. Supply your own copy.

Frequently asked

Do I need the original game to play The Legend of Zelda on PC?

No. The Legend of Zelda is free and complete: download the release and run it, with no ROM, dump or commercial game copy.

What does "native" mean?

This is a native port: the game was rebuilt to run as a real PC program with no emulator in the loop. That usually means better performance, arbitrary resolution and mod support — and it is why these run well on modest hardware.

Will The Legend of Zelda run on a low-end PC?

Native ports and recompilations skip CPU emulation entirely, so they are usually far lighter than an emulator for the same console. With no published measurement for this project, though, any estimate would be guesswork — test it on your own machine.

Which systems does it support?

The current release ships builds for Windows. The game originally shipped on Nintendo Switch.

Is it legal to use?

The project is public and open source, maintained by zeldaret, and contains nothing from the commercial game. Responsibility for the game copy you use is yours — which is why the developers require you to supply your own.

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