While I was playing it, I thought Breath of the Wild was going to be the design touchstone of every big game made after it. Going through it for the first time on release was a truly magical experience, and it made me feel like I was playing a game from the future.
As I'm writing this four years later, I'm in a weird spot. My brain says it's one of my favorite games of all time and probably one of the best games ever made, but my heart just doesn't seem to believe any of that. And when I listen to what my heart is saying, my current opinion is a lot more mixed.
I think the tipping point might have been trying to do the Trial of the Sword in the first DLC and realizing that, up until that point, I avoided combat in Breath of the Wild as much as I possibly could. Not because of weapon durability or resource drain or anything like that, but just because I didn't like to spend time doing it. And if you remove combat, the five dungeons/big dungeon-like areas and their bosses don't really have much going for them. Considering those are some of the only big "event" locations in the game, that's a pretty big hit to the overall experience.
I dunno, I'm just cooling towards Breath of the Wild as time goes on. It's fine, it happens. Being honest about when I've changed my mind on something is good for my mental health anyway.
(And in that spirit of honesty, I edited this review down to a more accurate feeling 3.5 stars literally minutes after publishing it lol. And edited it again a day later cause it's really feeling like a 3 now.)
As I'm writing this four years later, I'm in a weird spot. My brain says it's one of my favorite games of all time and probably one of the best games ever made, but my heart just doesn't seem to believe any of that. And when I listen to what my heart is saying, my current opinion is a lot more mixed.
I think the tipping point might have been trying to do the Trial of the Sword in the first DLC and realizing that, up until that point, I avoided combat in Breath of the Wild as much as I possibly could. Not because of weapon durability or resource drain or anything like that, but just because I didn't like to spend time doing it. And if you remove combat, the five dungeons/big dungeon-like areas and their bosses don't really have much going for them. Considering those are some of the only big "event" locations in the game, that's a pretty big hit to the overall experience.
I dunno, I'm just cooling towards Breath of the Wild as time goes on. It's fine, it happens. Being honest about when I've changed my mind on something is good for my mental health anyway.
(And in that spirit of honesty, I edited this review down to a more accurate feeling 3.5 stars literally minutes after publishing it lol. And edited it again a day later cause it's really feeling like a 3 now.)