The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — The Game That Rebooted Open-World Gaming
So March 2017. Nintendo drops Breath of the Wild, and suddenly every open-world game that came after it looks at itself in the mirror and asks some hard questions. That’s not an exaggeration—Ubisoft, Bethesda, whoever makes those Assassin’s Creed games—they all had to figure out what they were doing differently after BotW showed up.
Six years in development. The creative director Hidemaro Fujibayashi basically rebuilt what an open-world game could be. And you know what? They pulled it off. This thing won over 200 Game of the Year awards. 32 million copies sold. It spawned a direct sequel—Tears of the Kingdom—that became the best-selling Zelda game ever. That’s not luck. That’s a masterpiece.
The Story
Here’s the setup: Link wakes up after a 100-year nap. No memory. You’re standing on the Great Plateau, and honestly? You have no idea what’s going on. Meanwhile, Princess Zelda has been holding back Calamity Ganon for an entire century while Hyrule basically fell apart around her.
Calamity Ganon isn’t some dude you fight with a sword—it’s become this swirling nightmare of malice, waiting for the right moment to finish what it started. The backstory is that 100 years ago, everything went sideways. Your job is to get your memory back, unite with the spirits of four Champions, and help Zelda finish what she started.
The memories thing is clever—you find 13 locations around Hyrule that replay what happened 100 years ago. It’s like piecing together a puzzle while the puzzle is actively trying to kill you. And somewhere out there is the Master Sword, waiting for you to prove you’re worthy. No pressure.
That Opening Plateau
Let me tell you about the Great Plateau. Most games throw you into a tutorial area that’s clearly a tutorial. “Press A to jump! Press B to…” You know how it goes.
BotW’s Great Plateau? It teaches you everything—climbing, stamina management, combat, the Sheikah Slate powers—without ever feeling like a tutorial. You’re just… there. Learning. And then you’re done, and it drops you into Hyrule with almost nothing, and you realize the entire world is yours to explore.
That moment when you climb to the top of that first tower and the camera pulls back to show you Hyrule for the first time? I remember exactly where I was sitting. I think I just stared at the screen for ten minutes.
The Open World Actually Feels Open
Here’s what BotW figured out that most open-world games miss: no handholding. No quest markers cluttering your map. No big glowing arrows pointing at your next objective. Just you, a world, and whatever you feel like doing.
You can climb literally anything from the beginning. That mountain way over there? Yeah, you can climb it. The castle in the center of the map? Sure, go for it—we’ll see how that works out. But you CAN. That’s the whole point.
120 shrines are scattered around. These are puzzle dungeons, each with a Spirit Orb as a reward. Some are brain-teasers with the Sheikah Slate powers. Some are combat trials. Some are just “get to the end,” and they’re a welcome breather. 90 towers reveal portions of the map when you activate them. The four Divine Beasts are like mini-dungeons with Champions inside them. And then there’s Hyrule Castle, which is absolutely stacked with treasure but will absolutely destroy you if you’re not careful.
The weather system is brutal and brilliant. Thunderstorm rolling in while you’re climbing? Hope you have rubber armor or you’re getting shocked. Cold mountain? You need fire weapons, elixirs, or the Warm Doublet. Hot desert? Opposite problem. The world actually has consequences, which makes preparation feel meaningful.
The Sheikah Slate Powers
The Sheikah Slate is Link’s tablet thing, and it gives you powers that completely change how you approach everything:
Magnesis—you can grab metal objects and move them around. Find hidden chests under water, create bridges, yeet metal boxes at enemies. Stasis freezes objects in time, and when you release them, they launch at ridiculous speeds. Launching a metal crate at a group of Bokoblins never gets old. Cryonis creates ice blocks on water surfaces—essential for crossing rivers or creating climbing paths over water. And bombs, because why not blow stuff up?
There’s also a camera to fill out the Hyrule Compendium, which is basically a photo album of every creature and material in the game. If you’ve got Zelda amiibo, you can scan them for exclusive gear like the Twilight Bow. Nice bonus if you’re into that.
The Combat Is Deeper Than It Looks
At first glance, combat seems simple: hit things with swords. But then you learn perfect dodges—dodge at exactly the right moment and time slows down, letting you land a flurry rush for massive damage. Perfect guards work the same way: block at exactly the right second and you deflect everything, sometimes breaking enemy weapons in the process.
Mount combat is wild. You can tame horses, the giant horse on Satori Mountain (good luck), deer, bears, and then fight from their backs. I spent an embarrassing amount of time fighting enemies while riding a horse. Is it optimal? No. Is it fun? Absolutely.
Environmental combat is where things get creative. Fire creates updrafts—burn grass and paraglide through to gain altitude. Electricity chains through water, so fighting near water with electric arrows is devastating. Ice freezes enemies in place. Everything interacts with everything, and skilled players can take down tough enemies without ever drawing a sword.
Weapon durability is… controversial. Weapons break. All of them. Some faster than others. Yes, it’s annoying when your fancy claymore snaps mid-fight. But it also forces you to adapt, use what you find, and not get too attached to any one weapon. The Master Sword is the exception—it “breaks” but recharges after a short cooldown. That thing is your best friend.
The Champions Are Great
Four Champions, each tied to a Divine Beast. Daruk controls Vah Rudania, the volcano dungeon. His ability helps with perfect guards. Mipha pilots Vah Ruta, the water elephant. Her grace heals you periodically. Revali flies Vah Medoh, the flying fortress, and gives you an updraft ability. Urbosa commands Vah Naboris, the desert camel, and her fury calls down lightning.
Each Champion’s story is tragic—they died 100 years ago, and you’re working with their spirits. The memories tied to each one hit different. Mipha and Link’s backstory especially. The DLC Champions’ Ballad expands on their stories, and it’s worth playing through.
But the supporting characters are where it’s at. Sidon, prince of the Zora, is an absolute joy. Yunobo is Daruk’s grandson trying to live up to his ancestor. Riju is the young Gerudo chief with the Thunder Helm. Impa from Kakariko Village fills you in on everything. Even the random NPCs have little stories that make the world feel lived-in.
Korok Seeds and Hidden Stuff
Korok Seeds are everywhere. You find them by doing little environmental puzzles—stack rocks a certain way, find the pattern in nature, follow the leaf trail. There are 900 of them. NINE HUNDRED. Most people find maybe 200-300 in their first playthrough.
The Hidden chests are the same. Just… everywhere. Behind waterfalls. Under lakes. On top of trees. You name it. I thought I was thorough my first time through, and then I watched a speedrun and realized I’d found maybe 40% of the secrets. That game hides stuff SO well.
The Shrines
120 shrines, and they’re a mixed bag. Some are excellent puzzle chambers that make you think. Some are combat trials that test what you’ve learned. Some are just “walk to the end.” The blessing shrines are literally just—there, reward you for finding them.
The Trial of the Sword from the Master Trials DLC is brutal. You go through floors of increasingly difficult enemies with no weapons—you pick up what enemies drop. It’s a gauntlet, and beating it feels like an achievement.
Spirit Orbs from completing shrines let you upgrade either heart containers or stamina vessels. The stamina is more useful than people think early on—more stamina means better climbing, which opens up the entire world faster. But hearts have their place too, especially for combat-focused players.
Tips That Actually Help
Ignore the main quest for as long as you want. The joy of BotW is wandering. I spent 40 hours just exploring before I even went to the first Divine Beast.
Collect everything. Seriously. Mushrooms, insects, fish—everything cooks into something useful. A thorough explorer is a powerful explorer.
Master the perfect dodge. I cannot stress this enough. It changes everything. Practice on weak enemies until it’s muscle memory.
Koroks love heights. Look up. Most of the hidden stuff is up high. If you see a weird rock formation, there’s probably a Korok there.
Explore Hyrule Castle early. Yeah, it’s dangerous. But skilled players can grab incredible weapons within minutes of starting. The risk-reward balance is wild there.
Cook smart. Monster extract and prime/critical monster parts make dramatically better elixirs. Don’t waste your time with basic ingredients when you’re mid-game.
Is It Worth Playing in 2026?
9.8 out of 10. And I’d argue it’s only dropped because Tears of the Kingdom exists and improves on almost everything.
But here’s the thing—BotW came out in 2017, and it still looks gorgeous. The art direction is timeless. The world design is still being studied by developers. The freedom it offers hasn’t been matched by many games.
If you’ve never played it, play it. If you played it once and put it down, give it another shot. There’s always something you missed, always somewhere you haven’t been. That’s the magic of BotW—it respects your time while giving you unlimited things to do.
Nintendo took a franchise that had been following a formula for 30 years and completely changed direction. And somehow? It worked better than anyone expected. That’s not easy to pull off, and it shows just how talented the team was.
Welcome to Hyrule. Nothing will ever feel the same.
There are games that are great. And then there’s Breath of the Wild—a game that makes everything before it feel like a rough draft.
#Zelda #BreathOfTheWild #Nintendo #Gaming #OpenWorld
