Game Commentary: Breath of the Wild

Of course, this was a long time coming. When you own a Switch, you have to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This Nintendo exclusive title received perfect reviews all across the board and was praised as one of the greatest games ever created. As a person who's never played a Zelda game, how does this statement actually hold up?

From what I've heard and seen of Zelda before, I went into the journey thinking I'd be in for some grand adventure with a compelling story, characters and lore that will pull at my heartstrings by the end. But of course, if you know Nintendo's game design philosophy, they've always emphasised gameplay over narrative and this is very, very apparent in this installment in the franchise.

You start the game with barely any story and context and it's up to you to actually reach the finality of the narrative on your own. Do it in your own time and by your rules. Don't care about Revali? Skip his Divine Beast and go slay Ganon! Don't want the Master Sword? Beat Ganon with a damn bone arm! It's up to you!

I suppose my own expectations clashed here whereby I expected a far deeper and intriguing story than what was presented. I wanted way more cutscenes, more dungeons to explain the lore and story that led up to Link's awakening in this new Hyrule and I expected grander boss battles that had lasting consequences. Honestly, even now, my justification lies in the other games in the series! They definitely had a lot more key moments that were lacking here. I did everything that provided more story to the experience but it still came up rather short. A lot of people love it though so maybe my expectations of this particular title was a little misplaced. That being said, I do believe adding more could only serve to make the entire experience better.

Alright, so the story was a little...dry. It's not bad and it's most certainly a somewhat grandiose tale. How about the gameplay? Did it make up for the shortcomings of the narrative? This is supposedly the best Zelda title and Link can literally do anything! That spells a recipe for either greatness or disaster! I sit somewhere in the middle but heavily leaning towards greatness.

See, the game isn't difficult per se if you know what you're doing but the whole idea of the journey is to fail and learn until Link becomes a badass in your hands. That's certainly what happened to me. I felt stupid so many times and I cussed out the combat system over and over again. Ultimately though, I could kill a Lynel without much struggle compared to some of the other folks I've seen complaining online. I beat Ganon with only tier 2 armour at my disposal. I learned to reflect guardian laser beams before I even uncovered half of the damn map! Admittedly, I had to spend a good chunk of time to understand the timing of the beam but I certainly felt strong by the end.

The shrines were a great test of my skills as well, especially the combat trials. I found myself rushing from shrine to shrine whenever I saw them because they were just too damn fun! Koroks were also a nice surprise that encouraged curiosity and exploration, and solving some of them required understanding some of the game mechanics which felt rewarding to the players who spent the time to do so.

But much like the story, I expected a little more...interesting scenarios featuring the world. The combat is one thing because the lack of bosses in this game is apparently a let down for most people. Sure, you can fight your 100th Lynel but a Lynel is still a Lynel. I wanted more varied boss fights with a wider spectacle. The true issue to me here lies in the exploration. While I did enjoy my time in Hyrule, the exploration seems to be far more interesting for the fans of the series who'd want to search for the Temple of Time or sit there and chill to the tune in the Rito village. I just flew by not knowing what was what because I had no history with the series. They can have any sort of historical or cryptic message out there that might make a fan go "Holy Sh-!" but I simply couldn't get that and my curiosity just wasn't as rewarding as people make it out to be.

I feel that I got ruined by all the great reviews and hype surrounding this title. I mean, calling it a God-like game certainly hypes it up even for non-Zelda players and getting into it now, I can't say I share the same sentiment as the common folk. The music was sweet and soothing but again, I didn't get the references or Easter eggs that made my jaw drop. If a track sounded nice to me, it sounded nostalgic to a fan which then brought on other emotions that further cemented their love for the game. It was honestly quite sad that I didn't get any of that not because I didn't want to but because I was never in a fortunate situation to be able to experience other Zelda games.

One thing I can agree on though is that the atmosphere is incredibly stunning. A little bit too bright I'd say for the graphics but just looking at the water and listening to the sound effects of my footsteps just really sucks you in. Great job!

To summarise, I'm not bashing the game and I don't hate the game. I certainly like it a lot. A good 9/10 if I were to give it a number. I just expected it to be a 12/10 because of the rave reviews and hype and was ultimately let down. I don't blame BOTW. I blame the fans! Darn you all! (I'm kidding, you guys are nice to newcomers).

Also, I'm very much still looking forward to the sequel. Here's to Zelda actually being playable and having the two of them exploring together a la any great JRPG.