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. Caidryn
    Apr 11, 2018
    4
    First, let me say, I have been a longtime Zelda fan. The first game was likely the second or third game I played in my life, and I have played and beaten all non-cooperative Zelda titles since. It is with a heavy heart that I now write this review, though I doubt anyone will see it. This is more for my own closure, I suppose.

    I will very likely forever remember Breath of the Wild as the    First, let me say, I have been a longtime Zelda fan. The first game was likely the second or third game I played in my life, and I have played and beaten all non-cooperative Zelda titles since. It is with a heavy heart that I now write this review, though I doubt anyone will see it. This is more for my own closure, I suppose.

    I will very likely forever remember Breath of the Wild as the death of the series in my eyes. In their attempt to shake up and change where the series was headed they succeeded, without doubt. Yet, in doing so, they sacrificed so much of what it was. If this game had *not* been a Zelda game, I might have been able to forgive it so much more readily. But the fact that it is, and that it goes against just about every staple in the series, really makes me regret my purchase.

    It removed dungeon items completely. It used to be that when you found a dungeon and went through it, there was an item inside. That item would usually completely reshape how you viewed the world around you. I often went back to places I'd been, filled with such a sense of satisfaction at all of the new things I could do. the new secrets I could find. Each heart piece, each tiny little side quest, permanently building forward to something more. There was a definitive sense of progression.

    That progression was entirely missing from Breath of the Wild. The closest it got were outfits. Outfits with some single scenario benefit for specific situations. There were no heart pieces to be found. No items to be obtained. No world changing moments, no reason to scour the nooks and crannies and think creatively about the world around me. There were shrines, sure, and they were hidden, and they gave currency to be used on hearts or stamina. But it didn't feel the same, and really didn't even begin to have the same impact.

    When silver enemies are out in the world, one hit takes something like 12 hearts in decent gear. If I have 13 hearts, or 20 hearts, it's really no different. Dead in two hits. As the world progresses with the number of orbs you have gained, it actually made me feel as though I was growing *weaker*, rather than stronger, as I went forward in the game.

    The shrines themselves were little more than tiny setpieces. No cohesion to anything else, just self contained, bite sized tidbits masquerading as dungeons. This isn't what I play a Zelda for. If I want bite-sized experiences, there are games for that. TONS of games for that. Warioware exists. Hell, I personally loved the old mario party games (though emphasis on old). They were apt at providing small, varied, bite-sized chunks of gameplay. I went in knowing that, expecting that, bought them for that purpose, and enjoyed them quite well. But they aren't what I want in a Zelda.

    The story and lore were next to non-present. My favorite of the series is Majora's Mask. The story was the drive to move forward. The moon was present, ever looming, the NPCs felt real, felt afraid, and it felt urgent that I save them. So much so that when I beat the game, I'd often redo all of the game's sidequests on the final run before beating the last boss, because I actively cared about the lives of the people in the game. When I left, I wanted all to be right and restored in their world.

    But I found and felt none of that in Breath of the Wild. There was no imminent threat. Ganon was sealed indefinitely in his tower, the guardian beasts were safely sequestered, unable to do anything but cause mild annoyance. I never once felt a sense of urgency, which I accept was by design. But simply being intentional doesn't make it *good* or *right*. I never cared about the characters within it, and the game didn't seem to care much itself.

    Memorable moments while playing the game were sparse and few as well. It's a side effect of making the game so sprawling. If a developer's attention is likened to water, it's the difference between a well and a puddle the size of a lake. Since they had to fill out everywhere, they couldn't give enough attention to anywhere in order to make it truly memorable or enjoyable. I think my most memorable moment personally was finding what I believe is the Great Deku Tree from Ocarina of Time, and seeing it cut down at the middle and covered in literal feces. I bitterly remarked that it was apt for it to exist in such a way in this game, as it really feels like that was how they felt about the series at this point.

    In the end, I could continue to gripe about how the weapons breaking constantly is awful design, control or fps issues, etc, that have been harped on a thousand thousand times, but it's simply not worth it.

    If this game were not a Zelda, it might have scored more highly for me. Might have been a 7 or 7.5 out of 10. But I bought it and played it expecting a Zelda, and what I got was literally less than half of what I loved about the series.    … Expand
  2. MrRedMarsmallow
    Mar 24, 2019
    4
    The glitches make this game almost unplayable, the lack of a numbered level system means you sometimes fight enemies with no way of knowing how powerful they are, and the horse controls are so clunky and awkward that even using a horse just isn't worth the trouble. This game is extremely overrated, just go with RDR2 or Witcher 3, trust me.
  3. gusman
    Oct 7, 2019
    4
    Castaña infumable. Si no conoces Zelda puede gustarte, pero como seas un seguidor de la saga te decepcionará por completo, es cualquier cosa menos un Zelda. Mundo abierto vacío, enemigos genéricos en todas partes, no hay mazmorras como tal, solo los templos que son aburridos, la mecánica de las armas de mantequilla (se rompen solas) es lo peor de lo peor... Si te gusta Zelda de verdadCastaña infumable. Si no conoces Zelda puede gustarte, pero como seas un seguidor de la saga te decepcionará por completo, es cualquier cosa menos un Zelda. Mundo abierto vacío, enemigos genéricos en todas partes, no hay mazmorras como tal, solo los templos que son aburridos, la mecánica de las armas de mantequilla (se rompen solas) es lo peor de lo peor... Si te gusta Zelda de verdad olvida esta castañña y juega al Link's Awakening.… Expand
  4. Vilemk0
    Apr 25, 2023
    4
    Very disappointing step back from ocarina of time and twilight princess. Moving music, memorable characters, unique mechanics? You'll find none of that here, and they even managed to duck up the story. There's no journey or grand reveal, it's a survival sandbox with a simple linear goal in a way more akin to very early arcadey iterations before. There's no charming exposition to the startVery disappointing step back from ocarina of time and twilight princess. Moving music, memorable characters, unique mechanics? You'll find none of that here, and they even managed to duck up the story. There's no journey or grand reveal, it's a survival sandbox with a simple linear goal in a way more akin to very early arcadey iterations before. There's no charming exposition to the start of this one, you simply wake up and are introduced to a post apocalyptic world and the main boss. A main boss that has been stripped of any personality and can be beaten without even needing the master sword. There's charming wandering NPCs but no memorable named NPCs, just randoms with samey models and mannerisms.

    The open world gets old fast when you realize each zone is filled with the same activity.

    >Find a rock, put it in the circle, get a seed.
    >Find a shrine, put a ball in a hole, get a spirit orb.
    >Find ingredients, put them in a pot, get food.

    All the charm of every zone is robbed from these repetitive tasks that make up every reward and every reveal. Find a secret area? You get a ball in a hole puzzle shrine. Climb a difficult mountain? You get to pick up a rock and get a seed. Why do we need to do this? Well the answer is that 4 orbs translate to either one heart or stamina bar, which is basically gating survivability. At least it would be if you couldn't simply get food that gives you 20+ boosted hearts which TRIVIALIZES these rewards. I'd rather spend my time looking for big radishes to make 20+ boosted heart meals that do another **** golf puzzle ever again. It gets old after the twentieth time ffs.

    Now the final nail in the coffin for me was the horrible bosses and dungeons. The water dungeon and water boss was a **** joke. It was literally one room with three puzzles, and a slow predictable boss that I basically stunlocked by shooting it's eye. It was pathetic. The worst Zelda dungeon I've ever played. The scene of this giant power rangers elephant statue somehow swimming under the dam and through the river half is size was also pathetic. Such a downgrade it's a disgrace. And it didn't get much better from there. The other four bosses and dungeons aren't much better. There's also a whole system involving taking pictures and cataloging everything from plants to creatures, but who the **** wants to do that? The gameplay was fine but I can't get over the pitfalls. All in all, very disappointing.    … Expand
  5. ppm1300
    Nov 22, 2022
    4
    Buen juego, le pondria calificacion perfecta si las cinematicas del final standard y del final completo te contaran mas...adicionalmente creo que hay mucho que no se exploro en el mapa y que el juego podria obligarte a hacerlo...tendrias una mejor experiencia
  6. Kouyou
    Mar 21, 2017
    4
    Maybe that would be "the" game for me in my childhood .. but today, i feel disappointed.
    Note, that is not a bad game - far from it! But .. it is not made for the me that is right now.
    Hell, what am I writing? Well, basically: Zelda doesn't shine nowhere besides scope, sheer size and possibilities. Not that this is a bad thing, quiet the opposite, however: scope and possibilities    Maybe that would be "the" game for me in my childhood .. but today, i feel disappointed.
    Note, that is not a bad game - far from it! But .. it is not made for the me that is right now.
    Hell, what am I writing?

    Well, basically: Zelda doesn't shine nowhere besides scope, sheer size and possibilities. Not that this is a bad thing, quiet the opposite, however: scope and possibilities consume time. So it should mean the most possible enjoyment during consuming aforementioned time.

    And though i can enjoy it .. i don't enjoy the way I enjoyed the Witcher with his gritty evil dark fantasy world. Less then Uncharted, with it's awesome visuals and cinematic action. Less then Nier with it's incredible story. Less then Nioh with it's unique and incredible swordplay. Less then Horizon with it's fresh concept and even more incredible visuals.

    So ..do i just dislike the look of the game?
    Na, that's not it.
    I enjoyed games like root letter because i wanted to play a visual novel. I enjoyed some shooters because at times i enjoy shooters.

    Breath of the Wild though, well, it doesn't live up to my expectations. Melee combat feels bad. The grind feels too long and not really rewarding. The world at a larger scale feels generic. I miss the details. Something that sets it apart for me. Though there were a few things i loved (visually too) - like navigating through the labyrinthine forest until i figured out to follow the wind - the game rarely touched me.

    Maybe, i just grew out of the franchise. Maybe i just don't like the look. Maybe i just expected more.    … Expand
  7. TimTime1
    Mar 14, 2020
    4
    As someone who's new to the franchise it didn't really appeal to me at all. Don't know what all the hype is about. The worlds are often quite monotonous, quests feel uninspired and it's kind of hard to get into the story when you weren't interested in it before getting the game.
  8. MrWonderful32
    Mar 4, 2017
    4
    Having put about 30 hours into the game I have to say this game is massively overrated, On my second run I found out you could skip all the way to the end in about 40 to 50 mns without any consequences, I find this to be a big flaw in the game, also at various points I found the game to be totally unplayable since frame-rates drop so bad the game stops to a halt, big open world for aHaving put about 30 hours into the game I have to say this game is massively overrated, On my second run I found out you could skip all the way to the end in about 40 to 50 mns without any consequences, I find this to be a big flaw in the game, also at various points I found the game to be totally unplayable since frame-rates drop so bad the game stops to a halt, big open world for a zelda game but once you get to area you saw from a distance the textures where plain and boring, most of the open world is empty or you find very little to do, I find it very hard to believe this game even got a 98 by critics in the first place.… Expand
  9. 2vdl76f
    Mar 3, 2017
    4
    Si este juego se llamase "Las aventuras de Paco el intrepido" habria pasado por alto sin gloria ni pena, sin embargo, se llama Zelda, y ha sido un gran detonante en la industria estos ultimos meses.

    Que no os engañen, este juego innova sino nada, poco. Eso sumado a las expectativas que tenemos todos al jugarlo de un SEÑOR ZELDA, me llevan a ponerle un 4 de nota. Sin duda un fracaso que    Si este juego se llamase "Las aventuras de Paco el intrepido" habria pasado por alto sin gloria ni pena, sin embargo, se llama Zelda, y ha sido un gran detonante en la industria estos ultimos meses.

    Que no os engañen, este juego innova sino nada, poco. Eso sumado a las expectativas que tenemos todos al jugarlo de un SEÑOR ZELDA, me llevan a ponerle un 4 de nota. Sin duda un fracaso que Nintendo deberia de haber sabido hace tiempo. Los combates son repetitivos, te terminas aburriendo de andar, la energia te falta por todos los lados. En definitiva, un juego repetitivo sin muchos puntos fuertes.

    Muy cegado hay que estar por los sentimientos que casi todos tenemos a esta saga para considerar esto como un juego bueno, o peor aun, como una obra maestra. Ni el soundtrack se salva.

    El rendimiento por otra parte, es pobre, muy pobre, sacar una consola hecha practicamente para este juego y que no pueda aguantar 30fps a 1080p (cuando lo normal seria 60fps en estos juegos tan poco cargados de realismo)... Simplemente decepcionante.

    Punto negativo para Nintendo y, de momento, para la Switch. Me vuelvo a la 3DS.    … Expand
  10. Vulthuryol
    Mar 7, 2017
    4
    dark souls + skyrim =meh game that is fine but uncreative but very pretty graphics wise. the gameplay is average the plot is underwhelming but fine it feels like a zelda game which is good but the game seems just plain boring
  11. XGamers
    Mar 3, 2017
    4
    Game overrated, no story, bad graphics, clumsy gameplay, bad enemies, little history, many secondary missions inecesarias, very repetitive missions, very few weapons, few costumes, open world and little interaction. I do not recommend it, disappointing.
  12. Merahoraeus
    Mar 5, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not the worst Zelda game I've ever played, but undeniably the most disappointing one to date. This game was severely overhyped, and for all the praising of the "boundless world" (as someone who grew up playing classic MMORPG's like WoW, I'm not impressed by this world size), the game suffers from serious crippling flaws. From the very moment they announced that weapons would break within the game, I knew this game was going to be overly convoluted with the survival mechanics, and lo and behold! -- these are the most convoluted survival mechanics I've ever experienced in any game, and I am beyond disappointed that it had to be in a Zelda game.

    I thought I hated Skyward Sword because of the breakable shields and the stamina gauge, but Breath of the Wild plunges it to a whole new level of absolute loathing. Oh, and apparently the Hylian Shield can break according to some players, but it's still the best shield and easier to get than in Skyward Sword. That, however, is no consolation for all of the other excruciating survival mechanics, like the stamina wheel. Link can't swim. Okay, he can swim until his stamina wheel runs out, and then he drowns. I can tread water and float for over an hour before getting tired, and Link is considerably more fit than I am, and he can't even swim for more than a minute before just drowning. Here I thought the point of immersion was to be, well, immersive, but that couldn't be farther from immersive (it's more of submersion, really).

    Then there's lighting... Eiji Aonuma evidently assumed that because metal conducts electricity, that lightning would be attracted to random metal objects -- I think he needs to consult a middle school physics teacher. The ELECTRONS in the clouds and the ground are attracted to each other via an electrical field, and the resulting attraction between these electrons is lightning, and lightning will channel through the tallest object within the electrical field to make that connection -- whether it conducts electricity or not. This is why lightning strikes trees and skyscrapers need lightning rods.

    However, the biggest and most infuriating disappointment is the cooldown on the Master Sword. Yes, the Master Sword has a cooldown. You can use it for so long before it needs to "recharge" for 10 minutes. That was my one hope, that the Master Sword would be a permanent, unbreakable, no-conditions-attached, weapon, and it isn't. The Master Sword isn't even the strongest weapon, it only has a base damage of 30 and gets boosted to 60 only in Hyrule Castle. Also, what was with that bit about it being rusted? Never explained, and the narrative only serves to leave more questions.

    The story... Instead of having a good story, driven by compelling characters and a sequential plot, like Skyward Sword, the players must take Link to random places in Hyrule to flashback memories from his time with Zelda, and that's the narrative. Very, very underwhelming. You don't get to interact with these characters. You just get to watch them do things in the past very briefly, and accessing these memories is incredibly hard, and it's very difficult to try and do them in sequential order. The narrative would have been far better if the player had actually interacted in these scenarios -- not flashbacks.

    As I said, this isn't the worst Zelda game, but it is the most disappointing, and I can only pray that Eiji Aonuma learns from his serious mistakes. After this, I'm not sure I want him working on another Zelda title, ever again.    … Expand
  13. resU
    Mar 6, 2017
    4
    Realy hard to take this score serious. Game looks boring and uninspired, framerate is ridiculous, those ps2 textures realy look ugly, history was maybe the worst I have memory in a Zelda game, cmon N, slaughtering wild innocent animals? Non-sense. I was expecting way more from this one, since all you did was making us waiting all this time... you really turn up to be as greedy as peopleRealy hard to take this score serious. Game looks boring and uninspired, framerate is ridiculous, those ps2 textures realy look ugly, history was maybe the worst I have memory in a Zelda game, cmon N, slaughtering wild innocent animals? Non-sense. I was expecting way more from this one, since all you did was making us waiting all this time... you really turn up to be as greedy as people are starting to realize. This was the most non-Zelda game from this franchise I ever played. You can´t fool all of us with the nostalgia factor guys, cmon.… Expand
  14. Iamagamer
    Nov 15, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I played this game and am honestly disappointed I expect great things of Links adventure and thought this would be no different I hated this game. The story is sooooo bad that I actually gave up on it. The characters are as remembered as destiny 2 characters and let's be honest most of them we don't even remember. The gameplay is good until u use ur sheika slate. Shrines are boring with easy puzzle there was only 1 where it puzzled me. The gameplay is the only part I liked but for 80 bucks no. The enemies are reppetitive. To top it all of the final bossfight was probabley the most unstasisfying thing I've done in the game. The boss was way 2 easy considering That I spent 50 hours honing my skills. If you're looking for a game with fun gameplay. This is it. But as a critic on everything I love including destiny 2 that I literally think was bad if it wasn't for it's gameplay and the repetition for friends. I think it isn't worth it play Horizon Zero Dawn if you want a good adventure with a hard battle… Expand
  15. DukeNukemRJ
    Mar 10, 2017
    4
    Jogo trava sem parar, erro de sicronização, sem opção de armazenamento do salve, se o console dar defeito, ja era, horas jogada fora, só para saudosistas e amantes incondicionais da Nintendo mesmo.
  16. j-s
    Mar 15, 2017
    4
    Be wary of people giving this game a high score. They just might be trying to sell you on something.

    Things it did right: + Huge world with lots of little details, probably where Nintendo spent most of their time in development + The go-anywhere-and-possibly-be-undergeared motif of LoZ1 was translated to a 3D game alright enough + Made the mastersword rely on heart containers to    Be wary of people giving this game a high score. They just might be trying to sell you on something.

    Things it did right:
    + Huge world with lots of little details, probably where Nintendo spent most of their time in development
    + The go-anywhere-and-possibly-be-undergeared motif of LoZ1 was translated to a 3D game alright enough
    + Made the mastersword rely on heart containers to acquire it, much like the White Sword or Magical Sword from LoZ1. Probably the only specific callback to LoZ1 that translated "perfectly".

    Things it tried:
    • Redesigned many characters, going as far as never giving Link a hat in promotional art and changing his iconic color from green to blue, or Ganon who is now a demon spider instead of a pig, only a pig in spirit. Moblins were turned into weird long snouted lanky unicorn pigmonsters, Hinox were turned into somewhat-more-generic Giants losing their iconic(?) Bomb-throwing attacks.
    • Tried voice acting but traded player-freedom of naming their character so spoken lines could needlessly refer to you as "Link".
    • The go-anywhere-model of LoZ1 lost almost all likeness to most other Zelda games because of the way it was implemented. In order to go anywhere and do anything from the start of the game, the player unfortunately gets all their tools at the start of the game so no proper dungeons with proper treasures or item equipment that would otherwise lock one player from accessing things another player could gated via game progress- which also isn't necessarily even "true" to how LoZ1 accomplished it.

    Things it did wrong:
    - Traded the sweeping and catchy good music of traditional Zelda design even going as far back as the original LoZ1 for lighter, emptier, less-frequent ambient sounds to adapt to the world's environment of "musical" cues and reliance on things like stealth. As an original game this might have worked, but the tradeoff meaning no great "Zelda music" as many expect from the franchise doesn't work to a benefit. The weaker audio design fits their game design, but the weaker audio design of their game design doesn't fit "Zelda".
    - From a series known for streamlined access to health replenishment via bottles full of potions and frequent floating hearts, placing all healing behind food collection and menu access gets in the way of player intention within the world and only serves to distract the player or otherwise pad the adventure with unnecessary filler. Trivial for a series that virtually invented the concept behind the Estus Flask from the Souls games. Such an estus-flask-like method of healing would have more accurately emulated the streamlined healing of past Zelda games while still allowing them to get away from hearts in bushes and pots.
    - Related to food collection, the game design around killing simple non-zelda scenery animals unrelated to the variety of Zelda enemies for various Raw Meat items is woefully unnecessary and out-of-place for any Zelda game much less any Nintendo game. This concept was so poorly implemented to even include killing foxes and wolves for meat, in our modern society where both have been domesticated as pets or otherwise crossbred with domestic dogs to produce canines that look identical to their wild counterparts. Whether the player has the intent or not to harm them, they can be killed by enemies anyway. "Eating dog meat" is a gut-wrenching phrase I never imagined would describe an action in any videogame much less one from Nintendo, and has forever irreparably damaged my otherwise flawless opinion of the franchise and its creators.
    - No actual sprawling dungeons from a series known for it's sprawling dungeons is a weakpoint. The shrines, although numerous and fairly uniquely designed in terms of their puzzles, unfortunately still manage to all look identical and don't offer the same expected gameplay layout or scenic/regional design as cohesive interconnected hallways and rooms from traditional dungeons in other Zelda games. Even the four Divine Beasts operate more like "slightly larger shrines" than something remotely close to being considered a true "dungeon", with Hyrule Castle being the only "true" dungeon.
    - Enemy variety compared to past Zelda games and even many modern games is staggeringly low. All enemies and bosses counted, there are only 23 different monsters that are copied-pasted-and-recolored or given a slightly different weapon or elemental attribute to create the majority of Breath of the Wild's "variety". Even going back to Ocarina of Time, there were 46 unique enemies and bosses counted together, not including recolored or reskinned variations; and of course each mainline Zelda game since Ocarina and before Breath of the Wild has had virtually the same variety if not more. There are actually more background scenery animal species in this game than unique enemies, meaning the only true visual variety that exists is in the scenery itself - a negative only because enemy combat is a necessity    … Expand
  17. shanetac1
    May 24, 2017
    4
    I am going to start by saying I love Zelda games! LTTP is my fav. I completed LBW as well and loved that game. I enjoyed Wind Waker as well. This game was a huge let down though. I was so looking forward to it that we even drove around the city trying to find a copy of it.
    This game does not deserve any praise, it is below average and unmemorable. It is a mash up of other games and    I am going to start by saying I love Zelda games! LTTP is my fav. I completed LBW as well and loved that game. I enjoyed Wind Waker as well. This game was a huge let down though. I was so looking forward to it that we even drove around the city trying to find a copy of it.
    This game does not deserve any praise, it is below average and unmemorable. It is a mash up of other games and does not do anything amazing that we have not seen before.

    Graphics:
    As this is a port from a next gen console the graphics look terrible. The frame rate sucks. Often freezing during the combat and in towns . The animation style is down to opinion but i didn't like it. A Black horse for example is just one shade of Black so makes it look extremely 2D.

    Sound:
    There is barely any music. The music they did use is okay but just makes the empty world feel truly empty.
    The voice acting just seems added in as a last thought as it is only used sparingly. It is terrible so maybe that was a good thing. Every time i heard Zelda speak (or should I say whine) i cringed.

    Story:
    What story? There are just a ton of cringe worthy flashbacks. A good game has a strong story that dictates the game. The game developers tried to pass this game off as "hey do what you want" as if that was a good thing but I think that was just them running out of time and hence the reason there is a new story coming in DLC. It is really another money grab. The game should have come with a story.

    Game play:
    Key word here is repetitive. If you love repetitive open world games with easy combat like Minecreaft you will love this.
    The over world is empty unless you like repeating the same things over and over for no reward.
    The side quests are total crap. Just run and fetch quests again for rewards that are just generic rubbish you can normally find anywhere.
    We completed all 120 shrines in this game, never got stuck and there is nothing memorable about any of them. They are all largely the same thing with the same skills you earn straight away in the game. It is extremely boring and repetitive to find and complete them all although some of them are hidden quite well. By the end I realized the chests weren't worth getting in the shrines (oh look a piece of topaz you can get by just hitting a rock on the mountain) and that we were just wasting our time.
    I played with my daughter who is 14 and by her own admission she sucks at videos games. She completed all the bosses by herself, no issues. The bosses are cookie cutter, nothing memorable about any of them. I wonder if they purposely dumbed these down for the minecraft generation it looks like they were looking to attract? There are no dungeons. The beasts are just bigger versions of the shrines.
    Ganon barely features. You can go fight him whenever you want but apart from that he is not seen anywhere else. He was incredibly easy for my daughter to beat. She didn't die once.
    The supposed strongest monsters, Lynels and Guardians, are easy to defeat. There is a hard mode you can purchase but who wants to waste more money?
    There are barely any monsters in this huge open world, just palette swaps of the same creatures. The chests aren't worth bothering with as there is nothing interesting to find that you can't find elsewhere. The koroks seeds again just the same repetitive puzzles. The towns are small and sell exactly the same items. You really do not care about any of the characters either as they have no depth.
    The climbing is cool apart from when it is raining. There just is no point to the rain apart to frustrate you. The glider can be fun at first as well but soon becomes tiresome.
    The need to survive the elements is also quite annoying as you have to keep switching out your armour. Just seems pointless as you break game play each time to switch out your armour.
    Same goes for weapons breaking. We ended up just using the Master Sword the majority of the time and even that has a cool down period. Part of the excitement about an RPG type game where you find loot is collecting the games best weapons. This makes them into consumables and in the end you stop bothering to even open chests as its usually only rubbish anyway. As mentioned earlier the same goes for the chests in the Shrines. The Shines are just to get an extra heart piece that you do not really even need.

    Verdict:
    This game is like Minecraft with Zelda branding. I believe it was rushed out as well to make the release date for the Switch. The over world is empty unless you want to mine rocks and find food ala Minecraft. The base camps are exactly the same thing. Slash at the same creatures, get a crummy chest, rinse and repeat.
    This game is not fit to lace Link to the Past or Ocarina of times boots. This is just a crummy kids open world game that has had a Zelda face over to help it sell. This game isn't even close to being a classic and should not be mentioned in the same breath as those games.    … Expand
  18. IAmPaperworkDan
    Apr 1, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let's get the good points out of the way. The game is visually stunning. Throw around "900p" and "cartoony graphics" all you like but artistically styled games always outshine realism, especially in the long run. Next is the open world. It's big... impressively big. So big that whenever I try to describe it I always fail to do it justice. This for me is easily the best thing about the game and should be held as the new standard for open world games in the future. However an open world experience is only as good as the content that brings the world to life, and in the case of Breath of the Wild we find that Hyrule is as good as empty. There's no fun in exploring if there's nothing to discover now is there?

    Stumbling across and getting into scuffles with new enemies is fun for a while but ends abruptly when you realise the handful of early game encounters are copy and pasted throughout the entire world (albeit with a few recolourings to establish a power increase). Then there's the shrines. Gone are the staple Zelda dungeons and in exchange we are given 120 shrines, each containing a single puzzle. None of them take any longer than 5 minutes and using the word puzzle is giving them far too much credit. In fact, several don't even contain any puzzle because climbing the small hill to the entrance was "challenge enough." The most difficult shrine I encountered involved using motion controls along with an awful camera angle to solve a ball and maze puzzle, and even this could be cheesed by flipping your controller upside to get rid of the maze aspect. The challenge comes clunky controls rather than good game design. If it weren't for the eventual reward of either an extra Heart Container or Stamina Vessel then I wouldn't have even bothered to complete them. There are quite a few side quests to pick up along your journey but they are never anything more than errand boy tasks, most of which go completely unrewarded, so collecting 55 of a certain kind of mushroom or dispatching a group of enemies was nothing but a waste of time. It would've been nice to have some story arcs delivered across multiple side quests but with the exception of one quest in which you help a man to build a town, all side quests are completely independent of each other. Another tiny complaint would be with the performance issues. The game tries to run at 30fps but right from the get go sees regular dips to as low as 15fps. This starts out as very annoying but as the game goes on I found myself noticing it less frequently. Maybe the starting area is just a little more demanding or maybe I just got used to it as time went on.

    I've not got a lot to say about the main quests. There are only 15 of them and most of them are dished out in your first few hours. Essentially your objective is simply to defeat Ganon. There are the four Divine Beasts that can be reclaimed along the way but there's nothing too exciting about any of them. They're not even a requirement and if anything make your inevitable final fight too easy. In order to gain access to them you need to complete your usual errand boy tasks for the local residents and participate in what is best described as a mini game. Once inside, each Divine Beast houses it's own gimmick to help you access a number of terminals allowing you to regain control and is then finished up with a very easy boss battle. It's certainly a way to kill time and gives a little insight into Link's past with the associated cut-scenes but they're nothing to get excited by.

    What disappoints me most with Breath of the Wild is the wasted potential. I can't help but feel this amazing world could be put to much better use. The game doesn't feel like a Zelda game anymore. Why couldn't Nintendo have just given us a brand new IP? An open world of this standard would be far better suited to an RPG. It just feels like the Zelda name has been slapped on to secure some extra sales, severely limiting the games boundaries as a result.    … Expand
  19. Senselessvirus
    Apr 17, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game isn't great. If your playing it handheld and fight more than 2 enemies during any weather condition the framerate will die so hard the game completely freezes for 1-3 seconds every time you knock an enemy on it's back.
    Speaking of enemies, there are barely any variety with the majority just being recolors. This game could have definitely benefited from creating heavy types that you had to knock armor off of with shock arrows or specific weapon types.
    Tridents are completely pointless as weapons since they take 2 hands and can't knock away shields like greatswords. The biggest problem I had was THE MASTER SWORD IS WORTHLESS. It has terrible attack and is only useful against guardians and bosses and even when it powered up it's still not strong enough and can run out of energy while glowing.
    The sacred beast dungeons aren't even dungeons, they qualify more as large shrines. Hyrule Castle is the only true dungeon with more than 3 enemies in it. Also like the enemies every boss and miniboss barring Ganon are reused, the sacred beast bosses are just the same type of phantom Ganon with slight remodeling. Calamity Ganon himself was hugely disappointing since having done all 4 "dungeons" he was easier than a standard guardian.
    Finally the story or what little there is has very little of the standard Zelda points to it like Triforce anywhere. We also never find out why the Master Sword chose Link, He just got it because.

    Overall this game is empty, overhyped and overall forgettable. I could easily see all mention of Zelda lore being removed and it being packaged as another game. I doubt I'll ever come back to it now that I beat it and assume it will be the same for a lot of other people who played it. Probably the only thing I'll remember about this game is Prince Sidon and the quest to get into Gerudo town.    … Expand
  20. LuckyMia
    Nov 29, 2017
    4
    the game is just tedious open world busy work with a lack luster story; exciting combat punctuated by pausing every 3 minutes to change weapons, It had allot of potential but they blew it. I am disappointed in this installment in the franchise.
  21. loonachan
    Jan 13, 2018
    4
    For me, the weapon durability system kills this game. What could have been a fun and almost limitless adventure was made thoroughly not-so-fun through one central game mechanic, which is kind of an accomplishment in my mind. I shouldn't feel anxiety about exploring in an exploration game, the weapons break after only a couple enemies and at that point is just becomes tedious inventoryFor me, the weapon durability system kills this game. What could have been a fun and almost limitless adventure was made thoroughly not-so-fun through one central game mechanic, which is kind of an accomplishment in my mind. I shouldn't feel anxiety about exploring in an exploration game, the weapons break after only a couple enemies and at that point is just becomes tedious inventory management to get the best weapon you can. On top of that, it's weirdly unbalanced, as boomerangs are just as effective as longswords. It seems to want to take certain things from good RPGs but not put the other things in them which makes those RPGs good. You should want to change out your weapons when they become sub-optimal, not because they are constantly breaking. Enemies never drop money and stores are useless for buying anything but arrows and one set of armor. The Sheikah Slate apparently allows you to pull heavily explosive bombs out of your butt but can't do arrows? It tries to be creative and make more sense when it comes to starting fires but then is completely inconsistent and boring in another way.

    Then of course there's the story and characters. Which is to say, there basically isn't any- aside from maybe the Gerudo. Sorry, but Legend of Zelda was a revolutionary game but it was also incredibly primitive, you shouldn't be emulating it in the story and characters department. They say you don't even have to care about the main story, but the vast majority of side quests are dull as dirt and the only other thing to do is the Shrines, which are probably the best part of the game but so many rely on you doing boring side quests to unlock them.

    The only thing I really liked about this game is how well it does the Gerudo, which are done even better than in Ocarina of Time. Their town and society is brimming with character and charm and even genuine laughs. 100-year old turns 5 year old is also cute and funny for 5 minutes I guess, but you only visit her like twice. Lurelin Village is also nice, but there's little to do there. The Zora are done okay but there aren't many interesting main characters from there. The Gorons are okay but they're exactly the same as they were in Ocarina. The Rito in Wind Waker weren't excellent but Medley was at least cute and charming, they overhauled them so they look more like birds, which doesn't look horrible all the time, except for the Rito children who look like FNAF nightmare chickens- a far cry from Medley. Also, weren't they supposed to be evolved Zora or something? It's like Zelda was trying to make sense for a while and they gave up with this one.

    All the main characters aside from the Gerudo champion are frustratingly boring, and the voice acting actually manages to subtract from them. The English voice acting is atrocious in all but a couple characters, but at least the game is merciful and lets you choose to change the voice language. Zelda's voice in particular does not fit her character at all in English, and it sounds like she's doing a bad Game of Thrones impression.

    While I had some fun with the game, overall it's a very muddled and confused game that doesn't know what it wants to be. I don't begrudge the people who do like it, but here's hoping they go back to games with exploration that doesn't punish you for exploring, stories that are simple but engaging with great characters, a Link that occasionally expresses emotion, and a more proven set of game mechanics that make sense for its genre.

    Also, where is the music? Even LoZ had music. It's silent with only atmospheric sounds through 90% of the game, with only a few piano notes to break up the silence. It's charming when you come upon a stable with cool pan flute but then it's back to nothing. Music in past games make me emotional just listening to them, and this game has nothing. It's somewhat fitting for my whole outlook on the game, really. Wanting to change so much it took out the best things and put in unfun things that may be "realistic" but are dull and tedious.    … Expand
  22. Meta1234
    Mar 17, 2018
    4
    From an until recently lifelong Nintendo fan:

    This is a Zelda game but it has got its flaws. They should be mentioned and the eternal Nintendo nostalgia should be put aside because it has metaphorically become a source of sickness. [Frame drop part of my review applies to Wii U, cannot talk about the Nintendo Switch with certainty] Continuing with the gameplay, the one-shot game    From an until recently lifelong Nintendo fan:

    This is a Zelda game but it has got its flaws. They should be mentioned and the eternal Nintendo nostalgia should be put aside because it has metaphorically become a source of sickness.

    [Frame drop part of my review applies to Wii U, cannot talk about the Nintendo Switch with certainty]

    Continuing with the gameplay, the one-shot game overs and the constant breaking of the weapons is another source of frustration. It even goes beyond frustration and generates anger in the player. Travelling long distances for exploring and suddenly getting one-shot is not nice. This is a first open world for Zelda and the flaws are more than visible. The balance in the open-world playing experience is not there.

    Moving on to cinematics and voice-acting. Once again the experience lacks completeness. There is voice acting in some scenes but once the cinematic is over it goes back to the text boxes. Compared to a game like AC where there is voice acting even during gameplay e.g. when following an ally, Nintendo is lagging far behind in this sector.

    Lastly, there is a robotic style of developing a game from the side of Nintendo. What models have we got in our inventory? this and that ok how to combine them together? ok then now use them. First make the models, then robotically dress it up with some reused storyline. Does it fit? Who cares? After creating a story timeline in Hyrule Historia probably for selling a few copies of a book, now it is scrapped just like that. The story is meshed up again.

    And my final thoughts: It does not mean that a pioneer in the pixel-era of gaming should continue getting praise even for underperforming open-world modern games, just because they pioneered back in the 80s. If a game like Far Cry gets 8 points on average, when it is much more advanced in gameplay balance and cinematics and overall feeling, then Breath of the Wild is half that and can only get a 4 from my side.    … Expand
  23. Megafont88
    May 4, 2018
    4
    Breath of the Wild was not that great. I've been a huge Zelda fan for a long time, and this one managed to disappoint me. It is easily one of the most flawed titles in the series. The essence of Zelda is largely missing because it is so diluted in Botw. The game feels like a generic open world with a Zelda skin slapped on it far moreso than like a Zelda game.

    It's missing proper, unique    Breath of the Wild was not that great. I've been a huge Zelda fan for a long time, and this one managed to disappoint me. It is easily one of the most flawed titles in the series. The essence of Zelda is largely missing because it is so diluted in Botw. The game feels like a generic open world with a Zelda skin slapped on it far moreso than like a Zelda game.

    It's missing proper, unique dungeons with keys and unique bosses. Some have said Hyrule Castle is a dungeon too, but I disagree. Unlike the divine beasts, it is very hard to call Hyrule Castle a dungeon. Why? Because there is virtually nothing dungeon-like about it by Zelda standards. It's just a large area to explore, though its music is awesome. Overall, Botw's music is sadly the most lacking soundtrack of any Zelda game, though.

    The world is huge and beautiful, but vast chunks of it feel like they only exist to expand the world size. For some bizarre reason, there are virtually no caves (which is dumb). It's an open world that is also quite empty. Exploration falls flat, as there isn't much to find aside from korok seeds, shrines, enemy camps, and chests that generally contain useless early game weapons that are too weak to use anymore (or rarely they contain some rupees). Rupees are too rare and under-utilized. They brought back stamina, but it’s designed much better than in Zelda: Skyward Sword. The enemy variety in Botw's world is quite lacking, being far outdone by past games with far smaller worlds.

    Most of the story is in the past, making it feel distant and separated from the player's current actions.

    The early game experience was one of the worst in the series. It's far more unforgiving than it should be, especially in its normal mode. This resulted in Link feeling like a complete weakling compared to most of his other incarnations. Botw has more tedium and annoyance than all other 3D Zelda games combined and more than most 2D ones too. The atrociously balanced weapon system is very tedious in the early game and not fun. Climbing is also very tedious, especially with how it rains every 5 seconds or any time you step within 5ft of a cliff. It gets better as you increase your max stamina, but is still tedious on huge mountains.

    The game's cooking system is cool, but it has a huge flaw. There is no screen that lets you view the recipes you've already discovered. This is an incredibly dumb design flaw given how many recipes there are in Botw.

    Even the Master Sword and Hylian Shield have durability in Botw, which is one of the dumbest design choices in series history. It literally makes no sense in the context of Zelda history.

    Nintendo also milked this game like never before at launch and after. Some costumes had no business being behind amiibo, like Fierce Diety. It may be equivalent to another armor, but there was one and only one reason they locked it behind an amiibo. That was because they knew lots of players would want that one. In other words, it was a cash grab. Some materials were grossly overused in the armor upgrade system, causing another source of tedium. Star fragments are the worst, but lynel materials are also a stupid chore to farm. The way amiibo scanning works is dumb, too. This is because of how many times you have to try to get costume pieces sometimes. It's stupid and pointless.

    Overall, Botw is sadly a bit of a lackluster experience compared to most past Zelda games. This game just doesn’t stand up to most other Zelda adventures. It tried to sell its soul and be something it is not.    … Expand
  24. GamingSyndicate
    Apr 22, 2018
    4
    In 1998 the. Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time came out, it set a bench mark for the series future as well as an identity well transferred from its original games.
    In this instance, the series has lost some identity in trying something new...
    I really hoped for the spirit of Ocarina of time to be fully present here but its not the case at all. Instead you have an attempt at streamlining    In 1998 the. Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time came out, it set a bench mark for the series future as well as an identity well transferred from its original games.
    In this instance, the series has lost some identity in trying something new...
    I really hoped for the spirit of Ocarina of time to be fully present here but its not the case at all.
    Instead you have an attempt at streamlining the franchise into more comin games, Physics system, weapon breaking system. And a non linear story in a open world which does look amazing.
    Its did not feel like an adventure, more like a shore.. having to consistently look for weapons, replacing weapons..etc
    I missed having that reward feel when i would get my first unbreakable sword or when upgrading that sword to the master sword (not that you cant get it in this game).
    The physics system is great but only when you have the right tools, which could take you a while to get if you wanted them, again not being a linear story as much means you can miss those items intirely and not have the full experience.
    The world of Breath of the wild is for you to take however you want which is not super bad but not super good if you are stilll in those original Zelda state of mind.
    If you welcome a different take on the zelda series then this is for you.
    It is a beautiful world with great puzzles to solve which i cant fault even if most are short, its graphics are plain gorgeous and looks great on the go.
    Tech wise i cant fault it as i encountered not game breaking bug, only ocasional frame rate rate drop and the odd texture pop in.
    If your a Zelda fan dont go in expeting your usual zelda adventure but something else, for some it will be a refreshing take on the series and be welcome, for the very few it may be not
    It is a Zelda game but only half at heart.
    4/10 score    … Expand
  25. Mr_Bacon547
    May 8, 2018
    4
    Overhyped. Was fun for a couple hours but then became stale. People love to eat up anything from Nintendo I suppose..
  26. duke_dobo
    May 24, 2018
    4
    This is my first Zelda game and it will be my last. I am truly disappointed by this game. I played Oceanhorn which was so-called Zelda clone game and I very much liked it. What I didn't like about this Zelda is that it is just boring. You got an open world that you got so many things to do that you actually loose your focus on the important things for a game-kill the villain and save theThis is my first Zelda game and it will be my last. I am truly disappointed by this game. I played Oceanhorn which was so-called Zelda clone game and I very much liked it. What I didn't like about this Zelda is that it is just boring. You got an open world that you got so many things to do that you actually loose your focus on the important things for a game-kill the villain and save the princess. All these climbing around, looking for shrines and treasures, cooking, riding for me was just boring and actually without them you cannot progress in the game well. Overall this was around 200 hours of my life I can't get back which is more than a week vacation in Italy or the Bahamas which I spend chasing crickets and boring climbing hills to find something that I even don't know what is there. Did I mention that the game is boring. Oh yeah, it is. The game can be 10 times shorter and simple with the same appeal of graphic ,sound , physics and story. Fore me this game is a waste of my time and money.… Expand
  27. AllySky
    Apr 15, 2019
    4
    Likely blinded by nostalgia, this game is not deserving of such a high rating, So much Zelda content that makes a Zelda game a Zelda game is missing here, and while the first couple hours were enjoyable, it later became a repetitive bore and an ultimately unrewarding game to play.
  28. AlfredST
    Oct 11, 2018
    4
    Absolutely boring, uninteresting game. Everything is terrible in this game. There is no graphics, plot or variation. The only thing that fascinates is the sandbox in the game. And this game costs 60 dollars, not 30, but 60 *****. My score is 4/10.
  29. AlterFate
    Nov 17, 2022
    4
    A mediocre game at best. Coming to a new console with updated graphics and gameplay, you'd think a new Zelda fan would enjoy their first entry. This was not the case. Poor graphics and optimization, disappointing controls and weapon degradation system, lifeless world and dull story. This game was not enjoyable to play. One of the few switch games I was unable to finish. 4/10 period.
  30. Louis-Lewis
    Mar 8, 2019
    4
    Great visuals don’t make up for the fact that the game is riddled with problems. The weapon degradation system is a joke, the vast empty areas on the world map, not one memorable NPC, tiny dungeons and no real point to the whole adventure.
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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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  2. Wired UK
    Aug 30, 2017
    100
    Breath of the Wild is a masterpiece.
    Read full review
  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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