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Key · 03-20-2017, 10:55 AM

Part I: 1-5

I'm still hanging onto the Breath of the Wild hype train, and if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. But it's been a very very long time since I've been so enamored and thrown deep into a game like this. I'm not typically the biggest fanboy of open world games for the fact that there just seems like too much to do, though it's not unlikely that I'd put a lot of time into them. Games like Skyrim are games that sure, I put about 20-30 hours into it, but then I got bored after a while and after feeling like I didn't really have as much freedom as I was hoping for. Breath of the Wild makes me a believer that the open world genre can flourish and continue to do so. There's just so much packed into this game that it's nearly impossible for me to say anything negative about it, and that's a rare thing when it comes to a game of this nature. I had several things to say about Fallout 4, and I think I was a bit of the same way with Fallout 3, but I don't seem to have any issues with Breath of the Wild in that regard. So before you, I'm going full on clickbait article, and I'm going to lay out the top 10 reasons why Breath of the Wild is truly the great game that it is. I know you've probably been convinced by now that this is my favorite game of all time, but if you've yet to hit that conclusion, well...read on. Hopefully I'll convince you this time.

1. Adventure!

I think for the longest time, the open world genre as a whole needed something new and refreshing to make the genre stand out again. I can't say for certain that most open world games have lacked that sense of adventure, but I can say for certain that with my experience with most open world games, the sense of adventure is technically there, but with set quest markers and a "hand holding" mechanic thrown in to tell you where to go at all times. Breath of the Wild as I mentioned in my previous review takes away the hand holding and "quest line" per se and let's you adventure on your own. Other open world games like Skyrim and Fallout 3 have the world to explore, of course. But when you play those games and compare it to the feeling you get when you adventure in Breath of the Wild, well...you start to realize why Breath of the Wild does it better.

2. The Best In The Series

The Legend of Zelda series has been around for so long, and Breath of the Wild has become the 19th rendition of the series in the long line of amazing games that Nintendo has brought to life. Now, this was the thing I was skeptical of, but was quickly ridden of the skepticism, and that skepticism goes along with the added thought that I was sincerely hoping Nintendo would take this release as seriously as they have the rest (give or take maybe a few games) and by god they did. If you remember back to the days of the original Legend of Zelda and even Ocarina of Time, you'll come to realize that it has been quite some time since we had a truly unbelievable experience with a Zelda game. Titles like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess and even Wind Waker were all fantastic additions to the line of games, but they as well still had that hand holding aspect where you know that you're on a specific path. Perhaps Wind Waker a little less as with the boat mechanic, you felt more adventurous. In Breath of the Wild, Nintendo decided that it'd be a good move to go back to their roots and create a game that brings back that open-ness like we received in the original game. They achieved this and so much more just based on that aspect alone. They didn't just make a Zelda title that takes everything good about the series, but it also allows that very concept to flourish in the best possible way. Breath of the Wild has everything any Zelda fan would want and more, and that's why I truly believe it is the best version of Hyrule that we have ever gotten. Some may disagree of course, but that's my opinion and mine alone.

3. Graphics

Although I am aware that the Nintendo Switch offers a slightly better looking experience with Breath of the Wild, but since I've been playing on the Wii U, I'm only going to comment on what I think of the graphics in that game. And good lord, this games is ****ing beautiful. When you use your imagination and give yourself the thoughts of what you'd believe would work and what an open world Zelda game would be like, you'll quickly find that your imagination has become a reality. Every single time I'm running around, or riding a horse along the paths and mountains of the enormous version of Hyrule, I'm finding myself just looking at the scenery and noticing every single little detail that Nintendo provided to make the experience something truly spectacular. I've found myself thinking "man, I wonder what the world would look like if Nintendo did..." and then I find that little detail into the game. Nintendo should be praised on all counts for providing such an environment that only comes with a company that takes great care in every single detail in every single nook and cranny.

4. Not Boring

Another thing I was worried about in the back of my mind when the release date of Breath of the Wild was getting closer and closer was the sincere hope that the game doesn't end up being boring after a few hours. I can say for certain that after 60 hours into the game, I have not once been bored or without something to do. I mentioned this in my previous review that the game offers so much in every nook and cranny that you'll find yourself with so much to do. But that's the beauty of it. The simple fact that I've put that much time into it and I'm still finding exciting things to do? Well that just shows true masterful craftsmanship toward a game that I don't think we've ever seen. My past experiences with open world games prior to this one was the fact that after about 70-80 hours, you're already done with the main story line and are just doing side quests just to fill that void of needing something to do. Breath of the Wild improves on the fact that open world games are meant to have exciting things to do at all times. You can fight what you want, go where you want, climb what you want. It just goes back to my previous point that adventure is truly a breathtaking experience in this game.

5. Emotions

Something wonderful that I wasn't expecting with Breath of the Wild is how emotional the main story is. I've played through a pretty good chunk of the main story by now, and I have to truly praise Nintendo for not only offering a beautiful rendition of the traditional Zelda and Link storyline, but for also offering that extra amount of emotion and captivation that truly brings this story to life. Just from the get go, you are given the basis of the story, and instantly you're taken away and put into an emotional state that I simply was not expecting. This is also made better by the fact that the world is filled with so much lore and architecture from past Zelda games that you really feel an emotional connection to it, especially if you've been playing Zelda games from the beginning. Something about seeing a full world filled so densely with Zelda lore, and in the ways they're presented, well it gives you an unbelievable sense of loneliness and despair that I believe the Zelda story needed for quite some time. It's that same feeling you got when you played through Majora's Mask for the first time. That feeling of dread and darkness is once again brought to life in Breath of the Wild, and i'll tell you. It's a wonderful feeling.

03-20-2017, 10:55 AM	#438 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	Part I: 1-5 I'm still hanging onto the Breath of the Wild hype train, and if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. But it's been a very very long time since I've been so enamored and thrown deep into a game like this. I'm not typically the biggest fanboy of open world games for the fact that there just seems like too much to do, though it's not unlikely that I'd put a lot of time into them. Games like Skyrim are games that sure, I put about 20-30 hours into it, but then I got bored after a while and after feeling like I didn't really have as much freedom as I was hoping for. Breath of the Wild makes me a believer that the open world genre can flourish and continue to do so. There's just so much packed into this game that it's nearly impossible for me to say anything negative about it, and that's a rare thing when it comes to a game of this nature. I had several things to say about Fallout 4, and I think I was a bit of the same way with Fallout 3, but I don't seem to have any issues with Breath of the Wild in that regard. So before you, I'm going full on clickbait article, and I'm going to lay out the top 10 reasons why Breath of the Wild is truly the great game that it is. I know you've probably been convinced by now that this is my favorite game of all time, but if you've yet to hit that conclusion, well...read on. Hopefully I'll convince you this time. 1. Adventure! I think for the longest time, the open world genre as a whole needed something new and refreshing to make the genre stand out again. I can't say for certain that most open world games have lacked that sense of adventure, but I can say for certain that with my experience with most open world games, the sense of adventure is technically there, but with set quest markers and a "hand holding" mechanic thrown in to tell you where to go at all times. Breath of the Wild as I mentioned in my previous review takes away the hand holding and "quest line" per se and let's you adventure on your own. Other open world games like Skyrim and Fallout 3 have the world to explore, of course. But when you play those games and compare it to the feeling you get when you adventure in Breath of the Wild, well...you start to realize why Breath of the Wild does it better. 2. The Best In The Series The Legend of Zelda series has been around for so long, and Breath of the Wild has become the 19th rendition of the series in the long line of amazing games that Nintendo has brought to life. Now, this was the thing I was skeptical of, but was quickly ridden of the skepticism, and that skepticism goes along with the added thought that I was sincerely hoping Nintendo would take this release as seriously as they have the rest (give or take maybe a few games) and by god they did. If you remember back to the days of the original Legend of Zelda and even Ocarina of Time, you'll come to realize that it has been quite some time since we had a truly unbelievable experience with a Zelda game. Titles like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess and even Wind Waker were all fantastic additions to the line of games, but they as well still had that hand holding aspect where you know that you're on a specific path. Perhaps Wind Waker a little less as with the boat mechanic, you felt more adventurous. In Breath of the Wild, Nintendo decided that it'd be a good move to go back to their roots and create a game that brings back that open-ness like we received in the original game. They achieved this and so much more just based on that aspect alone. They didn't just make a Zelda title that takes everything good about the series, but it also allows that very concept to flourish in the best possible way. Breath of the Wild has everything any Zelda fan would want and more, and that's why I truly believe it is the best version of Hyrule that we have ever gotten. Some may disagree of course, but that's my opinion and mine alone. 3. Graphics Although I am aware that the Nintendo Switch offers a slightly better looking experience with Breath of the Wild, but since I've been playing on the Wii U, I'm only going to comment on what I think of the graphics in that game. And good lord, this games is ****ing beautiful. When you use your imagination and give yourself the thoughts of what you'd believe would work and what an open world Zelda game would be like, you'll quickly find that your imagination has become a reality. Every single time I'm running around, or riding a horse along the paths and mountains of the enormous version of Hyrule, I'm finding myself just looking at the scenery and noticing every single little detail that Nintendo provided to make the experience something truly spectacular. I've found myself thinking "man, I wonder what the world would look like if Nintendo did..." and then I find that little detail into the game. Nintendo should be praised on all counts for providing such an environment that only comes with a company that takes great care in every single detail in every single nook and cranny. 4. Not Boring Another thing I was worried about in the back of my mind when the release date of Breath of the Wild was getting closer and closer was the sincere hope that the game doesn't end up being boring after a few hours. I can say for certain that after 60 hours into the game, I have not once been bored or without something to do. I mentioned this in my previous review that the game offers so much in every nook and cranny that you'll find yourself with so much to do. But that's the beauty of it. The simple fact that I've put that much time into it and I'm still finding exciting things to do? Well that just shows true masterful craftsmanship toward a game that I don't think we've ever seen. My past experiences with open world games prior to this one was the fact that after about 70-80 hours, you're already done with the main story line and are just doing side quests just to fill that void of needing something to do. Breath of the Wild improves on the fact that open world games are meant to have exciting things to do at all times. You can fight what you want, go where you want, climb what you want. It just goes back to my previous point that adventure is truly a breathtaking experience in this game. 5. Emotions Something wonderful that I wasn't expecting with Breath of the Wild is how emotional the main story is. I've played through a pretty good chunk of the main story by now, and I have to truly praise Nintendo for not only offering a beautiful rendition of the traditional Zelda and Link storyline, but for also offering that extra amount of emotion and captivation that truly brings this story to life. Just from the get go, you are given the basis of the story, and instantly you're taken away and put into an emotional state that I simply was not expecting. This is also made better by the fact that the world is filled with so much lore and architecture from past Zelda games that you really feel an emotional connection to it, especially if you've been playing Zelda games from the beginning. Something about seeing a full world filled so densely with Zelda lore, and in the ways they're presented, well it gives you an unbelievable sense of loneliness and despair that I believe the Zelda story needed for quite some time. It's that same feeling you got when you played through Majora's Mask for the first time. That feeling of dread and darkness is once again brought to life in Breath of the Wild, and i'll tell you. It's a wonderful feeling.