Review Roundup: 'The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild' Is A Nintendo Masterwork
Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda is a beloved series that's rarely, if ever, made a real misstep. Breath of the Wild, launching March 3rd on the new Nintendo Switch and Wii U, is only "big" Switch launch title and pre-release coverage has dropped intriguing comparisons to games like GTA V and Dark Souls — decidedly un-Nintendo-like games. Does Breath of the Wild rank with Zelda's best, or is a sprawling Hyrule a massive mistake? Here's what reviews say:
The Classic 'Zelda' Item Hunt Is Gone — For The Better
Rather than the staggered item rollout of earlier Zeldas, where you quested for themed artifacts that expanded your range of actions, you're granted several from the outset, including three that let you fiddle with the fabric of reality itself. Bombs, another boon granted early, are now essentially geometry-inflected magic spells you cast while thinking about inertia or gravity. And that's just the start.
[TIME]
This is a game that says "yes" to anything you ask of it. From the very beginning, you can swim in any lake, pick up any boulder, and cross any pit. When you try some crazy experiment, the game will oblige. You can climb up any wall, mountain, or tower in the world, which allows you the freedom to explore the map in a way that no Zelda game has matched.
[Kotaku]
Breath of the Wild isn't just the most radical departure from the Zelda tradition in its 30-year history, it's the first Nintendo game that feels like it was made in a world where Half-Life 2, Halo, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Skyrim happened. It's inspired by those greats and others, but it doesn't ape them any more than it rests on its own laurels.
This Game's Hyrule Puts Most Open Worlds To Shame
It is a frequently stunning, consistently striking visual achievement, evocative of legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli's films in a way that seems lovingly influenced rather than derivative. It also happens to include some of the best, most varied music the series has ever had, and, for the first time in a Zelda game, voice acting for a number of characters.
[Polygon]
Plenty of open world games allow you to explore the entire map at your leisure, but Hyrule's landscape and Link's ability to climb makes for more rewarding exploration than I've ever seen in the genre. Most of the world isn't accessible by easy-to-follow roads and waypoints. I spent many hours exploring off the beaten path, gliding across canyons, and scaling mountains.
Typical 'Zelda' Puzzlers Are Split Into Bite-Sized Shrines
The puzzle logic in Breath of the Wild feels legitimately logical, and smartly physics-based. There are optional shrines scattered throughout Hyrule that act as mini puzzle dungeons, and almost without exception, they've all been a lot of fun to figure out. By the end of most Zelda games, I've felt that the game had just about exhausted its ideas for puzzles and dungeons. After solving 50 shrines over 60-70 hours in Breath of the Wild, I'm still looking for more.
[Polygon]
The shrines also simplify the Zelda dungeon formula in an almost mobile game-like manner, resulting in satisfyingly quick puzzles that can usually be completed in less than 15 minutes or so. Even better, unlike typical Zelda puzzles, those in Breath of the Wild's shrines often have multiple solutions.
'Breath Of The Wild' Can Be A Tough-As-Nails Survival Game
You have to be cautious, creative, and resourceful in your efforts to battle the wilderness. Outside of armor, you have to source everything from the field. You earn new weapons by stealing from enemies and prepare restorative meals and elixirs by combining resources found in the environment. Death comes quickly, and whether it's at the hand of a formidable enemy or because you charged unprepared down a treacherous path, you're forced to reconsider almost everything you've learned from past Zelda games.
[Gamespot]
Comparisons to games like Dark Souls are probably inevitable, but they're not exactly fair. You don't lose anything when you die, other than the time lost getting back to where you were. You do have to contend with equipment with a finite life span, however, and resources will often be scarce unless you gather ingredients to make potions and meals.
[Polygon]
The Story Is Acceptable, The Voice Acting Less So
While most Zelda games are rooted in heavy tradition, this coming-of-age story is anything but and has plenty of charming characters and surprises to reveal. It's amazing that it works so well while letting you tackle its dungeons in any order you want.
[IGN]
The rest of the story is simple, familiar to even those who have never played a Zelda game, but the way it is presented is interesting, calling into question the familiar fate of Link and Zelda in a way that made me sympathize with the struggling heroes (in spite of the underwhelming voice performances of Zelda and the supporting cast).
Performance On The Switch Can Be A Little Rough
It's worth noting that while Breath of the Wild is also coming out on the Wii U, Nintendo only provided Switch copies to outlets for review.
Its art style and character design are among the best I've seen in the series, but there's no denying that the framerate takes a big hit from time to time. This is most evident in areas like dense forests and populated towns. Things usually move along at a decent clip, but you're bound to notice the game chugging if you take a stroll through Kakariko Village during a rainstorm.
You Can Play 'Breath Of The Wild' For A Long, Long Time
The new Hyrule feels huge, but never empty. It feels vast, but never random. There are puzzle clues and design tricks all throughout the world, which is dense and full of secrets.
[Kotaku]
I've had so many adventures in Breath of the Wild, and each one has a unique story behind what led me to them, making them stories on top of stories. And even after I've spent more than 50 hours searching the far reaches of Hyrule, I still manage to come across things I haven't seen before. I'll easily spend 50 to 100 more trying to track down its fascinating moments.
[IGN]
TL;DR
More so than just about any game series, Zelda's heart lies in exploration, that moment of seeing a towering mountain in the distance and realizing that eventually you'll be able to reach the top. Breath of the Wild takes this idea, cuts out the fluff, and expands upon it. It pulls ideas from other games, like crafting or survival, yet makes them feel perfectly at home in its beloved universe.
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