Review: THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD is Time Well Spent

[All screencaps taken from gameplay]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
Developed by Nintendo EPD
Published By Nintendo
Released March 3, 2017
Available on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo WiiU 

I want to start this review by saying that I was skeptical that Nintendo could win me over with the Nintendo Switch. I had lost most of my interest in console gaming. I never even had much interest in buying the predecessor to the Switch, the Wii U. I lost interest with the Wii, it just bothered my wrists and didn’t hold my interest and attention.

Then Nintendo released trailers and footage for the latest entry in The Legend of Zelda series (the nineteenth in the series), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I fell in love.

This game is gorgeous; the look of the land of Hyrule is worth just sitting and gazing out over the landscape. It even has weather: rain, sun, thunderstorms and snow in the higher elevations. It is also huge! It takes a lot of time to get from one end of the map to the other. Thankfully, they give you a way to warp to shrines and towers that you have activated. You can also travel by glider and horse — and you have to capture your own horse!

Another feature of this game and a first in Zelda franchise history is that weapons and shields break after several uses. Therefore you have to keep picking up or buying new weapons to keep on your quest. This may seem tedious, but it can actually be quite rewarding if you’re battling a tough enemy and manage to pick up their weapon and kill them with it.

The gameplay is open-ended. You are given a quest to take back the Divine Beasts, destroy Calamity Gannon and rescue Princess Zelda, but you are not expected to rush off to Hyrule Castle right away. Instead, it gives you all the time you want to do side quests and explore in search of over 90 shrines that will give you tokens that you can turn in to get more heart containers or more stamina. As of the writing of this review, I have only defeated one of the Divine Beast guardians.  There are also hundreds of hidden beings across the land that will give you Korok Seeds, you can then turn these in to expand your inventory.

I enjoy this game that I almost have no problems with it. My few complaints are small, like accidentally hitting the right joystick too hard and zooming in when I’m trying to make a jump (which causes me to fall).

As of the writing of this review, I have completed one of the Divine Beasts, collected 39 Korok Seeds and completed 55 Shrine Quests and I am so looking forward to the rest of this game.

I have some thoughts about the future of the Zelda franchise. Breath of the Wild is a great game and a good start for the reimagining of the story. Now I think they should add more to it. Fishing, something of a staple in some of the past Zelda games, is absent from this game. I would love it if they added it back. It would also be nice if you could repair broken weapons instead of having to constantly pick up new ones you’re enemies dropped. They already have mining in the game, you could turn this into a basis for weapon repair. Just take your ores to a blacksmith and reforge that sword.

I would also love to have a game where you could play as either Zelda or Link. Maybe Zelda could do actions that Link can’t perform.

Anyway, I look forward to the next game in the franchise!

I highly recommend this game for anyone who is looking for a quest for adventure!