The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Review

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features a fully vast open world environment which is twelve times larger than its predecessor "Twilight Princess" with a new physics engine as well as a new "Chemistry engine"used for defining the physical properties of objects and its governings to allow for a more non-linear completion of the story. Hyrule is a vast open world with things to do such as running, climbing, swimming, riding, giding with a paraglider, but the world is more powerful. In situations like rain, thunderstorms there are chances Lightning may strike Link from the sky or towards his enemies given the situations and times during battles. The weather in Hyrule is dynamic, which means it is changing often, every few minutes or hours.

Weapons include melee weapons, shelds and bows all of which has wear rates and break upon excessive usage to appeal to the more survival angle of gameplays. Weapons can be used to set fire to the surrounding environments. Players can even hunt animals for food, meat and materials for cooking and crafting which is obviously used for replenishing Link's health and adding temporary buffs for a short period of time. Players can also use various rune powers such as remote bombs in shapes of cubes and spheres, Magnesis for manipulating metal objects, cryonis for creating ice blocks over water and Stasis for halting objects in time for a short while. The "Lock on" to an enemy or target can be used for more precise attacks.

There are very high towers and shrines around Hyrule which acts as waypoints when explored and activated by the player. The traditional dungeons of the series are replaced by shrines which contain a lot of challenges ranging from puzzles to fights against robots. Upon clearing the shrine Spirit obrs can be obtained for trading purposes and for increasing base health along with other puzzles which gives the players korok seeds used for expanding inventories sizes. Scattered around the world are a lot of NPC's and travellers with which players can interact for additional side quests and conversations.

Verdict

In conclusion after a development period of five years, the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out stunning with Nintendo delivering yet another amazing Zelda IP to its long time fanbase of the 30 year old franchise. The game is visually splendid with gameplay being immersive and engaging at all points of the story with scenic beauty and serenity. In the adventurous moments subtle music queue's swooth with the exploration mindset of the player ranging between playful piano melodies to ambient sounds of wildlife. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a breathtaking adverture that awaits for all players to get lost into.

Downloadable content

Earlier Nintendo announced two DLC's after release. The Master Trials and The Champion's Ballad, which comes together in the form a single expansion pass. It also gives an exclusive Nintendo Switch shirt to the players along with three in-game treasure chests.

Reception