Despite the many differences between The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, the two games share an unusual bond thanks to their glitches. Regardless of how much time, money, or energy is put into a game, developers will always have to contend with glitches and bugs that slipped through the net during testing. Yet while the original developer behind The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Bethesda, has become infamous for “buggy” games, Nintendo has its own lesser-known history of glitches and exploits across its flagship franchises, such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and especially The Legend of Zelda.
Now that developers can retroactively “fix” games through updates, remasters, and remakes, questions are being raised about whether these glitches should be patched or preserved, especially when it comes to a game’s most renowned bugs. It seems Virtuos chose the latter, with glitches like item duplication still working in Oblivion Remastered. On the other hand, despite Grezzo reportedly taking the same approach with the Ocarina of Time 3D remake and its glitches, the only thing Nintendo might share with Oblivion Remastered are similar glitches in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, not its mindset towards them.
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Exploring The History of Glitches Behind Bethesda and Nintendo Games
Thanks to Nintendo’s diligence in releasing glitch-free games, it has mostly avoided the same negative reputation that Bethesda has earned due to its past crunch culture, choice of game engines, and other factors. However, regardless of these reputations, both companies’ games have had their fair share of glitches, with players often taking advantage of these bugs intentionally for content, speedruns, or even an easier gameplay experience. Alongside the likes of clipping out-of-bounds and skipping cutscenes or levels, the coveted glitch of item duplication has appeared in Oblivion Remastered, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and more.
Though the methods differ between Oblivion Remastered and Zelda, especially as Nintendo divides players when patching known exploits in Tears of the Kingdom, duplicating items is arguably the holy grail of glitches. For instance, useful resources like lockpicks, arrows, potions, and more can be duplicated in Oblivion Remastered, and Tears of the Kingdom‘s duplication glitch can help players stock up on resources for cooking, potions, and fusing. While both games can be completed without using these glitches, they could prove useful to players struggling with the changes to Oblivion Remastered‘s lockpicking or Tears of the Kingdom‘s rupees.
Item Duplication Features in Other Elder Scrolls and Zelda Games
Given that Bethesda continues to use its existing Creation Engine and its improved successor, it’s to be expected that similar duplication glitches have appeared in other games, including Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and Starfield. However, potential duplication glitches or “infinite use” exploits have also been discovered in past Zelda games, such as Wind Waker‘s unlimited elixir soup, Twilight Princess‘ unlimited bombs, or Ocarina of Time‘s bottles and skulltula tokens. With this in mind, Nintendo’s losing battle with Zelda‘s duplication glitches could prompt it to follow Bethesda’s lead and acknowledge the gameplay value any non-game-breaking bug can offer.
The Future of Duplication Glitches in The Elder Scrolls and Zelda Games
Besides the daunting possibility that yet another Skyrim edition could be released before The Elder Scrolls 6, the confirmation that it’s using the same Creation Engine 2 as Starfield leaves the door open to another duplication glitch. Meanwhile, with both Nintendo and fans keen to move on from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, especially after their Switch 2 Editions were released, it seems unlikely that Zelda‘s next game will copy these glitches. But between Zelda‘s history of near-similar glitches and the search among players to find new bugs, like the exploits in Oblivion Remastered, Bethesda’s and Nintendo’s unusual bond is stronger than ever.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Released
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May 12, 2023
- ESRB
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Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Engine
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Havok
