Every time there is a new Zelda I buy a nintendo (if I don’t already have the current generation). It’s typically the only nintendo game I care about aside from Metroid. So that should give you a sense of how much I like the franchise. For those who want the bite-sized version: steer clear, save your time and money. This game is incredibly overrated. Zelda Breath of the Wild is really bad for a few key reasons. In short, their attempt to make it «real» is poorly conceived and executed. Weapons break from looking at them, Link cannot even do a 100 yard sprint, you need to cook stupid recipes to regain hearts and can only do so in select locations (with a horrid interface where you cannot even cook multiples of the same dish). I could go on. So, for those curious about the details: 1) Wepons. All weapons have durability. You cannot repair them. And the durability is really low (2-4 trash mobs is not unusual). In boss fights you destroy multiple weapons, possibly a few bows and a few shields. Your mileage may vary. This never stops. You never get a weapon that lasts, or that you can repair. Not even the ones you fight really hard to get. There is one indestructible weapon, but it needs to recharge for 10min so same difference. This mechanism is garbage. Totally unnecessary, completely ridiculous (I mean, a metal sword breaks after 10 strikes, or a bow after shooting 20 arrows?), and leads to horrible inventory management. 2) Puzzles. This is a staple of Zelda games. Amazing dungeons with great puzzles, forcing you to think different, to use your tools in new surprising ways. In BotW, not so much. There are two types of dungeons here: divine beasts and shrines. Divine beasts are decent. They require a little bit of mind-bending, and in return you will get some interesting treasure. There is a total of 4 of these. Shrines on the other hand are pathetic. They are simple, repetitive, and guess what, you will have to do ~40 of them to get Link’s master sword! Also, some of them try to use the gyroscope of the switch to control objects. Spoiler; it doesnt work. 3) Stamina. You have a very limited amount of stamina to run, climb or swim. We’re talking a few seconds for running, more for climbing and swimming. You need to do A LOT of all three activities. 4) Health. Normally in Zelda games you have a combination of small fun dungeouns (here called shrines) giving you quarters of heart containers and more complex dungeons where you get full heart containers. This mechanism is here as well, but broken for 2 simple reasons. First, there are too few dungeons giving full hearts (4 in total). Second, the 120 (yes, really) shrines are repetitive and become a real grind long before it becomes optional to complete any more. And to restore health you need to cook, something you can only do in select locations, with recipes the game does not keep track of, and without a UI to make the cooking fun. 5) Controls. Some people have been comparing this to Horizons and bosses to Bloodborne. This is a truly unjust comparison. Both aforementioned games have impeccable controls and fights with such precise strike-boxes (the definition of the area around eg. a sword that will inflict damage if your character comes into contact with it) that you cannot blame anyone but yourself whenever you die. In BotW the controls are sloppy and the strike boxes imprecise. Also, they do you huge disservice with perspective controls. It is clumsy to lock on to enemies and hard to manage multiple enemies at ones with locking. Note, I LOVE Horizons and Bloodborne, so this is not bc I can’t handle such controls. And I won’t even get into controlling the horses... I really, really wanted to like this game. I’ve tried twice now but stopped playing both times. But Nintendo’s attempt at making the mechanics complex and more «real» has in my opinion ruined what could have been a beautiful, open-world adventure with the staples of the franchise (solving puzzles, finding and upgrading epic gear, and fighting bosses with as much brains as brawns).
Other Helpful Reviews for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Zelda series needs no introduction, and neither does its latest installment, Breath of the Wild (BotW). Nintendo did the same thing they did with Twilight Princess and released it as both the final great game for th... Read Full Review
This game is an enormous waste of time... in the best of ways. There have been a billion glowing reviews, so here are the only negatives:1) Breaking weapons is a neat mechanic, really, but can get really annoying.2) Slow... Read Full Review
