Breath of the Wild Is Breath of the Wild the greatest Zelda game ever?

[Jamie]

I am a well known WW fanboy on this forum and for me, my 2nd place Zelda has not really come close. I know I have a signature that orders them arbitrarily but 2-17 can really be switched around for me. But I don't feel this way anymore. Perhaps it's hype, but for me BotW is the best Zelda and I'm not even sure it's even close.

Just to start, I have put enough man hours into this game to easily have completed any Zelda game and even 100% completion in some of them. I have not even gotten half of the towers, I haven't unlocked half my ****ing map yet let alone explored it all. I've done about 30 shrines and found like 9 korok seeds and done only half the dungeons and I'm 40 ****ing hours in. Even if Wind Waker was a more enjoyable 40 hours (debatable), I find it hard to imagine that a say, 98/100 for 40 hours could be seen as a better experience than a 95/100 for 100+ hours. The most amazing thing is these shrines don't feel extraneous or anything, they are just as fun as any other dungeon. If we say by the end of the game I have 85 hours completed with 60 shrines and all of the main stuff done, there are still another ****ing 60 shrines for me to do. Searching for and completing shrines would take quite a while, I'd reckon I could put in another 40 hours in easily.

Even if it took 10m a shrine (unlikely given I'd have to search for them and some are difficult) that's 10 hours extra! There is maybe 10 hours of dungeon play in a traditional Zelda game if you play slowly. You'd have to complete every shrine in average less than 5 minutes if we include the 4 dungeons as well. Which is low balling it, and if we want to talk about speeding through dungeons, I can plow through dragon roost cavern in 20m.

By the time I've put this game down, I will have spent more time more walking around the map not even doing the main quest or a shrine or dungeon, than I spent completing the entirety of wind waker, which I did in 2 days my first time through.

The AI, while still simple, is by far the best in Zelda, there are countless weapons, materials, armour and more. Oh and over 70 side quests, of which I've done like 10.

At this point I can't imagine going back and playing TWW and feeling anything but underwhelmed. My favourite game ever is now underwhelming.

I can understand why you may disagree, I have issues with the plot and weapon durability and lots of other small problems, but this game has exceeded every single expectation I had. Absolutely amazing.

What is your opinion? How do you evaluate BotW so far? Where does it rank for you on your all time Zeldas and all time games?

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[EvertGoran]

I agree. BotW is breathtaking visually. I still now and then (after 20+ hours) stop and look at the scenery because I am so amazed by it. That has never, in any game, been the case for me before. There are some games which I have thought very high of the visuals but after a few hours gotten bored or just forgotten about it while playing. But not with BotW. I haven't even checked how many screenshots I have taken yet but I fear for my SD-card...

And that is just the visuals. The atmosphere is incredible. The music, the sound of links footsteps, the sound of the wind blowing, the sound and visuals of the rain crashing down on the side of the mountain I'm trying to climb - everything about the atmosphere in this game is literally breathtaking. I always had OoT as the top pick for best atmosphere in a game but I seriously doubt that now...

The gameplay is also so satisfying. From being able to climb almost anything, to being able to go anywhere I'd like right from the get go to beating opponents who clearly are better equipped than me using skill (I'm talking about being able to time dodges correctly and counterattack) is what make this really fun gameplaywise. For me at least.

I remember when OoT came out, that was when I got my first Nintendo, that was when I first ever played a video game, that was when I fell in love with LoZ and gaming in general. So that was a huge moment in my "gaming career". I think BotW might be just as huge of a moment for me.

 

[Spirit]

There is so much i want to say about BotW from story and characters to gameplay and design and the way it makes me feel.

I dont get the 'honeymoon period' when playing games. I knew Skyward Sword was a game I didnt like and i knew Horizon Zero Dawn was only okay. Both games cost me full price and both games i wanted to like and was excited for, but i wasnt such a fan girl that i was blind to the shortcomings of those and other games ive played.

Breath of the Wild though. I cant find much fault with it, if any that wouldnt be opinionated nitpicking, i'm incredibly happy with it. Ive done the four divine beasts, found all the towers and only have one album memory left to find.

Ive loved most of the characters (aside from Yunobo, and to be honest the Goron section was the one i enjoyed the least, dungeon was cool though).

I love the changes theyve made to challenge the conventions. I love how the divine beasts operate. I love how big and varied, yet believable, the world is. I love the physics, and the Guardians are the most terrifying thing ever.

I have and always will play Zelda for the story and while BotW's story isnt that deep or complex it does feel distinctly Zelda while feeling fresh.


Im a Wind Waker fangirl and for all i was excited for BotW, my love for Wind Waker was such that i didnt think BotW would come close...

But it has, and while i wont make my decision until ive seen the final cutscene and credits, i do think that BotW will take my number one spot as my favourite Zelda, which would make it my favourite video game of all time.

When i play WW, i load it up and always smile at the colour and sounds and design. I truly love the world and its characters, i can be in any mood and it'll cheer me up. WW is a game ive been playing almost daily since its original release, BotW so far, is having the same effect on me.

Botw's Hyrule and characters therein are ones i could spending the next 15 years with almost daily and not tire or get bored of, its hard to describe just how good BotW needed to be for me to knock WW off of its throne. Yet it has done so almost effortlessly.

Granted BotW could easily be Wind Waker 2, its a large world with colourful characters and a post apocyptic story, just with fields instead of an ocean.

BotW is definitely the best Zelda game ever made. In my opinion, the best game ever made. And most likely my new favourite video game of all time.

 

[Jamie]

There is so much i want to say about BotW from story and characters to gameplay and design and the way it makes me feel.

I dont get the 'honeymoon period' when playing games. I knew Skyward Sword was a game I didnt like and i knew Horizon Zero Dawn was only okay. Both games cost me full price and both games i wanted to like and was excited for, but i wasnt such a fan girl that i was blind to the shortcomings of those and other games ive played.

Breath of the Wild though. I cant find much fault with it, if any that wouldnt be opinionated nitpicking, i'm incredibly happy with it. Ive done the four divine beasts, found all the towers and only have one album memory left to find.

Ive loved most of the characters (aside from Yunobo, and to be honest the Goron section was the one i enjoyed the least, dungeon was cool though).

I love the changes theyve made to challenge the conventions. I love how the divine beasts operate. I love how big and varied, yet believable, the world is. I love the physics, and the Guardians are the most terrifying thing ever.

I have and always will play Zelda for the story and while BotW's story isnt that deep or complex it does feel distinctly Zelda while feeling fresh.


Im a Wind Waker fangirl and for all i was excited for BotW, my love for Wind Waker was such that i didnt think BotW would come close...

But it has, and while i wont make my decision until ive seen the final cutscene and credits, i do think that BotW will take my number one spot as my favourite Zelda, which would make it my favourite video game of all time.

When i play WW, i load it up and always smile at the colour and sounds and design. I truly love the world and its characters, i can be in any mood and it'll cheer me up. WW is a game ive been playing almost daily since its original release, BotW so far, is having the same effect on me.

Botw's Hyrule and characters therein are ones i could spending the next 15 years with almost daily and not tire or get bored of, its hard to describe just how good BotW needed to be for me to knock WW off of its throne. Yet it has done so almost effortlessly.

Granted BotW could easily be Wind Waker 2, its a large world with colourful characters and a post apocyptic story, just with fields instead of an ocean.

BotW is definitely the best Zelda game ever made. In my opinion, the best game ever made. And most likely my new favourite video game of all time.

I agree with you on every front basically. Thought it'd be very difficult to knock off Wind Waker but it seems like a no brainer at the moment.

 

[Dio]

Not having finished it yet so can't make a fair judgement but so far. I don't get the same level of enjoyment I got from playing TP. A 10/10 game should feel like a 10 all the time and this entry doesn't.

Yet again this title is not a natural evolution from the previous games and although in certain aspects it improves (sometimes vastly so) over previous games. In other areas it is a step backwards.

That said it is definitely a step up for Zelda after It's decline so I'm going to say that unless the game greatly upsets me before completion that my interest in the series is restored.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

I think it's telling to the game's objective appeal that I feel the same way despite coming from a completely different point of view. I've constantly wrestled with myself when it comes to deciding if my favorite game in the series is OoT or TP, but years of reflection post-SS made me realize that maybe 3D Zelda was never that great to begin with when stacked against its contemporaries and judged against the progress of time.

Yeah, I can go back and enjoy OoT or TP personally, but its become more and more obvious over the years that that's probably more due to nostalgia than it is to the actual quality of the games. They may have been great then, but objectively evaluated today when stacked up against the progress of the genre? For most of its life, 3D Zelda has always been kind of.... shallow. Honestly, the competition has been way ahead in the open-world adventure genre since like what, MM? And if it wasn't ahead by then, it was definitely ahead by SS, by leaps and bounds. OoT may have been top of its game back in the day, but it was just that, back in the day. Today it's incredibly simplistic and small.

What I'm trying to get at is that I was kind of losing hope in the ability of Zelda to actually, honest to god, be able to produce a game that was objectively good enough to overcome my nostalgic feelings for OoT and TP. Actually, no, not even that. I had completely lost hope after SS and the five years that followed it. I probably wouldn't give a **** about Zelda today if I wasn't a part of this forum, because I haven't actually loved a game since TP, and I don't even know if I'd love it without nostalgia and memories.

I think BotW is going to change all of that and become my favorite in the series, proving that this series is still on top and not hanging on by mass nostalgia that the industry has for it. I don't think it's pure hype either - I was probably more pessimistic than most on this forum, and I think it's been long enough already for that to wear off.

I'm going to reserve ultimate judgement for when I beat it, but I'll say this: I knew, from the first poorly calibrated motion sword slash I made, that SS had a snowball's chance in hell of being anywhere near my top 5, let alone my favorite. BotW is the complete opposite, where I feel like it's going to be very difficult to go back to any 3D game after this.

 

[Lynel]

wind waker is/was my favorite too. love it. but this.. is.. next.. level.. ****.. this makes every video game ever released feel like old news.

just walking around is great. standing on a mountaintop and looking around. get on a raft and let it drift. go collect materials. cut grass. it's fkn endless.. it literally feels endless.

when GTA 5 came out i was like 'this is the best game ever made'... BotW gave me that same feeling, and still does consistently like 60 hours in already.

i have no complaints.. except the damn L3 & R3 buttons get in the way sometimes (i'm playing the U version)

having a 20 heart wolf link really adds to it too.. i kept forgetting to try the amiibo thing but now i'm hooked on having him as a companion

i really hope Tingle shows up, but.. i don't see how it'd work good to see Beedle though, and plenty of subtle nods to various titles.

the game is much, much better than i expected it to be. i'm already looking forward to playing through it again and i haven't even beaten it yet.

 

[Ventus]

Yeah pretty much. Even though OoT is perfection, BotW is the best Zelda to release in the entire series (so far?)

 

[the8thark]

Is Breath of the Wild the greatest Zelda game ever?

Yes.

This game makes Ocarina of Time feel so 1997.

 

[DoomDash]

Not so far, still far off from beating it though. Things I don't like about it already though (Not a huge fan of the inventory/breaking weapons/collecting).

 

[Mido]

Having not made much of a dent thus far, given my focus has been mainly exploration at this time; I think BOTW is more refreshing above all things. The change of pace gives the experience a new feel. I'm a huge fan of how shines adopt a puzzle feel akin to Portal games. Venturing into the unknown reminds me of what I adored so much about Wind Waker. The beautiful, yet bleak world in light of its predicament leads me back to Twilight Princess. It's almost as if Breath of the Wild adopts some of the most iconic aspects of Zelda games while introducing new twists that while not new in the grand scheme of video games, brings a refresher to this series. The jury's still out on my end as to whether it's the best of the Zelda games, but it's treading upward for sure.

 

[Vanessa28]

I thought I enjoyed Hyrule Warriors very much with all the hours of gaming. I couldn't stop playing it. But this game...it's the ice on the cake for me. I love it. I always love to explore worlds and check for things and talk to people. In many games there wasn't much to do besides some sidequests or some items you needed to find. But this game has such an amazing overworld. I'm very certain it will become my number one game. I'm only 20 hours in or something and I only captured a few sheikah towers to unlock more of the gigantic overworld map. There are so many secrets, so many things to do, so many people to talk to. This game is going to stick in my mind for a very very long time. I love everything about it. Of course it has some flaws because every game has, but I enjoy every single second of it.

 

[Turo602]

Breath of the Wild is definitely the next major leap in The Legend of Zelda franchise, with the last one being Ocarina of Time. Now I'm not trying to **** on previous Zelda games nor do I think Breath of the Wild is perfect, I still love and enjoy the previous entries in this series. With that said, Ocarina of Time's role in evolving the Zelda franchise has now become apparent. It laid the foundation and showed us how a Zelda game would function in a 3D environment. It was a stepping stone to fully realizing the vision of the original Legend of Zelda which is exactly what Breath of the Wild is, and for that, I do believe this is truly the best Zelda game in the entire franchise.

 

[misskitten]

Even though it's still too early in the game for me to really give any conclusive answer, I'm there with you. This game is massive, and I'm having a ton of fun just exploring all over. There's huge patches of land I haven't even touched yet, a ton of shrines still waiting for me to discover them, bosses to fight, dungeons to do... It's gonna take me forever to get anywhere near of completing this game, and I love it.

One thing I especially love is how the shrines are done. I love that they are either mainly puzzle oriented or mainly combat oriented (I'm a huge fan of the puzzle ones), I love that you can solve a puzzle completely different than the way it's intended, which makes for some proper creative thinking. And I love how incredibly different each of them are from one another. All the things you can do with just a few runes and general equipment.

This game is definitely as fantastic as I hoped it would be and I have no doubt it will take the number one spot for me when I've played it long enough to give a real answer to the question. Objectively I do think it's the best one made so far. It took the original vision for Zelda and made it a three dimensional reality. This is a world that you feel inspired to explore. You want to climb that mountain, because you want to see what's on the other side, you want to scout for interesting things in the landscape to inspect more closely, and you want to explore every nook and cranny because you never know what you might find there. There's always room to nitpick at any game in the series, even the "sacred cows" among the titles, and BotW is no exception there, but none of it feels that major to me (sure, I may gripe about the lack of utilisation of the Gamepad in the Wii U version, but that is a version issue, not a game issue).

 

[Justac00lguy]

I'm only four hours in and I'm definitely someone who falls for the honeymoon period, but I don't think a game has made me feel like this in a long time. I hardly play games anymore and if I do they're casual games like Fifa or Rocket League with friends. Even when a big release comes out, I like the game... just its not the same. Breath of the Wild is the first game since Fallout New Vegas where I'm playing and I seem to forget about the time and everything else. It's like playing games when you're a kid and everything is so exiting and new. I've only had this feeling with around 20 or so games and most of them were games I played as a kid.

Everything seems to just work. They've integrated so many elements from other Zelda games seemlessly, but the biggest thing really is just how free the game is. I've played open world RPGs quite a lot and it's probably my favourite genre, but they've never given me the freedom this game has. 2 minutes in, no extended cut scene or prologue phase. The game just says go and explore. The freedom of movement you have: climbing, sprinting, jumping, paragliding etc. So many great RPGs restrict movement and make it awkward. Its one of the few open worlds that has verticality (Fallout 4 being the only other one I can think of). Then the physics system is just amazing. You can interact with the world in so many ways which is where so many RPGs lack life. For example, a cliff was too high for me to climb, so I cut down a tall tree and created like a perfect ladder to make it up. I'm only 4 hours in and I've approached so many different situations in interesting and unique ways. Just sitting there planning out your next move is satisfying.

I can't really speak on much more, even though there are other aspects I didn't mention which I love. The only comparison I can make to this game was the feeling I had playing San Andreas (coincidentally my favourite game of all time). The past GTAs were insane, but rockstar just decided to go "**** it" and not only improve on every single aspect and expand the game, but also add tons of tons of new features which were ahead of its time. Breath of the Wild makes other Zelda games feel like beta testers. I still love past Zelda games, but this game feels like it's evolved several times over from whatever Zelda game we got in 2011. I can only hope this experience continues and I can finally replace a game as my favourite of all time.