Breath of the wild is a game that is part of a long video game series known as The Legend of Zelda. All video games in this series has followed many of the same traditions such as linear story progression, lack of a dedicated jumping mechanic, and much more. Breath of the Wild was meant to break these conventions, so does this make a game that is unlike the traditional Zelda experience?
Breath of the Wild sets you on a journey across a large open world and tasks Link with destroying a large evil force known as Calamity Ganon. You start in a place known as the Great Plateau, which serves as a tutorial to the game's mechanics. The Great Plateau lets the player experience some of the game's action before even heading out into the whole world, which means that the player is still deciding their own actions as oppose to a more linear experience. The Great Plateau does not clear up how the game works, but rather it dumps you in the world so that you can explore and learn yourself. For a Zelda game, this was refreshing to the typical linear tutorials.
In the Great Plateau, the game introduces its first tower, which are points that Link must go to in order to unlock more visible areas on the in-game map. These map clearing towers are unlike towers in other open-world games. This is because I constantly found myself wanting to climb these towers because they are more of a benefit than a task. The towers do not only offer map data. but they also offer high points to look for important landmarks and a fast travel point, which are both extremely beneficial to the player.
From these towers, you can see shrines, which I like to call mini dungeons. These mini dungeons are more linear and provide the player with challenges and puzzles. Once you finish these puzzles, the player is rewarded with a spirit orb. These shrines do not progress the in-game story, but do provide the player with benefits from completing them. Once you complete four shrines and collect four spirit orbs, these can be cashed in for an extra heart container or stamina gauge. These extra hearts and stamina gauges are necessary to the average player, but you can complete the game having only completed four shrines. There are many shrines in Breath of the Wild, so the player is constantly searching for these and collecting spirit orbs. Once completed, shrines can then be used as a fast travel point on the map.
Once you complete the four shrines on the Great Plateau, you are free to explore the entire world of Breath of the Wild. Apart from the main quest of destroying Calamity Ganon, the player also is tasked with freeing four divine beasts. These beasts act as the typical larger dungeons in the game, but also provide the player with more story and help with the final boss fight. Unlike shrines, these are not linear and do not give the player spirit orbs. If you have ever played a Zelda game, then you know what the typical dungeon is like. You walk in, complete puzzles, fight a boss, and get a heart container. These dungeons do follow the typical Zelda conventions, except for the fact that you can complete puzzles in any order you would like. These divine beasts are necessary to the overall progression of the story, but are not crucial to the ending of the game. Therefore, you can complete the game without any of the divine beasts completed, however the player will be missing out on the entire story of the game.
The mechanics of the game are unlike other Zelda games. In Breath of the Wild, the player can jump, climb and glide, which have not been seen in other Zelda games. The addition of these mechanics means that the game has become more complex, yet is still easy for newcomers to pick up and play. Another mechanic that has not been seen in other Zelda games is the ability to pick up any weapon from any enemy. The player can grab a diverse amount of weapons and use them to their imagination, however these weapons can break. This means that no weapon is ever permanent (except the master sword, which also has restraints to keep the game balanced), so the player is always searching for new weapons and is always on their toes in battle. Although this weapon system is highly controversial, I appreciate that weapons break because this means the player must step out of their comfort zone and use weapons and abilities they are less likely to use.
The inventory that the player is given lets them scroll through weapons, shields, raw food items, cooked food items, clothing, and quest items. Unlike other Zelda games, Breath of the Wild lets Link change his outfit, which adds another dimension to the game. Weather in Breath of the Wild can injure the player, so putting the right piece of clothing on during a blizzard, thunderstorm, or extreme heat can mean the difference between life and death. The game also introduces Korok seeds, which are seeds that are hidden throughout the world of Breath of the Wild. Once the player collects a certain number of these seeds, Hestu will upgrade your inventory. You can choose to increase your number of held weapons, shields, or bows. This helps the player in that you can choose between more weapons when one breaks.
Healing is another mechanic that the game throws at you that other Zelda games did not. In Breath of the Wild, the player has the ability to collect foods and ingredients in order to cook or eat raw. Doing this heals the player, which means that during battle Link will have to eat food to stay alive. At the beginning of the game, this is much more crucial. However, once the player collects spirit orbs and heart containers, this mechanic is not used nearly as much. Although healing yourself is a good mechanic, the lack of a hotkey menu means that you must pause the game during intense battles. This takes the player out of immersion, which can ruin most of the battles.
Breath of the Wild is an exploration game, which means that it has beautiful landscapes that are depicted wonderfully through the graphic design of the game. Most of Breath of the Wild's landscapes are filled with shrines, mini games, towns, or other exciting things to explore. However, there are some landscapes such as fields that do not have their fair share of population, but even in these less inspired places, they still serve a purpose. I appreciate these open spaces because it provides the player with an area to travel. Without these fields, travel would be much shorter and it would be less exciting to travel to the next place.
There is so much to explore in Breath of the Wild, but once you complete the initial adventure there is so much more to go back and complete. The DLC for Breath of the Wild was not as exciting as I thought it would be. DLC pack one lets the player collect more outfits and provides two new challenges. The trial of the sword tasks the player with going through multiple rooms of enemies and ultimately upgrading the master sword. The second challenge is a hero mode for Breath of the Wild known as master mode. In previous Zelda games, this mode was included in the initial price of the game, so I was disappointed to see Nintendo place the new mode into the DLC. The second pack provides the player with a new weapon, more clothing items, a new dungeon, and a new quest. However, this new content did not completely itch the scratch of what I wanted to see in a DLC for Breath of the Wild. The new weapon, the one-hit obliterator is completely under used in the new content. This is disappointing considering that the weapon had so much more potential. The new quest is interesting, but was not as good as the main quest in Breath of the Wild. Overall, I was glad to see more content in the game, but with the $20 price tag, I do not think it was completely worth it.
Overall, I feel Breath of the Wild was an interesting, fun, exciting adventure. The addition of so many new mechanics left me wanting more from a game with so much content already. Although there were a few things that I did not like about the game, it was still an amazing experience that I would like to see more of. Below is a run-down of my review, for scoring purposes:
Story: 20/20-Breath of the Wild has a stunning story, which ultimately ends up with the destruction of Ganon
Mechanics: 20/20-Breath of the Wild has a bunch of new mechanics and also provides physics that are extremely realistic.
Game play: 19/20-The game play is great, however the lack of a hot key menu pulls the player out of immersion.
World: 20/20-A great open world that was hand crafted, has many things to explore.
Dungeons: 19/20-Although the addition of shrines to Zelda made the game more complex, the divine beasts are not as interesting due to their non linear, open design.
Overall: 9.8/10
DLC: 8.2/10: The DLC does not provide enough content for its $20 price tag, not to mention the content it does add is under used and leaves much to be wanted.
For the full review, please locate the word document attached to this post
Breath of the Wild sets you on a journey across a large open world and tasks Link with destroying a large evil force known as Calamity Ganon. You start in a place known as the Great Plateau, which serves as a tutorial to the game's mechanics. The Great Plateau lets the player experience some of the game's action before even heading out into the whole world, which means that the player is still deciding their own actions as oppose to a more linear experience. The Great Plateau does not clear up how the game works, but rather it dumps you in the world so that you can explore and learn yourself. For a Zelda game, this was refreshing to the typical linear tutorials.
In the Great Plateau, the game introduces its first tower, which are points that Link must go to in order to unlock more visible areas on the in-game map. These map clearing towers are unlike towers in other open-world games. This is because I constantly found myself wanting to climb these towers because they are more of a benefit than a task. The towers do not only offer map data. but they also offer high points to look for important landmarks and a fast travel point, which are both extremely beneficial to the player.
From these towers, you can see shrines, which I like to call mini dungeons. These mini dungeons are more linear and provide the player with challenges and puzzles. Once you finish these puzzles, the player is rewarded with a spirit orb. These shrines do not progress the in-game story, but do provide the player with benefits from completing them. Once you complete four shrines and collect four spirit orbs, these can be cashed in for an extra heart container or stamina gauge. These extra hearts and stamina gauges are necessary to the average player, but you can complete the game having only completed four shrines. There are many shrines in Breath of the Wild, so the player is constantly searching for these and collecting spirit orbs. Once completed, shrines can then be used as a fast travel point on the map.
Once you complete the four shrines on the Great Plateau, you are free to explore the entire world of Breath of the Wild. Apart from the main quest of destroying Calamity Ganon, the player also is tasked with freeing four divine beasts. These beasts act as the typical larger dungeons in the game, but also provide the player with more story and help with the final boss fight. Unlike shrines, these are not linear and do not give the player spirit orbs. If you have ever played a Zelda game, then you know what the typical dungeon is like. You walk in, complete puzzles, fight a boss, and get a heart container. These dungeons do follow the typical Zelda conventions, except for the fact that you can complete puzzles in any order you would like. These divine beasts are necessary to the overall progression of the story, but are not crucial to the ending of the game. Therefore, you can complete the game without any of the divine beasts completed, however the player will be missing out on the entire story of the game.
The mechanics of the game are unlike other Zelda games. In Breath of the Wild, the player can jump, climb and glide, which have not been seen in other Zelda games. The addition of these mechanics means that the game has become more complex, yet is still easy for newcomers to pick up and play. Another mechanic that has not been seen in other Zelda games is the ability to pick up any weapon from any enemy. The player can grab a diverse amount of weapons and use them to their imagination, however these weapons can break. This means that no weapon is ever permanent (except the master sword, which also has restraints to keep the game balanced), so the player is always searching for new weapons and is always on their toes in battle. Although this weapon system is highly controversial, I appreciate that weapons break because this means the player must step out of their comfort zone and use weapons and abilities they are less likely to use.
The inventory that the player is given lets them scroll through weapons, shields, raw food items, cooked food items, clothing, and quest items. Unlike other Zelda games, Breath of the Wild lets Link change his outfit, which adds another dimension to the game. Weather in Breath of the Wild can injure the player, so putting the right piece of clothing on during a blizzard, thunderstorm, or extreme heat can mean the difference between life and death. The game also introduces Korok seeds, which are seeds that are hidden throughout the world of Breath of the Wild. Once the player collects a certain number of these seeds, Hestu will upgrade your inventory. You can choose to increase your number of held weapons, shields, or bows. This helps the player in that you can choose between more weapons when one breaks.
Healing is another mechanic that the game throws at you that other Zelda games did not. In Breath of the Wild, the player has the ability to collect foods and ingredients in order to cook or eat raw. Doing this heals the player, which means that during battle Link will have to eat food to stay alive. At the beginning of the game, this is much more crucial. However, once the player collects spirit orbs and heart containers, this mechanic is not used nearly as much. Although healing yourself is a good mechanic, the lack of a hotkey menu means that you must pause the game during intense battles. This takes the player out of immersion, which can ruin most of the battles.
Breath of the Wild is an exploration game, which means that it has beautiful landscapes that are depicted wonderfully through the graphic design of the game. Most of Breath of the Wild's landscapes are filled with shrines, mini games, towns, or other exciting things to explore. However, there are some landscapes such as fields that do not have their fair share of population, but even in these less inspired places, they still serve a purpose. I appreciate these open spaces because it provides the player with an area to travel. Without these fields, travel would be much shorter and it would be less exciting to travel to the next place.
There is so much to explore in Breath of the Wild, but once you complete the initial adventure there is so much more to go back and complete. The DLC for Breath of the Wild was not as exciting as I thought it would be. DLC pack one lets the player collect more outfits and provides two new challenges. The trial of the sword tasks the player with going through multiple rooms of enemies and ultimately upgrading the master sword. The second challenge is a hero mode for Breath of the Wild known as master mode. In previous Zelda games, this mode was included in the initial price of the game, so I was disappointed to see Nintendo place the new mode into the DLC. The second pack provides the player with a new weapon, more clothing items, a new dungeon, and a new quest. However, this new content did not completely itch the scratch of what I wanted to see in a DLC for Breath of the Wild. The new weapon, the one-hit obliterator is completely under used in the new content. This is disappointing considering that the weapon had so much more potential. The new quest is interesting, but was not as good as the main quest in Breath of the Wild. Overall, I was glad to see more content in the game, but with the $20 price tag, I do not think it was completely worth it.
Overall, I feel Breath of the Wild was an interesting, fun, exciting adventure. The addition of so many new mechanics left me wanting more from a game with so much content already. Although there were a few things that I did not like about the game, it was still an amazing experience that I would like to see more of. Below is a run-down of my review, for scoring purposes:
Story: 20/20-Breath of the Wild has a stunning story, which ultimately ends up with the destruction of Ganon
Mechanics: 20/20-Breath of the Wild has a bunch of new mechanics and also provides physics that are extremely realistic.
Game play: 19/20-The game play is great, however the lack of a hot key menu pulls the player out of immersion.
World: 20/20-A great open world that was hand crafted, has many things to explore.
Dungeons: 19/20-Although the addition of shrines to Zelda made the game more complex, the divine beasts are not as interesting due to their non linear, open design.
Overall: 9.8/10
DLC: 8.2/10: The DLC does not provide enough content for its $20 price tag, not to mention the content it does add is under used and leaves much to be wanted.
For the full review, please locate the word document attached to this post
