Breath of the Wild Review

When the Nintendo Switch first came out, I heard all about how fantastic Breath of the Wild was, the latest Zelda game. So much so that I bought a copy for the Switch, even though I didn’t have an actual Switch yet. (There was a great sale on the game, and I figured I’d be able to pick up a Switch eventually, so why not?)

It took me months to actually find a Switch on sale for retail price. (Still a difficult feat to accomplish, all these months later. If it’s something you’re looking for, I can just say what I did: go to Amazon every day and search for a Switch. I also tried Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Gamestop, and Toys ‘R Us, but Amazon is where I finally found it. Persistence paid off. MSRP is $300. I had no desire to spend $500 on it.)

In any case, I’ve had it now for a while, and I still only have the one game for it. But I will say that the hype around Breath of the Wild seems to be very well-earned. The game is completely immersive. If you see it in the game, you can go there. Climb there. There are load times, but they’re really just to go in and out of dungeons. In the overworld, you see everything. That’s very impressive. There are plenty of fun puzzles, just as you’d expect from a Zelda game. There’s also some really tricky fights, which keep you on your toes.

But really, the most impressive thing to me is how the game has managed to keep three very different demographics hooked. I have played off and on. Tomas (13 years old) has played a ton, and DC (9 years old) has played a ton too. Each seem to be interested in a different thing. I’m into exploration and story. Tomas wants to make his way through to the end bosses. DC loves to explore and find new things. Even more impressive, she’s been able to get to places Tomas hasn’t yet.

In that way, it reminds me of Minecraft. Very sandboxy.

I haven’t finished the game yet. (Not even close) So I guess I can’t really give it a full review. But I can say that I’m already very pleased with my purchase. Granted, I had to buy a Switch to be able to play it (though a WiiU version exists too). So is it worth the purchase of a Switch? Not sure yet. I’ll have to buy and play some other games on the platform for me to say. But since Nintendo consistently comes out with some of the most innovative games out there, my gut says this is going to be a great platform. Not the best graphics or most cutting edge tech, but for me, I don’t really care about that anymore.

I just want great games.