The Discussion Thread: The Greatest Games Event 2017 - FINISH YOUR LISTS

[The_Liquid_Laser]

 

#15 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Why did it make the list?
Many people say Zelda: Breath of the Wild reinvented Zelda, but that was not my experience with it.  To me this was Zelda’s return to its roots.  I have been waiting for at least 25 years for a Zelda game like this (probably longer in fact).  My experience with both Zelda 1 and A Link to the Past was a huge open world game, at least a huge open world by the standards of their consoles.  Well Breath of the Wild brought that back in spades.

 

 

Original experience:
Zelda: Breath of the Wild is not a perfect game, but what it does well, it does far better than any other game out there.  This is a game about exploration, first and foremost.  It has a huge overworld, and most importantly, this game does not hold your hand at all.  You can go anywhere in this game as long as you have the skill to go there.  I remember getting off of the Plateau (the beginner area), and the NPC’s suggested I go to a certain area.  Well, I purposely headed in a completely different direction to see how much freedom the game would give me.  I ended up in a rainy jungle with huge cliffs that seemed impossible to climb, but dammit after a long time, with a lot of exploration and a clever (yet tedious) use of my powers I found a way up the cliffs.  Much later in the game I found that it is easier to get up those cliffs if you acquire certain powers or gear, but that really wasn’t the point.  The point is that I could approach all of the challenges in this world on my own terms, and I can do it in a game that is incredibly well made and very polished.

Another big plus that I want to add is Hyrule Castle.  The first 4 dungeons of this game are kind of boring and tedious, but they are optional.  The only mandatory “dungeon” is Hyrule Castle, and it is the best dungeon that I have yet encountered in a video game.  Lots of cool places to explore with plenty of dangers, secrets and treasures.  I hope Hyrule Castle raises the bar for how to do dungeons in future games (Zelda or no). 

 

 

 

How does it hold up today?
If won game of the year for 2017, so….