The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review

Nintendo spent years hyping a sandbox Legend of Zelda game to help reinvigorate the franchise to both new gamers and previous players alike. With all the eyes on Nintendo, they managed to finally release the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild the same day as the release of their newest console, the Switch, no doubt increasing the sales for the system upon release.

 

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild opens in a zone known as the Great Plateau, with Link waking up from a deep slumber by a voice echoing through a cavern, urging him to head on out into the world. This rather expansive plateau acts as the tutorial stage, forcing the player to learn the hard lessons of colder environments, mini-bosses literally popping up out of the ground to pummel you and the new task of cooking. Once you are loosed upon Hyrule with your very own paraglider, your objective is to release the Divine Beasts from their stranglehold by Calamity Ganon. Or not. It’s up to you. That’s the real beauty of this game.

This iteration has more to deal with concerning gameplay mechanics. Sound, temperature, and weather have been added to the world, creating their own hurdles to overcome. The first two can be negated by either clothes/armor or buffs off of food. As for the weather, it’s the most well-known hurdle of the game. In the rain, climbing up anything becomes a challenge of patience and timing. Thunderstorms are the worst, forcing the player to unequip anything metal from their person. This usually results in a mostly naked Link, running around and swinging sticks at enemy bokoblins and lizalfos in the pouring rain.

 

The player also has to deal with the resurfacing stamina gauge that took a lot of heat in Skyward Sword, but is now more streamlined, both lasting longer than the stamina allotted as well as refilling a little bit faster than before. There’s also the choice of adding hearts to your available pool of HP, both by defeating bosses and turning in the spirit orbs that the player accumulates if they wish from the shrines littering the map. But be wary — you can’t completely fill both the hearts and the stamina in the base game so choose wisely.

The focal point of the combat centers around the weapons you can find scattered across Hyrule. In chests, on the ground, lying beside sleeping bokoblins. If you can reach it, you can grab it. The one downside of this game is that the weapons break — fast. It forces you to work your way through every weapon and determine which is best for specific enemies. This breakage has slowed a bit though, possibly with a patch, but nothing is more frustrating than having to stop the action to scroll through your inventory for another sword.

The aesthetic is the real winner here for Breath of the Wild, that first glimpse of Hyrule is captivating, but don’t let that stop you from climbing, swimming, and gliding to each and every section of the map, as it is all beautiful. As far as frame rate drops, they happen most often in densely laid areas, like forests and areas with a lot of grass, although it is pretty uncommon. The ambiance of the music is also stellar, despite the complaints by some fans that it doesn’t capture the feel of Hyrule in past iterations. For me though, the soft tones and thunderous boss arenas add an excellent addition to the musical scores we already have of the Hylian universe.

 

If you lean toward games with replayability, this one is definitely it. You can complete one playthrough by running straight to Hyrule Castle, that looms eerily in the distance, whacking away at each boss and Calamity Ganon with just a low-level Traveler’s Sword. Or you can explore every corner of the map, trying to find every last shrine. Either way, a few playthroughs are needed to truly appreciate all that is packed into this open world adventure game.

 

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of my favorite releases in 2017 and is still one of my favorite games to sit and waste a rainy day–or weekend–away on. If Link and Nintendo have never been on your radar, at the very least, find a friend with a Switch and an HD TV and play for a few hours. Get in your ooh and aahs at the world the created and call it a day. But if you grew up with the green-clad hero and have been hesitant, quit and go get it now. You can thank me later.