Zelda Breath of the Wild Turns 2 today!

[Shiken]

In light of another thread that celebrates the birthday of the Switch, I feel the first major game on the console deserves some love as well!

 

Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild has turned 2 today, and man has it been a journey to remember.  What are your thoughts on Breath of the Wild?  Do you like the changes?  What were your most memorable moments?  What would you change?

 

For me, I loved the changes.  The shrines were nice fun little challenges and the freedom to go anywhere invoked the spirit of adventure like no other game before it.  You really got to explore and you mapped your own experience with very few markers directing you where to go.  You looked somewhere because you were curious, not to cross a marker off...and it was amazing.

 

Also the lore behind the game is so very deep.  There is so much history to discover and references to other games to piece together, that I believe this is the deepest Zelda lore we have ever seen in the franchise.

 

My most memorable moments all involved Hyrule Castle.  My first time was a slow curious expedition, and I really felt helpless.  The second time was about half way through the game, as I searched for the fabled Hyrule Shield in the dungeons.  At this point, I could hold my own and decided to delve a bit deeper to see what secrets I courld recover.  This led me to a memory into Link's past and a bit more context into Link and Zelda's relationship after finding several journals.  And the final time was like I was settling an old score.  Facing the evil that led to my death 100 years prior.  The epic music track in the background fit perfectly for all three visits.

 

As for what I would change, three things come to mind.  I enjoyed the divine beasts, but I want traditional dungeons back.  I want the shrines to stay as well, but I miss the older dungeons as well.  I also would have liked a stronger central plot.  The lore was deep, but Link's quest was very simple with little to expand upon.  It was not bad, but very overly simple.  And finally  the final boss.  Dark Beast Ganon was a joke.  It had so much potential, but it was redunced to a playable cinematic bit with no real threat of losing.  I personally would have liked to see a Shodow of the Colossus approach...maybe next time.

 

All in all, Zelda BotW has become my favorite game of all time as of this post.  I still love the others, and still love their style.  But BotW was truly a special experience for me.  Happy Birthday Breath of the Wild, and thank you for an amazing adventure!