The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Image
Metascore
97

Universal acclaim - based on 109 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20981 Ratings

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  • Summary: Forget everything you know about The Legend of Zelda games. Step into a world of discovery, exploration and adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a boundary-breaking new game in the acclaimed series. Travel across fields, through forests and to mountain peaks as you discoverForget everything you know about The Legend of Zelda games. Step into a world of discovery, exploration and adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a boundary-breaking new game in the acclaimed series. Travel across fields, through forests and to mountain peaks as you discover what has become of the ruined kingdom of Hyrule in this open-air adventure. Explore the wilds of Hyrule any way you like - Climb up towers and mountain peaks in search of new destinations, then set your own path to get there and plunge into the wilderness. Along the way, you'll battle towering enemies, hunt wild beasts and gather ingredients for the food and elixirs you'll need to sustain you on your journey. More than 100 Shrines of Trials to discover and explore - Shrines dot the landscape, waiting to be discovered in any order you want. Search for them in various ways, and solve a variety of puzzles inside. Work your way through the traps and devices inside to earn special items and other rewards that will help you on your adventure.
    * Be prepared and properly equipped - With an entire world waiting to be explored, you'll need a variety of outfits and gear to reach every corner. You may need to bundle up with warmer clothes or change into something better suited to the desert heat. Some clothing even has special effects that, for example, can make you faster and stealthier.
    * Battling enemies requires strategy - The world is inhabited with enemies of all shapes and sizes. Each one has its own attack method and weaponry, so you must think quickly and develop the right strategies to defeat them.
    * amiibo compatibility - Tap the Wolf Link amiibo (sold separately) to make Wolf Link appear in game. Wolf Link will attack enemies on his own and help you find items you're searching for.    … Expand
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Zelda: Breath Of The Wild - Master Mode Gameplay

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 106 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 109
  3. Negative: 0 out of 109
  1. Attack of the Fanboy
    Mar 2, 2017
    100
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best games ever made.
  2. GameGrin
    Dec 12, 2017
    100
    Where it takes mechanics from others in the industry, it improves upon them; where it introduces new ones, you slap your forehead in amazement that it hasn’t been done before. Breath of the Wild is development done right, and damn near the best game you’ll play all year.
  3. Polygon
    Mar 2, 2017
    100
    I guess, in the end, it’s not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it’s leaned on for so long. It’s that the evolution in question has required Nintendo to finally treat its audience like intelligent people. That newfound respect has led to something big, and different, and exciting. But in an open world full of big changes, Breath of the Wild also almost always feels like a Zelda game — and establishes itself as the first current, vital-feeling Zelda in almost 20 years.
  4. New York Daily News
    Mar 7, 2017
    100
    Despite the stellar story and the absolutely fantastic visuals (aside from some framerate issues on the Switch), it’s this world overflowing with life that will grab and hold your attention for hours upon hours of gaming. As much as this is a story-driven RPG, Breath of the Wild is about its world, a world so vast that you could spend hours upon hours traversing its lands (trust me, I did) before actually making tangible progress in the story...It’s the Zelda game we’ve all been waiting for.
  5. Games.cz
    Mar 18, 2017
    100
    The largest Zelda? No dispute. The finest launch title for a new console? So, it is. And isn´t it also the best Zelda? Yippee. And something more. Breath of the Wild is so far the best Zelda, which will be unforgettably written in the history of open-world games.
  6. RPG Fan
    Mar 23, 2017
    96
    A new direction for the franchise that is as brilliantly successful as it is bold, Breath of the Wild raises the bar for a series that has already set a phenomenally high standard.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Mar 12, 2017
    60
    The audiovisual beauty alone of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is liable to convince you that more is indeed better.

See all 117 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,046 out of 5820
  2. Mixed: 445 out of 5820
  3. Negative: 329 out of 5820
  1. FlyingPoliceBox
    May 18, 2019
    10
    An absolutely breathtaking game. One of this generations best games and a must play for everyone.
  2. EpicLadySponge
    Mar 3, 2017
    10
    Breath of the Wild broke a lot of records in the history of gaming. By that, I mean it is most likely impossible to find one thing wrong withBreath of the Wild broke a lot of records in the history of gaming. By that, I mean it is most likely impossible to find one thing wrong with this game. It's like Nintendo took the base of Ocarina of Time and modernize it to make it look like this game over here. This is why Nintendo will forever remain in my heart no matter where it all goes. I'm telling you this, Breath of the Wild has everything... yes, every... single... thing that made Ocarina of Time look like a masterpiece. This is the lost brother of Ocarina of Time and the true brother Ocarina of Time will ever need. Just go buy this game, it wants your money so bad, it wants you to play it so bad, it wants to be your local friend literally bad. I'll be waiting until you get this game.… Expand
  4. MrTheMan
    Feb 20, 2021
    10
    Extremely good. Nintendo has crafted a world that I can get lost in for hours no matter how long I've had the game.
  5. Derpyman
    Mar 11, 2017
    10
    This game is kind of amazingly awesome. You don't need to get the switch version, but if you do, you are doing yourself a huge favour. It is aThis game is kind of amazingly awesome. You don't need to get the switch version, but if you do, you are doing yourself a huge favour. It is a totally huge world, so you will find yourself getting lost in it all the time. I have not beat the game yet, and I don't intend to for a little bit longer just so that I can explore even more. Every single place has something new and exciting. It's not just a bunch of mountains and fields to make it look big. The world is packed with everything that you could ever want. The weapons breaking seems like it would be pretty annoying, which it can be at times, but otherwise, it is really cool because you feel like you are in the world and trying to survive. There are some places that have slight frame drops, but who honestly cares. Get this game. I wouldn't be surprised if it game got game of the year. You should just get it right now. Also, don't lick the cartridge :)… Expand
  6. xxShadow
    Mar 11, 2017
    10
    Finished the game last night. I loved it!! It's without question the best Zelda ever made. I really didn't care the series over the last fewFinished the game last night. I loved it!! It's without question the best Zelda ever made. I really didn't care the series over the last few years. They finally broke out of the same basic formula that they used in every entry of the series. And it was long overdue.… Expand
  7. Telaz
    Feb 13, 2023
    9
    Type: Open World
    Story: 9/10
    Visuals/Graphics: 10/10
    Combat: 9/10
    Comments: An absolutely amazing world to explore.
  8. Phuz
    Nov 9, 2020
    0
    **** in the Wild.

    There are people on here rating this extra high to make up for troll reviews. They aren't even troll reviews. They're    **** in the Wild.

    There are people on here rating this extra high to make up for troll reviews. They aren't even troll reviews. They're legit. This is not trying to counter balance anything. 0/10 is my honest score. I love Nintendo and Zelda. Been playing both since 1986. If you like running around a vast empty space, very slowly, collecting items and doing some beyond basic, boring puzzles with poor graphics and worse music then this is the game for you, that is practically all you do, run around an empty space. If you want the great graphics, music, gameplay, atmosphere, emotion, puzzles, bosses and dungeons synonymous with Zelda then save your money.

    This isn't Zelda branching out and trying new ideas, it is just destroying what was an exceptional gaming franchise. The new ideas were all s**t. ALL. It literally brought nothing good and turned something incredibly engaging and fun that I would skip meals to carry on playing, to something I could have switched off at any time, never played again in my life and not be remotely bothered if I never saw anything BotW related again ever.

    Had this been a bit of a poor game I didn't get much enjoyment out of I would have given a 3/10 but this is a poor game I was annoyed at wasting 6 hours of my life on. Virtually nothing happened other than a few fetch quests and a very annoying stamina gauge. The Skyward Sword stamina got on my nerves sometimes but this was a whole other level of unneccessary annoyance.

    The whole 6 hours I persevered with it was a frustration, the climbing, the empty world that everyone raves on about being so great to explore, the temporary weapons, the lack of music, the fetch quests, the worst voice acting imaginable, the terrible dungeons (if you can call them that). Just utter rubbish. If it wasn't Zelda no-one would have given it a 10, no one would have bought it and certainly not for £50. It is simply no fun to play. Worst Zelda I've played. Do yourself a favour and get a WiiU that you can play about 14 Zelda games on, including all of the best ones made and you can even play this junk on it too should you choose. Yes the loading times and animations on the WiiU will be just as bad as the Switch, so don't worry you'll still get time to make a brew between scenes. If you want to get a Switch for Zelda BotW don't bother. Get the WiiU and proper Zelda's. Switch is great but don't buy it if just for BotW.

    Whilst on the topic of WiiU, Xenoblade Chronicles X on WiiU destroys BotW on anything. The world is so much better designed. If you are going to enjoy running round an open world doing quests then the Xenoblade X world is leagues ahead of this. It is huge and beautiful and alive and has good music too.    … Expand

See all 5820 User Reviews

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