Zelda: Breath of the Wild – “Possibly the Best Game Ever Made”

The reviews are in, and they are unanimous in their praise: Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has swept the boards with a plethora of top scores – five stars, ten-out-of-ten, 100% – just one day before the official release of the Japanese company’s new console, the Switch. Breath of the Wild has been described by its various reviews – from the likes of The Daily Dot, IGN, and GameCentral – as “an unmistakable Zelda game that completely changes everything expected from the series,” “a masterclass in open-world design,” and “very possibly the best video game ever made.”

The game has been particularly singled out as a masterpiece of open-world design – which is notable in a gaming sphere that seems to be suffering from open-world fatigue – limited only by the player’s own creativity in tackling the challenges it poses.

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild […] is all about what you can do,” Kotaku’s Jason Schreier writes. “This is a game that says “yes” to anything you ask of it. From the very beginning, you can swim in any lake, pick up any boulder, and cross any pit. When you try some crazy experiment, the game will oblige. You can climb up any wall, mountain, or tower in the world, which allows you the freedom to explore the map in a way that no Zelda game has matched. Breath of the Wild never asks you to wait for a new item before you uncover its secrets. It just keeps saying yes.”

“I guess, in the end, it’s not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it’s leaned on for so long,” Arthur Gies says in his 10-out-of-10 review on Polygon. “It’s that the evolution in question has required Nintendo to finally treat its audience like intelligent people. That newfound respect has led to something big, and different, and exciting. But in an open world full of big changes, Breath of the Wild also almost always feels like a Zelda game — and establishes itself as the first current, vital-feeling Zelda in almost 20 years.”

“The open world manages to seem like a vast sandbox and an intricately designed puzzle all at the same time,” GameCentral’s glowing review (10/10) reads. “There’s something new to see and do at almost every step and yet somehow the game is able to have its cake and eat it: giving the impression you’re exploring untouched wilderness, that no-one but you has ever laid eyes on, and yet also a landscape where every tree and boulder has been placed with the utmost care and forethought.”

According to GameCentral, Breath of the Wild is “The best Zelda there’s ever been, and very possibly the best video game ever made.”

Edge, Famitsu, GiantBomb, GameSpot, Destructoid, and Game Informer all gave the game full marks, while Eurogamer marked it as “Essential”.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is out for Nintendo Switch and Wii U tomorrow (3rd March).