The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 Switch
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20981 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17,830 out of 20981
  2. Mixed: 1,176 out of 20981
  3. Negative: 1,975 out of 20981
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  1. McChungus
    Aug 12, 2023
    2
    I like the combat enough, some great music tracks here and there, and the overall atmosphere itself is definitely where the game shines. The exploration is fun but the world feels pretty empty at times, as well as the Switch's limited graphics can make things look a little lacklustre. The story felt pretty barebones, none of the characters were particularly interesting. The dungeons wereI like the combat enough, some great music tracks here and there, and the overall atmosphere itself is definitely where the game shines. The exploration is fun but the world feels pretty empty at times, as well as the Switch's limited graphics can make things look a little lacklustre. The story felt pretty barebones, none of the characters were particularly interesting. The dungeons were very disappointing compared to what the Zelda series has put out in the past with the temples and other dungeon-like locations. As someone who plays mostly RPGs the durability system really didn't work for me, felt very arcadey. I get why people like it, but it didn't do enough for me.… Expand
  2. Zelda77
    Aug 13, 2023
    9
    It's one of the best games mankind has ever made. It combines with the worst game console made by mankind to create synergy that is hard to say. The game is great. Everyone agrees.
  3. skyhell10
    Sep 1, 2023
    0
    Gráficos datados, Jogo repetitivo, mundo aberto vazio e extremamente chato. História rasa a cheia de furos.
  4. KillianZane
    Sep 7, 2023
    10
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in open-world game design, earning a perfect 10/10 without question. It flawlessly blends exploration, adventure, and storytelling, creating a vast, breathtaking world that's both immersive and enchanting. The game's freedom to tackle challenges in any order, combined with its ingenious physics-based puzzles and inventive mechanics,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in open-world game design, earning a perfect 10/10 without question. It flawlessly blends exploration, adventure, and storytelling, creating a vast, breathtaking world that's both immersive and enchanting. The game's freedom to tackle challenges in any order, combined with its ingenious physics-based puzzles and inventive mechanics, keeps players engaged for hours on end. Link's journey through Hyrule is a timeless masterpiece that sets the bar high for open-world gaming, making it an essential experience for every gamer.… Expand
  5. rodericrinehart
    Jan 2, 2018
    10
    This is one of the greatest games of all time and could be number one. The way the refined a legendary formula with the most open-world, do-anything experience is refreshing in a sense no other game can handle. The story is weak, but everything else is 10/10 or better.
  6. Dead_Reckon
    May 21, 2018
    10
    This game is a masterpiece. It took a tried and true formula people loved and threw it out in order to create something new and the gamble was worth it. It's world is immersive, expansive, and enjoyable. It's mechanics while sometimes unforgiving, are well defined and mesh well together. It's story is one of the better told in the Zelda franchise, and the gameplay is fantastic.
  7. DVader
    Sep 29, 2017
    10
    Excellent game.
    I bought the Pro Controller to play BOTW and I think it does make a difference. I have some problems with my left hand and using the larger buttons on the Pro Controller is easier to play the game.
    Also, I was able to get the BOTW amiibos and even though not really needed, they're helpful. Specially, at the beginning of the game.
  8. daemeh
    Apr 4, 2019
    10
    First of all, I'm not a Zelda fan. The Switch is the first Nintendo console I ever owned, and BOTW is the first Zelda game I've played. I'm an average PC gamer, playing a few hours a week only, I only recently managed to finish The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and I loved it. BOTW is more fun for me than TW3:WH because it's so easy to pick up and get something done: exploring, shrines, koroks,First of all, I'm not a Zelda fan. The Switch is the first Nintendo console I ever owned, and BOTW is the first Zelda game I've played. I'm an average PC gamer, playing a few hours a week only, I only recently managed to finish The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and I loved it. BOTW is more fun for me than TW3:WH because it's so easy to pick up and get something done: exploring, shrines, koroks, side quests. But the best thing about this game for me is the constant surprises even after 100h into the game(I'm at the 3rd divine beast). The side quests are varied and interesting, the characters believable(in the fantasy world they live in) and the traveling can be as fast or slow as you desire. I think that the combat is perfect as well: because the weapons break, you need to be constantly swapping weapons for the target, enemies are always challenging(blood moon helps with that) and have very interesting AI(in the way they can interact with the environment, your bombs, or use anything as a weapon). Really, there's nothing else like this game. It's got more types of gameplay and more content than any other game I've played. I'm sure I'm going to play it again right after I finish it.… Expand
  9. worldcitizen19
    Nov 10, 2017
    10
    10/10. Loving it. Worth the price of a Switch. Always challenging. You can’t take anything for granted. Inspired many other games. Been playing all day on my 4K tv.
  10. Bitek
    Mar 13, 2021
    8
    it is good game.if you like to explore than this game is for you because there are tons of stuff to explore and countless of hours of game play. Puzzles are very clever and challenging. However, combat is a bit annoying with weapons breaking every five minutes. I do not get it what is the point of going out of the way to collect all those nice unique weapons if they break after short use.it is good game.if you like to explore than this game is for you because there are tons of stuff to explore and countless of hours of game play. Puzzles are very clever and challenging. However, combat is a bit annoying with weapons breaking every five minutes. I do not get it what is the point of going out of the way to collect all those nice unique weapons if they break after short use. Graphics are nice but switch struggles with the game in docking mode. Cooking is kind of cool so is the weather system. it is fun game.… Expand
  11. Rhysing
    Jun 24, 2020
    9
    Having such fond memories of A Link to the Past, and generally good experiences with some of the other Zelda titles through the years, Breath of the Wild is the one that hits so well.

    The open world aspect is amplified by its beauty, secrets, and story to be discovered. This is a must have game, best in the Zelda series. There are some shortcomings, but nothing dire and generally made    Having such fond memories of A Link to the Past, and generally good experiences with some of the other Zelda titles through the years, Breath of the Wild is the one that hits so well.

    The open world aspect is amplified by its beauty, secrets, and story to be discovered. This is a must have game, best in the Zelda series. There are some shortcomings, but nothing dire and generally made up for with the near justifications of another feature.

    Allow yourself to experience this game and truly push the combat to its limits.    … Expand
  12. Jimmydm90
    Oct 26, 2017
    8
    Breath of the WIld kicks off the training wheels and gives you a giant bag of toys to play with in any way you see fit. The ability to traverse just about any surface and solve puzzles and problems however you like is incredibly satisfying. After 80 hours I'm still scratching the surface of the plethora of actions you can execute in the game using your many different items. The world isBreath of the WIld kicks off the training wheels and gives you a giant bag of toys to play with in any way you see fit. The ability to traverse just about any surface and solve puzzles and problems however you like is incredibly satisfying. After 80 hours I'm still scratching the surface of the plethora of actions you can execute in the game using your many different items. The world is littered with bite size shrines and korok challenges to keep you busy for hundreds of hours. However the game is not without its flaws. The story is woefully underdeveloped and made worse by some of the weakest English voice acting in a AAA game I've heard in years. Which is only more baffling when you consider how little voice acting there is in the game. Sadly the dungeons of old are gone, replaced by more truncated and less unique divine beast levels. The world of the game, though massive, often feels somewhat empty and lifeless with the same smattering of enemies appearing again and again. I would have preferred a smaller but more dense world. All in all Breath of the Wild is a return to form for the Zelda series and sets the table for more great Zeldas to come.… Expand
  13. Ocioaguilera
    Oct 27, 2017
    10
    Los haters de Zelda y de Nintendo en general, deben estar teniendo una pésima temporada y lo peor es que les va a durar todo este año, se les nota en sus notas resentidas la bilis que les esta matando con este JUEGAZO. PIPEROS! Por mi parte no voy a arruinar nada en sorpresas, llevo menos de ocho horas jugadas y me siento altamente satisfecho con un juego que no ha hecho más que llenarmeLos haters de Zelda y de Nintendo en general, deben estar teniendo una pésima temporada y lo peor es que les va a durar todo este año, se les nota en sus notas resentidas la bilis que les esta matando con este JUEGAZO. PIPEROS! Por mi parte no voy a arruinar nada en sorpresas, llevo menos de ocho horas jugadas y me siento altamente satisfecho con un juego que no ha hecho más que llenarme de ilusión por cada pequeña cosa que voy descubriendo. Gracias a Aonuma, a Miyamoto y al señor Iwata (q.e.p,d) por esta grandiosa obra maestra!… Expand
  14. Doggy
    Jan 15, 2020
    10
    Rarely do the modern video-games provide such non-patronizing and truly open gaming experience as the Breath Of The Wild. Seldom these days do games truly focus and run on nothing more than the players' own curiosity; their desire to explore the world and have a wild adventure.

    Big words, huh? Well, I don't talk big without a good reason. Having watched numerous, once quintessential    Rarely do the modern video-games provide such non-patronizing and truly open gaming experience as the Breath Of The Wild. Seldom these days do games truly focus and run on nothing more than the players' own curiosity; their desire to explore the world and have a wild adventure.

    Big words, huh? Well, I don't talk big without a good reason.
    Having watched numerous, once quintessential series decline in the past decade or two, Legend Of Zelda included, I can't say I was exactly ecstatic when I first saw how this latest installment would play in practice. Too often nowadays can an experienced veteran gamer make some pretty accurate and safe predictions out of given pre-release information or the first few minutes into the game, simply because how often modern titles tend to play it "safe" by rehashing the popular designs. In BotW's case, the term "Ubisoft open-world game", down to the climbable towers and all, was the common slur people hastily used to describe the newcomer title... and at first I thought they were right.

    "WRONG!", yelled Lex Luthor. At mere hour or two into the game, I started to realize my mistake. At most, this is a wolf in a sheep's clothing. Something that merely LOOKS familiar and same-y on the surface. The freedom to truly explore ANY nook and corner, scale any wall you come across, all while having to come up with solutions for how to deal with the numerous deadly hazards of this new version of the Hyrule... this is what "engaging" truly means!
    Then, a couple hours later, I came to realize that the first few hours were nothing more than an elaborate "tutorial". That beyond this already reasonably sized piece of the world map lied an even larger world. One with MORE dangers, more wonders and more exciting fun to be found.

    I cannot think too many other (mainstream / AAA) games, at least from the past several years, that would strip away all artificial obstacles and walls the same way as BotW. Literally nothing else than your own lack of skill (or sufficient gear) can stop you from waltzing straight from the starting area, to the very final boss, and maybe even defeat it. At no point will the game try to stop you from exploring deadly and exotic areas, for dozens of hours, before tackling some story -missions. And very rarely is the answer to your own "I wonder if this silly plan could work?" a big fat "No!".
    There's simply a ton of things to do in the BotW's ruined Hyrule, and more elaborate, simulated "systems" that not only keep the world feel "living", but that can also be exploited in numerous, even some hilarious ways.

    I can totally see Breath Of The Wild being a divisive game.
    However, one thing is for sure: no two playthroughs will ever play the same!
    Even after hundreds of hours, I am still learning something brand new of the game, and it seems like I too keep surprising some old vets with my tales of some tricks and experiences of my own.

    For 20+ years, I was certain that nothing could come close to the magnificence of the Ocarina Of Time and the Majora's Mask. Now, however, I am pleased to admit that I was wrong. Breath Of The Wild finishes this tri-force of greatest games in the history of the industry.

    Hyperbole much? On the contrary!
    THIS is a game that needs not only be played by everyone, but also TAUGHT in schools.
    This is a video-game, all about what makes video-games so good in the first place: the gameplay.
    When just moving in the game feels good, you are on the right track.
    Add an absolutely gorgeous audio-design and pretty impressive visuals on top, and you got what people call a "masterpiece".    … Expand
  15. Semrosto
    May 11, 2023
    10
    Mais uma vez a Nintendo sendo um farol para a indústria de games. Um game que pegou um modelo saturado e reformulou.
  16. 777Faron
    Oct 19, 2021
    10
    It's the best game ever. Perfect controls, unmatched physics, beauty and freedom. I've played the GTAs and Dark Souls games, but nothing comes close to the greatness of this Zelda. Play it if you want to play the best.
  17. BoltzmannBaby
    Apr 13, 2019
    10
    If Rockstar Games was the gold standard in open world design, Nintendo took it from them with Breath of the Wild. Anywhere I go in GTAV the atmosphere is almost the same, even though the topography may differ. There's not much difference between the top of the highest mountain and the sunny beaches of Los Santos. In Breath of the Wild however things really get wildly different, from theIf Rockstar Games was the gold standard in open world design, Nintendo took it from them with Breath of the Wild. Anywhere I go in GTAV the atmosphere is almost the same, even though the topography may differ. There's not much difference between the top of the highest mountain and the sunny beaches of Los Santos. In Breath of the Wild however things really get wildly different, from the dry heat of the deserts to the freezing cold of the mountains, to the lush, humid green of the more tropical areas. BotW is a masterpiece, and there can't be any question about it.… Expand
  18. Finalxz
    Sep 18, 2017
    10
    this game has make me return to a nintendo console, and let me crying when i finish (the story) i had 135 hours of gameplay, and i had only 35% of the content finish. Thanks Nintendo this is truly a masterpiece

    Graphics: 9/10 Story: 10/10 Music: F#CKING 20/10 Gameplay: this is schooled gameplay, everybody is gonna copy this so get use to. Characters: Mipha i love you, please be a    this game has make me return to a nintendo console, and let me crying when i finish (the story) i had 135 hours of gameplay, and i had only 35% of the content finish. Thanks Nintendo this is truly a masterpiece

    Graphics: 9/10
    Story: 10/10
    Music: F#CKING 20/10
    Gameplay: this is schooled gameplay, everybody is gonna copy this so get use to.
    Characters: Mipha i love you, please be a real person :`(

    Just go buy a switch and this game and you dont need any other game until you finish it.    … Expand
  19. landi
    Jun 27, 2022
    8
    Nice gameplay, lots to discover and lots to do. But somehow the magic didn't come to me and although I played it in many sessions I am still not finished.
  20. eZieweZie
    May 12, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In a single sentence: the games feels tedious, repetitive and unfinished.

    Pros:
    1. The game's esthetic: beautiful open world, comic-like character design, lighting, as well as the esthetic of the remnants of an ancient technologically advanced civilisation
    2. Dungeons inside giant moving robots with 3D maps!
    3. The overall plot line is cool and credible
    4. The ability to glide is very satisfying
    5. The sound effects are pleasant

    Cons:
    1. The world might be beautiful, but it is completely empty. No big cities, just a handful of small settlements, practically no inhabitants. It feels ver strange.
    2. No monster variety. You find the same few monsters in pretty much all zones.
    3. Disappointing local story lines. The overall plot might be great (Calamity Ganon reappearing regularly throughout history, an ancient civilization building robots to help bring him down, Zelda keeping Ganon busy for 100 years), but the local storylines Link encounters when travelling are completely underwhelming (e.g. the elephant robot is making it rain too much in the Zora domain...)
    4. Shrines are too repetitive: there are too many shrines and the puzzles are too similar. I get it that shrines are an excuse to travel the world but it's just far too much.
    5. Too little dungeon variety. In previous games each dungeon had its own unique esthetic and music, but in BotW there are only 4 dungeons (excluding the shrines, which are also lacking in variety) and they are very similar.
    6. Weapons breaking: you don't create an attachment to your weapons because they will end up breaking, therefore no weapon feels valuable. This adds to the feeling of repetitiveness.
    7. The sheikah tablet: it's basically an all-can-do smartphone that takes away the medieval feel of Zelda games. Also, the fact that Link's powers are granted by the tablet is not credible and disappointing.
    8. Princess Zelda is incredibly annoying.
    9. There is too little esthetic emphasis on the triforce versus too much emphasis on the sheikah eye for a Zelda game.    … Expand
  21. ekolite82
    Jul 16, 2023
    9
    A fantastic voyage.. that ending though to me felt like a blank page and did not leave me fulfilled.
  22. mrwho995
    May 30, 2023
    9
    Although now in many ways this game is completely outclassed by Tears of the Kingdom, this game was a revolution for its time, and Tears isn't. This game crafted a brand new physics and chemistry system and a ginormous world to explore. And the exploration and sense of freedom this game brings is what makes it so great. It is a remarkable achievement in the context of its time.

    However,    Although now in many ways this game is completely outclassed by Tears of the Kingdom, this game was a revolution for its time, and Tears isn't. This game crafted a brand new physics and chemistry system and a ginormous world to explore. And the exploration and sense of freedom this game brings is what makes it so great. It is a remarkable achievement in the context of its time.

    However, it is also a hugely flawed experience. The Divine Beasts are deeply underwhelming, the story is terrible, and the game is much too far removed from what made Zelda great in many respects. And now, the banality of the sidequests is laid bare by how excellent Tears's side adventures are. Tears would go on to address other flaws too, but not all of them and not always with great success.

    This game's biggest asset is the huge, brand new world you explore. In this way, it wipes the floor with Tears' re-used map and somewhat underwhelming underworld. Whether you rate this game better than Tears depends on whether you consider the surrounding context: everything in this game is new, whereas a huge amount of Tears is re-used.    … Expand
  23. DrChocolate
    Feb 12, 2019
    10
    It's Shadow of the Colossus meets Horizon. An absolutely breathtaking endeavour with a steep learning curve. If you are put off by open-world games, give this one a try. The beginning area is difficult, but if you hang on, you will be richly rewarded. A generation definer, and a benchmark for the Zelda series.
  24. jameson95
    Nov 1, 2020
    8
    I more or less bought a Switch to play this game, so I was in firm belief of all the hype.

    I wouldn't believe the hype. BoTW is definitely a fun game. But is it worth 9 and 10s? Not really. It is a fun game, maybe if played it 3 years ago when it came out, I would think it was much more deserving of all the praise. But the game basically has 4 different enemies, numerous copy and    I more or less bought a Switch to play this game, so I was in firm belief of all the hype.

    I wouldn't believe the hype. BoTW is definitely a fun game. But is it worth 9 and 10s? Not really.

    It is a fun game, maybe if played it 3 years ago when it came out, I would think it was much more deserving of all the praise.

    But the game basically has 4 different enemies, numerous copy and paste shrines (too many too possibly explore). Not to mention the only point in exploring is so find these irritating shrines and damn korok seeds.

    BotW basically takes most of the fun out of exploring. You don't even get cool dialogue, interesting quest to learn more about the Calamity, even a cool weapon, cool skill, or anything worth while. Although you do get some pretty amazing views, and you might get to pick up an interesting mushroom or banana.

    Anyways - fun game, definitely an 8out of 10.

    Just a bit lacking in dialogue, character development, side plots, intrigue, humor, charisma, romance, etc, etc.

    I just think that we can't let Nintendo off easy thinking in that after 20+ years they can put out the same cookie cutter, copy and paste, BS anymore.

    Challenge us with a new Zelda game, one that rethinks, challenges and modernizes the concept.    … Expand
  25. dryyyx
    Oct 29, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's like ocarina of time, but better. This game make me young again. Feeling of adventure and mysteries, first time for a 10 years.… Expand
  26. kiosia
    Nov 10, 2017
    9
    Marvellous game, I'm sure everybody knows at this point, this is one of the best open world games ever made. Usually, when I play a game, I try to subvert the rules, solving puzzles by different ways than the developer intended. And what a great job of game design this game is. I'd say all puzzles have more than one possible solution, fitting all playstyles. Kudos for Nintendo for this.Marvellous game, I'm sure everybody knows at this point, this is one of the best open world games ever made. Usually, when I play a game, I try to subvert the rules, solving puzzles by different ways than the developer intended. And what a great job of game design this game is. I'd say all puzzles have more than one possible solution, fitting all playstyles. Kudos for Nintendo for this.

    Buuuuuut, despite this being a masterpiece, I really didn't like the plot. It felt shallow. The cutscenes didn't help at all, and, oh god, the dubbing full of "uh"s and "ah"s is a joke.    … Expand
  27. Jorchking
    Oct 7, 2020
    7
    A ver, como videojuego es muy bueno y largo. Pero cuando uno califica un juego es en su totalidad, y la verdad hay cosas que no puedes dejar pasar por alto:
    - Port mediocre: Se supone que este era el gran plato fuerte del inicio de Switch. Es un juego que fue trabajado para Wii U pero la Switch ni siquiera puede mantener 30fps estables... Ni hablar de los bajones por debajo de los 20fps    A ver, como videojuego es muy bueno y largo. Pero cuando uno califica un juego es en su totalidad, y la verdad hay cosas que no puedes dejar pasar por alto:
    - Port mediocre: Se supone que este era el gran plato fuerte del inicio de Switch. Es un juego que fue trabajado para Wii U pero la Switch ni siquiera puede mantener 30fps estables... Ni hablar de los bajones por debajo de los 20fps cuando estamos en los bosques o hierba alta.
    - El Joy-Con drifting es donde más molesta es en este juego. Simplemente insoportable. Este juego drena la batería como una sanguijuela. No llego ni a las 3 horas con este juego.
    Ahora lo que más critico del juego, quizá, es la ausencia de grandes desafíos y de una historia bien construida. La verdad es que en ambos puntos es donde más flojea el juego. Se nota la falta de mazmorras y lo de los Santuarios, lugares totalmente vacíos, no representan desafíos memorables ni de gran altura. La historia está ahí, más como excusa que como otra cosa, no tiene mucho peso para decir verdad. Y salvo por uno o dos personajes (Sidon y Mipha) se siente mucho hueco aquí.

    La banda sonora está bien, y en cuanto a físicas y mundo el juego sobresale mucho. Pero siento que al juego le faltó algo más desafíos, los Centauros los sentí más desafiantes que el jefe final que fue un chiste para ser sincero. Pero en ningún momento sentí que este fuera más sobresaliente que otros juegos como Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask y, muchísimo menos, Ocarina of Time.
    El juego está bien, lo empaña bastante el port, y diría incluso que tuve mejor experiencia jugándolo en emulador. Pero así y todo no es un juego que vuelva a tocar, ni un juego que me ha encantado como tal. Sólo espero que Breath of the Wild 2 lo repiense y vuelvan las mazmorras y los desafíos.
    7/10.    … Expand
  28. Wargears
    Jan 18, 2020
    8
    Not going to lie but I bought a switch simply for this game and also I'm not a loz fanboy so I can give this game a fair review without the fanboy glasses clouding my judgment. I also finished the game with over a hundred of hours of playtime. Here are my pros and cons about the game.

    The Good 1. The world is huge, beautiful, alive, and brimful of stuffs to discover. 2. Play the game    Not going to lie but I bought a switch simply for this game and also I'm not a loz fanboy so I can give this game a fair review without the fanboy glasses clouding my judgment. I also finished the game with over a hundred of hours of playtime. Here are my pros and cons about the game.

    The Good
    1. The world is huge, beautiful, alive, and brimful of stuffs to discover.
    2. Play the game however and whatever you want, you can even go to the final boss immediately.
    3. Lots of unique and lovely characters to interact with.
    4. Love how they incorporate physics in gameplay.
    5. For an open world game it surely is minimal in the bugs and glitches which is always a plus for me.

    The Bad
    1. Although the map is huge it's full of boring empty spaces.
    2. Weapons breaking immediately and no way to repair them so once your fav weapon breaks that pretty much it.
    3. There are tons of towers and mini dungeons to complete but they can be repetitive after a while and the rewards aren't really great.
    4. Climbing and rain nuff said.
    5. Enemy variety are pretty small and some harder enemies are usually just color swapped with weaker ones.
    6. The horses in this game sucks and you're better off just walking.
    7. Combat is pretty average to be honest.

    My grade for this game is an 8/10, it's a great game but still far from being a masterpiece and there are still a lots of areas to improve upon which I hope botw 2 will address. Still this is a must buy game for the switch and I highly recommended it even if you're not a fan of the zelda franchise.    … Expand
  29. jadam914
    Jun 14, 2018
    9
    There is plenty of content to explore and interesting things to do in this game. Lots of thought went into the making of this game, which is evident with all the puzzles and hidden things to find. Just the interactions with the monsters, animals, and the environment are interesting and comical at times. I would give this game a perfect score however it has frame drop issues from time toThere is plenty of content to explore and interesting things to do in this game. Lots of thought went into the making of this game, which is evident with all the puzzles and hidden things to find. Just the interactions with the monsters, animals, and the environment are interesting and comical at times. I would give this game a perfect score however it has frame drop issues from time to time in different areas. The Switch it self is mostly to blame but the game should have been optimized better so that did not happen. It's not a wide spread problem through out the game but noticeable at times and slightly detracted from my enjoyment of the game… Expand
  30. mileafly
    Dec 1, 2019
    9
    Breath of the Wild is a hard game to review, because there is much to love, but I also feel that there are even more annoyances and design faults that take away from what could have been truly fantastic. Some disclaimers first, I am a huge Zelda fan and have played all games in the series, and Breath of the Wild is a huge game, and even though I have played at least 30-40 hours so far I amBreath of the Wild is a hard game to review, because there is much to love, but I also feel that there are even more annoyances and design faults that take away from what could have been truly fantastic. Some disclaimers first, I am a huge Zelda fan and have played all games in the series, and Breath of the Wild is a huge game, and even though I have played at least 30-40 hours so far I am not even half way through the main quest (maybe not even 1/4 through). If there is one thing to say about the new Zelda it is that it is truly a huge game.

    Now, the fact that the new Zelda game is so huge is both a positive and a negative. The game world is truly vast, and the views you can see when climbing up a high mountain in the game can be truly breathtaking. Every area you see (as far as I know) you can get to, and most of the time you can see all areas of the game in the distance while you are traveling and it is great in that aspect. Here is also one of the problems with the game though, it often feels like this is Nintendos first atempt at a truly open world game, and that they think that the bigger the better. The problem here though is that while the world is truly huge, there is very little to do in this vast area. Mostly it is just a long travel to the next area. Occasinally you will find things like stables and shrines etc, but more often there is just rolling empty hills. And here show much of the uneven feeling in this game also, there are moments when things really look super great and well designed, and other times I got the feeling that some areas felt like some plain random generated terrain, I almost felt sometimes like being in a beta version of a game, or how things can look when you glitch outside the map in some game and the terrain continues but without all the details.

    My problem is not with the vast world in itself though, my main problem is that there is no real motivation to do things there or any real sense of progression. Sometimes almost all open world games of this type have is a solid progression system, often in the shape of a leveling system where you go out in the world to do things, clear quests and defeat monsters to gain xp and levels and then develop your character and make him stronger. In Zelda this is all thrown out of the window, and instead nothing you do matters so much for your progression of your characters (besides clearing shrines that can make you increase the number of hears you have, or your stamina). Even worse is that most of the equipment you have is destroyed after a few uses in the worst equipment system I have ever seen I think. There is no thrill in seeking out and finding a great weapon, since after you have hit with it for about 20 times it will be destroyed, it is extremely annoying, the same goes for your shields and bows. The only permanent equipment you have is your armor (which is extremely rare to find). This also makes fighting enemies feel like a shore and a punishment, there is no point in fighting monsters since they rarely have anything of use, you don't get any xp for killing them like in other games and you will end up destroying your weapons int he process.

    The other "big thing" in the game is the crafting of food and elixirs. If this had been done right it could have been a great motivator to go out in the world and explore, but most of the crafting feels useless and you rarely need to dabble in it. I could imagine how fun it would be to explore the big world if they had a system like in monster hunter etc where you gather things to create stronger gear etc, (that is not destroyed in 20 hits). They needed something that motivated you to just want to go out and explore on your own to build your character, but they failed misserably in this area and it is the games biggest flaw.

    There are so many areas of the game that just does not feel well thoughtout, another really annoying thing is the constant requirement to go into the paus menu to do things like throw away weapons etc, especially when swapping for new weapons is such a huge part of the game. Also the crafting system is really tedious with the requirement of constant pausing.

    It is a shame, because there is such a gem hiding beyond all the filth.

    EDIT: After replaying the game years later on Master Diff I have decided to give the game a 9. It is much more fun when harder. There are still tons of faults though that prevent the game from getting a 10. The annoying beeping sound when having the shrine finder (why can't I just turn off the sound??), the Shadow of Colossus style stamina bar made pointless when you can just drink stamina potions so climbing is never an accomplishment, pausing whenever and healing making fights too easy, pathetic rewards for quests or in chests that give zero feeling of reward where you are better off just avoiding enemies instead etc etc. Again it is a shame is has all these flaws, because at is core it is such a grat beautiful game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Switch Game of 2017
1
#1 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
1
#1 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
97

Universal acclaim - based on 109 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 106 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 109
  3. Negative: 0 out of 109
  1. 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.
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  2. Wired UK
    Aug 30, 2017
    100
    Breath of the Wild is a masterpiece.
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  3. Games Master UK
    May 19, 2017
    96
    Up there with the finest Zelda games, Breath of the Wild is bold, liberating, and utterly astonishing. [Apr 2017, p.60]
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