The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "Guided to the Infinite" 3:29

Our most recent mixpost from The Impact of Iwata album was its opener, but we now feature its closer, Michael Hudak's memoriam to Satoru Iwata arranging the formless music of Iwata's last Zelda title as executive producer, the posthumously released Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In the concluding chapter of his Impact of Iwata book, Nintendo Force founder & editor-in-chief Lucas M. Thomas shared visual artwork from fans that he described as "an incredible outpouring of creativity". For our musical form of that outpouring, it was only fitting that Thomas chose the game representing that last chapter, and -- based on the results -- also only fitting that Hudak was the one who breathed life into the arrangement:

"This is my contribution to the album accompanying the excellent Impact of Iwata project created & spearheaded by Lucas M. Thomas of Nintendo Force. He wanted each chapter in the audiobook version of the release to have a corresponding piece of music and reached out to OCR musicians to help. I chose to write something for the final chapter, In Memory of Mr. Iwata, re-imagining music from Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (per Lucas's wishes). It was an honor to remix a track from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the epilogue of the book. I chose to remix "Purified Dragon". I think the title of the remix mostly speaks for itself, and so at the risk of explaining too much, I'll just say that I think its in-game importance and usage thematically reflects the essence of a true "last chapter". I tried very hard to imbue this piece with those qualities. Thanks again to all judges. This is my first submission in the DarkeSword era - neat. Time does fly."

That it does.

There's a measured grace within the delicate and sparse components of Breath of the Wild's score that's well-adapted by Hudak. The main melody kicked in at :31 and one can bask in how sweeping the sounds are. I appreciated how it took all the way until 2:33 to reference the very beginning of the source. Throughout Hudak's measured odyssey here, there's elements of sadness, quirkiness, solitude, and loss for me. It feels like whatever feeling you want to find in it can be found. I seem to have shared the same wavelength with my fellow judges. Chimpazilla confirmed, from hands-on experience with Breath of the Wild's open world, that Michael's vision sounded spot on:

"I love the lush and intricate soundscape and the slowed-down motif. This arrangement captures the dragon theme so well. I agree with Larry about the moods captured: sadness, quirkiness, solitude and loss, but also a sense of bittersweet freedom. I feel like I am floating in the sky while listening to this. BotW and also TotK are all about the magical, emotional feel of solitary exploration of the vast realm of Hyrule, and this mix captures that feeling to perfection."

Emunator also co-signed our collective sentiments here, this arrangement's remarkable ability to be earnestly identified with any number of adjectives and emotions:

""It feels like whatever feeling you want to find in it can be found." I could not have possibly said it better myself. This speaks to Michael's talents as a sound designer and an arranger, and the beauty of the Breath of the Wild score itself. It's a blank canvas, waiting for you to imprint your own stories and memories onto its amorphous textures. I love this piece because, as I'm reading through the other judge comments thus far, I agree with every adjective and image conjured but also don't know if I would have used any of those myself. I feel serenity, weight, solemnity, weightlessness, beauty, and so much more that language can't quite capture. I can't wait to see what others hear in this."

As Hudak himself alluded to, this represents the end of life's journey for Satoru Iwata. Yet step -- brief as the time may be -- into the infinite. What does this music make *you* feel? Where do you think you are? What imagery do you see? So many ways indeed to interpret this far-reaching tribute.

Close your eyes. Let the music be your guide...