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Brandon Lesky
Technology Critic

A young man in a green tunic and hat is tasked with a bit of dungeon crawling before the true evil of the world rears its ugly head. However, there is more he has to endure before he must fight in a battle of epic proportions.

Which main installment to The Legend of Zelda did I just describe?  If you had said, “Literally any of them,” you’d normally be correct. It seems, though, that Nintendo has tired of its formulaic approach to the green-garbed gentleman and given us something new in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The newest installment to the Zelda franchise breaks every rule of the series in the best ways.  No longer are players bound to completing three opening dungeons and then seven subsequent dungeons before facing off against Ganondorf.  

In this Zelda, you – as the player –  can do whatever you want.  Do you want to follow the game’s narrative and learn about the world?  You’re free to do so.  Do you want to throw caution to the wind and start the game by challenging Ganon?  You can do that too.  You’ll likely die, but you can still do it.  

And that seems to be the selling point of the game – the world is ripe for exploring and you can take it on in any way you please.

Not only is this Zelda world open-ended, but the main dungeons are as well.  I won’t disclose the numbers to avoid spoiling the game for any potential players, but you can tackle them in any order you please.

This makes for an experience entirely unique to the player.  I was amazed when I learned that the last dungeon a friend of mine had completed was the first one I had cleared.  

The choice of where to go and how to get there is entirely dependent on who is playing. Nintendo absolutely hit the nail on the head when it put this functionality into the game.

Ultimately, while it would be easy to explain every facet of the game, I think it best to simply take the plunge.  By revealing any more details, I would undoubtedly spoil pieces of the game.  It really should be experienced, and that is, I think, the true nature of Breath of the Wild.  

To cut a long story short, if you’re a person who enjoys Zelda games or just enjoys video games in general, this is a must-play.  It is, quite simply, the type of game that only comes along once every decade or so and will absolutely be seen as one of the greatest of all time.