Praise the Sun

Tetris (1984)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild could’ve very easily been a disaster. With this game, Nintendo elected to completely upend the (admittedly excellent) tried-and-true Zelda formula, eschewing a fairly linear structure and traditional dungeons centered around that one key item you’ve just found with a vast open-world game that is much more focused on exploration and light survival elements than anything else. In the process, one of the most magical experiences with a video game I’ve ever had was created.



The open world design in Breath of the Wild is absolutely revolutionary. The map isn’t littered with icons pointing you to total busy work. Instead, the game emphasizes the wonder of adventuring. From the very start of the game when you step out onto the Great Plateau (which is also one of the greatest tutorial areas in any game), you spot the peak of Death Mountain, forests and rivers and lakes dotting the land, a spire of Hyrule Castle cast against the picturesque backdrop of another mountain range. After you work your way through the Great Plateau through the first couple of hours – a time in which the game will give you every major tool up front that you’ll need to tackle basically any challenge or puzzle in the game – you’re given a paraglider to sail off the plateau and into Hyrule proper. At this point, any of those landmarks you spot you can begin to travel to with the promise of something rewarding and often breathtaking waiting for you once you get there. It’s amazing, because the world utilizes a lot of empty space, both for atmospheric effect and to better communicate the scale of the land. However, that isn’t to say that there’s huge stretches of the world where there’s just nothing to do or see; quite the opposite. There’s always some really cool secret tucked away in a corner or subtle environmental puzzle just a few steps away. The scope of the world is immense, and it very much encourages you to immerse yourself in the world and find the joy in discovery rather than a deluge of ultimately meaningless collectibles (there is a form of collectibles in the 900+ Korok Seeds scattered throughout the world; these aren’t really emphasized for any gameplay purposes though, and again the process of actually discovering these is the reward unto itself).

The act of playing this game is going to be a personal one for players. There’s such a wide range of experiences and quiet moments to be had in the process of exploring this world that will mean different things to different people, so it’s hard to totally encompass what it means to make your way through this game in a general write-up. It’s a world that simultaneously feels very authored and hand-crafted while also serving as a giant playground for the players. The gameplay systems at work here are phenomenal. There’s nothing quite like setting fire to your Korok Leaf and waving it around near an enemy encampment, setting fire to the grass and watching it slowly engulf the entire surrounding area and taking out the enemies on the ground. Meanwhile, in the process of starting this fire, you’ve created an upward draft of air that you can use to catch your paraglider and fly into the air, allowing you the perfect vantage point in mid-air to snipe the Bokgoblin lookout sitting in his tower. I mean, just look at another way this could play out: https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/bareidenticalcopperhead.

There are just so many possibilities like this inherent in the mechanics of this game, and it makes it so no two players will ever have the exact same experience in how they choose to navigate their way through these encounters. It’s a total delight, and ripe for sharing some really epic or hilarious stories between players.

Another very interesting element that kind of serves as a replacement to the usual dungeons are the inclusion of shrines that are scattered throughout the world. There’s 120 of them to be found across Hyrule. Some are right out in the open, displaying their orange beacon and encouraging you to figure out the best way to navigate to them through some often-treacherous terrain; others might be tucked away in a narrow valley or sitting underwater. Just finding and getting to these shrines is often a reward in itself, much like the rest of the exploration in this game. Once you get inside, you’ll often be greeted with mini-dungeon puzzle room or combat trial that will reward you with an upgrade or a piece of equipment. Some of these puzzles are among the series’ best, and teach you some very inventive ways to use the tools at your disposal which carry over to cool ways to use them in the aforementioned playground of the world.

The soundtrack – and more importantly, the way the soundtrack is utilized – deserves to be praised as well. It’s mainly centered around the piano, but it uses a wide variety of different instruments in different areas of the world that helps to establish the identity of the various regions. It all has a really distinct sound. It’s used to much more subtle effect than music in most games, though: it’s often playing very softly, sometimes verging on near-inaudibly, to help the quiet, contemplative atmosphere you’re usually experiencing. However, it seems to pick up and become more sweeping, more epic, more foreboding, etc., when you happen across a particularly epic vista or tough enemy. It’s very important to highlight these aren’t pre-scripted sequences, but rather totally organic responses to your normal play. It’s truly brilliant and only serves to make your time in this world that much more memorable.











The story and character work here is really strong for a Zelda game, too. There’s still the familiar tropey set-up you’d come to expect from this series, but it manages to take it to some really thematically thought-provoking and affecting places. There’s this strong feeling of mystery and sadness that just pervades most areas of the world, and the narrative fruit it bears is certainly worthwhile.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a total work of art. It’s utterly mind-blowing that Nintendo managed to create a world this grand in scope, one that simultaneously feels empty and forlorn and yet brimming with experiences, secrets, and an overall sense of magic. To produce something that feels so lovingly crafted to the finest detail, yet functions as this sandbox where players are constantly creating their own unique stories is an achievement that future game developers will be studying and chasing after in the years and probably decades to come. We’re ecstatic to be able to select it at #6 here.