The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U) Review

A Million Ways to Die in the Wild.

 There comes a time for many game franchises to change things up a bit every now and then to avoid growing stale and repetitive. That was almost the case with the Mario games until the release of Super Mario 64, the 3D entry that introduced analog stick controls and level design that still influence current Mario games. In retrospect, Super Mario 64 was seen as one of the best Mario games and one of the best 3D platformers ever made. Enter The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the next evolution of the 30 year-old series, which started to suffer a bit from the aforementioned repetitiveness. Originally announced back in 2013 as a Wii U exclusive, the game had gone through two delays in its five-year development cycle until finally releasing in March of last year on both Wii U and Nintendo's hybrid system, the Switch. Breath of the Wild was also the last first-party Nintendo game released for the before the company fully shifted its focus to its successor, the Switch. It's been a long time waiting and now that's here and having finished the adventure, it's time to delve into what Breath of the Wild has to offer.


STORY- As with every other Zelda game: the evil Ganon's back to terrorize Hyrule and it's up to the hero of legend, Link, to put an end to his plans. This time, however, Link falls in battle and after 100 years of in stasis, he awakens to a Hyrule full of the dark beast's influence. Once lively areas are now overrun with beasts and robotic beings called "Guardians" that terrorize the inhabitants of Hyrule.  This has Link setting out and reclaim four divine beats that were built to combat Ganon power and ultimately save princess Zelda from captivity. Without delving much into spoiler territory, Breath of the Wild's narrative was engaging thanks to the good writing and I found myself developing a liking to the supporting cast of characters. Longtime characters such as Zelda and Link are developed and realized this time around as well.

The story was engaging with good writing

and likeable cast of characters.

GAMEPLAY-  Breath of the Wild is a radical departure from previous Zelda games in the sense that it's extremely open-ended. Just like the original Zelda, Link's free to explore from the get-go Hyrule with little restrictions. To give a sense of scale, Breath of the Wild's game world is bigger than that of Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess' combined. There's no load times when transitioning between areas, unless you're fast traveling and everything feels seamless and connected. Simply put, the game's begging you to get lost in its gigantic open world and I've had a ton of fun blindly exploring Hyrule without downloading the map of the area first. It gave me a sense of wonder and danger that really resonated with me in a memorable way.

The scope of the game is simply breath-taking.

 The annoying stamina meter is back from Skyward Sword, so when Link sprints continuously for a while, he'll eventually end up exhausted. The same also applies if he's climbing platforms or gliding for long periods of time. Additionally, Breath of the Wild features a dynamic weather system. When it's raining, Link will have a hard time climbing up objects as they will be slippery, however, Link can still make the most out of the situation by throwing metal objects at enemies during a thunderstorm to instantly damage them.


There are several areas that affect Link's internal body temperature. For example, in hot regions such as Death Mountain, Link will take heat damage and all wooden equipment will catch fire and eventually break unless he wears heat-nullifying clothes or drink a heat-resistant elixir. Likewise, Link won't survive cold environments unless he wears the cold-resisting attire and cook hot meals, so proper preparation is key to survival. Below the temperature gauge is a noise meter that displays the amount of noise Link is making. It's especially helpful when hunt wildlife or just attempting to make a jump on enemies by "sneakstriking" them.

Core gameplay is solid and at times challenging.

 Link won't go far in his adventure without cooking. That's right, cooking plays a major role in the gameplay, especially when navigating through harsh environments. In fire camps, Link can use meat from hunted wildlife and ingredients gathered from the filed such as mushrooms and herbs to create meals and elixirs that provide stat boosts such as extra defense, weather-resistance, and attack-power increases. In a way, cooking encourages you to once again go out of your way to explore more and get lost in the world. You'll be surprised with the new items and wildlife you'll come across and the bonuses they offer when cooked.


 Using his highly advanced tablet dubbed the "Sheikah Slate", Link can perform a variety of actions such as using the map which showcases the entirety of Hyrule (though he must climb various towers to scan the needed areas), take pictures with the use of camera, and use rune powers to solve puzzles. Runes are unique abilities that'll come handy in the adventure. For example, Link can use Remote Bombs to destroy boulders and damage enemies, Magnesis will have Link manipulate metal objects to his advantage while Stasis has him momentarily stopping enemies and objects from moving. Lastly, Cryonis has Link able to freeze fluids to create solid towers for him to use. The runes are an essential part of the adventure as more than often help you uncover some treasures and be a huge aid in battles.

Cook with right ingredients for that perfect dish.

 A controversial aspect of Breath of the Wild is its introduction of the weapon durability mechanic seen in most recent survival games. Basically, all of the weapons and shields you collect from the field and treasure chests are prone to breakage over time, that means in a couple of swings here and there, it'll be gone for good. Even the legendary Master Sword will eventually be snapped in two if constantly used. Most players found this mechanic to be irritating while others found that it encourages smart planning. I found it a bit annoying at first since it made fights a bit of a scramble when a weapon you thought was pretty good gets snapped halfway through. It was until mid-game where I explored a bit and found myself some decent gear and used good weapons for regular fights while keeping the super powerful ones for bosses. It's a polarizing mechanic that some loathe while others will embrace it, I for one don't mind its inclusion as I feel it "balances" the gameplay a bit by not making you feel invincible, but that's just my take on it.


 Moreover, the game features over 100 shrines, which are basically mini-dungeons to explore. They have you using your rune powers and often times the game's physics engine to solve puzzles that range from simple to mind-bending. Waiting at the end of a shrine is a Spirit Orb, which upon collecting four of, will grant extra stamina or a heart container at various "Goddess Statues". Moreover, Breath of the Wild features a slew of side-quests to undertake which range from simple fetch-quests to full-on optional boss encounters. It's worth mentioning that some even unlock secret shrines while others offer rare materials to sell or craft, so it's always best to be on the lookout for any side-quests.

Taming the beasts isn't an easy feat.

 "Dungeons" this time around take place inside the four divine beasts and are shorter than your average Zelda dungeon. It has you solving puzzles and at times even controlling the divine beasts to reveal new paths and treasure chests, which I found to be a cool little trick. However, I feel that if Nintendo could've cut down on the shrines to focus on creating full-fledged, optional dungeons with bosses to defeat and items to collect, it would've been a great way to compensate for the game's minimal four dungeons.

 If you have them laying around, Breath of the Wild supports Nintendo's Zelda-themed Amiibo figurines. Amiibos such as the Smash Bros. Zelda, Ganon, and Toon Link will drop supplies such as additional arrows and rupees. The Link amiibo will summon the famed horse Epona to ride while the Twilight Princess amiibo can summon Wolf Link as a companion. The amiibos serve as extra little side content to enjoy and thankfully doesn't interfere with the main game.


PRESENTATION- Breath of the Wild is easily among the best looking Wii U and Switch game to date. While a straight up departure from that realistic Wii U tech demo Nintendo showcased way back in 2012, mainly due to the Wii U's hardware limitations. The game features cel-shaded visuals which are a combination of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, with character models and backgrounds being heavily detailed. It even looks slightly similar to 2011's Skyward Sword in some areas as well. In terms of performance, Breath of the Wild has its fair share of technical issues. At times, the game struggles to maintain a steady frame-rate and often suffers from slight stutters. While understandable given the huge scope of the game and hardware limitations of the Wii U, it became irritating with time despite the patches. Those looking to play the game should do so on the Switch, as it fares slightly better than the Wii U version. Furthermore, Breath of the Wild is the first ever Zelda game to feature voice-acting (if you exclude that atrocious CD-i game...) As a first for the series, it this move initially garnered a lot skepticism from fans and critics regarding how well it would translate into the main game and I'm happy to report that the voice acting was surprisingly solid with many great performances. As for the music, it's a Zelda game after all, what do you expect? The soundtrack is full of many piano-based tracks that compliments the atmosphere of the game well despite its being composed by newcomer Yasuaki Iwata and Manaka Kataoka whose previous work in the franchise include Spirit Tracks.

With an exceptional presentation, Breath of the Wild

is Nintendo's best-looking game yet.

OVERALL- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild strays away and changes some of the Zelda conventions many fans loved over the years, however, it still feels like another stellar entry in the beloved franchise. A narrative that's engaging to watch, gameplay that's fun to play, and production values that impresses, Breath of the Wild is one of the best in its franchise and among the greatest in long list of Nintendo games. Even with some of its shortcomings, Switch owners and even long-time Wii U owners (assuming they can get past some of the tech issues), should definitely check out Breath of the Wild.