Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am a lifelong Zelda player going back to the original NES gold cartridge days and I must say BOTW is a perfect mix of new and old and thus far is my favorite Zelda ever. The open world recreates the challenges of the original and eliminates the frustrations of the past several Zelda by being too restricted in your linear movements. The graphics and story only serve to create an ever better sense of immersion and challenge. A+ Nintendo!

Wonderful, open world game! After the somewhat let down of Skyward Sword, Nintendo comes full throttle with Breath of the Wild. Hyrule itself is ginormous, the story is great and the play control is absolutely fantastic! I love the fact that you can (to most extent) play the game in pretty much any order you wish. The only draw back in my opinion is the new weapon damage system as weapons tend to break rather quickly... although that makes finding the Master Sword that much more rewarding. All in all, my favorite game so far this year and last.

I was hesitant about BOTW, I've played a number of open world style games that failed to keep me hooked, but Zelda does it right. There is just so much to do in the world. I will admit, some design choices were a bit jarring, like weapon durability, and resource sparseness (no constantly filling up your arrows before each boss here, you've got to use them sparingly) but I've mostly adjusted and can appreciate the systems now. (I still wish rupees were a bit more common though). Its a superb game, and being able to play it anywhere is great.

Some games you just know are going to change your life the moment it boots up; this game is absolutely no exception. The story will pull you in and never let you go. You’ll torment yourself in search of the next adventure, the next chest, the next new location to explore! This game doesn’t seem to become boring. You may find yourself so engrossed that you forget to eat, sleep, go to work, walk the dog, get the mail, feed your kids... so learn from my mistake and make sure you set timers or reminders. The game looks beautiful, when you witness your first Sunrise against the ocean water, you’ll hardly care that it’s not some graphically impressive 4K game played on one of the competitor’s systems. They should have asked a poet to write this review... or at least someone who went to college and could read and rite good. The gameplay can be pretty demanding at times, but the more you play, the better you get, and the easier it becomes. The story allows you to 100% choose your own journey. Do you want to go fight the end game boss right after you start the game, you can do that.... do you want to spend 400 hours exploring and cooking food? You can do that too! Easily worth full price, but if you find it on sale, you should totally jump on the opportunity without thinking. Even if you don’t own a Switch, totally buy this. It’s a sound business decision. Trust me, I bought this game, and my grocery bills were instantly cut by 3/4. Pros: besides everything I just said, this game is so addicting that my lack of eating has led me to lose 10 pounds. Cons: none.

A huge open world game with a great story. Only problem is framrate issues in docked mode. Gameplay is great, this is a 5/5 stars for sure.

This game is designed to be enjoyed in many different ways. If you are the diligent type of person who wants to follow the recommendations of the game and go EXACTLY where you are told to go next, and what to do, then this is a solid game. But that is not what this game is meant for. It is meant for wandering and discovery. And if you put yourself in the right mindset to get curious, and observe the landscape and see what could potentially be around that hill, or down that river, or inside that valley, or up on top of that mountain, this game will reward you with surprises. Let me point out the very thing that this game does that separates it from all other open-world games: This is a vertically designed game. By design you are encouraged to climb up to high places to observe the land and see what is below, and then you can drop in below. You are encouraged to act as your own topographer and mark up your own map with "stamps" to chart what it is that you see and place a waypoint there. Its pure discovery. There are no "?" already pre-placed on the map. Its all up to you. In most games, this would be a bad sign, because there's usually not much there. Like some collectable item that only serves to complete a side quest for the sake of completion. That is not what happens in this game, you are rewarded with unique gameplay moments. You discover new missions and characters. You find interesting side stories entirely by accident. This game rewards you for your curiosity at such a consistent level. This is the game where you are recommended to NOT just follow the main quest. This game has so many other game mechanics at work, that it would take a while to explain them all. The best way to explain is that the game strives to achieve a realism without all the boring parts about realism. Its very interactive, but not in a way in which its pointless. There's a GAMEPLAY reason for all of this interactivity. One gameplay mechanic that would be utterly pointless and tedious on its own is justified by the implementation of other gameplay mechanics. It all ends up working together. There's a bit of Minecraft-type of resource gathering mechanics. And lastly, the game surprises you with its enemy and their behavior. Even the most common enemy will find some way to surprise you during a fight. Because of the fact that your weapons has a short shelf-life early on in the game, you are forced to try out different weapons, but more importantly, you are strongly encouraged to engage a group of enemies in unique ways so that you don't have to use up your weapons. Scope the landscape and see what you can use to your advantage. Experiment. And there are so many small details that simply accumulate to blow you away. You have a sound-meter, when you walk slowly you make some noise, if you crouch and walk you make almost no noise, but if you run you make alot of noise. Nothing complicated about that, right? But WHY is it in the game? Because you can crawl up to enemies sleeping stealthily. And THEN you come to realize that when its raining, the sound of the rain masks the sound of your footsteps. So the dynamic weather has a PURPOSE, the sound has a PURPOSE. Its not there for the sake of presentation. Its there because you can DO SOMETHING WITH IT. The moment you realize that and then ask yourself "what if.......I try doing this?" and then do it AND IT WORKS!! Its the greatest feeling I've had in many years. This game makes you realize how other games artificially limit you in ways that are just plain silly. Locked doors??? Really? A line of bushes that serves as a wall that you aren't allowed to get past? This Zelda is meant to blow your mind in 2017 the way the first Zelda blew your mind in 1986/87.

This has been the best video game experience in a few years for me. This game features a large open world with many things to occupy your time with. Some people do not like the 'open world with several side quests' set-up that this game features. Maybe if it was a different game, I wouldn't like it either. But I think Nintendo did a wonderful job keeping me entertained throughout the massive amount of hours I spent in this game. Pros: 1) The art-style is beautiful, and while not on the same graphic level as some other consoles, I think this game looks prettier than quite a few PS4 titles. 2) Link travels to a variety of locations, all of which beautiful. No 40+ hours spent looking at locales that all look the same. 3) Tons of stuff to occupy Link with. Shrines, Korok seeds, side-quests, picture-taking, and more. 4) Smooth sailing as far as gameplay and combat. Very familiar to those who have played a Zelda game before. Cons: 1) Some shrines required move controls to complete. I am not a fan of move controls (I just got the teleports for these shrines and moved on). 2) A lot of people had an issue with the English VAs. The VA didn't bother me so much as the sync of the voices with the animation. Just switch to the Japanese and put on subtitles if it really bothers you. Despite the couple of cons, this was such a great game that they didn't diminish my enjoyment at all.

This a great entry in the Zelda series. It's a great departure from the classic formula that we all grew up on. I do wish they would do away with the weapon durability and breaking system but overall its a great game amd the story is really good!

This is without a doubt the best Switch game I've played so far. The open world, adventure, and story line has been so great. There's also lots of things to do outside of the story line like exploring, cooking, and hunting. Although the one I'd like to note is that I preferred to play this game docked with a controller as the graphics tend to stand out much better on a tv and it is much easier to play an open world game with a controller.

I'm not deep into this game, and I've admittedly never been a huge Legend of Zelda fan, but this is easily my favorite game in the franchise that I've played. There's something very satisfying about the sense of exploration this game offers. There are annoying aspects of the game, like weapon durability, but they serve to make the journey more memorable. The game is atmospheric and encourages players to make their own way, it's an excellent shot in the arm for the franchise, for open world RPGs, and for Nintendo.

Actually previously owned but lost the cartridge due to how small they are. The game is worth buying twice! It doesn't matter if you don't like legend of Zelda or never played any of the games. This game is very unique and a legitimate adventure. You start the game with nothing not even your memories! You just wake up and run into a stranger who gives you a run down on what's happened and you decide to go fight Ganon only it's up to you how you go about that. This begins a 50 to 100 hour game depending how you decide to go about things. Every inch of the map is accessible from the beginning as long as you can figure out a way to traverse it! You have hot and cold weather thunder storms and monsters that will have you asking "am I too low a level? Or am I fighting this monster wrong" even after finishing the game I found there were clever ways to beat certain monsters I never thought of. That is the basis of the game; finding clever ways to win fights and survive the world. This makes combat and exploring alot of fun. On top of that the music is pretty great there isn't a huge variety but there's enough to really make you feel like you are on an adventure. It's surprisingly emotional as well. There were certain characters I really felt for. Plus you spend alot of time traveling alone so meeting friendly people was always refreshing. Also When you get to the end you see how far you've come with your gear and knowledge of fighting enemies. Even though you win the ending feels bitter sweet. This game is a legitimate adventure.

To put it simply: there is no other Zelda game like it. Craft your own path to victory on The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. It is up to you how you play the game. Want to be a bow master, spear wielder or master swordsman? sure, go ahead and master you own play style. Highly recommended for those with desire for a simple yet touching story, and a massive Hyrule full of discoveries to be explored!

BotW surpassed every Zelda game by leaps and bounds with its expansive, almost never-ending world. This game hits on all the best parts of the franchise - immersive story, puzzles, combat - but doesn't force you to do all three at any given time. So if you love puzzles, you can focus on the shrines, if you love quests, you can go off and do those, and if you want to power through and hear the story, you can do that. All of this in a beautiful package, there's got to be hundreds of hours of gameplay here.

I never understood the appeal to Zelda, but once I picked this up I knew I made a great decision. This game is challenging and fun. It makes you use your head to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. Even just trying to move about the world or carry out a simple objective such as mining rocks on a ceiling of a cave, throw the hammer at the ore deposit if you cannot reach it , requires some thought. The game is also open world where you can go anywhere you want. It is not as linear as some of the other games in the series. This is the main reason why I picked it up. The only problems with this game are one, saves. There are times when I am in a shrine solving a puzzle and I will save it at a spot just in case I die or fall off a ledge. When I do die and reload the save I have to restart the whole shrine. If you don't load the save you will be automatically respawn on that ledge again and lose a "heart" or some of your life. Another issue with the saves are with loading objects and animals in the environment. I was stalking a deer ready to try and ride it when it noticed me. I reloaded the save and when I reloaded the deer was not there. Also another example is when I had to light a furnace from a certain fire. I saved myself holding the torch because I was unsure if the furnace was inside the house or outside of the house. If it was inside the house once your character opens a door he puts out the torch. I decided to reload the save and poof my torch was not out and lit. So I had to go all the way back down the hill to light it again. The last issue with this game is that sometimes when you chase animals or fight enemies they just disappear even though you are right next to them. Specifically a deer I was chasing disappeared in front of me. Overall, this game is very enjoyable and provides a nice challenge. Buy this game even if you are on the fence about Zelda games if you like open world, crafting food and drink, and like a bit of challenge when fighting enemies or solving problems by using your head.

I was honestly surprised by how vast and huge this game was. The story is awesome, the side quests are awesome, and even just wandering around exploring is pretty awesome too! There's soooo much to do, and it's crazy to me that Zelda has come this far. I love the look of this game. It's a little more cartoony looking and I kinda like that they went that direction (as opposed to the way Twilight Princess looked). Like I've seriously already taken a million screenshots because of how absolutely gorgeous this game looks and I'm not even halfway through the game. I also love the challenge in this game - it can be very difficult sometimes (Especially the Lynel, you'll come to love these guys lol), but I like it. I like that this game makes you wanna try new strategies and think differently. I mean, there's a lot of Zelda games before this one that required some "outside of the box" thinking too, but this game is on a whole new level. It's definitely unlike any of the previous Zelda games and that's definitely not a bad thing at all. I'm always up for a challenge and this game definitely has lots of them, but that's what makes it even better in my opinion. But so far, I'm super impressed by this game. I'm addicted. And if Nintendo ever makes another Zelda game, I don't know how they'll ever be able to top this one because this game is definitely top notch. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this game and at this point, you're not buying a switch to play anything else. I will say however that there are glaring absences in the game of stalwart Zelda fundamentals. There are no dungeons in this game, and while the shrines are great for quick puzzle challenges they are in no way a substitute for the excellent and deep explorations from Link's past. Some people will say the divine beasts are dungeons but I hardly found challenge in them, except one, and even then they had derivative bosses and lacked the originality and distinctiveness of the type established by the other games. The weapon system is ok, I really liked how you were forced to use a plethora of different swords, daggers, boomerangs and other tools but I guarantee you will get frustrated when you've found a rare weapon that breaks too easily. The music is good, but once again lacks the stirring and upbeat overtures of its predecessors. Graphically it's my favorite of the series mixing a few different styles to great effect. The game world is large in size, I'm not a big fan of open world games, regardless this one is fascinating and fun to explore. If you're a Zelda fan I'm sure you'll enjoy this although I think you may agree with some of my critiques. For non-fans (who are you buying the system and game this early?) I think there are enough great adventures and clever puzzles to solve that will offer a satisfying playthrough.

Full transparency - I'm a huge Zelda fan and a Nintendo system owner for life so if that makes me a little bias then perhaps this isn't the best review to go by if you're not the same. Having said that, I do know a lot of Zelda fans that did not love the game. It's very different from the other games in the series strictly on account of it's open world play so if you like the structured, linear progression found in most other Zelda titles, you may not be into the hundreds of hours you may be putting into this game strictly on account of exploration of the vast world. Aside from that, the weapon system, health and upgrade system, items, etc. are also different in the sense that you can get anything at any time, pretty much. That is to say, you could find a bow laying on the ground after killing a Bokoblin rather than acquiring one halfway through the second dungeon like some other games in the series. Or you could come across the Master Sword within the first few hours of the game rather than halfway through or near the end. I think it's great that they don't limit you in what you can do from the get-go (more or less) but they do limit you in other ways. For example, you can't climb while it's raining and your weapons break eventually (some quicker than others) forcing you to change up your strategy a lot. It's also more difficult in the beginning as you can easily be trounced by the weakest enemy if you just go into combat mashing buttons like previous titles. This is definitely a Zelda game for a more dedicated player that wants to be challenged and overcome those challenges. All of this being said, they stay true to the feel and character of the other Zelda titles. Fun characters, beautiful design, solid story line, etc. Really, all around, this game is one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. I'm on my third play through of the game and I'm still loving it!

This game is infuriating, fun, frustrating, and, in many ways, a refreshing return to the challenging way games used to be made when you couldn't do everything immediately and had to work your way up and return. I loved the gorgeous graphics and open world. The game has an almost infinite number of different questions and places to explore and do and can be fun to just walk around and explore. Unlike previous Zelda games where you have to keep backtracking to do things with new tools you find, BOTW makes it feel more organic, as you explore the countryside and return to places to see new things and explore new parts you missed the first time. In earlier Zelda games, it always felt very grindy to me to have to keep returning to the same boring screen to walk in circles while you decide if you have the resources to break through a section and on to the next. This game is very fluid and always moves forward. If you get stuck, you can easily leave it for later. Aside from the frustrations that arose with the difficulty and parts of the game that were just beyond infuriating to try to get through, the only thing I found really disappointing was the final boss. I'd recommend the game to anyone, a fun take on Zelda lore in an open world

Definitely a very good game. Graphics are nice, the story is good, you can read enough about it anywhere. However, there are a few things that annoy me. 1) Weapons break all the time. I'm fine with durability on items, but these things break literally every fight or two. You're constantly searching for new weapons/shields. 2) Cooking is a chore. Do you have 30 apples in your inventory that you want to cook one at a time? Well, you're going to cook them one at a time. Open inventory, hit button to hold stuff, click button to hold apple, exit inventory, click COOK, wait for animation (or X to skip it). Completed dish pops up on screen. Next apple? Guess what....do that again. It gets old fast. 3) The world is huge, but often empty. I don't mind open world games, and I don't' mind if they're huge....but being huge for no reason is a waste. You will often run a LONG ways before coming across anything to do. The good news is that they have fast-travel, and there are a lot of teleport pads scattered through the world (that you need to unlock, of course). Aside from those annoyances, it's still a good game.

It’s a great Zelda game. This and Mario Odyssey are the must haves for the switch. It’s a lot like the other Zelda games, with a few new abilities and twists. It took a while to get going but I’m hooked. The open world means that you can play for hours and get nothing accomplished but explore, or you can get to the objectives if you want. The only minor annoyance is that your weapons break so that great sword you found only gets so many uses. A must buy.