The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 Wii U
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2573 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,021 out of 2573
  2. Mixed: 222 out of 2573
  3. Negative: 330 out of 2573
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  1. kalaster
    Mar 15, 2017
    6
    This 10/10 game has a beautifully crafted world and story for you to explore with your 2 feet tied together. Weapons that shatter after a small amount of use, drowning in waist high water from lack of stamina, and a deplorable frame rate to slow the combat down makes for a frustrating experience that is neither fun nor challenging.
  2. Blankspaces
    Mar 4, 2017
    7
    There's a couple of things I dislike about the game.

    -There are 5 runes in the game that you unlock very quickly. The 6th rune is for Amiibos. I thought this was pretty limited for an entire system. They could have made runes do much more than just be 4 items tied to the slate. -Health recovery is instant and done within a menu. I think having a game about preparing food that can    There's a couple of things I dislike about the game.

    -There are 5 runes in the game that you unlock very quickly. The 6th rune is for Amiibos. I thought this was pretty limited for an entire system. They could have made runes do much more than just be 4 items tied to the slate.

    -Health recovery is instant and done within a menu. I think having a game about preparing food that can instantly heal you to full and more should have had realtime healing, like souls with Estus or Grass. This is just a small gripe, but I noticed it when I fell from a large height, barely alive, and I was able to heal to full before I took more damage from rolling after the fall. Just felt like it was a moment that could have been more punishing.

    Honestly though, these gripes are completely trivial to the score, but I wanted to mention them. The real reason I gave a 7 instead of a 9 or a 10 was that the framerate is absolutely abysmal. I wouldn't care if it dropped during explosions, but it happens during combat and villages when the only things in the frame are npcs.
    I am hoping for a patch, but looking at critics right now, no one is going to be reviewing this version. Even if they do, none are going to mention how bad the framerates are.

    And they are TERRIBLE. We're talking 15fps and below at moments. I've heard that the error is caused by memory streaming rather than the GPU choking on the load which I really hope is true.

    I also urge everyone else to stop giving 10s until the patch is out. We're the consumers who care enough to write a review and if all Nintendo sees is 10s (They do look at their metacritic scores closely) then they will be extremely unlikely to ever fix this.    … Expand
  3. AndreWahl
    May 19, 2017
    7
    After beating The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild I must say I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the world and the dynamic gameplay and problem solving involved, but to me the game felt scattered, unconnected, and incomplete. If you don’t have a switch yet I can promise you, you are not missing much other than hype. Over all I would give the game 3/5.
    In terms story, I felt it fell    After beating The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild I must say I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the world and the dynamic gameplay and problem solving involved, but to me the game felt scattered, unconnected, and incomplete. If you don’t have a switch yet I can promise you, you are not missing much other than hype. Over all I would give the game 3/5.
    In terms story, I felt it fell short in regards of what I expect from a Zelda game. The story passed the buildup and placed you directly into the conflict, but the conflict didn’t seem like much of a conflict. Outside of the dark castle at the center of the map, the occasional blood moon, and the random goblins scattered about, the world seemed at piece. There was no great turmoil in the towns. The divine beasts were mostly a nuisance, not a threat. There was no sense of urgency for Gannon to be stopped.
    The open world aided to the feel of a lack of urgency. It was great getting to explore a massive open world, but with the vastness of the space I felt were not many memorable areas. Most of the game was identical looking. Green hills, brown dirt, rocks, lots of grass, trees. Very few locations stood out. The lack of a memorable soundtrack greatly aided in this. My biggest disappointment was the soundtrack because, well, there wasn’t one. One of the most memorable aspects of the Zelda franchise. Throughout the game there is only a handful of soundtracks, the most memorable being the cooking one.
    In addition to this, there was no real progress. Free the divine beast in no particular order, do every shrine you see, fight Gannon. It was mostly a check list. In addition, gear progression was the same. I never got attached to any weapon I found because it would just break. I used twigs and skeleton arms for most of the game. The gear didn’t feel all that special. I farmed the ancient soldier gear only to find that the barbarian gear from the labyrinth shrines was better, which was also a disappointment.
    The additional quests were also lackluster. They had an MMO style feel to them and most of the quest I completed had rewards of little worth, or you spent more in terms of time, food, equipment, and arrows completing the quest than you were rewarded. In addition, the quest felt like they had no impact on the world, did not aid in progression, and were essentially put in the game to make it feel more like an RPG.
    The Art direction of the game also had some issues. Whereas it was unique and beautiful, the highly saturation colors provided little contrast. This made it hard to see in many situations where sight was crucial. I adapted to it after some time, but the game could defiantly use more contrast.
    For those not trained in art, this may not make much sense, but when you look at an image it has something called a tonal range. This maps the value of color according to its relative lightness and darkness compared against black and white. An image with a realistic tonal range should have value all the way across, ranging from deep blacks to bright whites in highlights. A low contrast lacks both of these, and bunches them in the middle. After taking various screen shots from the game I confirmed this was the case by placing them in Photoshop and looking at their tonal range. A vast majority had no dark or light points, just mid tones.
    Over all the game is good. It is worth playing to experience the excitement and fun an open world RPG brings, but for those expecting a rich world filled with excitement, adventure, and amazing story telling you will walk away shot handed. This is their 1st open world game of this caliber, and they were successful in their endeavor, but I just hope they manage to incorporate a bit more of the magic of the Zelda universe into the game next time.    … Expand
  4. jerkbot10000
    May 28, 2017
    5
    I'm certainly in the minority here, but I found this game very tedious and boring. This game does not at all represent what I look for in a Zelda game. It is upsetting that the game is getting such good reviews since it means the Zelda formula I so enjoy is likely gone forever. Below are the details on what I'm talking about:

    Dungeons - Previous Zelda games had intricate dungeons.    I'm certainly in the minority here, but I found this game very tedious and boring. This game does not at all represent what I look for in a Zelda game. It is upsetting that the game is getting such good reviews since it means the Zelda formula I so enjoy is likely gone forever. Below are the details on what I'm talking about:

    Dungeons - Previous Zelda games had intricate dungeons. This game has for the most part traded them in for shrines. Though there are many more shrines than there have been dungeons in any Zelda game, the shrines tend to have very simplistic puzzles. Most can be finished in about 2 minutes and require very little thought. A few of these shrines involve combat, but it is always against the same boring enemy. A few of these shrines require solving a puzzle to find in the first place, and a number of those, the puzzle is basically to wait until the right time of day, then perform a menial task like shooting an arrow. For me, a game that is making me stand around and wait for something to happen is restricting my freedom and inflicting boredom.

    Exploration - For most people exploration is the big selling point, and it's true that there is a vast world to explore. Unfortunately I find that there are only a few different types of things to find, so it feels very repetitive. I always enjoyed the fact that in previous Zelda games you would notice areas you couldn't get to until you had the right item, and the excitement of returning once the item was found. This game doesn't really stop you from going anywhere once the initial couple of hours are done, and the few skills added after don't really offer anything that changes the gameplay as previous Zelda's did. Again I'm in the minority and obviously people love the fact they can do whatever they want...but to me it goes against one of my favourite things about Zelda games.

    Combat - Due to weapon durability, I was inclined to skip combat. It was boring and repetitive. There are a few bosses to fight but they don't require any thinking/ingenuity or special item usage like previous bosses.

    Very little traditional Zelda music - this speaks for itself.

    Conversations and cut scenes - More tedium. Most conversations take too long. I shouldn't have to wait for text to catch up with my reading speed, or wait for cheesy character animations or horrible voice acting.

    Climbing and Movement - This was incredibly tedious! So much of the game revolves around climbing, and the climbing is soooo slow! Not only that but you can easily spend a couple minutes climbing and then run out of endurance to reach the top... what a waste of time. The same applies to swimming - if you can't make it to shore it is game over. Walking/running speed is very slow too, but at least you don't get game over from it. You can upgrade stamina, which improves things a bit, but it is still very tedious. The worst feature of the game is the rain. Climbing is required all the time, and if it rains you can't climb... forcing you to switch gears and do something else, or just wait 10 minutes for the rain to stop.

    Lightning - When there's a lightning storm, you have to remove all your metal gear. Some people would label this as 'attention to detail', and maybe it is... but it doesn't change the fact that this is a super annoying gameplay mechanic. Like rain, this game is full of these kinds of annoying things that prevent you from doing what you want to do.

    Overall, this is my least favourite Zelda for the reasons stated. I really hope Nintendo does continue down this road for future Zelda games. Unfortunately they are really losing me as a fan... hopefully they don't ruin Metroid in the same way.    … Expand
  5. tetohmu
    Jul 25, 2017
    7
    My cons with Zelda Breath of the Wild after 200 hours.
    ---> the story is bad,, nothing is epic, the sandbox takes all the space.
    ---> We don't care about the NPCs, not even their names like we used to in previous Zelda games. You can skip them and if you come back later to them they give you outdated news like "oh, there is a Shrine above Kakariko" (oh really?). They are not even in    My cons with Zelda Breath of the Wild after 200 hours.
    ---> the story is bad,, nothing is epic, the sandbox takes all the space.
    ---> We don't care about the NPCs, not even their names like we used to in previous Zelda games. You can skip them and if you come back later to them they give you outdated news like "oh, there is a Shrine above Kakariko" (oh really?). They are not even in danger, they are not miserable, the 4 divinities are not dangerous, they should be used to them now, they have been corrupted for 100 years! 100 years!! 1 or 2 generations and yet they still complain about them!!. Those NPCs have no background: Hyrule has been destroyed recently and no one talks about that! They don't even know Link the knight of Zelda! Again, the story sucks, not even plausible. Miyamoto said he didn't care about the story. You see the result. How can you feel a Heros, there are nothing to save, no Ganon if you don't go and meet him. Zelda is more than 100 years old like her horse. Ok.
    IMO, Link should have been 10 000 years old, woke up naked in a forest, with no memory and he would have made his own destiny from here.
    Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask are way better in term of story/pace/emotion.
    ---> You can't go fishing, like on a lake, with a boat. You don't meet an old sea dog who would tell you about a monster in the lake. NO, here everybody can see dragons flying in the air every day. Everything is fine. All the more those dragons just belongs to the farming system of the game. Woohoo!
    ---> No undergrounds, no caverns to explore. The only dark area sucks (bird statue temple to get another shrine)
    ---> You can't dive with the Zora outfit.
    ---> Infinite bombs. Bad idea.
    ---> Uninteresting side quests even if there were a few good ideas.
    ---> a lot of food for nothing. You always make the same easy and efficient recipes. There are not even a book in your inventory to remember them.
    ---> make a fire and change time is mainly useless. It could have brought a survival system (sleep/eat).
    ---> 900 korok seeds. I understand why but, there were better to do. More complex conundrums with bigger secrets, not trinkets behind a breakable wall (...)
    ---> few enemies, they all look the same like their camps.
    ---> there were farmers outside villages in the first presentation of the game.
    ---> No obstacle linked to enemies, or any events. Camps protect nothing, Lynels protect nothing. They are just idiot monsters doing nothing. And why can you climb everything in the first place. The game give you everything, all the powers. The endurance jauge is not a real issue.
    ---> That's why you leave your horse so often, climbing is better. Climbing should have been given later.
    ---> no hidden Temple, protected by magic like the two sphinx statues in "The Never ending Story" for instance, no "Great River of Wilderlands" with giant statues like in "Lord of the rings". Everything is open, dammit!
    ---> Bosses suck. Ganon is a shame. His second form is pathetic. A awful rip-off of Nago in Princess Mononoke.
    ---> 4 forgettable & easy dungeons.
    ---> Shrines may last 1 minute or 10? 20 of them are trials of power. 20! Too much.
    ---> Kakariko village famous tune is gone. No graveyard, no link with previous Zelda games unless the name of the regions (by the way, the ruins of Lon Lon Ranch are recent, it makes no sense again).

    Not a bad game of course, exploring the world is great, sure Nintendo worked hard on the engine. but it could have been way better. Zelda is not epic anymore since Wind Waker. I hope it will be a good basis for the next one. At least it is way better than Twilight Princess & Skyward Sword.    … Expand
  6. 420dank
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    The game is a great open world to explore the zelda universe with so many great things to explore and find. But anyone who gives it a 10 is overlooking some flaws in the game that hold it back from being a 10.

    First there are only 4 dungeons in the game which would be fine if they were well set up. But all four of them are basicly the same thing. Walk around turn on the same 5 things in    The game is a great open world to explore the zelda universe with so many great things to explore and find. But anyone who gives it a 10 is overlooking some flaws in the game that hold it back from being a 10.

    First there are only 4 dungeons in the game which would be fine if they were well set up. But all four of them are basicly the same thing. Walk around turn on the same 5 things in every dungeon then fight the boss. The layout of the dungeons is good for the most part but it feels lazy having the exact same goal on how to progress in every dungeon. The complete lack of mobs asides from maybe 2 small robots and eyes everywhere makes the place feel empty and removes all danger asides from the boss. The bosses are alright but are not very rememberable.

    The cooking system is not very good and forces you to waste a lot of time.

    Weapons breaking every 10 hits is not a good game mechanic. It does not change the way you fight most the time and if you find a weapon you like the looks of to bad.

    The shrines are cool and interesting for a while. then after about 20 most of them feel repetitive and I just stopped doing them.

    But besides those flaws it still a great game. You could spend lots of hours exploring to find tons of easter eggs from previous Zeldas. The about of different armors is great allowing the player their own fashion. The story if fine compared to any other Zelda game.

    So overall if you just want to explore Hyrule this game could be a 10/10. But for me personally Enjoy the combat and puzzles the most the game is still good but not perfect.    … Expand
  7. dty
    Mar 21, 2017
    7
    A realistic review from a big Nintendo and Zelda fan.

    Amazing open world with incredible exploration potential. Players who like to run around and find things for themselves will get lost in this beautiful world. The story is also decent enough, and there's a bunch of great quirky mechanics particularly in puzzle solving that are a bunch of fun. Also a honorable mention to the cooking    A realistic review from a big Nintendo and Zelda fan.

    Amazing open world with incredible exploration potential. Players who like to run around and find things for themselves will get lost in this beautiful world. The story is also decent enough, and there's a bunch of great quirky mechanics particularly in puzzle solving that are a bunch of fun. Also a honorable mention to the cooking which is great.

    That being said, this is far from a 10/10 and labeling it as such is just ridiculous. The game has flaws, very big flaws that to overlook and give a perfect score shows nothing more than denial and fanboy-ism. The game performs rather badly, very badly in places, that alone is enough to knock it down. The combat is clunky and not challenging, and the durability is just terrible. Having weapons made of glass is neither fun nor realistic it is just bad design. The stamina system is frustrating and not innovative at all, especially in a game of exploration the mechanic becomes extremely tiresome. Likewise did the shrines become tiresome, repetitive and all look the same. I could go on but you get the picture, the game as flaws.

    People who enjoy exploration and fans of the Zelda franchise will enjoy this game, while it will be a mediocre experience for everyone else.    … Expand
  8. vegemonsta
    May 12, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Be careful not to buy into the hype on this one. While the world is mostly beautiful and the gameplay is fresh for the franchise, it's not "the best game of all time." There are plenty of games prior to BotW which deserve higher praise.

    As an open world game, it falls for many of the trappings one would expect from it. The map is wrought with towers to reveal hidden areas and there are plenty of repetitive tasks to do.

    The world is vibrant and full of interesting locals and NPCs to help build up a believable Hyrule. This is the games strongest aspect. Unfortunately all of the locations are the same as usual. You have the forest, desert, ocean and volcano zones. Nothing surprising there.

    The combat is great, but not as great as Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, though. Every enemy encounter feels like a challenge. The game isn't well balanced, though. Some enemies in the game are too powerful. This is especially evident at the end where you get hit once by a low level enemy and lose most of your hearts. This results in you being forced to open the menu and use a healing item... every single time you are hit. Let's not mention the stupid weapon durability system.

    Another annoyance is the over abundance of the SAME enemies in ALL areas of the game. Most Zelda games pride themselves on interesting enemy designs that fit to their dedicated zones. NOT in this one. From beginning to end you're fighting pig men, lizard men and robots. Even the bosses are the same creature every encounter.

    The dungeons, if you want to call them dungeons, are interesting little puzzles that are executed neatly. That's all I can say about them. The lack of real dungeons is a serious omission.

    The open ended nature of this game is both its greatest element and its weakest. For example, Hyrule castle is presented as an enormous challenge. To get through the gate, one must defeat an onslaught of tough enemies JUST to get a chance at fighting Ganon. There's one way around this... if you take what you learned from the game (which is to avoid difficult situations completely) then you can easily climb a pillar behind the castle and glide directly to Ganon's chamber. This mechanic is game breaking in many situations like this. Instead of forcing the player to take the plunge, it just gives you the tools to ignore it entirely for the easy way out. This is not good game design. It's intentions are to give the player freedom, but there's a TOO much freedom here.    … Expand
  9. sarisa
    May 26, 2020
    7
    I'm shocked. How can you give 10/10 for a game that was intended to utilize gamepad, but eventually wasn't? For that very reason 9/10 is max whatever this game may be worth. They shown this feature in 2014 demo so it has clearly been disabled making this game "worse" on purpose. If it had utilized gamepad than what note would you give? 11/10 as it would be even more superb?... Just don'tI'm shocked. How can you give 10/10 for a game that was intended to utilize gamepad, but eventually wasn't? For that very reason 9/10 is max whatever this game may be worth. They shown this feature in 2014 demo so it has clearly been disabled making this game "worse" on purpose. If it had utilized gamepad than what note would you give? 11/10 as it would be even more superb?... Just don't get fooled by these fanboys. This is good and proper game (not that very good) but poor Zelda game. Remember The Legend of Zelda Link to the Past? Now imagine this in 3D, but without dungeons (!!!). Thats exactly what this game is. Overworld walking simulator without dungeons or any intricate stuff. Good walking simulator, but just walking simulator. 7/10 is max honest note for this game.… Expand
  10. BouncingBest
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Before you lose your minds, understand this is a good game and it's worth a purchase if you enjoy Zelda and I love Zelda, it's my favorite series.

    With that said - Breath of the Wild tries very hard to be a modern open world Dark Soulsy meets Skyrim kinda game but the mechanics cause it to fall on it's face. One hit kills are a thing. Lock on isn't as easy to use as before. Weapons are as durable as icicles on a hot summer's day (unless in the enemies hands, they never break then) until you have grinded hours and can get better ones and the promise of "do anything you want, BotW says YES" comes with the fine print of "as long as you have the right gear/food/hearts/stamina/amiibos/etc". The Pay To Win amiibo aspect is also predictable but disappointing. Be warned that things like getting Epona via Amiibo comes with the fine print of "if you turn off your game or don't stable her, it never works again". Also be warned the strategy guide seems to purposely be missing things like amiibo functionality which is unforgivable and should be there to prevent things such as having to restart due to losing Epona.

    So with that out of the way, let's talk about the positives. This game is beautiful. The world is beautiful. Finally being able to scale mountains is amazing and the fact that you can take your time and do numerous side quests or just explore instead of being stuck in the main story is a huge improvement. Cooking your own elixirs and food can give you a near limitless supply of health, stamina, and other items so you don't need to worry about purchasing them or having the luck to find them. There are so many great things that were added to this game that it's a shame the bad mechanics and flaws bog them down. This could have easily been a truly incredible experience, not a 10 because few games are that perfect, but at least a 9.

    If you love Zelda, buy this. Don't be afraid of the Wii U version if you can't get a Switch, there isn't a huge amount of difference. If you're not into Zelda, then this is probably a skip. Other games did open world better and those will be more to your liking but if you feel little tingles of excitement every time you get a new chance to adventure with Link like me, you want this - flaws and all - just because it's Zelda.    … Expand
  11. TheIcePhoenix
    Mar 13, 2017
    6
    I have been Zelda fan for many many many years. I have a lot of Zelda paraphernalia and NO JOKE was expelled from school because of Ocarina of Time back in 1999. (If you want to know ask me) I have written short stories based on the games and done artwork on Zelda on Da. My point is that I also played and completed this Zelda BOTW with 70 shrines and a god-awful amount of Korok Seeds andI have been Zelda fan for many many many years. I have a lot of Zelda paraphernalia and NO JOKE was expelled from school because of Ocarina of Time back in 1999. (If you want to know ask me) I have written short stories based on the games and done artwork on Zelda on Da. My point is that I also played and completed this Zelda BOTW with 70 shrines and a god-awful amount of Korok Seeds and got the True ending and I find this Zelda to be the most boring and NON-Zelda like game Out of the entire series for MANY reasons some of which i shall list below.

    1. Classic Link outfit is only obtainable after gathering all 120 shrines or if you have an Amibo of Link. This bothers me simply because it’s a ZELDA GAME Link by default should have the classic Zelda outfit.

    2. WAY WAY too many different nonsensical outfits that look stupid (loved the Zora outfit) and really just didn't seem like they fit into the game for me. if they had to do this they could have at least made them look like they fit in the world of Hyrule. (some of them were ok)

    3. The Shrines were a boring and uninspired way to take up time to make the game seem longer for no real reason.

    4. The Side-quests were a 80% of the time (A) boring and (B) lacking in a worthwhile reward for the time and effort it took to complete them. I found myself dreading the side-quests and them at some point just asking my buddy to do them. while i went, and did something else or took a break for fresh air.

    5. The Dungeons... THOSE ARE NOT DUNGEONS! they were just puzzles and boring ones at that! I want classic Zelda dungeons that felt creepy and challenging at times with the dark and gloomy atmosphere in some of them too.

    6. The enemies in this game are really lacking in variety. You have about 10 different kinds of mobs in this game and all they did was vary the elements they attack with. or make some living and some dead. not to mention a number of classic Zelda mobs were not even in the game!

    7. The lack of any direction to the game (granted i don’t really play too many open world games). This game could have at least given a suggestion as to who to go after first and then leave it up to us to decide what to do. But it doesn't it just says kill 4 Divine beasts and kill Ganon with no suggestion as to who might be the wiser person to go after first. I ended up doing the hardest first only to realize I needed stuff that I couldn't yet get without going to another Divine beast’s zone first. (this one could be chalked up to my skill if you want)

    8. The Bosses are all forms of Ganon! GEEZE! It felt like they didn't even try with any of the enemies in this game! Again, lots of opportunity to do something really cool here and they didn't even try to be very creative.

    9. Link does not feel like Link He may look like it but he doesn't respond like it. not really sure how to explain it. I think it’s the mechanics of the game just don’t feel like a Zelda title.

    10. I would have loved to get more Homage visually to the preceding games (besides the Temple of Time) as the game implies its coming possibly after TooT, MM, TP and WW and other titles as well. They really could have showed the water temple from TooT in sort of ruins at lake Hylia or Kakariko Village windmill despite the time from of the game they could have at least done the graveyard in Kakariko Village. There was just SO much potential with the size of the map to make it pay some tributes.

    11. It’s a huge world that is sparsely populated with anything worth seeing other then grass and although the world does look amazing it just doesn't have much in it to keep me enthralled.

    12. The soundtrack was just not very good. The only time i ever felt that Zelda Vibe and felt the presence of the music was when I was at Hyrule castle. How sadly disappointing as a part of what makes Zelda a Zelda is the Music score.

    The game was a good but not great. It lacked many things that make a Zelda title special in my view. I feel like you could rename everything and take a view elements out of the game and slap another name on it and it would work just fine under a different title and that’s why it doesn't feel like a proper Zelda game for me. However for new Zelda players this game could easily be amazing to them and maybe this is just what this generation of players is looking for and I’m just a sad old timer gamer who longs for the old days of the 1990's games of yesteryear.

    6/10 is my rating for Zelda Breath of the Wild

    Story 6/10
    Gameplay 7/10
    Graphics 7/10
    Audio 6/10
    Replay ability 3/10
    DLC value (from what I know so far) 3/10 (who wants more shrines! though expanded story will be cool)    … Expand
  12. oxitran
    Mar 13, 2017
    7
    My favourite Zelda games are Oracle of seasons, Links awakening dx, and Wind waker. I know they aren't the best Zelda game but they are my favourites.

    It's simple. This game blows your socks off for the first 10-20 hours then the issues start to show, and ultimately leave a dissatisfied feeling in your mouth. Nothing will bring back those feelings you have in the first few hours of the    My favourite Zelda games are Oracle of seasons, Links awakening dx, and Wind waker. I know they aren't the best Zelda game but they are my favourites.

    It's simple. This game blows your socks off for the first 10-20 hours then the issues start to show, and ultimately leave a dissatisfied feeling in your mouth. Nothing will bring back those feelings you have in the first few hours of the game, but I have to commend it for them.

    The biggest issue I had with this game was difficulty curve. In short, there isn't one. The games focus on non-linearity leads to your first divine beast blowing your socks off like a Thai hooker, but everything after that becomes a rinse and repeat with a lack of increased difficulty. Yeah the game doesn't increase larger enemies in the open world, and silver enemies start to appear, but most can easily be bypassed.

    Dungeons!!! WTF!!! 4 dungeons??? 4 bad dungeons!!!! oh but the 120 trials. yeah with like 5 being classable as maybe a floor of an older Zelda dungeon. maybe 30 can be considered a room from a previous Zelda dungeon, then like 20 being a single test of strength, and the rest being either terrible or just a chest and nothing else. (the chest only ones do have side quests to get into them, but that does not make them dungeons).

    Great ambient music but no great pieces that stick in your mind like other titles.
    Terrible difficulty management and lack of dungeons.
    Rinse repeat formula for only story driven areas that fail to build your attachment to the world beyond your first area.
    Graphics have an appeal to them, but they are technically bad.
    Buggy, but not too bad.
    Once you complete the low hanging fruit in the game the only thing driving you to explore is the longing for exploration, However, once you unlock all the towers that wonder of exploration is gone, and things fall into near tedium.

    Great game Nintendo, you pushed the bar in some areas, but also failed in others. You provided a unique and memorable experience. But the formula needs fixing for future releases. If it wasn't for the fact that This game has lit a fire under the asses of other lazy developers in terms of gameplay features then I would give it a 8. For now, its a 9.1.    … Expand
  13. eaboo316
    Mar 16, 2017
    7
    I have super, super mixed feelings about this game. To provide some context, I have grown up playing games from Japanese RPG series, and I only play JRPG's mostly because I know I'll enjoy them, and there's too many games in the world to try with too little time, so I limit my choices to games I know I'll love - games from the Legend of Zelda series being one of them. I am also prettyI have super, super mixed feelings about this game. To provide some context, I have grown up playing games from Japanese RPG series, and I only play JRPG's mostly because I know I'll enjoy them, and there's too many games in the world to try with too little time, so I limit my choices to games I know I'll love - games from the Legend of Zelda series being one of them. I am also pretty flexible with the games I like, the FF series has changed their gameplay style almost every game, and besides the online games, I've played and enjoyed all of them. So, I have played a mix of open-world and linear games, and tend to prefer something in the middle.

    Before I delved into BOTW, I decided to play and beat Wind Waker HD to get myself reacquainted with the Zelda series before this game, because the last time I played a Zelda game was Skyward Sword in 2011, which I loved. And I loved Wind Waker as well. I knew this game would be a bit different with an open-world concept, though I have played similar open-world ish JRPGs before, so wasn't too worried. Though, almost 20 hours put into the game, I did not feel the same level of engagement that I immediately felt with Wind Waker just a couple of weeks before, and I decided to pause playing it.

    The story is not as engaging as previous titles. While the previous games pulled me in right away, I felt like I was trying to hurriedly get through the first four shrines in the beginning of the game just so I could get to what was happening. And this is the main issue I have with this game. As someone who appreciates a good story and character development in a game, the benefit of exploring a vast, virtual world in order to do so, is not appealing. I also enjoy doing side quests in JRPG's, and try to do all of them. But the side quests in here hinder me from progressing to the main story, and reap rewards that aren't very helpful. I also tend to hoard items and weapons whenever I play, and the fact that weapons and shields have to be thrown away or broken at some time, really bothers me.

    I love the graphics and the character design, the world is quite beautiful. I liked how the runes are incorporated and can be used pretty flexibly (though would lead me to mostly try to use bombs to kill enemies because I didn't want a sword to break or arrows to run out -_-). The method of taming horses is cool too. For me, the fun kinda stops there though. I play games to destress from the difficulties of the world, and just kick back and play through a good story, and on the contrary this game stresses me out. @_@ A virtual world can be too vast for some people, perhaps.

    I think I will try to beat this game at some point, but the excitement that I usually feel for a Legend of Zelda game isn't there. I could just be becoming a dated gamer (hopefully not, in my mid 20s here), but I miss the intricate dungeons, the different tools (hookshot, boomerang, etc), and most especially the engaging story and lovable characters. I think this game is more appealing to those who play Western RPGs more, though I hope the next title in the Zelda series tries to attempt a more universal appeal and mixes both linear and open world storytelling (maybe something like Xenoblade). If not, I think I will keep to re-playing the older games, which is fine with me, and stick with new games from JRPG series that release games that creatively build on their previous games without needed to transform it completely.

    I'm glad most people are happy with this game and perhaps are even getting introduced to the Zelda series for the first time (because it's an awesome series!! Go to the LoZ concerts!!). Though for me, this is just an okay game outfitted with the Zelda name (did not mean to make that rhyme, but it came out well). There is not much really besides the names of the characters and typical Zelda items (master sword, boomerang) that make the connection with the rest of the series, and if these characteristics are swapped out, no one would know this is part of a series, and that's really disappointing to me. For now, I'll put it down and use my destressing time to play the recently new entry of another JRPG series that I am enjoying, and get back to this one later.

    Overall, if you are like me and like JRPG games that put a lot of emphasis on storytelling and character development and have fun gameplay, this may not be your cup of tea. Though if you love open world games and exploring virtual areas with little direction to go through the story your own way, and don't mind doing tasks in video games w/o incentives, then you will most likely enjoy this game.

    Whichever type of gamer you are, how well you enjoy a game is ultimately up to you, and don't let others push you down for what your opinion is, whether you love this or any game or don't (my wise words after reading forum discussions that are virtual war zones w/ words).    … Expand
  14. KJosey
    Mar 19, 2017
    7
    25 hours in. It's a good game, but pretty clear that most traditional media outlets have thrown out high praise because the name on the box is "Zelda". Aesthetics are 2006-ish. Combat controls are very clunky; if you're used to PS/XBox standard controls for RPGs, then you'll struggle a bit to feel confident with BOTW's archaic controls. I'd compare it to playing Resident Evil 7, then25 hours in. It's a good game, but pretty clear that most traditional media outlets have thrown out high praise because the name on the box is "Zelda". Aesthetics are 2006-ish. Combat controls are very clunky; if you're used to PS/XBox standard controls for RPGs, then you'll struggle a bit to feel confident with BOTW's archaic controls. I'd compare it to playing Resident Evil 7, then going back to play original Resident Evil. BOTW's controls aren't *that* bad, but do command a significant adjustment period as you accidentally jump into an enemy sword swing instead of dodging right/left a few times. So far, the puzzles are pretty easy. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask had far, far more challenging puzzles and those games are almost 20 years old.

    Exploration is fantastic. I find myself constantly wanting to check that next hill, the next ruin, that little forest up ahead...it's addictive and enticing. This is *the* selling point of the game for me. Many times I've wanted to quit for the session only to be subliminally called to explore that next spot just up ahead.

    The lack of durability of various weapons is maddening and is the worst aspect of the game. Swapping weapons every couple minutes makes combat a major annoyance. I find myself just avoiding combat if at all possible; thus, exploration becomes a bit of a walking simulator for me with minimal interaction with the game's various baddies. If you're the kind of gamer that wants to take out all the bad guys in an area (a sweeper if you will), then this game's weapons mechanics will piss you off more than once as you dutifully pick off the baddies.

    If you've played Zelda games before, this one's worth a try (on a Wii U for sure; only if you want to throw away $400 on a Zelda machine for the Switch). If you haven't played Zelda before, I'd recommend waiting for a sale or an inevitable Game of the Year Edition that'll include the various DLC Nintendo will be pumping out for it. It's a good game, but there's nothing here you haven't seen done better before in other RPGs.    … Expand
  15. Derpherder
    Mar 14, 2017
    5
    It was ok the durability system is crap the graphics are meh. Not a perfect game ocarina of time was still a better game i think that the game not having dungeons ruined it.
  16. faat
    Mar 16, 2017
    7
    The game itself is fantastic. Still beautiful, despite low 720p resolution. The freedom of running anywhere and doing or climbing anything is pretty cool. What tanks the score for me is performance, which is quite terrible and cannot be accepted in current state (c'mon Nintendo, you can do better!). And the last, which may be my personal copy - but it's freezing my Wii U very very often.
  17. mtlvmpr
    Jul 30, 2017
    7
    Finally completed and I must say that this was the most 7/10 game I've ever played. Going to keep this spoiler-free

    It took me a while to get hooked to the world of Link who can easily scale mountains but struggles to sprint from shop to shop. Abilities spiced it up along with easy cooking and fun traveling methods (Those sand seals were the best). But the way horses were handled was    Finally completed and I must say that this was the most 7/10 game I've ever played. Going to keep this spoiler-free

    It took me a while to get hooked to the world of Link who can easily scale mountains but struggles to sprint from shop to shop. Abilities spiced it up along with easy cooking and fun traveling methods (Those sand seals were the best). But the way horses were handled was just bizarre as you can only call your horse if it's close enough (Realistic I guess?) but you could still get the very same horse you left to 100km away if you happened to be at one of the stables (It's like 2 different people created these mechanics).

    Combat felt a bit airy every now and then but with that also a way more flexible with instant weapon switching and dedicated bow button (Infinite bombs are cool too). Boss fights also felt great (Counting out 1).

    Infinite bombs, unbreakable armor and teleporting to any shrine/tower aside the weapon durability system was terrible along with the lengthy ability cooldowns.

    Those were all things that mattered to me. Never take in just one review and call it a buy.

    PS. Curse those towers. I hope they disappear from gaming as soon as possible.

    [Only spoiler-like thing here about the ending (Probably not really ruining nor spoiling anything)]
    I didn't like the ending because I felt like it didn't offer any closure.    … Expand
  18. liamjason
    Sep 13, 2017
    6
    One of the most overrated games I've played in my 30+ years of gaming, which includes every Zelda title up through Majora's Mask. Controls, graphics, story, and fun factor lose their appeal quickly and I can't help wonder why the Wii U version did not make good use of the Gamepad. Maybe the game is better on Switch (less framerate issues I hear on that platform), but as the only true newOne of the most overrated games I've played in my 30+ years of gaming, which includes every Zelda title up through Majora's Mask. Controls, graphics, story, and fun factor lose their appeal quickly and I can't help wonder why the Wii U version did not make good use of the Gamepad. Maybe the game is better on Switch (less framerate issues I hear on that platform), but as the only true new Zelda game on the Wii U platform, I expected much more. I don't know why you would want to play this game over Horizon Zero Dawn or Persona 5 other than for brief nostalgia.… Expand
  19. Smartant01
    Mar 9, 2017
    7
    While I haven't yet completed the game i've played around 20 hours so far, and i feel like i have a good grasp of how the game plays. Here are my thoughts. Alot of what the game does is very impressive, having a sprawling open world with meaningful places to explore. Voice acting is done well, and the lore of the game is much more fleshed out than any other Zelda title that comes toWhile I haven't yet completed the game i've played around 20 hours so far, and i feel like i have a good grasp of how the game plays. Here are my thoughts. Alot of what the game does is very impressive, having a sprawling open world with meaningful places to explore. Voice acting is done well, and the lore of the game is much more fleshed out than any other Zelda title that comes to mind. It all sums into an enjoyable game with some obvious flaws (Framerate Drops, Variety of enemies), and several other facets that are debatable as to being good or bad. Where the game disappointed me was how far of a departure it was from the franchise classics we all know and love. It essentially has no dungeons, and although there are four divine beasts - and as i'm told a final dungeon - the divine beasts can be completed in about 5-10 mins if you know what you're doing. They comprise of a handful of puzzles, with a final boss at the end, and they all have the same aesthetic. To me, these things do not equate to an actual dungeon, but more of a patch-up job of trying to incorporate a traditional zelda feel. The second problem i have with this game - and again i will concede that this is subjective - is the lack (or subtlety) of music. It felt like such an integral part of the classic games, to have these exhilarating and emotionally charged instrumental songs that were also a gameplay mechanic in addition to setting the mood. I won't go on any further, as this game is like i said a very impressive open world game - but it could have a different coat of paint and you'd never pick it as even being inspired by Zelda. I gave it a 7 because it has nothing to offer outside of being an open-word survival game, and I've sunk 50+ hours into far too many open world games to the point where another one done exceptionally well does not hold enough salt on its own. If you're anything like me this game will make you homesick to play the series' staples. But regardless, this is not worthy of a 98 on metacritic.… Expand
  20. Nedda
    Mar 15, 2017
    7
    story: OK
    puzzles: interesting at first, then get boring and boring...
    I love exploring ,but without a strong meaningful reason makes me feel lost. Where is the lore?
  21. XIAIAIAiAIAIA
    Mar 28, 2017
    6
    A beautiful game brimming with atmosphere that is brought down by it's stale mechanics, boring story and awful fanbase. Open world game where you climb towers to unlock parts of the map, get collectibles and solve childishly easy puzzles is nothing I haven't seen before. All of this was however done by Horizon Zero Dawn, but that is a better game by miles.
    However I did enjoy alot of    A beautiful game brimming with atmosphere that is brought down by it's stale mechanics, boring story and awful fanbase. Open world game where you climb towers to unlock parts of the map, get collectibles and solve childishly easy puzzles is nothing I haven't seen before. All of this was however done by Horizon Zero Dawn, but that is a better game by miles.
    However I did enjoy alot of aspects, but the cons outweighted the pros. (I was going to give it a 7 but the cancerous fanbase who send death threats to the wonderful Jim Sterling becuase he didn't give it a 10 brought it down. **** you.)    … Expand
  22. CyberRobotnix
    Dec 19, 2017
    5
    What did this game do wrong? The following things precisely:

    • Exploration feels unrewarding as all you find are Koroks and sometimes Shrines • The Shrines themselves are too easy and basic and all look the same • The story is disappointing as all the interesting events happened 100 years ago • No traditional dungeons • The dungeons which the game does have are too short and    What did this game do wrong? The following things precisely:

    • Exploration feels unrewarding as all you find are Koroks and sometimes Shrines

    • The Shrines themselves are too easy and basic and all look the same

    • The story is disappointing as all the interesting events happened 100 years ago

    • No traditional dungeons

    • The dungeons which the game does have are too short and easy

    • Overworld music is boring

    • Sidequests for the most part are underdeveloped and give crappy rewards

    • Durability is a terrible system and devalues any weapon you get

    • Everything destroys you at the beginning of the game, but at the end, you’re extremely overpowered and the entire game becomes a joke

    • Ganon is just a mindless monster that for some reason doesn’t talk; the boss fight against him is also way too easy

    • Horses are completely useless

    • Despite what the story implies, there is literally no sense of urgency to defeat Ganon

    • Enemy variety is absolutely terrible

    • Some costumes and weapons are locked behind amiibo

    I don’t see why it has so many 10/10 reviews.    … Expand
  23. Satanson
    Mar 18, 2017
    6
    Would have loved it to be a 10/10 game but it's not.
    A summary of the game is that it is huge but empty and not only that, the dungeons and bosses in the game are too easy except for one of the bosses that was kinda challenging.
    The graphics are not my taste but they could have done better and it has frame drops. The English voice acting is barely ok for most of the characters but they    Would have loved it to be a 10/10 game but it's not.
    A summary of the game is that it is huge but empty and not only that, the dungeons and bosses in the game are too easy except for one of the bosses that was kinda challenging.
    The graphics are not my taste but they could have done better and it has frame drops.
    The English voice acting is barely ok for most of the characters but they definitely chose a wrong voice actor for Zelda in my opinion.
    The music is good when there is any.
    The controls of the game are good and I liked the durability system but I would've liked a indicator on how much dura you have left on the weapon/shield/bow.
    Hunting and gathering to make your own potions and food is a nice feature in the game that I like so you don't need to buy everything from a shop.
    As for the story it was ok but not great.
    At the end of the game I didn't feel accomplished.
    I probably won't play it again.
    6/10    … Expand
  24. pghdave420
    Mar 24, 2017
    6
    sorry nintendo to much hype.this game is going in the over rated games of 2017. all these 10s are lies or the kiddies never played zelda games.this game lacked the zelda dungeons that made the game great.i liked going to dungeons getting new weapons instead they hand everything to you in the first 5 mins.very boring open world with the same mobs over every hill.all the beast are aresorry nintendo to much hype.this game is going in the over rated games of 2017. all these 10s are lies or the kiddies never played zelda games.this game lacked the zelda dungeons that made the game great.i liked going to dungeons getting new weapons instead they hand everything to you in the first 5 mins.very boring open world with the same mobs over every hill.all the beast are are puzzles and a end boss so they are not dungeons very boring.also the pausing every 5 swings is very annoying to.i love nintendo been gaming since 85 and own all the old nintendo systems just sucks this was a let down. just glad i didnt waste more money on a switch for this game… Expand
  25. gabriot
    Mar 29, 2017
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This might be the worst Zelda game I have played yet, which is so sad because it easily could have been the best if they didn't pull typical modern Nintendo and modern triple A tactics to ruin their game.

    The strong point of this game is the beginning of the game (yep, typical triple A game) and the exploration aspect of it. It's mostly pretty to look at too. That's about where the strengths end unfortunately.

    We don't get many characters so I'll just summarize my gripes with the game:
    -The weapon durability system in this game is trash. I'd say every weapon was made of glass but that'd be an insult to glass, it's more like fighting with peanut brittle. I'm not kidding you that every single weapon in this game breaks after one or two enemies. There is no indication of durability aside from your weapon will notify you when it is 1 or two wacks away from breaking. As a result you are never excited to ever receive a new weapon (which makes up most of the shrine treasure chests in the game) because you know it's just pointless.
    Literally the only weapon in the game you have any excitement for is the master sword, not because it's necessarily anymore bad ass than the rest of the weapons, but because IT DOES NOT PERMANENTLY BREAK. Oh don't worry, it still breaks, it just comes back into your inventory after a set amount of time.
    Why oh WHY are people ok with this god awful weapon system? It is not fun at all plain and simple. It doesn't "solve open world issues" like everyone is claiming it does, all it does is pointlessly slow down the game and kill the momentum with constant micro managing of your inventory. In fact, that leads into my next gripe:

    -The game is big but it's not actually as big as it needs to be... it's made much "bigger"(aka longer) due to pointless unfun mechanics that slow the game down. We've gone over the weapons, but how about rain and lightning? Half the game it's raining it seems, and since 90% of what you'll be doing in this game is climbing the **** of mountains everywhere, you basically are forced to just put your controller down, go into the kitchen, come back and see if the rain has let up yet, because you'll never be able to climb any significant cliff in this game (yes even with full climbing gear) due to slipping down constantly in the rain. And since your stamina is such a joke in this game until you hit end game, you'll never climb a decent sized cliff in the game for the majority of it. Lightning is even more annoying. If you have any metallic weapon, bow, OR shield equipped, you have to manually removed them. And considering 90% of **** everything you'll get in those categories is metallic - surprise - you get yet another unfun inventory managing pause of the game to unequip everything or else you'll get one shot killed by lightning. I'm not even exaggerating.

    The difficulty in this game is jacked up beyond all repair as well. It's open world so you are free to complete it in any order you like, but let's just say you are somewhat directed to complete the zora dungeon first due to mian quest lines nudging you to that area of the map. If this was actually a well designed game, the option to go take on harder dungeons would be a good one but it should not be the one you are nudged into going to first. Believe me when I say the zora dungeon is hands down the hardest thing you will ever do in the game. I'm not exagerating when I say you'd have an easier time just going straight to hyrule castle and taking on ganon.

    Meanwhile the rito dungeon is so laughably easy that many of the 120 shrines in the game are actually harder than that entire dungeon. And don't get me wrong, the zora dungeon is not hard due to a well designed set of puzzles or anything. You can just google it and do the dungeon in 30 seconds but where's the fun in that? The four main dungeons in the game are basically just brain teasers, but while the other 3 are at least somewhat clever, the zora one just makes no sense at all and goes against everything the game has taught you up until that point.

    Running out of characters so I'll get on to the ending - boy oh boy I haven't been this disappointed in an ending anticlimactic sequence since Fallout 3 (and this is actually worse). The only good thing about it is the music of hyrule castle. Beyond that, there is zero thought you have to put into getting to Ganon, literally just climb a few mountains and you're there. And Ganon himself... hoo boy. I am not kidding you when I say that a silver bokoblin puts up a harder fight than this guy. It is such a joke of a final boss. I don't even think I ever got hit once by him on the first try beating him and I am not a good gamer at all. His movements are slow and telegraphed, his health total is a joke, and once you beat him you don't get treated to any decent epilogue ending sequence at all (would have at least given SOME point to all the pointless quests you did in the game)    … Expand
  26. kiddy2345
    Apr 1, 2017
    5
    This game excell in gameplay, and graphics and the idea that you are not force to do the story and that you have so much to do is good. Howerver, I can't said it the best game and is far from perfect. First, The story is pretty bland and average at best, People said it has the best story but that not entirely true. The story relies too much on the flashback and the voice acting isThis game excell in gameplay, and graphics and the idea that you are not force to do the story and that you have so much to do is good. Howerver, I can't said it the best game and is far from perfect. First, The story is pretty bland and average at best, People said it has the best story but that not entirely true. The story relies too much on the flashback and the voice acting is considerable but no the best I heard. The story follow the same trama of the other previous Zelda games but this time, link died and was revivied thousands of years later, to once again defeat Ganon and save Zelda. At least Zelda Is containing Ganon. But it follows the stereotype heroes story that have been senn before and the subtances of the story is not that deep. The dungueons felt as if is an excuse to lose more time in the game and most of them were easy to solves. The soundtrack was not the best I heard, I said nier have better soundtrack than this game but still was good to hear but some soundtrack didn't make up the atmosphere especially the boss battle. The last boss battle was easily the most disapointing thing in this game. Just hit arrow in the circle area and that it .So much build up for the last boss battle just to be defeated so easily. Yay! Link the hereo save the day and help zelda defeat Ganon. Why Everytime the boss battle Have to be ganon diferents incarnation? I would prefer change a New villain than this one. Maybe for most people this is the best game of all time, But as for me it is not.… Expand
  27. BabyRants
    Mar 31, 2017
    6
    "Legend of Zelda Breath of the wild is... disappointing at best. For one, you can only have one save file. What the hell? As far as I know, this is the only Legend of Zelda game without multiple save files. Two, the FPS seems to be fine on the Wii U. The Switch on the other hand, experiences horrendous FPS drops. Three, weapons break so easy. The game tells you when your weapon is damaged"Legend of Zelda Breath of the wild is... disappointing at best. For one, you can only have one save file. What the hell? As far as I know, this is the only Legend of Zelda game without multiple save files. Two, the FPS seems to be fine on the Wii U. The Switch on the other hand, experiences horrendous FPS drops. Three, weapons break so easy. The game tells you when your weapon is damaged (which happens quickly), but Four, YOU CAN'T EVEN REPAIR THEM. So why the hell does it tell you they are damaged? To save it's last hit? Five, the "dungeons" seem like they were designed for 7 year olds. They are pathetically obvious. Barely puzzles. Six, just like playing Hyrule Warriors feels like you're playing a clone of Dynasty Warriors, playing Breath of the Wild feels like you are playing a clone of Monster Hunter Ultimate. Seven, Rain and Blood Moons. I understand that the rain is for the immersivity, and the Blood Moon is to give a challenge, but when it rains you can't climb a damn thing, which you kind of need to climb a lot in the game, and if a blood moon shows up have fun trying to get anywhere. Eight, the ragdoll physics feature would be cool if every time you hit a enemy they didn't fly 5 damn feet away from you. I could go on and on, but I'm just going to stop here. I know they wanted to make the game more challenging, but all they did was make a lot of the game's features annoying. The game would be good if it wasn't an annoying laggy mess.

    TL,DR Version: If you're going to buy it, buy the Wii U version. The Switch version is lag fest. And also if you're going to buy it, be prepared to get very annoyed having all your new weapons break in under 2 minutes of use, and a lot, lot and I mean LOT of traveling in a straight line to very far away objective points on a map too big for it's own good." -Quail, My good friend.
    6/10.    … Expand
  28. Colonelcupcake
    Mar 31, 2017
    7
    This game is FAR from perfect. But before all you people come at with all your "Ign gave it a ten, so kys", Shut up, ok? My opinions for other people to read on the internet. If you like this game, I don't care, the only reason I'm writing this is for people who are looking to buy this game, not for people who've bought it and love it, ok? Now that's cleared up, what do I dislike aboutThis game is FAR from perfect. But before all you people come at with all your "Ign gave it a ten, so kys", Shut up, ok? My opinions for other people to read on the internet. If you like this game, I don't care, the only reason I'm writing this is for people who are looking to buy this game, not for people who've bought it and love it, ok? Now that's cleared up, what do I dislike about this game?
    Well, to get started, The game has almost no interior locations. Yeah, it's got houses, Shrines, Hyrule Castle is indoors, but, think about Skyrim (A game I have played a lot of, so my opinions count here. Also, Skyrim's execution isn't perfect, either, but that doesn't mean botw couldn't do it better), in Skyrim there's a bunch of ancient tombs, full of monsters, and one time, I was wondering through an abandoned prison, where I found out how the prisinors escaped, which was how I got out myself, and there's much more interesting interiors, more Castles, taverns shops, blacksmiths, which you can use to make your own weapons, which is one of my favourite parts of that game. But enough about that, this ain't a Skyrim review, but I wanted to make my point about interior locations, and how BOTW didn't have enough.

    Now for somethings I like: This game is BEAUTIFUL, one of the best looking games I've ever seen. Just the way the lovely enemy designs, the beautiful cosy-looking houses, it just looks amazing.
    And the game's story is lovely. Not AMAZING, but very well done. I loved the voice acting, if a bit stale sometimes, the characters were great, all different, with their own personalities, which makes every divine beast a treat! Not because the dungeons are amazing, (But will come to that later) but because the characters are great, and I enjoyed meeting all of them. Maybe except for the Zora, but yeah, all great.

    One thing I talked about was the graphics, which are good, but cause a lot of fps drops, on Wii U, which I heard they patched out, but I haven't tested that yet, so just thought I would mention that, even though I don't care about fps drops, for some people they might be a game breaker, so yeah

    Also, it feels like a lot of the travel feels empty. Whenever I'm going somewhere in other open world games, what would normally take me 10 mins+ of travelling, takes me HOURS, because I'm always finding new, interesting things. Dungeons with interesting, enchanted weapons, small settlements, Dragons, (In Skyrims case) and so many other things. Like, one time I'm playing morrowind, and I see a lady by the road, who was just robbed, but fell in love with the highwayman, and you have to go find him, and tell him, and tha's just really cool. But I didn't see anything like that in Botw. I didn't get sidetracked, because yeah, Shrines are cool, but, I just talk to Beedle, get some Hearty Lizards, cook em up, and bang, +8 hearts, on top of my 10, so that keeps me ok. For instance, I beat Ganon, and at the time I had 15 hearts, but I just cooked some hearty foods, instead of waste my time with shrines, which aren't even that fun. Sorry but I just found them too easy once I put 10 hours into the game, so I saw them as a waste of time. So BOTW has a lack of things to sidetrack me, to get lost in, to spend hours doing things I didn't even plan, and that's just not good open world design to me. Sorry, but it isn't.

    Also, the music is *good*, but not very memorable. I used to be able to remember a bunch of songs from other zelda games, and just other games in general. I do LIKE the music, it's just feels more made for ambience, and just not as grand as the previous games. So, yeah, that's there, and that's just more opinion based on what music you like.

    I feel like the weapon system is a bit pointless, because it isn't even that hard to get good weapons, so the weapons breaking that fast, is just pontless. You could make really cool weapons last longer, so that if you find a great flameblade, it doesn't break in 20 hits, and then you could make common weapons, like Boko clubs, Soldiers Swords, and other weapons that to under a certain amount of damage break faster, because they're more common. And doing that would make the whole system better, so that you HAVE to save your good weapons for more difficult encounters. (So the whole complaint about brittle weapons would be solved this way, too)

    And that's about the end, hope you found this interesting. I would continue but I've typed 4500 characters, so that's the end of this review. So......

    Fun game very nice, I would go over more positives, but there isn't enough space, so, if you are thinking of getting it, and my points don't fase you, buy this now. But, if my points make sense to you, I would wait and look into it a bit more. (after all, it's like 50 pounds, so, lotsa money)

    Also, I have beaten this game, I haven't put in 100's of hours, but I have played it, done 60+ shrines, and a good bit of side things. And I have but a lot of hours TES games    … Expand
  29. Zamasu
    Apr 8, 2017
    7
    PROS:
    - It's great that Breath of the Wild took a different direction from the previous Zelda games by giving the player more freedom in terms of where they want to explore which plays well with the huge open world.
    - I liked the art style - Horse riding felt more realistic. - Many side quests - Environments are diverse - Many different weapons and armor sets CONS: - Seeing the    PROS:
    - It's great that Breath of the Wild took a different direction from the previous Zelda games by giving the player more freedom in terms of where they want to explore which plays well with the huge open world.
    - I liked the art style
    - Horse riding felt more realistic.
    - Many side quests
    - Environments are diverse
    - Many different weapons and armor sets
    CONS:
    - Seeing the size of the world, there wasn't much in it. The towns are fine (Hateno and Kakariko), but there wasn't much to do in Zora's Domain and Rito Village felt bland.
    - The 4 dungeons in the game and their bosses look exactly the same with some minor differences.
    - Weapon's break too quickly. I don't mind weapon durability, but most of my weapons seem to break in a few swings.
    - Shrines get very tiring after completing 40 - 60 of them.
    - Only 5-6 types of enemies/ mobs
    - The only reason this game is hard is because enemies can one shot you.
    - Music is not as good as the previous Zelda games.

    Overall this game is enjoying, but I feel like this game lacks in quality of content.    … Expand
  30. NintendoFan39
    Apr 8, 2017
    7
    The game has beautiful graphics with a great story. I really like all the stuff you can do. What I don't like is all the rain and ambushes. Every time I try to climb something it rains and I'm trying to climb something it rains and I fall down. The ambushing happens when I'm trying to sneak kill an enemy camp and skeletons or bats attack me and I get attacked by like 10 things at once. TheThe game has beautiful graphics with a great story. I really like all the stuff you can do. What I don't like is all the rain and ambushes. Every time I try to climb something it rains and I'm trying to climb something it rains and I fall down. The ambushing happens when I'm trying to sneak kill an enemy camp and skeletons or bats attack me and I get attacked by like 10 things at once. The game also has fps drops when fighting enemies and bosses. 7.8/10 too much water… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Wii U Game of 2017
1
#1 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2017
1
#1 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Video Chums
    Apr 10, 2017
    91
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an absolute joy to play as it's an undeniably rewarding adventure set in a deeply immersive world. Although the experience is weighed down by a few minor problems, the overall journey is one that no gamer will soon forget.
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  2. AusGamers
    Mar 28, 2017
    92
    Breath of the Wild can’t be compared to the likes of The Witcher 3 or Skyrim because it’s not trying to be those games -- it’s a Nintendo game -- and series -- all grown up. It has a lot to offer and will keep you engaged for lengthy periods of time. If you’re playing on Switch as you absolutely should be, then you can also Zelda wherever you go. It’s arguably not the best Zelda game, but damn, it might be the most polished, and the most ambitious.
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  3. DarkStation
    Mar 20, 2017
    100
    Does it have the best combat system in the world? No. Is it the best looking game out there? No. Does it have the best RPG soundtrack ever? No. Can the game make you feel like you are eight years old again? Hell yes. It certainly had that effect with me. It has been a long time since exploring, fighting, and adventuring has so consistently brought a smile to my face. Breath of the Wild is such a wonderful experience that once you play it, you will likely never look at open world games the same again.
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