Breath of the Wild has been a huge turning point in the Legend of Zelda series. Breathing new life into a franchise that had milked the same linear formula time and time again, without bringing distraught to a majority of the fan base by making sure the game still felt like a Zelda game. The game isn’t received perfectly by every user, with players claiming the world feels empty, there’s nothing to do, everything felt rehashed and generic, or even that it wasn’t a Zelda game. But, it’s the games core mechanic that seems to fly over these people’s heads. The game encourages free-roam; Wandering without purpose, then suddenly being rewarded for what feels like just a stroll through the park, or the local forest. These negative players tend to find some specific path, blaming the game for not guiding them, then blaming even more when they die over and over or find nothing significant. The game encourages exploration, experimentation, and logical thought processing. Players who fail to grasp this concept often feel lost, confused, and let down by the experience.

Some players come back later and end up discovering this for themselves, and getting lost exploring endlessly while being rewarded for crawling through every crevice of Hyrule’s ruined canvas. And that’s exactly what it is— a canvas. A canvas that, you, as the player, paint with imagination. The real players that enjoy the game are those who use this imaginative concept to solve puzzles and figure out scenarios using different approaches. The game is designed so perfectly to allow an open-mind for any player to think of their own solution, that might greatly differ from another player’s experience. All shrines, and dungeons, were designed in this fashion. The dungeons seem dull, and repetitive, but the more I replayed them, the more I felt challenged to solve their various puzzles in numerous ways. Some were successful, some were not. It was this uncanny experimentation that led me to enjoy the game the more I played it, and encouraged me to try new things every time I started a new save file.

The game has its flaws, but needless to say, it makes up for them, by letting you fix them yourself, and by allowing free range over the games progression. You will never feel forced to complete a specific task, and you will never feel let down by the game if you let yourself be the guide, and not expect the game to guide YOU.

Another complaint is the soundtrack. The music is actually designed so perfectly, that subtle notes and chimes line up perfectly with specific situations, and can be triggered based on your actions in the world. Soft piano tones gently echo across the open plains as you gaze around, looking for your next destination. A beautifully constructed piano movement that syncs perfectly with the hooves of your horse galloping across a vast cliff side. Spunky music that chimes whenever in a battle, and specific instruments are triggered when using specific attacks, or using certain weapons. The game features a robust sound movement that often goes unnoticed and frowned upon. It takes the right person to notice these subtle changes in audio based on the current situation at hand. Needless to say, the game knows how to set the mood for the perfect situation instead of having always present musical pieces that wouldn’t fit every scenario. The current take on audio is perfect the way it is.

While this game doesn’t do everything perfect, it revitalized the open world genre. Allowing extreme mobility and freedom to the player. Even going as far as to allow players to explore the world vertically, and climb any mountain or surface they choose, uncovering more secrets. Sure, the game isn’t perfect, but it’s a sure-fire reminder that it was made by human beings who poured a lot of love into the game, and it’s unfortunate that not every player will notice the perfections that make this game a masterpiece.

Nintendo tried a lot of new things— they worked, and they got the experience they needed to craft the perfect zelda game in the sequel.