My time with Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Stand still and stare at any enemy in game you’ve ever played. If they see you, they come for you. Stand still in Zelda when facing a Lynel (half lion/half horse or horse faced centaur) and make sure your weapons are sheathed. He will stare back and wait, pondering what you’re up to. Then pull out your sword… And watch that burly git either draw his bow or come charging at you full pelt. You’re in a for a butt-whooping.

I start with that moment because it encapsulates so much of Zelda. It is a game built of moments and of a world that is ridiculously detailed, that lives and breathes and will constantly amaze you. Don’t mistake this for a review of any kind, I’m three weeks late to that party. This blog is fulfilling my need to talk about this game and to share my thoughts with some folks who might be interested (because my wife really isn’t). It’s going to biased and gushing and I don’t really care. I fricking loved Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Early impressions revolved how pretty it looked, how fun climbing was and a little bit of ‘well this is different.’ Being let loose on this giant green world with no hint of where to go was intriguing and daunting in equal measure. The first task was to find some shrines and after two I went back to the only other character looking for help. I can’t remember the exact words now but in my head all I can here is ‘work it out yourself you big baby.’ I was useless. I play games regularly, I’ve played all the 3D Zeldas and here I was, utterly useless. The trend continued for hours, and hours… This game doesn’t play like others. Games in general have rules and similarities, you know when you start most new titles where you can and can’t go, how other characters and your surroundings work. You know what you can and can’t climb, what will and won’t break. You know a lot because this is your hobby. Until Zelda. You now know nothing.

And that’s fun. It really is. So much of my time was just spent in amazement at how everything worked and what I could do. Equipped with a glider you can jump off cliffs and glide obviously.  Dry grass can be set on fire obviously. Wait-a-minute why does it look like hot air is rising from that burning grass? What if I open my glider and…. Oh I’m blooming shooting up in the air like a kids lost balloon. You beauty.

It’s raining, it’s stormy and in the distance I can see lightning strike. I think again about how cool this looks, about how a change in weather makes a nice change of style. Then I get struck down by a bolt from the sky and I curse the gods of Nintendo. This doesn’t seem fair, I’m just walking about… Or is it because I’m carrying a metal shield and sword on my back? Hmmmm... Later in the game I’m being chased by a bunch of seven-foot jerks through another storm. In any other game I turn and fight or I run away. But not here. I stop and throw a bunch of swords on the ground then run a little bit forward. Those jerks pick up some and walk over others. Kaboom! Struck down and fried. I am laughing.  

Im not alone of course, if any of you have played it then you’ve had your own experiences of toying with this world and its physics. I’ve seen loads of examples. Part of the fun with playing Zelda now is that I get to read and see what others are up to. I’ve viewed puzzles I solved being tackled in completely different ways and I’ve read about characters and side quests I haven’t even found. My twitter feed has been a Zelda filled stream of epicenes (along with the usual political malarkey). No two players have had the same experience and that only adds to the beauty of this game. It is there to be tackled however you like with most of it being completely optional. Do whatever you find to be fun. Then go watch other people online having more fun with it. A strangely social experience.

I finally beat Ganon yesterday and called my time on the game. I’m not going to say I finished because that’s something I’ll never do. Of 120 Shrine quests I found 74. Of the 900 Korok seeds I found 59. Fifty Nine! I played that game for over 70 hours and I found 59 of the 900 optional environmental puzzle things. Luckily I’m not an obsessive completionist. I have had my fun. I step away from it on an absolute high.  

The puzzles, the battles, the climbing, the cooking, the cross dressing… Yeah really. I could write ten blogs on my time with this game and still miss something. It was about exploring and discovering and I've found more enjoyment form it than any other game I've played. Hopefully you’ve picked up that I was quite fond of it. It has been the highlight of my favourite hobby. Can't praise it any more than that.