The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an open-world game that is available on Nintendo Switch and Wii-U. It was released on March 3rd, 2017, which makes it 6 years old as of this year. It was one of the games that were released with the Switch, making it one of the first games people played on the Switch. It became popular very fast and is one of the bigger Zelda games that has been released. As of December 2022, Breath of the Wild accumulated 29 million sales. With a sequel finally on the horizon, it’s time to revisit a game that many have played, but many may have missed.  

The actual story of the game follows the generic plot of the Zelda games in some way, where Gannon is evil, and Link is the hero. It begins with Link waking up, after 100 years of being asleep due to a near-fatal injury. He remembers little to nothing about the past. He walks around a plateau and finds an “old man” who gives him objectives to obtain a paraglider. After completing these objectives, Link is given the paraglider, and he gets off the great plateau finally in the real world. However, before this, he is made aware of the correct state of Hyrule and his past. The world has been overthrown by the Calamity cannon, and the only thing stopping everything from falling apart is Zelda, who is in the castle, holding back Gannon with all her power. She is growing increasingly weak, and it is up to Link to save her, and all of Hyrule.

        As Link adventures through the work, he learns of the past and all that has happened to not only him but what has happened over the 100 years he’s been asleep. As the game progresses Link learns more about his past through people around him and the “core memories” he remembers as you reach certain places in the game. Link travels all around Hyrule preparing to fight calamity Gannon. He goes to different villages and learns about the Divine Beast. The Divine Beasts are pieces of Hines technology that Gannon has taken over, and to make the final fight easier, Link must take the Divine Beast back.

Over time Link becomes stronger, and more knowledgeable about the world and is finally ready to fight calamity Gannon; finally freeing Zelda from this tiring place after 100 years. However, unlike other games, there’s still more to do in this game besides the story.

There are 120 shrines in the world (without DLC) that are mini-puzzles that can be completed in exchange for a “spirit orb.” If 4  “spirit orbs” are obtained they can be exchanged for more stamina or a heart. If you get a certain amount of hearts you can get the master sword. In addition to this, there are 76 side quests to be completed, with a variety of different objectives and awards. There are also little creatures with leaves on their faces, called Korok. They hide all around the world and give you seeds that you can donate to someone called Hetsu. Hetsu can explain your inventory with these seeds And if you find all 900 of them you get a special memento.

This game is generally perceived as a good game due to the story, the graphics, the amount of content, and more. There is so much to do, see, and obtain in this game. It’s a game that will keep you busy for hours and hours and even has an expansion pack if you want more.