Logotype of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Wikimedia Commons
I sat down after plugging in and setting up my just-released Nintendo Switch with red and blue Joy-Cons in hand and my heart racing. After over four years of waiting, it was time to begin playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Coming off of the disappointing sales of its predecessor, the Wii U, the Nintendo Switch needed to be a major success for Nintendo to reaffirm its dominance in the console market. As such, the company knew that having a strong set of launch titles would be crucial. So what did it do? During a presentation in early January 2017, Nintendo announced that the open world Zelda title that it had previously claimed would be Wii U exclusive was now also to be released as a launch title for the then-upcoming Nintendo Switch. And this has since proven to be one of the best decisions it could have made, for the game that resulted from this choice has become the most successful Zelda game to date.
From tranquil lakes and forests to treacherous mountains and deserts, the world of Breath of the Wild is immense, and exploring each region of it is exhilarating. As in other entries of the action-adventure Zelda series, players control the hero Link as they travel throughout the kingdom of Hyrule on their quest to defeat the evil Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda, meeting a large cast of colorful characters along the way. I will not discuss any specifics of the game’s plot, for I believe that its exceptional writing should be enjoyed by players for the first time when they it for themselves. O note, what sets this particular adventure apart from the others is the freedom it gives the player: should you wish to infiltrate Hyrule Castle and challenge Ganon immediately without having visited almost any of the locations reachable within the game, you have the ability to do so. At the same time, you may choose to obtain all possible upgrades and investigate each and every site, simultaneously going through the entirety of the game’s plot before finally confronting Ganon. It all depends on how extensive players would like their experience to be and how much of the game world’s lore they want to uncover.
The list of additions to Link’s arsenal of abilities is immense, and there is no shortage of puzzles to use them on. Breath of the Wild’s physics are consistent and detailed, allowing for much creativity on the part of players when it comes to scaling obstacles, and features of the game’s world such as weather make strategies that might have once been unthinkable viable.
Fighting monsters and other enemies, while simple in practice, can be quite varied, for the vast assortment of weapons available in Breath of the Wild can make for interesting combat (I would recommend challenging a group of enemies with a soul ladle!), and the new durability system that applies to these weapons forces players to experiment with a large variety of weaponry. Players should know that Breath of the Wild is not a Zelda title for the faint of heart; enemies and puzzles are ruthless even in the early parts of the game, and it is only through practice and determination that one can find success.
From an artistic standpoint, the game is graphically beautiful: I found myself wanting to take pictures of many of the landscapes I came across in my own journey, and luckily, there happens to be a camera feature within the game to fulfill all of your photography-related needs. One thing I would like to emphasize is the immersion one feels when playing Breath of the Wild; I truly felt like I was in the land of Hyrule myself at several times throughout my playthrough. The game’s music adds to this immersion, for its soundtrack consists of what are perhaps the most ambient pieces from a video game that I have heard.
Breath of the Wild has received scores of 10/10 from critics such as IGN, Game Informer, and GameSpot, and it has received awards that include Game of the Year from The Game Awards 2017. I strongly urge you to purchase The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and begin playing through it as soon as possible if you own a Wii U or Nintendo Switch or are even thinking about buying a Switch. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
My Rating:
10/10
