Into the wilderness
Nintendo absolutely nailed their first attempt at an open world Zelda game. BoTW is made from various ingredients taken from other games, refined and mixed into a magical dish. Although it still suffers from a couple problems inherent to the open world genre, it is the easiest to pick up and lose several hours at a time in.
Aptly named, the game's primary enemy in the game is the wilderness itself. Not only does Link have to survive intense heat, cold, rain, and other hazards (each of which has multiple solutions), the action of simply getting to target areas are essentially puzzle challenges. Navigating the world is very fluid and free, better than any other open world game to date, as Link can run, swim, climb, and parachute, but all actions are gated by his stamina wheel. Particularly at the start of the game, without stamina upgrades or beneficial equipment, miscalculations will result in Link plunging or drowning to his death. This a welcome addition to the open world formula, as traversal is no longer a mind-numbing chore.
Along the way, there is a lot to see and do. Environments vary from icy mountains, volcanoes, and deserts to villages, castles, and temples. Although most NPCs don't have much to say, the dozens of standouts offer quests, songs, hints, and goofy reactions to Link's actions. Towers function similarly to any other open world game, in that reach the top opens up an area of the map. However the interesting twist is that no locations are automatically mapped, therefore avoiding the Ubisoft-style mission icon vomit. Instead, Link has to look from this vantage point and mark out potentially interesting locations manually. Over 100 shrines can be found around the map, each a challenge of combat or other skills, and every four completed shrines grants an upgrade to hearts or stamina at your choice. Aside from the center castle, which can technically be stormed right at the start for extremely skilled players, the world also contains 4 main dungeons and a whole bunch of giant boss-like enemies just wandering around. On the side, animals can be hunted for meat. Mushrooms and fruits pop up at the appropriate times and places. Ingredients can then be combined at camp fires for extra benefits. Ores and stones can also be smashed to gather crafting material, needed for quests and equipment upgrades. A lot of systems are present, each offering significant help to Link's journey, but almost any one system in particular can be ignored, depending on the player's play style.
Overall the experience is constantly charming and full of surprises. It's no surprise that some have poured hundreds of hours into this world. However, as much as Nintendo has improved the open world formula in many ways, some of the same old problems are still present.
First off, the main narrative is very weak. Although the premise is interesting, it fades into the background like that of Skyrim. Once the general plan to save the world is laid out, no twists or turns spring up. Interesting bits of backstory are also locked as collectibles all over the map. Most disappointingly, constrained by the freedom of the player to complete the dungeons in any order, story lines tied to those 4 areas feel disjointed and insignificant. The dungeon designs also are hit and miss, and overly similar. Players looking for the quintessential Zelda experience may be disappointed.
Second, enemy difficulty does not scale well to the Link's growth. The game feels a bit too difficult to start, and then too easy as Link's powers and gear ramp up. A new weapon degradation system adds to the frustrations, because weapons break faster when used against higher level enemies. While some players applaud the system as forcing them to try out different weapons and combat styles, more than a few times I found myself scrambling for anything to use at all in the middle of a big battle. Bosses, including the final one, also feel too similar and too easy (the only difficulty was my weapons breaking).
Third, escort/tailing missions. There's thankfully only 1 in the main story, but easily the worst part of the game. Not even Nintendo can make them fun, why do devs keep trying?
BoTW is not a perfect game in my open world-hater's opinion, but it is better than almost all competition. (I found myself pining for more of the Zelda magic when I was plodding through Mass Effect Andromeda.) The game is easily recommendable to any player, regardless of experience (a tip to get through the rough start: avoid combat and finish at least a dozen shrines for upgrades) or preference, and that is a great achievement.
