The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a bold step in a new direction for Link and Zelda as we see the two take on the tyrannical Demon King Ganon as he plunges the kingdom of Hyrule into chaos. This game encourages a 'no stone unturned' philosophy when it comes to exploration and how you shape your time in Hyrule. As a Zelda fanatic, I had nothing short of a blast with this game and its classic tale of good vs evil.
Breath of the Wild sees Link rescue Zelda from the clutches of Calamity Ganon, who she's been containing within castle grounds for 100 years by the time you awaken in the Shrine of Resurrection. After you complete the tutorial you're told to free the 4 Divine Beasts that were made to contain and destroy Ganon. Each of the 5 races in Hyrule has a Divine Beast that they champion and are in control of minus Link due to him wielding the Master Sword that would be the killing blow to Ganon. Most of this information is from Impa, the same Sheikah woman from Ocarina of Time that is Zelda's bodyguard.
One of the biggest highlights for this game in my opinion is the sense of freedom it gives you when you finally finish the tutorial on the Great Plateau. From there you're free to do literally anything in the game you desire, including fighting Ganon right off the bat. Alternatively you could just grind out all 136 shrines and grab the Master Sword and Champions Tunic before you even meet Impa. The choice to explore at your own pace rather than having your hand held through the experience is something I think more games could benefit from.
The game maintains beautiful variety of aesthetics across the 8 areas of Hyrule. I'm partial to the Gerudo desert as my favorite as I've always been a fan of desert areas in video games. Having to navigate Gerudo Canyon that is also crawling with enemies is also a ton of fun. I lost my horse thanks to Bokoblin archers but it was a good time still. Zora's Domain has my favorite look across the game, especially in their architecture and character designs. The Zora are all extremely ornate in their building and it's apparent they pride themselves on being Hyrule's resident fish people. Beyond the Zora being my favorite, the Sheikah constructs and aesthetic are really good looking as well.
While the game remains easily accessible for all demographics in terms of how simple it comes off as, it's this same simplicity that makes the combat so fun. There's not any complicated attack combos or overarching method you have to follow to win. Since the game plays like in more of a sandbox style, pretty much any method of beating your foes is viable. A personal favorite way to thin out the denizens of Hyrule is to use the glider to fly over Bokoblin camps and drop bombs on the poor guys below and then rushing to finish the stragglers.
If you want a tougher challenge, I recommend playing Master Mode. It spawns in much stronger variants of each enemy and even puts a Lynel in the tutorial area for some reason. This is a significant change of pace considering the tutorial area has awful weapons for the amount of health that these Bokoblins have. On top of that, all enemies now regenerate health after a short pause. I didn't make it past the tutorial in Master Mode if you were wondering, however if you love Dark Souls this might be a good challenge for you. Base game is much better balanced in my opinion and way more fun. All of this to say that Breath of the Wild has a ton of content for both new and long time fans.
Traversing the world is more fun than ever before since everything you encounter is now climbable and you also get a Paraglider from the tutorial to glide around Hyrule with. It offers some cool moments and opens up a lot of opportunity with the puzzles in shrines and in the overworld. But traversal is only so fun by itself, which is why the subtle piano typically playing in the background offers a nice compliment. When you're in combat, it's a stark contrast from the peaceful sounds and the instruments are much faster in some tracks and rather sinister in others.
The final battle with Ganon is nothing short of epic, especially so if you free each of the Divine Beasts. They each play a role in helping you defeat Ganon in the corrupted Hyrule Castle by damaging and interrupting him during key points. Just when it seemed Ganon had finally fell, the battle ramps into overdrive with the fight spilling out into Hyrule field on horseback. During this final clash of good and evil, I put my marksmanship to the test with the Bow of Light gifted from Zelda to defeat Ganon. A few well-placed shots later and the Definitely one of my favorite endings for a Zelda game so far.
FINAL VERDICT
The Legend of Zelda has seen a lot of changes across its 40 year lifespan and has cemented itself as one of gaming's greatest. Breath of the Wild is one of the most ambitious titles to date in terms of the changes implemented while retaining the charm of its predecessors. It's new open world formula remains one of its biggest highlights. Between the fantastic writing and the addicting gameplay, you'll find tons of things to love about this game. If you own a Switch and haven't played this Zelda yet, I strongly recommend it. Not only is it easy to get into but it also has so many things to do that you can easily lose 100+ hours in just side content and exploration.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 10/10 - MUST BUY