A Wild Breath of Fresh Air

07-14-18 11:16 PM

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What up folks! You probably have guessed what this is by now, but if you haven’t: It’s me again, with yet another game review! Today, I’d like to review a game that many people seem to agree is a stellar game - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild! (Well, looks like I’m on a roll with all these RPG reviews huh?) As per usual, before I get into the actual review, I’d like to give everyone a bit of background on the series the game is in, as that doesn’t really fit into the actual review itself.

The Legend of Zelda series is one of Nintendo’s Big 3 series that are pretty much recognized across the world (the other two being Pokemon and Mario). The series centers around the main character Link, the princess Zelda, and their enemy Ganondorf. Now, they aren’t always the exact same people -- the series uses the same ‘formula’ of Link gaining the master sword and defeating Ganondorf, and does it across different times. The character will always share the same name, but will not be the same person. The game really centers on the ‘Triforce’, which each of the main characters represent (Link represents Courage usually, Zelda is Wisdom, and Ganon/Ganondorf is Power). Many people consider the Zelda series to be one of the best video game series of all time, and like most of Nintendo’s series it has quite a large following and also a large amount of media that isn’t just the main series.

Now that you guys know a bit more about the Zelda series, how about we get into the actual review? Let’s begin.

Addictiveness

Look, the game is hard as heck. Frustrating as heck (which I’ll explain more in the difficulty section). I got so angry at one point I almost threw my Switch. But, I have to admit, it was still fun and very addicting. Once I got on a roll, you couldn’t get me off (mainly because I knew if I got off I wouldn’t gain that same momentum ever again if I did get off). I enjoyed the experience, no matter how frustrating it was. I don’t know how Nintendo does it, but they sure know how to keep you in even when you would probably be better off not being in. I guess that it got so frustrating that I just couldn’t put it down until I managed to get past that one bit. Then I’d reach another bit and continue that cycle. Probably wasn’t good for my brain in all honesty, but dang did I have fun. However, once I did get off I found myself not going back on for a while just because I didn’t want to have to deal with whatever I left.

So, while fun and frustrating to the point of addiction, I could just never constantly play it like I could other RPG’s. It’s just a bit too frustrating to deal with at times. Due to this, I’d have to give this section a 7.

Difficulty

Boy did I have fun getting used to this game… And by that, I mean that I died way more times than I needed to at the start, and I continued to have my butt kicked for the entirety of the game. It’s not a easy game, I can tell you that much. I’d accidentally walk in front of enemies without realizing it, or would miss a shot and all of the sudden I’d be swarmed. This is a game where you have to be careful, or you’ll literally get eaten alive by the enemies. There’s enemies that you pretty much can never beat, or at least that I could never beat. And another thing that happens if you aren’t careful and pay attention to your weapons, is that they will break and honestly? I hated it, I always got my butt handed to me because all my weapons broke during a boss fight and I couldn’t find anything. Gotta be real careful about that mess.

Combat isn’t the only difficult part about this game. It has many puzzles that you must (or, at the very least, attempt/should) do, if you want to get stronger and actually be able to defeat the big bad of the game. Some of those puzzles were pretty easy at times, but most of the time… Well, let’s just say it usually took me about 30 minutes of trying before I either figured it out or I decided to say screw it and looked up the answer on Google. Sorry Nintendo, but my brain is not smart enough for this!

You also have to be careful of not wasting too much stamina or you’ll die, or spending too much time in certain areas because the weather there will cause you to die. Seriously, this game is geared towards making it hard for your character to survive if you aren’t the careful type.

All-in-all, the game is pretty difficult. A fun one for a first time Zelda player, for sure, but you’ll hate yourself if you aren’t careful and if you aren’t good with puzzles. If it weren’t for some of the simpler puzzles and times in the game, I’d give this a 10. However, those take the edge off a little so I’ll leave this at a 9.

Graphics

To put it simply, the graphics are absolutely stunning. Like, I let my friend play a bit of this game during the end of our Senior year, and he went through the intro at least 3 times just so he could take in the entirety of the first whole landscape shot that appeared before the title of the game appeared in gameplay. He was in absolute awe, and he’s the type of person who isn’t easy to awe when it comes to graphics.

Nintendo did an amazing job with the graphics with this game. I loved all the models they used, as they meshed well with the landscape that the game had. They always bring creative monsters to the plate, and managed to make the landscape so beautiful. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a pretty game from Nintendo. Sure, I give a lot of their games high rating in graphics I’ll admit, but nothing beats the graphic quality of Breath of the Wild. It makes my expectations for the next one shoot through the roof though haha.

I feel like I’d be committing a crime if I even thought about giving this less than a 10.

Story

The story for the game is a very interesting one, and a very enjoyable one. I can’t put into words how cool I find the story to be, and how much I enjoyed completing it. I loved the fact that it allowed Link to give silly answers, and showed us more of him as a person rather than only a warrior. I loved pretty much every character they introduced -- they were all interesting and unique, and brought something fresh to the story. I love the whole idea of Guardians and the Beasts and ancient technology, the whole ‘being defeated badly once but doing it again anyhow’ vibe it gives. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story right?

The lore involved with this tale was also pretty dang cool, and made me wish I could just save it all in a Codex like Dragon Age does. The story has such a good replay value, and I doubt I could get sick of the story (I could certainly get sick of the darned gameplay though). I haven’t played any other Zelda game, so I can’t really claim this to be my favorite Zelda story, but I can certainly say it’s an amazing one and I can see why people claim this series is one of the best series around.

So, anyways, I think it’s probably obvious I’m giving this section a 10.

Depth

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this was Nintendo’s first attempt at having a more ‘open-world’ game. If it was, then wow did they do an amazing job for a first attempt. There’s so much to explore in this game, and so much to do. The story quest takes quite a lot of time to deal with, and allows you to do so much more while you attempt to do those. There’s a lot of puzzles to beat, plenty of quests to complete. The map is gigantic, and I seriously doubt I’ve uncovered all the secrets in it and I’ve poured plenty of hours into the game (my Switch can testify for that). There was so much to do right off the bat that I didn’t even reach the first Beast (the one I chose anyway - went to Zora’s domain first) until roughly 40 hours in the game.

There’s also DLC to consider, which adds even more to the game (I don't know how much, however as I do not have the DLC myself). There’s plenty to uncover, and plenty to do. I’d have to give this section a solid 10 as well, to be honest.

Sound

Look, the day Nintendo doesn’t make a game with a soundtrack I enjoy is probably the day I die. They went all out when it comes to the soundtrack for this game. There is at least 4+ hours of unique music (from one of the videos I found), and has about 240+ titles (aka songs) in the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game with so much titles before! But, I can say this much - they definitely didn’t make any that were awful. Only Nintendo would make so many songs and manage to make every single one amazing. Each sing fit the area perfectly, and reflected what I felt when I was in those areas. Nintendo never disappoints in the sound department, that’s for sure.

And again, Breath of the Wild earns another 10.

Overall

And we reach yet another end to yet another review. As usual, I’ll be separating the review into my own Personal Rating (what I would have given it if I didn’t break it down into sections), and the True Overall Rating (the rating I get when I total up the scores). I use the true overall rating when I put down the rating for the game. Now, into the ratings we go.

Personal Rating: 10

Even though I was constantly frustrated and angered by this game, I’d still give it a solid 10. It’s an amazingly made game, and there was definitely a lot of time and effort put into it. And while I was constantly tilted by it, I still enjoyed it immensely, and it definitely has found a spot in my top 5 games of all time. I wouldn’t change a thing about it, even those very difficult and annoying puzzles and combat situations. That’s what makes the game what it is, and is probably why I enjoyed it so much - I felt so accomplished whenever I managed to get passed something, it made me enjoy it even more knowing how hard I had to work for it.

True Overall Rating: 9.3

This game is incredibly solid. It has amazing depth, amazing graphics, amazing storytelling, and one amazing soundtrack. They gave you a lot to do, and made sure you’d have hundreds of hours of content and gameplay. They outdid themselves in the graphics department as far as their usual graphics go, making such a great landscape that my not-so-easily-impressed friend couldn’t help but be awed by it. They gave such a interesting story and lore behind the story, while staying true to the basics of the whole legend the game has. They made a soundtrack that could fit everything in the game, clearly dedicating a lot of time and effort to it from the sheer volume of songs and length of the soundtrack. It’s also an incredibly difficult game if you’re not the careful kind or the puzzle type, and you’ll definitely spend time figuring those things out
.

What killed the rating though, was the fact that the game could get so frustrating that it was actually hard to pick up again once you decided to get off. It’s easy to get lost in playing the game and spending many hours in one go, but it’s not so easy getting back into the game once you end your time with it the previous time. It becomes intimidating, thinking about that one frustrating bit you probably decided to end your playtime at. It took away from the addictiveness of the game.

Overall, Breath of the Wild is a stellar game and definitely one to look into if you have experience in the RPG genre and enjoy puzzles. If you don’t, however, I’d stick to watching others play it if you wish to see the story unfold.

That’s all for this review! Thank you for reading and hopefully you enjoyed what I had to say. If you could, I’d love feedback! What did you think about this game or this review? What can I improve on with my next review? Hope to hear from you all!

What up folks! You probably have guessed what this is by now, but if you haven’t: It’s me again, with yet another game review! Today, I’d like to review a game that many people seem to agree is a stellar game - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild! (Well, looks like I’m on a roll with all these RPG reviews huh?) As per usual, before I get into the actual review, I’d like to give everyone a bit of background on the series the game is in, as that doesn’t really fit into the actual review itself.

The Legend of Zelda series is one of Nintendo’s Big 3 series that are pretty much recognized across the world (the other two being Pokemon and Mario). The series centers around the main character Link, the princess Zelda, and their enemy Ganondorf. Now, they aren’t always the exact same people -- the series uses the same ‘formula’ of Link gaining the master sword and defeating Ganondorf, and does it across different times. The character will always share the same name, but will not be the same person. The game really centers on the ‘Triforce’, which each of the main characters represent (Link represents Courage usually, Zelda is Wisdom, and Ganon/Ganondorf is Power). Many people consider the Zelda series to be one of the best video game series of all time, and like most of Nintendo’s series it has quite a large following and also a large amount of media that isn’t just the main series.

Now that you guys know a bit more about the Zelda series, how about we get into the actual review? Let’s begin.

Addictiveness

Look, the game is hard as heck. Frustrating as heck (which I’ll explain more in the difficulty section). I got so angry at one point I almost threw my Switch. But, I have to admit, it was still fun and very addicting. Once I got on a roll, you couldn’t get me off (mainly because I knew if I got off I wouldn’t gain that same momentum ever again if I did get off). I enjoyed the experience, no matter how frustrating it was. I don’t know how Nintendo does it, but they sure know how to keep you in even when you would probably be better off not being in. I guess that it got so frustrating that I just couldn’t put it down until I managed to get past that one bit. Then I’d reach another bit and continue that cycle. Probably wasn’t good for my brain in all honesty, but dang did I have fun. However, once I did get off I found myself not going back on for a while just because I didn’t want to have to deal with whatever I left.

So, while fun and frustrating to the point of addiction, I could just never constantly play it like I could other RPG’s. It’s just a bit too frustrating to deal with at times. Due to this, I’d have to give this section a 7.

Difficulty

Boy did I have fun getting used to this game… And by that, I mean that I died way more times than I needed to at the start, and I continued to have my butt kicked for the entirety of the game. It’s not a easy game, I can tell you that much. I’d accidentally walk in front of enemies without realizing it, or would miss a shot and all of the sudden I’d be swarmed. This is a game where you have to be careful, or you’ll literally get eaten alive by the enemies. There’s enemies that you pretty much can never beat, or at least that I could never beat. And another thing that happens if you aren’t careful and pay attention to your weapons, is that they will break and honestly? I hated it, I always got my butt handed to me because all my weapons broke during a boss fight and I couldn’t find anything. Gotta be real careful about that mess.

Combat isn’t the only difficult part about this game. It has many puzzles that you must (or, at the very least, attempt/should) do, if you want to get stronger and actually be able to defeat the big bad of the game. Some of those puzzles were pretty easy at times, but most of the time… Well, let’s just say it usually took me about 30 minutes of trying before I either figured it out or I decided to say screw it and looked up the answer on Google. Sorry Nintendo, but my brain is not smart enough for this!

You also have to be careful of not wasting too much stamina or you’ll die, or spending too much time in certain areas because the weather there will cause you to die. Seriously, this game is geared towards making it hard for your character to survive if you aren’t the careful type.

All-in-all, the game is pretty difficult. A fun one for a first time Zelda player, for sure, but you’ll hate yourself if you aren’t careful and if you aren’t good with puzzles. If it weren’t for some of the simpler puzzles and times in the game, I’d give this a 10. However, those take the edge off a little so I’ll leave this at a 9.

Graphics

To put it simply, the graphics are absolutely stunning. Like, I let my friend play a bit of this game during the end of our Senior year, and he went through the intro at least 3 times just so he could take in the entirety of the first whole landscape shot that appeared before the title of the game appeared in gameplay. He was in absolute awe, and he’s the type of person who isn’t easy to awe when it comes to graphics.

Nintendo did an amazing job with the graphics with this game. I loved all the models they used, as they meshed well with the landscape that the game had. They always bring creative monsters to the plate, and managed to make the landscape so beautiful. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a pretty game from Nintendo. Sure, I give a lot of their games high rating in graphics I’ll admit, but nothing beats the graphic quality of Breath of the Wild. It makes my expectations for the next one shoot through the roof though haha.

I feel like I’d be committing a crime if I even thought about giving this less than a 10.

Story

The story for the game is a very interesting one, and a very enjoyable one. I can’t put into words how cool I find the story to be, and how much I enjoyed completing it. I loved the fact that it allowed Link to give silly answers, and showed us more of him as a person rather than only a warrior. I loved pretty much every character they introduced -- they were all interesting and unique, and brought something fresh to the story. I love the whole idea of Guardians and the Beasts and ancient technology, the whole ‘being defeated badly once but doing it again anyhow’ vibe it gives. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story right?

The lore involved with this tale was also pretty dang cool, and made me wish I could just save it all in a Codex like Dragon Age does. The story has such a good replay value, and I doubt I could get sick of the story (I could certainly get sick of the darned gameplay though). I haven’t played any other Zelda game, so I can’t really claim this to be my favorite Zelda story, but I can certainly say it’s an amazing one and I can see why people claim this series is one of the best series around.

So, anyways, I think it’s probably obvious I’m giving this section a 10.

Depth

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this was Nintendo’s first attempt at having a more ‘open-world’ game. If it was, then wow did they do an amazing job for a first attempt. There’s so much to explore in this game, and so much to do. The story quest takes quite a lot of time to deal with, and allows you to do so much more while you attempt to do those. There’s a lot of puzzles to beat, plenty of quests to complete. The map is gigantic, and I seriously doubt I’ve uncovered all the secrets in it and I’ve poured plenty of hours into the game (my Switch can testify for that). There was so much to do right off the bat that I didn’t even reach the first Beast (the one I chose anyway - went to Zora’s domain first) until roughly 40 hours in the game.

There’s also DLC to consider, which adds even more to the game (I don't know how much, however as I do not have the DLC myself). There’s plenty to uncover, and plenty to do. I’d have to give this section a solid 10 as well, to be honest.

Sound

Look, the day Nintendo doesn’t make a game with a soundtrack I enjoy is probably the day I die. They went all out when it comes to the soundtrack for this game. There is at least 4+ hours of unique music (from one of the videos I found), and has about 240+ titles (aka songs) in the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game with so much titles before! But, I can say this much - they definitely didn’t make any that were awful. Only Nintendo would make so many songs and manage to make every single one amazing. Each sing fit the area perfectly, and reflected what I felt when I was in those areas. Nintendo never disappoints in the sound department, that’s for sure.

And again, Breath of the Wild earns another 10.

Overall

And we reach yet another end to yet another review. As usual, I’ll be separating the review into my own Personal Rating (what I would have given it if I didn’t break it down into sections), and the True Overall Rating (the rating I get when I total up the scores). I use the true overall rating when I put down the rating for the game. Now, into the ratings we go.

Personal Rating: 10

Even though I was constantly frustrated and angered by this game, I’d still give it a solid 10. It’s an amazingly made game, and there was definitely a lot of time and effort put into it. And while I was constantly tilted by it, I still enjoyed it immensely, and it definitely has found a spot in my top 5 games of all time. I wouldn’t change a thing about it, even those very difficult and annoying puzzles and combat situations. That’s what makes the game what it is, and is probably why I enjoyed it so much - I felt so accomplished whenever I managed to get passed something, it made me enjoy it even more knowing how hard I had to work for it.

True Overall Rating: 9.3

This game is incredibly solid. It has amazing depth, amazing graphics, amazing storytelling, and one amazing soundtrack. They gave you a lot to do, and made sure you’d have hundreds of hours of content and gameplay. They outdid themselves in the graphics department as far as their usual graphics go, making such a great landscape that my not-so-easily-impressed friend couldn’t help but be awed by it. They gave such a interesting story and lore behind the story, while staying true to the basics of the whole legend the game has. They made a soundtrack that could fit everything in the game, clearly dedicating a lot of time and effort to it from the sheer volume of songs and length of the soundtrack. It’s also an incredibly difficult game if you’re not the careful kind or the puzzle type, and you’ll definitely spend time figuring those things out
.

What killed the rating though, was the fact that the game could get so frustrating that it was actually hard to pick up again once you decided to get off. It’s easy to get lost in playing the game and spending many hours in one go, but it’s not so easy getting back into the game once you end your time with it the previous time. It becomes intimidating, thinking about that one frustrating bit you probably decided to end your playtime at. It took away from the addictiveness of the game.

Overall, Breath of the Wild is a stellar game and definitely one to look into if you have experience in the RPG genre and enjoy puzzles. If you don’t, however, I’d stick to watching others play it if you wish to see the story unfold.

That’s all for this review! Thank you for reading and hopefully you enjoyed what I had to say. If you could, I’d love feedback! What did you think about this game or this review? What can I improve on with my next review? Hope to hear from you all!

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This is a pretty nice and a really huge and well typed out review. Great job.

It seems a little weird on how The Legend of Zelda. Breath of the Wild happened to be my first ever Legend of Zelda game, even despite all the years I have played on all of the Nintendo consoles, and Breath of the Wild is probably the series's best game since the original NES/SNES days.

Anyways, nice work working on this review Spacey.

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Thank you for your feedback! Glad my review seems to be good.

Same here, honestly. I grew up with Nintendo consoles, yet this is the first time I ever played Zelda! Guess I didn't have interest in it until it got a chance to be open world haha. I might test the waters on the other ones later on though, because I think they'll be worth the check.

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Spacey Sul : Especially that I have been really big with open world for a long time though. It also seems weird with all the time that you go without playing a certain popular series for a long time, especially that Zelda is Nintendo 2nd biggest franchise (only behind Mario obviously)

I'm basically, the same way, I haven't really played a lot of Zelda titles (maybe like once or twice in the past), but not really been hardcore with the series until Breath of the Wild.

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