Breath of the Wild review: Link has awakened, and already needs a better plan

The big picture

Link wakes after a century to find a damaged kingdom and a missing past. Breath of the Wild responds by giving him a landscape where deciding what to investigate is a substantial part of the adventure. A distant structure raises a question, a mountain offers a view, and the journey between them can develop several complications that weren't included in your confident original route. Hyrule is particularly good at making “I'll just go straight there” sound optimistic. Nintendo overview

Nintendo developed and published the single-player adventure, first released March 3, 2017, on Switch and Wii U. Its strongest attraction is trusting your curiosity rather than organizing every detour into an assignment. That freedom can be inviting or exhausting depending on how much direction you want. The kingdom has plenty to offer, but it expects you to develop an opinion about where to go.

A useful view is sometimes the reward

Towers provide vantage points, shrines punctuate the wilderness with challenges, and villages and stables offer places to stop. The Sheikah Slate helps identify points of interest, so exploration isn't entirely a matter of stumbling around hoping something important has a noticeable roof. Different scales of goal can coexist: a major destination stays on the horizon while something nearby earns attention. Landscape and tools

That structure leaves room for quiet. Anticipation, uncertainty and choosing how to cross terrain can carry a stretch without constant prizes. Players who measure every session through completed missions may find the looseness frustrating. Others will appreciate reaching a good lookout and immediately discovering that the original destination has acquired three intriguing competitors. The view can be useful without being accompanied by a formal certificate of progress.

Please reconsider the metal outfit during lightning

Weapons wear out, food restores health or supplies benefits, and clothing helps with environmental hazards. Storms make metal equipment an especially questionable companion. The world encourages you to respond to conditions instead of treating the current loadout as a permanent personal identity. An impressive weapon is less reassuring when the weather appears to have noticed it. Equipment and survival

Durability is the clearest dividing line. Temporary weapons encourage using discoveries and adapting when a comfortable option disappears. They also interrupt your flow and can make a valued find feel annoyingly short-lived. The purpose of the system doesn't cancel that inconvenience. Someone who enjoys forming a long relationship with a favorite weapon may feel the game keeps introducing them to people who immediately move away.

The relevant question is whether improvising sounds enjoyable. A tool can be valuable because it solves the present problem without surviving every future one. If that idea appeals, durability supports the wider adventure. If it mostly inspires resentment, more explanations of the design intention are unlikely to make the next broken weapon feel generous.

Small puzzles leave room for long journeys

More than 100 shrines in the base game offer discrete puzzles and rewards, with rune abilities expanding ways to solve problems and reach hidden places. Short challenges can give a brief visit a shape, while a longer session strings discoveries into an expedition. That rhythm is different from concentrating the adventure into a smaller number of lengthy locations. Shrines and abilities

For puzzle-minded players, applying an idea is the appeal. Allow some uncertainty before reaching for a solution. Efficiency can remove the entertaining part if every unfamiliar situation immediately becomes a search for instructions. Link has already missed a century; taking a little time to think about a puzzle seems unlikely to be the decisive scheduling problem.

The upgrade and the expansion are different purchases

Switch 2 Edition arrived June 5, 2025. Nintendo lists improved resolution and textures, smoother frame rates, faster loading, HDR and an additional save slot. The original Switch version also runs through compatibility, so establish which option you're considering. Switch 2 Edition

The upgrade pack requires the base game and can be bought separately or accessed through an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. Zelda Notes is an optional companion service through the Nintendo Switch App on a compatible phone with persistent internet, not a phone version of the game. The similarly named Expansion Pass is separate again, adding The Master Trials and The Champions' Ballad. Upgrade details, Expansion Pass

Version 1.9.0, listed in February 2026, adds Thai text on Switch 2 and general fixes. Wii U remains a legacy owned-copy option: new eShop purchases ended in March 2023, while prior games and DLC remain redownloadable. Update history, Wii U guidance

Breath of the Wild suits players who enjoy choosing a route and figuring out how to cope once they're on it. Consider durability and open pacing honestly. The invitation is strong if you like paying attention, experimenting and allowing plans to change. Just remember that the mountain has no obligation to become shorter because you've explained how quickly this trip was supposed to go.