re: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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Lets get Breath of the Wild’s demand that you take it seriously out of the way first, in case you haven’t been following the interviews and narrative surrounding it in the last year or so. Breath of the Wild is, without question or debate, the hardest Zelda game of the last twenty years. In fact, as an “old” who literally grew up playing the original Zelda games on NES and SNES when they came out, I’d argue it’s the hardest Zelda game period. The first twenty minutes or so are pretty low key — you can kill the scrub bokoblins and other minor enemies you meet without much trouble using nothing more than a tree branch picked up off the ground.

But once you leave the initial learning spaces and venture into more typical zones, you’re probably going to die. And, like, you’re probably going to die a lot, honestly. Often without much warning. Or at least I did, and still do, if I’m not careful.

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That respect radiates outward. The puzzle logic in Breath of the Wild feels legitimately logical, and smartly physics-based. There are optional shrines scattered throughout Hyrule that act as mini puzzle dungeons, and almost without exception, they’ve all been a lot of fun to figure out. After more than two dozen of them, Breath of the Wild also doesn’t seem out of ideas.

And so far, this is the thing I’m most struck by. Breath of the Wild has so far managed to integrate a steady stream of new ideas and twists on existing Zelda concepts, including weapon durability and variety. Example: boomerangs are now dual use tools that can be wielded as melee weapons or thrown in traditional Zelda fashion, but if you do the latter, you’ll need to be quick and catch it on the way back. Every weapon I’ve found so far is a finite tool as well, so I’ve learned not to get too attached.

But even with these and other, bigger changes, Breath of the Wild has never stopped feeling like a Zelda game — and what’s more, it seems poised to establish itself as the first current, vital feeling Zelda title in longer than I can remember.

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