My First 24 Hours with Breath of the Wild
(It’s a spoiler-free review!) 🤐
Wow. No seriously, that was my first thought. The game is breathtaking. You can hear the wind blow, see the grass move, creatures go about their days whether you interact with them or not. It is a whole new realm in Zelda gaming, but still very distinctly Zelda.
The atmosphere is warm and inviting, typical Zelda noises and scores accompany the beautiful new graphics but with a twist. The addition of piano, and wind instruments has lightened the normal Zelda soundtrack, giving it the same airy feel as the game while still supplying the nostalgia hardcore Zelda fans hope for.
Although this is an entirely new experience, I chose to start my first play through in my typically gaming fashion- go straight for the main quest and attack enemies head on. This is clearly not the way to play this game. I learned pretty quickly that the enemies in this game are far tougher than you are, so planning stealth attacks or avoiding enemies altogether is easier early on. One thing that I am finding it hard to get used to, is that your gear wears down over time and will eventually break. This includes main weapons, bows, and shields. During combat, I found it extremely hard to get used to the button layout, as I have been playing Xbox lately. (For you Xbox users- the X and Y buttons are switched).
While combat required a lot of trial and error, once you get the hang of it, it’s great fun. I consider the Sheikah Slate, Shrines, and Towers very welcome additions to the Zelda universe. I love the Sheikah Slate, it’s like Link got an iPhone! I love that it is not only how you “download” skills and maps, it can be used as binoculars, to mark points on the map, and it is also how you use the skills you learn in the first few Sheikah Shrines. The Sheikah Shrines are Zelda puzzles at their finest, relatively short and spread throughout the massive world. Since I want to spend most of my time exploring the open world, it’s nice that the “dungeons” I have come across so far are short. The Sheikah Towers have the greatest views in the game, and paragliding off the top of them is incredibly fun, however the climb up is a pain! I do however love that when you are climbing one, you can see that Link’s feet are actually in the specific footholds.
The cutscenes have spoken dialogue, which to me was huge. It adds a cinematic quality to the game that had never been there before. The story has been compelling to the point where I am in the game, and I have enjoyed trying to figure out where it fits on the Legend of Zelda timeline- if anyone has any ideas, I’d love to discuss! I found myself expecting cutscenes every time I entered a new area, but that is no longer a thing my dear Zelda fans. The flow of the game is incredibly smooth.
Although I struggled in the beginning, and had to go back to do some material farming in order to buy better gear, Breath of the Wild has given me the warm fuzzy feeling of familiarity and the thrill of a new adventure. I highly recommend checking it out.
