Game Name:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Time Spent:
~90 hours
Do you recommend?
Yes
What you rate the game:
9.5
Initial Thoughts:
The beginning of the game was like opening a mystery crate; it was mysterious, the controls weren’t all unlocked yet, everything was interesting and it just kept revealing new things to me. The gameplay was easy enough to pick up and the starting enemies were perfect for easing the player into the flow of battle and also basic mechanics. What really kept amazing me was the scenery-- it never failed to amaze me.
Gameplay and Story:
Admittedly, the story wasn’t too important or in depth. It was the typical ‘Ganon is evil and did a bunch of evil things and you gotta save Zelda.’ But, the sheer amount of gameplay and features in Breath of the Wild compensated. There were many hidden mechanics that aren’t explicitly taught (i.e. crouching dashes, shield surfing, and mounting certain enemies). Finding them or learning of them made the game interesting and more in depth as compared to previous Zelda games. In my opinion, one of the best parts about Breath of the Wild is the ability to be creative in whatever you do. For example, there’s always more than one way to take on an enemy; you could sneak strike them from behind, you could rain arrows on them or you could use a Korok leaf to blow remote bombs on them. There’s just so many different methods of doing things. That said, as a player, I constantly found new items, methods and little easter eggs scattered about the gigantic map.
There are so many points of interest in the game that honestly, I would have expected more quests for them. This brings me to my other point: quests. You have your Main Quests such as “Defeat Ganon,” Shrine Quests, and Sidequests. Although some quests are the same (i.e. Defeat x!, Gather these items!, or Find x!), some are genuinely interesting to play through. One quest that stands out in my mind relates to the construction of an entire town from the ground up (Literally named From the Ground Up). It’s the longest quest in the game, but playing through it was fun and interesting in my opinion.
Backstory:
The backstory to this game is essentially the basis and catalyst for all the game's events. To summarize, everything that happened in the past with Ganon and all has a direct effect on the present in which the game is playable. Some characters are the ancestors of characters of the past that may or may not hate you for your actions or lack of action. Overall, I'd say the backstory does well to support the main story, but the story as a whole falls short of other games.
Pros:
Scenery (Probably the best part about playing the game is just looking over after climbing a mountain and enjoying the view.)
Fluid, Adaptable gameplay that evolves as you learn
Lots of Content and Easter Eggs (Like Mr. Iwata/Botrick here.)
Exploration/Map Size and Good Difficulty Curve
DLC and Future Updates Planned
Cons:
After beating the game, it gets difficult to find new things to do.
Many quests or goals are very tedious and require a lot of resources, time and patience.
You can find many weapons, but there are no permanent weapons other than the Master Sword.
Travelling to places without fast travel points is tedious and having a horse around isn’t always guaranteed.
Resources are always limited, so grinding for enough or just peace of mind is inevitable.
Final Thoughts:
Breath of the Wild, in my personal opinion, was a brave new step in the right direction for the franchise. It’s open world exploration and mechanics were very interesting to play through and provided many countless hours of playing. I usually get bored fairly easily, but this game kept showing me new things to do and new places to check out-- I haven’t even finished all the quests and shrines yet. And because DLC is on the horizon, the game is guaranteed to provide even more content. Anyone can pick up the game and start playing; you don’t have to be a fan of the series already, which is one feature I like about it.
