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Key · 02-22-2023, 02:52 PM

2017

This is again one of those cases where I feel like my original review of this game is going to tell you everything you need to know about my experience, so I'm going to drop that review here:

Quote:

Breath of the Wild (Full Review)

Once again, full disclaimer that I've been playing the Wii U version. From what I've heard, there really is no difference between the Wii U version and the Switch version give or take a few better graphical objects.

Now, Breath of the Wild, what do I think of it? Well, I would say that it is easily the best game that has come out for a system in the last 10 years, and easily the best Zelda game ever made. The Legend of Zelda has been around for a very long time, and it's very rare for Nintendo to put out a bad Zelda game.*

*Even if some people didn't like some of the games in the series.

When it comes down to it, Breath of the Wild is a brand new open world game in the form of a Zelda world. Much like Skyrim and Fallout have done the genre as well as they can, Breath of the Wild takes the open world genre to a new high, and any other open world games should hope to be as good as Breath of the Wild. When I think of an open world game, I think "open and free." But as we've seen with games like Skyrim, there's still some hand holding with the map always telling you where to go. On the topic of other Zelda games in this sense, you start to realize that every single Zelda game before Breath of the Wild are not "open and free" and the amount of hand holding does loosen a bit, but it is still there. Breath of the Wild however takes that hand holding completely away, and within the first 15 minutes of the game, you are let free and are free to explore the entire world of Hyrule. I would say I was quite pleased to finally get an open world that really takes the open world concept the proper way. And if you're worried about the world being too huge, well one of the big positives for the game and the reason I already have 50+ hours into it is the fact that while you're adventuring, you're rewarded for it at every turn. Whether it's finding new weapons, new armors, new potions, etc, you pretty much feel the sense of satisfaction whenever you make it to the top of a mountain or cliff. Sometimes you'll literally climb a mountain and won't find anything, but with how important it is to get a vantage point for your next adventure, these offer the best possible way to plan out your next "leap of faith" into something interesting.

The reason the adventure aspect is done so well in this game and doesn't feel monotonous like other open world games is the fact that Breath of the Wild gives you all the tools you need for survival at the beginning of the game pretty much. You aren't having to go to a place and realize that you aren't allowed there yet. Stamina and HP aside, there are literally no limitations to what you can do in this game. Feel like fighting that bad guy? Do it. Feel like climbing that mountain? Do it. This once again gives you the freedom of choice and freedom of exploration that 99% of open world games do poorly.

The game like I mentioned heavily favors the sense of adventure over everything else, and as I mentioned, you're rewarding for it. But I know there are some that fear that the game feels far too big, and there's too much to do scattered all over. Well, if that's what you're worried about, put that thought aside. In the 50+ hours I've put into the game, I never felt like I was trapped with so much to do, in fact, it's more of a positive if there is too much to do, because it makes you come back to the game and find something new. Which is another big plus. A lot of games that claim to have "a lot to do" tend to go the route that "a lot to do" means "a lot of the same things." Although you find a lot of chests and weapons in Breath of the Wild, nothing really feels the same, because every obstacle or thing you discover tests a certain part of you that has to plan ahead in order to accomplish it. The process of planning things out gives you creative ways to take on the endeavor that you've been put up against. Making the obstacle feel its own, and unique.

Graphically, and this is strictly speaking from the Wii U version, is phenomenal. Like I mentioned a week or so ago, the common complaint of the game is that it does have some frame drops when in a heavily full area of the map, but it doesn't happen often enough for me to really consider it a complain. Nintendo will hopefully release a performance patch that makes this the number one priority. Because honestly, that's the only issue I've had with it.

Story wise, you still are met with the typical (some would say cliche, but it's not cliche) story with Link and Zelda. I won't give any spoilers, but I will say that this particular story feels a lot more personal and emotional than the other games before it. I've found myself not only getting emotional from the cut scenes, but just running around while you look at the "ultimate task" in front of you, you're just met with a sudden sense of dread and loneliness. You really start to feel like you're on your own, and you pretty much are for the most part.

Now, one of the things I really wasn't expecting with Breath of the Wild though I'm so happy it happened, is how ****ing difficult the game is. If you take a game say like...Dark Souls, and made it perhaps a few notches less difficult, you pretty much have Breath of the Wild. I've probably already died at least 100 times, due to either being unprepared, being careless, or just not realizing that the difficulty for this game is hard, which is super out of character for a Zelda game in this era.

With everything I have said so far about this game, I truly feel like there is so much more I could talk about. As I have mentioned probably once or twice, I've put about 50+ hours into this game so far, and I don't even feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. That's how massive this world is. And the main reason I love it so much is because of how you feel like you're discovering something brand new every time you play the game. Whenever I turn on my Wii U and start of Breath of the Wild, I don't have a set idea of what I want to accomplish for that play session, because I honestly have no idea what to expect out of that play session. That sense of not knowing anything, and just going in and playing, is a big reason why it's so addicting. It feels brand new every time you turn on the system. That's how it feels for me anyway. Because the feeling of getting into a brand new game over and over again is the biggest reason why this game has done so well. Nintendo should be truly proud of the game they've made, because it's easily the best game not only that they have made, but the best game that any developer has made in a long long time. I'm a small amount hesitant to say that because we've seen a lot of great titles over the years, but I know for a fact that this is the best experience with a video game that I have had in the last 10 years.

If I were to give this a rating, i'd obviously give it a 10/10. The funny thing is, it's not too rare to see people giving this game a perfect score. Hell, I've seen people and myself included wish they could rate higher than a 10. The game deserves all the praise it gets. The hype was real and exceeded for me personally, and if you haven't played it yet, definitely do yourself a favor and find a cheap Wii U, and get Breath of the Wild. I only say that because the Switch is still fairly expensive, and in its current state, it's not worth the money just for Zelda, though if you do get it for Zelda, you'll love the hell out of it.

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