The Zelda franchise has been near and dear to my heart from the age of 10 to now. I have played several Zelda games, read some of the comics, and done a deep dive into the lore of the world both by playing games and spending at least 20 hours on their wikipedia page. Needless to say, I'm a Zelda nut.
So when in 2016 it was announced that Zelda would be released with the new generation Nintendo Switch hardware I instantly preordered both a Switch and the game. I will never forget sitting in my dorm room after running back from the mail room and opening the cartridge. Little did I know what awaited me.
The game begins with Link in the Shrine of Resurrection, where he has been for 100 years. The game goes on to show you several new mechanics that are exclusive to this game, like Link's ability to climb and to jump freely. There is a stamina wheel, which is a carryover from Skyward Sword, which can be improved by completing shrines and praying at a goddess statue. The intro of the game is straightforward tutorial stuff, go here, do this, get this, move on. Once you have completed the tutorial the game gives you two options, head straight for the final boss or go to a village to find out what else you can do in the game. Of course you could choose to do neither and aimlessly wander around the world, exploring everything like I did.
Unlike Zelda games before it, which primarily stuck to a dungeon, item, boss battle theme, the game is more focused in open world and exploration. Weapons break, forcing you to adopt new strategies and giving the player new and inventive ways to take down enemies. See a metal box? lift it above an enemies head and drop it on them to kill them! A bunch of explosive barrels but no fire arrows? Make a fire using wood and some flint, light your arrow and fire and blow those Bokoblins to bits!
There are still the traditional puzzle elements of Zelda past and there are still dungeons and boss fights but the most amazing part of it is that most, if not all of it, is optional. You have one "main objective" throughout the entire game and it is to destroy Ganon. The open world aspect adds immensely to the structure of the game, allows you to have random encounters with characters, and rewards the player for daring to adventure.
The world building is phenomenal as with most Zelda titles, but Breath of the Wild wants you to work towards finding the world building. Instead of the mainstream finish a quest get a world building cutscene, which is still present to an extent, the game allows you to stumble upon memory locations. Memory locations are in many different places, ranging from the top of a mountain to the middle of the desert. These memories are Link's from before awaking in the Shrine of Resurrection and allow the player to form a deeper connection to the characters.
Overall this game has lots to love, from exploring to world building to the combat mechanics. It's telling that this game is rated so highly among casual and hardcore gamers alike, because it provides great insight on what a developer can do if they decide to push their boundaries a little bit. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is a refreshing take on a series that has performed so well on such a consistent basis. I personally have logged 235+ hours in the game and am still finding new things to love about it.
The game is a 5/5 and its worth the investment into a switch on its own.
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