5 Things Breath of the Wild Got So Right

A Jam-Packed Open World

Fans of the series have been to Hyrule before, and while it might have felt like an open world, it was never on the same scale as the open world present in Breath of the Wild. This isn’t a barren sandbox with nothing interesting to divert your attention from the main story. Instead, it’s teeming with optional Shrines, challenging enemies, Sheikah Towers, and all other kinds of magical and surprising discoveries you’d never normally have expected to stumble upon in a Legend of Zelda game.

Breath of the Wild may be considered the jump forward the series needed to modern open world titles, but it isn’t just catching up with recent open world games, it’s showing them how you make a world incredibly compelling to explore.

The Sense of Freedom

This may sound like an obvious statement considering we just discussed how great Breath of the Wild’s open world is, but not all open world titles manage to convey the sense of freedom quite like this. Rather than telling you that you must go and complete the story, clearing dungeons and beating bosses as you go, Breath of the Wild simply tells you to go.

There’s nothing that says you can’t go somewhere because you’re not powerful enough, other than the fact that one hit from an enemy lingering nearby can send you to the Game Over screen. The world is free for you to explore as you see fit, and you can even just walk straight over to the final boss battle without doing anything else. It’ll be an incredibly challenging battle, but it’s doable, and speed runs will no doubt begin to pour in over the next few weeks. The point is that this is your Hyrule, and you’re free to do whatever you want in whatever order you want, even down to the main dungeons of the story.

Survival Elements

When you first start off in Breath of the Wild, Link doesn’t have anything. He’s literally in his boxers and that’s it. Of course, he’ll find the Sheikah Slate early on, but as for armor, weapons, items, and the rest, you’ll have to go and scour that for yourself. In that sense, Breath of the Wild is a daunting survival game that requires you to logically think through each and every move that you take.

Alongside your quest for ever-better weapons and armor, you’ll need to find cooking ingredients and minerals out in the wild, and create a bonfire to actually cook them. Oh, and you’ll also have to protect yourself against the harsh heat and cold of particular regions by brewing potions or finding even better clothing.

Breath of the Wild strikes a sense of fear into you even when roaming its world that neither previous titles in the series nor many open world games manage to achieve. You never know what’s lurking just over that hill, and if you haven’t made the necessary preparations for your next bout of exploration, don’t expect Breath of the Wild to let you get away with it.

Combat

Breath of the Wild has given the combat system from the series a pretty hefty overhaul. While you’ll still be able to lock on to enemies, attack with your sword and bow, and dodge out of the way, combat feels far more demanding. You must move and attack with a sense of purpose, and read your enemy’s movements in order to establish when best to attack and defend.

On top of that, Link now has access to swords, spears, axes, and even tree branches should he get that desperate for a weapon in Breath of the Wild. This comes at a trade-off, though. All of the weapons you find in the game (aside from a certain legendary one) will wear down and break after continued use. It adds a strategic layer to combat, as you’ll constantly be switching out weapons and saving the best you find for particularly challenging encounters.

Rounding out the swathe of new combat features are things like the incredibly powerful Flurry Attacks, the ability to Perfect Guard and parry enemy attacks, and the larger focus on archery. All of this comes together to create a far more comprehensive and challenging combat system than the Zelda series has ever seen before. Oh, and every time you hear the ping of an arrow headshot will be just as satisfying as the first. Trust us.

Art Style

Breath of the Wild doesn’t need 4K resolutions and a ton of anti-aliasing to look great. Sure, it’d look better, but Breath of the Wild’s art style manages to encapsulate the magical feeling of this fantasy world, and fills your screen with lush colors in an almost care-free fashion synonymous with the game’s open nature.

No matter where you are, you won’t be far from an iconic Hyrule landmark that just looks right in this art style. Breath of the Wild is an absolute treat to explore, and the game’s visuals certainly play a significant part in making this the most realized and enthralling rendition of Hyrule to date.