The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I didn't grow up with Zelda as they never interested me, but when I saw trailers of this I wanted to play it so badly. I have never played any of the Zelda games before, but I am somewhat familiar with the series. The theme song is really well known, the games usually is full of puzzles, and I know which one is Link and Zelda, haha. Breath of the Wild however changes quite a bit of things like it being an open world and theres voice acting. At least Link does still stay silent as its iconic to his character. This game is amazing though, and you don't have to be a Zelda fan to enjoy it.
The art style to the game is quite anime which may put people off. While there is a lot of bad 3D anime styles out there, I think this one is really appealing. I have heard that it reminds people of Ghibli movies which I can see, plus it does have a number of Asian music, characters, and towns. There are also flying Asian style dragons and plus artifacts from a historical period in Japan are used as inspiration for the design of some of the structures. The map is pretty big, but its not empty. There are towns sprinkled around, and some curious stuff. Its neat to climb mountains or check waterfalls to see if theres anything there. There are 120 puzzle shrines and I believe you can collect 900 korok seeds. You have to interact with the environment to get these seeds. There aren't many variety of enemies, but I personally didn't find that to be a problem. There is a day and night cycle as well as weather. Another neat thing is temperature changes which will hurt Link if he isn't prepped for it. Temperature depends on the environment he is on so it will be cold at mountain tops, and hot in deserts and volcanoes.You will have a thing called a Sheikah Slate which is practically acts like smartphones except no calls.
Out of all the many Links there are, I really do like the way he looks in this game. He doesn't have idealized proportions but more realistic proportions. He may have that young anime face, but I think he's really cute. The little ponytail is a detail that I think I like too much. There are head accessories that can change his hair up a little bit, and I really like that as well. Also the clothes has some variety as well, and yes there is a belly dancer outfit which really makes this game great to me. Well any game with the ability to crossdress your character is great to me. There's another set that has him in little shorts and a cropped vest top which is great as well. There are Breath of the Wild amiibos that have special clothes like Link's more iconic outfit. While you can make Link stay in only just his underpants, there are certain parts in the game where wearing things is required unfortunately. These parts at least don't take up too much of the game. While the other characters don't have too much screentime in the game, they all have character to them. They maybe a bit tropey, but I think they're great and adds fun to the game. I especially have enjoyed when they mention how silent Link is. It is unfortunately that Nintendo doesn't do dual audio and allow both Japanese voices and English text enabled at the same time.
The combat is quite enjoyable for me. Sure, the controls are weird at first but you do get use to it. Stealth is also part of the game too for combat and hunting. You can go through the game spamming attack button, or you can use your shield or dodge to do special moves like flurry attack and parry. Using the bow is also really nice and not awkward. You can even throw your weapons but works best with a spear obviously. How easily weapons break is kind of silly, but since you do get quite a bit of weapons dropping and from chests it kind of helps that weapons break easily. You can expand your inventory with korok seeds so that can help you be able to carry more. There isn't a weapon shop or a place to repair weapons which would help, but I don't feel its necessary. You can't craft things too so you have to go to shops to buy arrows which they oddly don't stock many. There are ore you can gather from obvious ore mining rocks, but they are just for selling. The other items you can use for cooking.
The cooking is funny. The jingle for it is also great and they vary depending on how good or bad it will turn out. Cooking is how you will be able to heal and buff yourself. You can cook up elixirs and stuff which uses things like bugs and monster parts like you're a witch. Materials and food don't have limited inventory like your weapons and shields do so pick up as much as you like! At one of the towns you can buy a house and once upgraded enough you can store some of your equipment there. There's a cooking pot and a bed too so its a convenient spot to go back to. You can get horses once you tame them from the wild. You can name them and there are stables around the map. Horses can be nice, but so far its helpful to have them on flatter land. They don't like to jump or run on more rocky or mountainous kind of spots. You can also climb almost anything which looks silly, but I like it. Having a paraglider is also really nice and taking in the scenery is really peaceful.
Puzzles aren't my thing, but the ones in this game aren't too bad. The dungeon-ish ones where you rotate the whole thing can be a bit disorientating. There are also shrines where you fight a guardian so not all are puzzles. The boss fights are kind of weak compared to some enemies you encounter in the open world. The bosses also uses that beastly screech that is used a lot in Bloodborne which is kind of funny. The story in this game is short and some of it is optional. It is possible to finish the game in like an hour or so since you can just go to the final boss relatively early on. You will not get the full story that way though. The game uses the rather too common story of the protagonist losing their memories. Ganon has taken over the castle and kingdom, but hasn't able to do anything for 100 years because Zelda is holding him back. Link has been put into a sleep state for 100 years to heal his wounds, but wakes up without his memories. He is chosen to be the hero and save the world. You are told to meet some people and take back the 4 Divine Beasts which are part of the main quest. Doing these will obvious give you some story. You can also do the memories quest which are 12 photos of certain spots on the map. Finding them will give you a cutscenes of the past which tells a more informative part of the story. There are also diaries of some characters that you can read to get some more story as well. The story isn't the most original, but since it is a children friendly game it is pretty decent for them. You are into games that are linear, story driven, or even like a interactive movie, than this is like the opposite. Te main draw to this game is nature and exploring this world. The music is also nice too. I really like the piano pieces, and the music is minimal and not intrusive. Each town does have its own theme too and it changes depending on the time of day. Definitely recommend giving the soundtrack a listen.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. While I don't mind buying a console just for this game though I can understand that its not something anyone can justify. I am enjoying the game and would definitely recommend it. Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being people's Game of the Year too. It has a lot of charm and it can be rather relaxing. Its not perfect, but that's ok since it didn't make me not enjoy the game. I enjoyed it greatly and hope others do as well. Definitely will be looking forward to see what the next Zelda game will be like.
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