Breath of the Wild Gets Full VR Mode After Thousands of Hours Reverse-Engineering Zelda's Engine

Modder Crementif has released a new version of BetterVR that dramatically improves The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in virtual reality, while also teasing a Mario Kart 8 VR port.

The initial BetterVR release, running on the Cemu emulator, came out roughly seven months ago. Since then, it has seen 20 updates, each bringing substantial improvements, fixes, and polish. More is on the way, with the modder planning multiplayer support on the updated Cemu build, a major performance overhaul reworking stereo rendering, Linux support, and dual-wielding.

The current version of Breath of the Wild in VR delivers fully stereoscopic rendering with 6DOF and roomscale support, without alternating eye rendering. Players can see the character's hands and arms, wear any outfit, wield swords, torches, and bokoblin arms in combat, and use gestures to equip or throw weapons. Motion controls let them solve puzzles and start fires. The mod only alters code, not game data, so it remains compatible with most other mods, and an optional third-person mode is included.

BetterVR relies on OpenXR, which works with all major headsets like Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Meta Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality. However, controller bindings are currently limited to Oculus Touch, though the modder says OpenXR mappings can likely be configured through SteamVR or other apps. Meta Quest users should opt for ALVR, Virtual Desktop, or Steam Link instead of Meta/Oculus Link, as Link has terrible frame interpolation that makes the game look much worse than it runs.

Technically, BetterVR uses a Vulkan layer inserted between the Cemu emulator and the graphics card. It captures the game's final rendered image before it reaches the screen and redirects it to the headset. Since OpenXR struggles with this interception trick, Crementif built a workaround by piping the image through a D3D12 rendering system that OpenXR can handle properly.