Okay this review is gonna make me lose my credibility (if I ever had one)
I do love The Legend of Zelda series a lot and I remember being really really excited by this new title.
I love the series for different reasons, but if I gotta summarize what are the key aspects of a zelda game I always look for, it may be these 3: fun and addicting gameplay based on item variety and cool combat, challenging and creative dungeon designs and bosses, and enthrilling story full of memorable supporting characters.
I remember the day this game came out: I got it from my cousin, played it for a lot of hours, exploring around and trying to progress through the story, going all out until reaching the final confrontation with Ganon. And for all the game, I found 2 of these 3 key parameters to be really missing.
Don't get me wrong, this title is beloved for a reason: it's a open world that makes you wonder discorevries like no other, able to want you go around the land of Hyrule forever despite the common reuse of enemies and assets. The customization and ability to experiment with the game engines and physichs was so good that they perfected and used as a big selling point in the sequel. The breakable weapons can be annoying and weirdly restrictive at times, but the ability to improvise and use so many more options scattered around gives you enough incentive to move forward, instead of "farming for the best weapons over and over again".
In that regard, the gameplay and exploration is incredible...... but the rest of the things I love about a Zelda game got kinda sacrificed in the process:
If dungeons once where important world building assets, full of complex mechanics and cool menaces, now they are turned into the samey monotone sets of corridors and enemies..... sure you can break those dungeons with the game physics and you can solve a "puzzle" in more that one way because of it, but in all honesty I miss the more refined puzzle solving of older titles..... the dungeons are also cool in concepts (being some ancients mechanical beings used as guardians of the land) but I kinda wish they did more with that and gave a little more variety to the whole bunch.
And the story, one of the things I love the most about a zelda game.... is basically already finished: you wake up from a long slumber only to find out that all of your friends are dead, the evil resurfaced, and the only big ally you have left is fighting for her life as you go around and cook frogs and apples..... I kinda wish you will be able to... you know... actually live the story the game is trying to tell, instead of discovering it with bits and pieces. I feel like other videogames, like most of the Dark Souls titles, are able to introducing you into and already messed up world while still making you feel part of the narrative, in a way, something that I kinda wish this game did better. There are some fun characters like Sidon, RIju or the Yiga clan, but overall I felt a bit of... emptiness in the narrative of Breath of the Wild.
You are free to enjoy it of course, these are the best versions of Link and Zelda for many reasons, but it's just not for me.
Overall, I feel BOTW has many reasons to be considered an amazing game, but FOR ME PERSONALLY it's not able to translate well a lot of the mechanics that made me love the series in the first place, creating a new type of experience thhat in my opinion goes a bit too far from classic zelda titles.
I guess I just prefer the execution of titles like Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess or Wind Waker, I dunno..... so seeing this often considered "the best game of all time" is something I will entirely disagree.
I do love The Legend of Zelda series a lot and I remember being really really excited by this new title.
I love the series for different reasons, but if I gotta summarize what are the key aspects of a zelda game I always look for, it may be these 3: fun and addicting gameplay based on item variety and cool combat, challenging and creative dungeon designs and bosses, and enthrilling story full of memorable supporting characters.
I remember the day this game came out: I got it from my cousin, played it for a lot of hours, exploring around and trying to progress through the story, going all out until reaching the final confrontation with Ganon. And for all the game, I found 2 of these 3 key parameters to be really missing.
Don't get me wrong, this title is beloved for a reason: it's a open world that makes you wonder discorevries like no other, able to want you go around the land of Hyrule forever despite the common reuse of enemies and assets. The customization and ability to experiment with the game engines and physichs was so good that they perfected and used as a big selling point in the sequel. The breakable weapons can be annoying and weirdly restrictive at times, but the ability to improvise and use so many more options scattered around gives you enough incentive to move forward, instead of "farming for the best weapons over and over again".
In that regard, the gameplay and exploration is incredible...... but the rest of the things I love about a Zelda game got kinda sacrificed in the process:
If dungeons once where important world building assets, full of complex mechanics and cool menaces, now they are turned into the samey monotone sets of corridors and enemies..... sure you can break those dungeons with the game physics and you can solve a "puzzle" in more that one way because of it, but in all honesty I miss the more refined puzzle solving of older titles..... the dungeons are also cool in concepts (being some ancients mechanical beings used as guardians of the land) but I kinda wish they did more with that and gave a little more variety to the whole bunch.
And the story, one of the things I love the most about a zelda game.... is basically already finished: you wake up from a long slumber only to find out that all of your friends are dead, the evil resurfaced, and the only big ally you have left is fighting for her life as you go around and cook frogs and apples..... I kinda wish you will be able to... you know... actually live the story the game is trying to tell, instead of discovering it with bits and pieces. I feel like other videogames, like most of the Dark Souls titles, are able to introducing you into and already messed up world while still making you feel part of the narrative, in a way, something that I kinda wish this game did better. There are some fun characters like Sidon, RIju or the Yiga clan, but overall I felt a bit of... emptiness in the narrative of Breath of the Wild.
You are free to enjoy it of course, these are the best versions of Link and Zelda for many reasons, but it's just not for me.
Overall, I feel BOTW has many reasons to be considered an amazing game, but FOR ME PERSONALLY it's not able to translate well a lot of the mechanics that made me love the series in the first place, creating a new type of experience thhat in my opinion goes a bit too far from classic zelda titles.
I guess I just prefer the execution of titles like Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess or Wind Waker, I dunno..... so seeing this often considered "the best game of all time" is something I will entirely disagree.