Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Last updated: January 16, 2024
It's no surprise Nintendo's “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is the best overall choice for best adventure games. Nintendo just keeps improving their world of Zelda, and in this particular game, you will find improved landscapes, challenging puzzles, outstanding background music and excellent mechanics that will keep you playing for hours. There is plenty of exploring to do in this great world of Zelda.
We looked at the top Video Games and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Video Game you should buy.
Product Details
In our analysis of 161 expert reviews, the Nintendo Switch The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
placed 1st when we looked at the top 14 products in the category. For the full ranking,
see below.
From The Manufacturer
Step into a world of discovery, exploration, and adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a boundary-breaking new game in the acclaimed series. Travel across vast fields, through forests, and to mountain peaks as you discover what has become of the kingdom of Hyrule in this stunning Open-Air Adventure. Now on the Nintendo Switch console, your journey is freer and more open than ever. Take your system anywhere, and adventure as Link any way you like. Discover a world as never before seen: by making your own path, choices, and consequences Ingenuity is the key to survival: find multiple solutions to tons of dynamic puzzles Surprises hide around every corner: scavenge weapons, armor, plants, animals, and more Live off the land: find weapons and armor, cook food, and brew elixirs Utilize special technology: the in-game Sheikah Slate controls objects and enemies in fun ways Gear up: many weapons and armor have unique stats, resistances, effects, and durability Shrines offer hundreds of clever challenges even veterans won’t see coming Compatible amiibo include the Wolf Link amiibo figure, figures from the Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary amiibo series, and figures from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild amiibo series. Each one will offer Link in-game items that may just come in handy.
Expert Reviews
What reviewers liked
This adventure game is packed with a wide variety of perplexing puzzles and a delicate soundtrack that expertly punctuates the world's many moods.
Where it takes mechanics from others in the industry, it improves upon them; where it introduces new ones, you slap your forehead in amazement that it hasn’t been done before. Breath of the Wild is development done right, and damn near the best game you’ll play all year.
That paraglider is easily one of the most useful tools in Breath of the Wild because it's so versatile. You can use it to effortlessly glide across lakes and gaps or ride updrafts into new areas, and I often used each long trip across the map as a way to scan the marvelously lit horizon in search of clues or meditate on what I need to do next.
Zelda games have always been large, but Breath of the Wild feels uniquely grand, a massive open world filled with so much to do that I suspect most players — even those who complete the main story — will miss large swaths of the map. The scale could have been daunting, but the joy of discovery and the satisfaction that comes from finding your own way make it inviting instead. I want to go the places I’ve yet to discover. I want to uncover new secrets and abilities. I want more.
Breath of the Wild also wants you to feel like exploring is a worthwhile use of your time, which it accomplishes in several ways. First, by letting Link choose from a wide variety of weapons and gear. Second, by sprinkling puzzles and shrines throughout the world. (Shrines serve as both fast travel points and mini-dungeons. There are around 100 in the game, and for every four you complete, you can upgrade your health or stamina.) And third, by making every item useful.
This is also the largest Hyrule Nintendo has ever created, in both breadth and depth. Having a simply massive open world wouldn’t mean much if there wasn’t so much to do within it, but there’s tons. There are the 100 Shrines – basically mini-puzzles which reward the player with “Spirit Orbs” to earn new hearts or an increased stamina bar – as well as God knows how many Kokiri kids to hunt for their Korok seeds, stables to find and register horses, and towers to climb to unlock more of the map. You can even take photos of everything in sight to complete the Sheikah Slate’s compendium.
What reviewers didn't like
This has occasional frame rate issues.
This lack of direction can be disorienting at first.
Can't remap buttons. Some frame rate drops.
Only a couple of niggles might put you off. One is the somewhat hammy voice acting, though it’s only used in cut scenes so doesn’t impact the game too much. It’s the first time a Zelda game has had voice acting in it, and I think Nintendo’s inexperience with this shows. The other is an occasional dip in performance. While Zelda mostly runs at a solid 30fps on Switch, when things get heated, or in particular when Link is running through a dense patch of grass, it can take a pretty substantial hit.
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