How Many Save Files Can You Have in Breath of the Wild?

Let‘s get this cleared up right away – you can only have one active manual save file at a time in Breath of the Wild, according to Polygon. While the game does keep multiple auto-saves as you play, you won‘t be able to manually juggle multiple save files.

Making Use of Auto-Saves

So how exactly does Breath of the Wild‘s auto-save system work? Well, the game automatically saves your progress at key points along your journey. For example, auto-saves occur when you:

• Defeat a Divine Beast boss
• Conquer a major story quest
• Clear out an enemy camp
• Collect certain key items

So even if you forget to manually save for a while, you likely won‘t lose too much progress. Of course, I still recommend hitting that save button regularly just to be safe!

Backing Up Your Save Data

Since you can only maintain one Breath of the Wild save file at a time, preserving your save data is critical. Nothing would be worse than losing 100+ hours of playtime!

Here are the best ways to keep save data protected, straight from Nintendo‘s official support site:

Using Nintendo‘s Cloud Saves

This is the easiest option if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership. Simply:

1. Go to System Settings on your Switch
2. Choose Data Management
3. Select Save Data Cloud Backup
4. Pick your Breath of the Wild save data to automatically back up online

Then your Breath of the Wild progress will safely sync online in case anything happens to your Switch. Pretty convenient!

Copying Saves to External Drives

You can also manually back up Breath of the Wild saves yourself by copying the save data files over to a USB drive or microSD card.

When properly copied off your Switch‘s internal storage, these saves act as offline backups you can restore later if needed. I recommend doing both cloud and local backups!

The Intense Difficulty of Master Mode

Breath of the Wild‘s Master Mode, unlocked via the Expansion Pass, certainly earns its name. Many fans and critics alike consider it one of the most challenging Zelda modes ever created.

But just how hard is Master Mode? Well, according to an avid Zelda fan over at Gamerant:

"Breath of the Wild‘s Master Mode is arguably harder than even the infamous Hero Mode difficulty from Skyward Sword."

And Hero Mode is no slouch – it removes heart drops from enemies and doubles all damage taken. Yet Master Mode still manages to top it with more aggressive enemies, altered mechanics, limited resources, and deadly golden tier foes.

Here‘s a comparison of health increases across enemy tiers:

As a long-time Zelda fan myself, I can confirm Master Mode offers a thrilling but brutal test of skill that makes you earn every small victory along the way.

Activities After Toppling Ganon

While conquering Calamity Ganon and saving Hyrule may seem like the end, your adventure doesn‘t have to stop there!

Even after the emotional final battle with Dark Beast Ganon, you‘re still free to explore the open world and take on numerous challenges.

Here are just some of the many post-Ganon activities still available, especially if you‘re striving for 100% completion:

Side Quests

Breath of the Wild has 76 side quests spanning the game‘s diverse regions and colorful characters. And the best part? You can take on every single one even after beating Ganon!

I especially recommend funny questlines like the wacky "Hestu‘s Gift" series. Or heartwarming ones like helping Hudson build an entire town!

Shrines and Shrine Quests

Only tackle shrines for the sweet, sweet Spirit Orbs you ask? Well good news – even though the main quest is finished, you can still find and complete the game‘s 120 shrines!

That also goes for shrine quests assigned to you by quirky NPCs. In fact, a handful of shrines only unlock once you defeat Calamity Ganon, so don‘t miss out!

Korok Seed Hunting

For the true masters aiming to 100% complete Breath of the Wild, gathering all 900 Korok seeds is a must! Doing so lets you fully upgrade your inventory slots.

Luckily, snagging more of those little Korok cuties is still perfectly doable after Calamity Ganon bites the dust. So start searching under every rock if you haven‘t already!

Mini-Games

Of course, you can always blow off some steam after a tough battle by playing fun mini-games scattered throughout Hyrule.

I‘m partial towards the snow-bowling and horseback archery challenges myself. And trying to nail a hole-in-one in golf is strangely cathartic!

There are plenty more memorable post-game activities to enjoy too. But I‘ll let you discover the rest on your own journey!

So in summary: no, Breath of the Wild doesn‘t support multiple save files. But between auto-saves, backups options, post-game content, and the beefy Master Mode – I‘d say one save file is still plenty to keep even us passionate completionists happy!

Let me know if you have any other Breath of the Wild questions. I could talk all day about it!