The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This game is amazing!!! I know I am a huge Zelda fan but this instantly has been worth the 4-year wait time. I’ve been wandering around the game for days now and am flabbergasted by the freedom I didn’t even know I wanted. You can literally wander around Hyrule for hours animal watching, taking photos, horseback riding, mountain climbing, and fighting evil.

Everything you see is alive from the fish and birds to insects. You can catch and cook everything. You can climb or cut trees. Watch enemies live their lives as you stalk them. All this happens without in-game load times. Dungeons have been replaced with shines that have mini-puzzles where you master and learn skills for the game. I’ve literally spent hours climbing mountaintops and trying to ride wild horses, elk, or bears. Everything that you can see you can interact with, now I don’t need to go camping ever again.

There are a whole slew of new mechanics to get used to such as food restoring health, needing to cook said food for added effects, new weapon system, durability mechanics, weather, time, and so much more that adds nuance without seeming un-Zelda like. The world itself seems truly alive, building on what the Wind Waker started years ago. I haven’t beaten the game yet, so I cannot give story or overall impressions of the game compared to other installments but one change still hasn’t settled with me.

The English voice acting is very hit or miss. Link, of course, doesn’t talk but I am not huge on Princess Zelda’s European accent. All of the other voice actors are affable and fitting but, it’s just something about Zelda’s that really bothers me. I’m not sure what it is but considering this is a Japanese game, I can get over it. On a related note, I really appreciated is the diversity in the main cast representing different races and various cultures (Japanese, Celtic, European, Middle Eastern, and more) and I haven’t even seen the rest. But, how does this translate to the Switch?

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