The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

This marks my 500th review for eShopperReviews. To celebrate, in addition to giving this game the usual sort of review, I am also doing a bigger The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Retrospective. For a more thorough look at the game, please look there. Otherwise, please continue.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an Open-World Action-RPG that is a huge departure from many of the series norms for Zelda games. However, in their place is a game that represents the epitome of exploration in videogames, making players truly feel like they’re exploring a whole other world in ways that no game has quite been able to accomplish prior to this.

Much of this is due to this game’s emphasis on traversal, with players able to climb any natural or artificial structure they encounter (save for those built with ancient Hyrulian technology), so long as they have the stamina to do so. Once atop a mountain or building, the player can then use a glider to sail down anywhere below, making much of the game consist of scaling to the highest spot, surveying the landscape around you, and then heading down to a point of interest below. This way, the game continues to encourage players to keep exploring the environment to find the new surprises around every corner. I won’t go too far into detail here (you can see the Retrospective if you want that), but suffice it to say that the gameplay here is absolutely sublime, in many ways perfecting the Open-World genre.

That’s not to say that this game is perfect. There are definitely flaws and frustrations to be found here, such as the weapon system that has most weapons breaking after a few uses, resulting in a lot of frustration during combat, and making every great weapon you find less exciting as a result. The lack of the Zelda series’ traditional dungeon structure also robs this game of the joy of finding a great new sub-weapon in a dungeon, since the majority of abilities you’ll have during the course of the game are obtained in the game’s opening area.

However, even with these flaws, this is still a massive, groundbreaking game that stands head and shoulders above most games. It is an absolute joy to play, and is structured in a way that you can play it for hours upon hours at a time, or even just in short bursts on the bus or sitting in the doctor’s office, thanks to a game structure that breaks up progress into smaller tasks that can be accomplished a few minutes at a time. Yet it never gets dull, and there always seem to be new surprises lurking around every corner.

Graphically, this game is the perfect example of how visual design beats graphical prowess every time. While the Nintendo Switch clearly doesn’t have the horsepower of the other consoles, and the game even has occasional noteworthy dips in framerate, Breath of the Wild is still an absolute beauty to behold, with massive, gorgeous landscapes filled with exquisite detail, and truly memorable sights throughout the game. These amazing graphics are coupled with a lovely, subtle, and subdued piano-centric soundtrack that is a huge departure from the usual bombastic score the series is known for, but works incredibly well with this game’s more quiet, melancholy themes. You likely won’t be humming this game’s tunes, but in its own way, Breath of the Wild has some of the best music in the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is not a game for everyone, but it is absolutely in my mind the best game on the Nintendo Switch even now, years later. There is just so much to do here, so much joy to have while doing it, and it is so perfectly-suited both to playing on the TV and in handheld form that it feels like a game that no Nintendo Switch should be without. This is not a perfect game, but it is a game that propels its genre forward, and is in so many ways the perfect game for the Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an Open-World Action-RPG that sheds much of the Zelda series’ formula and tries some really new and amazing things that make this an absolutely unforgettable experience unlike anything else out there, really pushing the thrill of exploration. It’s not without its flaws, but even so, there is so much to love here, so much new ground broken that it’s easy to look past those when everything else here is just pure joy. An absolute must-have.

Grade: A++

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

It isn’t often that the exact same game is the launch title for two consecutive generations of videogame consoles, and still manages to be heavily-anticipated in both cases. Eight years after the original release of this game on Wii U and Nintendo Switch, and we are receiving a remastered version of the game, with a number of improvements.

Players who own the Nintendo Switch version of the game can purchase a $10 Upgrade Pack to transform the older version of the game into this new and improved version, and everyone who is subscribed to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack gets free access to this upgrade for the duration of their subscription as long as they own the original game. However, players who have neither the original game nor the aforementioned subscription are looking at a $70 price tag.

I can tell you now that this is not just a minor upgrade. Upon loading up this version of the game, my reaction was instantaneous – the improvements to framerates, resolution, HDR lighting, textures, and loading times truly are impressive, and make a world of difference. Yes, this still looks and plays like the same game, but… well, better. And not just a little. This version of the game plays like this was the way this game was always meant to be played.

It’s not perfect, though. I still noticed pretty sizable pop-in, and at one time an entire cliffside face the size of an office building blinked out of existence and then back in, right in front of me. However, make no mistake, while there are still very noticeable flaws here, overall this is still a massive improvement over the original.

There are more changes here than just performance, however. There are a few additional improvements, such as an added save slot (which honestly seems kinda’ gross – there’s no reason this couldn’t have been in the original game). However, almost all of these improvements haven’t been added to the game itself, but to the Nintendo Online smartphone app, and specifically a new part of that app called Zelda Notes.

Zelda Notes app must by synced with your copy of the game in the game’s options menu, but after doing so, it has multiple functions built into it, including functions to track your use of the game and stats, such as time spent playing, distance travelled, and rupees acquired. There’s also a Siri-style app to direct you to anything in the game you might be looking for, from shrines and koroks to a specific cooking ingredient you need. Some players may frown on this app as running counter to the core experience of the game, finding things for you instead of letting you encounter them for yourself. However, completionists and more novice players will likely appreciate this sort of function greatly.

The other new function here is a new type of collectable to find, “Voice memories”, where spots are hidden in the game for you to find that unlock a voice clip of Zelda reminiscing about something pertaining to that area. There is nothing in-game to signify this spot, and players must find these voice memories by using an in-app radar sound to find it, or the aforementioned Siri-style app.

The app also includes a function to share items with friends, a photo studio to edit photos taken in-game, and… honestly, while I was using this app, I found many of its features helpful or interesting… but it all seemed extraneous to the game itself, something tacked-on, and that didn’t seem like it should require the Nintendo Switch 2 to do anything, since the app was pulling most of the weight.

Having said that… well, it kinda’ doesn’t matter. Even if we say that Zelda Notes is unnecessary fluff that’s not really adding to the game but just sitting alongside it, the improvements to game performance are profound enough that I strongly feel that they make this upgrade worth it in and of itself. If you have the original game and the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, it’s a no-brainer. If you have the game but not the subscription, it’s still worth it… well, if you plan to play the game again. I can understand how some players who spent hundreds of hours in the original release would feel like they’ve had their fill and don’t need to go back for more, even if this version is far, far improved.

And as for those who never got the game to begin with, and are now potentially looking at a $70 price tag? Yeah, I do think The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is worth that much. This is the absolute best version of one of the greatest games of all-time. If you somehow missed this game when it first released, there is no better time to play it than now, and if any game is worth $70, this one is.

tl;dr – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an Open-World Action-RPG that remains one of the greatest games of all-time, and this release is absolutely the best version of this game ever made. It isn’t without its flaws, and many of its new features are superfluous and don’t add much, but even just the improvements to graphics and performance are enough to put this game well beyond the original release of the game. Unless you feel like you already got your fill of the original release, this is an absolute must-have.

Grade: A++

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