The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)

Game of the year. You play as, master swordsman, Link tasked with saving Hyrule and helping Princess Zelda by defeating the evil Ganondorf. The game has 5 different main quest lines each with one of the four divine beast or involving the master sword. There are 6 main races living in different regions: the birdlike Rito in their hilly, windy mountains with snow and snowstorms; the amazonesslike Gerudo in their desert, sandy planes with sandstorms and dusts; the fishlike Zora in their lakes and rivers leading to a waterfall palace with frequent rains and thunderstorms; the rock golemlike Goron living in their lava filled volcanoes with fiery heatwaves. There is also the elflike Hylians and Sheikah who live is villages and towns spread through out the game. Finally, there are Koroks which are based on Kodama friendly childlike forest spirits. It's a fantasy game that takes place in a large open-world. You have melee combat, ranged combat, elements that interact differently with each other. There are 120 puzzle shrines to complete; 226 named location to visit; 900 korok seed to find; 4 divine beast to power up; 18 memories with Zelda to discover; 385 items/monsters to scan; 3 Medal of Honor to win. The expansion dlc adds adds a hard mode and new story content, including trials to power up your master sword. Beside having your melee, range and magic weapons; you also have runes that: let you move around metallic objects; spawn square or spherical explosives; stop any object and lock it in space-time; create a pillar of ice; Scan and analyze objects; make noise when near said object; and finally summon a motor cycle. Overall, its a 10/10 masterpiece of a game. 100 hour worth of gameplay.

Tl;dr- This is like a classic LoZ game combined with the sheer exploration potential of an Elder Scrolls game and even more on top of that. It's now my favourite game and you can tell even as soon as you've reached a story milestone that you'll get hundreds of hours out of the game in one play-through if you do everything. I found it quite hard to write this review because 1. I wanted to talk about absolutely everything I like but that would just be spoiler city and 2. I honestly just wanted to stop typing to play the game more! This game has to be, by far, the best game I have ever played. I bought the Switch because I wanted to play this game though was somewhat sceptical if the cost would be worth it. I haven't had as much fun in a video game as I have with this one before. I'm aware that a lot of people who are classic LoZ fans aren't happy with this game given they claim it's "not a LoZ game" though for the most part I have to disagree. The base of the puzzle dungeon aspect is still there. Just because the puzzles are split out across over 100 instances doesn't mean that the feature is gone and for me it's the puzzle dungeons that make the LoZ franchise. The puzzles being split into so many smaller little "trails" as they are called is, to me, a really great idea. They all teach you a way to use your equipment which is useful for later trails or for the main story quest. In addition to this, you've got a massively expansive world with a great variation of terrain (each example of which brings its own hazards in enemies and how the environment affects you such as snowy mountains being dangerously cold) as well as a great combat system where you can either get by just attacking when you can or you can really learn how it works which is rewarding once you get it down. There's also the food system where you can hunt or forage for ingredients and then cook them to create various dishes which provide health as well as many different buffs depending on what you cook (for example you can cook a meat skewer with meat you hunt for which gives a good amount of health, then you can create a similar dish but with stamina-restoring properties if you add another ingredient which restores stamina when cooked to make a healing item that also restores stamina and so on). In addition to the cooking you can also brew potions witcher-style using monster drops and various herbs found in the world so you can get more effective or longer lasting buffs without the health boosts. The open-world potential of this game really impressed me. Not only through how you can just ignore the main story quest and go off to do whatever you want while still having a load of fun, but there's so many small details that make this game so special. You can climb every tree, every mountain and just about everything else that is obviously not supposed to be climbed on (though the list of things you can't climb is very short). You can fell trees with an axe, cut the log into firewood, pile the wood up and then set fire to it using any source of fire you may have (flint, lit torch, lightning strike, the list goes on) and then use this fire either as a means to keep yourself warm in a cold wilderness/at night, to open-roast food to cook it quickly and to skip time by resting beside it. Every item of clothing does something different (basic clothes, armour, cold-resistance, heat-resistance and so on). The story of the game may not be for everyone due to the style it was written (minor spoiler--- it's written in the retrospective, learn about the past as you play kind of way---end spoiler) though I really like it, you're not forced into playing through the main story quests and all there's so much additional lore to search out. You don't get a "hand-holding" experience with the story, quest markers on your map aren't necessarily pointing to the solution and you usually have to do some asking around or pathfinding in the area that you're pointed to in order to work out what you need to do. Overall- this game is worth buying a Switch for alone, anyone who enjoys puzzles, exploration, combat, little features which let you play the way you want to play- this is the game for you!

Good game

I have put more than 100 hours into this game and theres still so many things to do. I love how it never feels boring and finding korok seeds after completing the main mission is suprisingly very fun! Love the artstyle and plot. Works well on the switch

If you can, play this game knowing as little about what’s coming as possible - and make each place, each encounter and each discovery a true surprise. For me, the key magic of the adventure was this Discovery. I’ve played various kinds of games since the Spectrum 48k without being a hardcore gamer. My favourites each had some quality about them that was unlike anything else around. Breath of the Wild is like that but I gotta say, it keeps giving and it’s the best game I’ve played. The best? Come on, really? Yes, you discover the world as you progress, and there’s so much world to explore it’s amazing, from the big things (whole new areas or culture so well refined) to the little things (those hidden or background things crammed into the spaces between). It immerses you into that world and keeps you interested. And rewards you for exploring. But more than the world, there’s the gameplay itself. You discover your way of playing as you play, and the game lets you do this. This makes it accessible to all kinds of players. And though you can go in whatever direction you like you can approach new things in various ways. Wanna be cautious? Cool. Wanna run right in? Go for it. Wanna avoid it? Sure. But wanna come back later? Sure thing. The opening area treats you kindly and lets you discover your abilities and get used to the controls on a smooth but challenging gradient. It’s very rewarding. I was personally very happy the game didn’t get into RPG-style weapon-crafting. It would have been too much - I think the designers balanced the game just right without it. Having said that, I’m now ready for that in the sequel :) Personally I love the art-style and the colour palette is to me perfect for this, making the environments feel very much like the natural world. And ah the sounds, from water to rain to grass to birds, clubs, swords, rolling boulders, it all sounds just right and you really get to appreciate this sometimes when there’s just you and a wood and no music. Which said, is great: the music helps to define a place and adapts to the action or lack thereof as well. Genius. Anyway, I could go on. I’ve sunk many hours into this game. It rehabilitated a sense of play and enjoyment in me I hadn’t realised had gone to sleep, and awoke old dreams. I still play it, even after 425+ hours, there’s still things for me to do, even after the expansions. And I’m so looking forward to the sequel :D

Big and Varied The amount of stuff to do in BotW is pretty impressive, there are plenty of places to explore, enemies to fight, items to find and quests to complete. This is the one of the biggest change ups to the Zelda formula since its inception, no more dungeons, in the traditional sense anyway, no more collecting items to advance to places you couldnt reach before. Now its about collecting monster parts, food, wood, flowers, pretty much everything. You use most of these things to create meals and elixirs that give you additional hearts and other benefits like stronger attack or defence. In place of the dungeons there are now shrines, (120 of them in total) which are more often than not in hidden or hard to find places, these are essentially mini-dungeons with 1-5 puzzles in them; you complete these to earn spirit orbs which can be traded in to give you more hearts or stamina (4 orbs = 1 heart or 1/5 of a stamina wheel). The shrines are great fun (mostly, screw the motion controlled hammers) and often offer multiple solutions using your weapons, bows or your new powers which replace the typical Zelda tools and can be used in a variety of ways. The Shrines and Powers combined wake for a great time and made the game really enjoyable, as did the new version of Hyrule, large fields, cold mountains and firey volcanoes are nothing new but now they are obstacles as well as environments, dont go to the mountains without warm clothing (or a fire sword) or you will freeze, arid deserts without heat resistance and you will dehydrate, this makes getting around a fun challenge in and of itself. On the flip side the new weapon system or more specifically the durability system is less welcome to me personally. Weapons, shields and bows now break after a certain amount of use, this can be annoying when you loose a weapon you like but there are plenty of them all over the place so it never became more than a mild annoyance. I also found the stamina wheel to be annoying initially as i didnt think the starting amount of stamina was enough as it greatly limits your ability to run, swim and climb (which you can do on nearly any surface), but a few shrines later and it wasnt a problem. The biggest negative for me in this game is that the story is weak in comparison to earlier titles in my opinion, nothing actually *happens* in the game, its all happened before you start, you can find flash back cut scenes but they didnt really do it for me, but your mileage may vary. Overall + Great world to explore + Shrines are fun + Experimenting with powers is fun and rewarding + Combat is fun and challenging - Durability system can be irritating - Stamina dampens the early game - Story is kind of absent

If you're of a certain age, then you will have no doubt experienced the rare milestones throughout years of video gaming. Well, Breath of the Wild is that next milestone. Just as the likes of Super Metroid and Super Mario 64 established their respective genres, Breath of the wild has a "wow" factor that will leave you almost speechless. Link awakes from a 100-year slumber with little clue as to why so, or where he even is. With nothing more than a short promise from a mysterious female voice, a tree branch and some fetching underwear, you can guide Link around a huge, sprawling landscape that is just waiting to be explored. There are small prompts to guide you throughout the opening phase - but it is not until you start making friends that your quest becomes clear. In fact, one can travel towards the 'end' phase of the game right from the beginning; though defeat is certain. This gives you an idea of the freedom and realism on offer. The simplicity of the story serves a purpose, which is that it underpins your narrative. You play the game how you want to play it, and as such become a director. More importantly, I think what makes Breath of the Wild different to other open world games is that it has real integrity. Link must become at one with the environment to complete his quests, and that means being more thoughtful about your actions so that you can plan ahead. Do you really want to try and slay a grizzly bear that can kill you with one swipe; or would you rather sneak up, jump on it and tame it? If I have no horse to aid, should I create a bond with a dog to help scare away smaller foe? Should I traverse at night through a forest looking for acorns, or wait until the morning when squirrel-like creatures collect them? This is the so-called Nintendo Difference - a game that is built on morals we can learn from. Not a post-apocalyptic war zone with blood shed and linear objectives. While the graphics are typically Nintendo as a stylised affair (which, let's face, is a lot more interesting than hyper-photorealistic-pixel-peeping textures), I believe that it is the audio which shines through. I don't believe I've ever played a Nintendo game with such crazily accurate attention to detail - so much so that you can pass time easily through just crouching in a meadow and listening to insects, animals and the wind gushing through the grass, changing position as you move. This game also lacks a soundtrack in the traditional sense, but instead opts for incidental and atmospheric music that accompanies your style of gameplay. If you're a fan of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, then this is the game for you! As a final word on performance, I have found the game runs at a steady 30fps for almost the entirety of the play session. Where there are frame dips, it is only for split seconds during graphically demanding scenes. So don't just take my word it. The hype is, surprisingly, real - this is a treasure that will go down as the next milestone, and should be experienced by as many gamers as possible. It is absolutely breathtaking.

Well what can I say? It's Zelda! Now this isn't the perfect game, but I have given it 5 stars because in my opinion there is nothing else quite like it on any other platform and I have had endless hours of fun and exploration. I have spent most of my time playing Breath of the Wild in Handheld mode (which looks absolutely gorgeous by the way). There is so much to explore and things to see and do that you can spend hours running round the map completely ignoring any objectives that you have. I really like the whole open world idea and the shrines are a fresh take on mini dungeons. I have a few gripes about the game though and these are only my personal opinions so feel free to agree or disagree. First of all is the music. The music whilst effective, is just not Zelda for me....it is used sparingly as you venture across the open world, but it does not have those memorable themes that I have come to love from Zelda over the years. In my opinion there could've been much more effective music used in the over world and in the dungeons. The second gripe I have is the *SPOILERS* Divine Beasts. These are essentially the four main dungeons and whilst I think they are a good idea, they are just not dungeons to me. They have 4 variations of the same boss, and without meaning to sound old hat I miss the Zelda formula of getting an item in the dungeon that you then have to use against the boss. Again the music could've been more memorable for me. Those are the only real problems that I had with the game though, as I found the open world breathtaking and sometimes just stopped playing to watch a rain and thunder cloud move towards Link as the heavens opened and the rain came pouring down. And the landscape is absolutely stunning as you run across the grassy plains with the sun rising above the mountains behind you. This game is fun! So much fun to play! It's gorgeous in terms of it's graphics and lush landscapes and is the best game I have played in a long time. There is so much to see and do! Well worth the money!

Nothing wrong with the box, everything was intact. Game is amazing 100/10

Though I'm a kid at heart, I actually started playing home video games with Pong in the 1970s. Then it was an Atari 2600, then a TI 99 4/A, a Commodore 64, a home computer, a Nintendo, and on and on, right up through the PS4 (no 5 yet, I went a different direction and got a Switch). I start with that, because I've played thousands of video games over the span of my lifetime. There have been a lot of good ones. Space Invaders, Centipede, Q*Bert, Pac-Man, up through Adventure, Pitfall, Donkey Kong (also the first Nintendo console game) ... fast-forward to games (not necessarily in chronological order) like Wizardry, EverQuest, Dragon Age, Grand Theft Auto V, Diablo II, Baldur's Gate, all the Elder Scrolls games, the Witcher 3. Everything from Dragon's Lair to FTL to Hades. Wasteland, Fallout, X-Com, Cyberpunk 2077. You get the drift. And I gotta say, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WIld might JUST be the greatest video game ever made. It just fires on all cylinders. It would be easy to say this game is overrated, and there are actually a handful of people who believe just that - but it's not. It's rated exactly right. More "10" ratings on official video game publications than any game in history. That's probably all you need to know. The game is fun. Its systems work perfectly, there's plenty of room for ingenuity in approaching situations. Combat, exploration, storytelling - it's all done right. A world that rivals or exceeds anything Bethesda or CD Projekt Red has ever created. Whether you've played every Zelda game up to this point or are a newcomer to the series, once you've figured out the controls and what you're supposed to be doing - you'll get lost in this world for many, many, many hours. This is what gaming is all about.

Jogo muito bom, uma aventura gigante, e bem feita!!!

Nintendo'nun en önemli serileriden Zelda'nın Wii U ve Switch için çıkan yeni oyunu Breath of the Wild, bize bir macera, bir masal ve mükemmel bir fantastik dünya sunuyor. Aksiyon veya j-rpg seviyorsanız zaten bu oyunu biliyorsunuzdur alın dememe gerek yok. Bilmeyenler içinse: Alın!

Mam 39 lat i nie oamietam kiedy czulem ostatnio taka frajde z gry wideo🤣jestem fanem konsol od zawsze, ale od niedawna mam switcha pierwsza oryginalna konsola nintendo, slyszalem tyle na temat tej gry... Nigdy nie gralem w zadna zelde i co? I jak poswiecisz troche czasu zeby wsiaknac w ten swiat i przestaniesz sie irytowac kolejna smiercia.... Ta gra wciaga jak bagno poezja cud malina btmrac i siekac acz gra wymaga czasu i nauki i cierpliwosci ale daje niesamowita prawde i pokazuje jak z rozwojem postaci i nauki gry stajesz sie wyraznie coraz potezniejszy genialna pozycja!!!