i liked this game when it came out because i had never played a zelda game before. since then i've touched up on a few titles. comparatively, this game is very shallow in its dungeons and puzzles, which is a good portion of what made zelda what it is.

however, the open world this game holds is a triumph in its own right. where this game lacks in mechanical depth it somewhat makes up for with an insanely vast open world in a scale i dont think ive seen previously. exploring in this game is very fun, and the non linear spine of the game is cool in only how bold of a choice it was to make.

a players freedom of choice is something i believe is very important to this medium, and this game certainly allows for complete freedom to play however. yet, it lacks the bones this series is known for, and doing anything required to progress the story turns out to be very shallow.

This game was decent, but a little odd. I thought visually it was great and had a great soundtrack, however my main issues were with how the whole game was very easy to abuse in boss fights. A lot of bosses have interesting attack patterns and feel truly difficult, and might have been very enjoyable to fight, however the implementation of the Graze mechanic when paired with Sakuya's time manipulation made every boss pretty braindead once I learned that you can just deliberately graze and then mash the magic skill items constantly in time stop to beat every boss. The actual level design is pretty good, but not very memorable as a lot of the areas look very similar or use similar enemies. It was a good experience, but I might never play the game again.