Game Review: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch

by Matt Ray

on April 15, 2017

Graphics

Nintendo has been behind the curve (across the board) in this department in regards to realism and high definition (the Wii U was late to the game).  But, in terms of art direction they might be the king.

Breath of the Wild is all around stunning.  Cartoon Link and Zelda are gone.  While the art style does lend from the cell-shading technique of more recent installments, it goes several steps farther while keeping nods to the style.  The creative team, Aonuma specifically, has stated the style comes from “en plein air” and “gouache” styles.  For the commoner that doesn’t understand art, think Monet or van Gogh mixed with a dash of watercolor without the free-form and beautifully messy splashes of color.

To summarize… consider Studio Ghibli animation.  Things are believable, yet heavily stylized to look anime.

Music & Audio

Zelda games are known for their soundtracks.  Often, music is a integral part of the story.  In Breath of the Wild, it’s not like that at all.  Many fans are severely disappointed.  Personally, I have mixed feelings on it.  Playing an instrument to make things happen… I miss a lot.  But, the ambient sounds are beautiful and brilliantly placed.  It’s often very subtle and easy to miss, but the change in music signifies just as subtle changes in the environment.  Deep in gameplay, folks lose their attention to the transitions between areas, weather, and night versus day.   It just works in Breath of the Wild.  Entering some towns at night vs during the daytime presents the most minute change in music; to the point I didn’t notice it until looking up the soundtrack. A change in sound to increase attention to local foes is clear, but not forced.

Voice acting has come to the Legend of Zelda.  It’s a mixed bag for many, myself included.  I thought the use of it was done tastefully, but many times the performances fell flat.  Zelda has many great scenes, but there’s just something off.  Is it the British accent?  Or, maybe the voice director didn’t provide enough depth while explaining things?  On the positive side, some of the scenes and performances are fantastic.  The main Goron and Gerudo are all around great though.

The theme of the game, the wild, is perfectly represented in sound.  A quiet tinkling of piano keys is the only thing you’ll hear besides the wind blowing through the grass and trees, rain drops hitting the ground, birds chirping, and the pitter-patter of Link’s feet hitting the soil.

Gameplay

• Open World

IT IS FUN.  Most times in huge, open-world games (I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed) finding locations or traveling between them feels monotonous and empty.  While most of the story is locked into specific places, you’re encouraged to travel and explore.  Collecting Korok seeds gives you more equipment space and finding/ completing shrines act as both health/ stamina improvements and fast travel points.  Most of these “mini-games” require small to large scale puzzle solving.

• Weather and environments, clothing and food

Weather, climates, and environmental factors play significant roles in the world.  If it rains, you cannot climb ANYTHING.  Link’s grip is significantly hindered due to slippery slopes and walls.  This makes total sense. However, it is beyond infuriating to spend 15 minutes gliding around to find the simplest path to your destination just to have a storm hit making you sit around for 20 minutes (real time). Yes, you can start a fire by throwing down some flint and a bundle of wood to make camp and pass the time, but only if there is an area protected from the rain to ignite it and a large enough area to allow it.  There are times specific areas will have rain as an element of a large scale puzzle, which I completely loved.

The fun part is that you can get crafty with the environment to improve the gameplay.  Cut down a tree and roll the log into your foes camp to create havoc.  Light a fire in long grass, stoke it with a big leaf (Korok leaf) by generating wind, and burn your enemies alive.  Or, light a fire and use the updraft it creates to glide upward and pew-pew your enemies from above.  You can also use magnesis (special gift from the Sheikah) to lift nearby metal objects into the air and dropping them.

Tying clothing to the topic of weather… Link has specific items of clothing or accessories that help him withstand the elements.  Some protect you from the melting heat of Death Mountain, and others protect you from the plunging cold of snowy, mountainous areas.  Don’t expect to walk into the desert wearing your average tunic and tights.  On a similar note, food must be gathered and cooked.  Some foods will give you a timed resistance to the elements.  Other times, mixing a particular mushroom with a fish (Two words: bomb fishing) could give you a defense boost or throwing a few butterflies in with a lizard can help until you collect a specific tunic to ward off the cold.  Generally though, food replenishes your hearts.

• Major dungeons

The major dungeons are interesting, giant puzzles that require manipulation of your map to change the environment.  This mechanic is new, interesting, and story-driven.  But, they are short. Painfully short.  Remember the Water Temple from Ocarina of Time?  All that rage and frustration it created?  The dungeons present in Breath of the Wild are boring and easy by these standards.  Playing through them doesn’t feel quite as pivotal as they were previously in other games.  Yes, there’s a tie to the story, but they can be completed in 15 to 30 minutes.  I still vividly remember the Water Temple despite playing through it around 10 years ago.  I can’t remember specifics of Breath of the Wild’s major dungeons aside from their resemblance to an animal.

• Combat and weaponry

Fighting is totally new.  You can use any weapon the enemies you encounter wield, and there are several classes of them with different fighting styles (e.g. two-handed swords, rods are one-handed that work like wands that run out of magic, spears give you distance and fast, stabbing attacks, etc).  Additionally, some weapons are blessed with elemental effects or stat boosts.  Weapons do degrade over time though.  Many folks find this irritating, but I find it refreshing.  Each weapon varies in strength, just as the enemies.  You’ll need to strategize which weapons to use in various ways (i.e. enemy is fire based so a hit from a frost weapon will end them quickly, or the foe has a similar weapon so sacrificing the same weapon type to defeat it won’t hurt in the long run).  Also, the Master Sword is entirely optional and generally absent most of the time you’ll play the game.

Storyline

If you’re looking for a straightforward story, you’ll half get it rushing through the game.  Actually, maybe it’s a quarter.  As I stated before, most of the game revolves around the theme of “the wild.”  You’ll need to explore Hyrule to find the intricacies of the story.

Because the story is Link waking up after 100 years with retrograde amnesia (psych teacher), you’re able to recover past memories that tell a majority of the story.  Again, you’ll need to explore to find them.  The rest of the story comes as you complete the four major dungeons and the cutscenes that accompany them.  Minor sidequests are plentiful and provide decent world-based information that add to the game greatly.  Furthermore, reading books or meeting random NPCs can tell you a lot about what happened 100 years ago.  For example, meeting a guy fighting a moblin (large goblin looking enemy) on a collapsed, stone bridge below a giant castle-like fortress gives Link information.  He tells Link why he’s there and the 100 year’s ago significance of the fortress that looms in the distance.  You would totally miss this, if you didn’t choose to help him fight off the moblin.  And, it’s a small touching moment that gives humanity to a rather insignificant character.

A lot of the game’s story is a quagmire.  Sure, there’s a main story that’s straight forward, but there’s a lot left untold.  Which is typical for a Zelda game.  Inferences and hypotheticals might just be my thing, but where did all that Sheik technology come from?  How many years?  Who?  WHAT?!  WHEN?!  What about Ganon now?  Because, that’s totally left up in the air after that battle (if you know the lore).

Final remarks

I’m not going to give this game a score.  I hate placing an entirely subjective number on video games.  To me, video games are no different than a work of art.

Breath of the Wild borrows a lot from Skyrim (exploration and NPC depth), a splash of Far Cry (hunting, crafting, and enemy bases) mixed with a little bit of The Witcher (sidequest driven story), but still very much Zelda.  Fans of the series will find themselves smiling quite a bit at the callbacks to the past games (regardless of timeline).  Even then, it’s something new… But still, Zelda.

I recommend checking out the “Making of…” videos Nintendo produced.  It describes the source of the art and character creation.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

In the end, if you’re a Zelda fan… Play this game.  You’ll have a ton of fun.  It’s difficult, rewarding, new and reminiscent.