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Essays 18 October 2020, 11:02

author: Matt Buckley

Breath of the Wild. 10 best Legend of Zelda games

Table of Contents

Full name: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Platforms: Nintendo Switch

Release date: 2017

Metacritic: 97/100

It somehow feels wrong for one of the most recent games in the series to be considered one of, if not the, best. But it’s hard to argue when it comes to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In terms of open world exploration, no game does it better. There is so much to discover and explore in the wide world of Hyrule that anyone can lose days just wandering. But then, there’s also the story.

The story often is overlooked for the exploration, and rightfully so, but Breath of the Wild does have an incredible subtlety to it. A player can explore for hours without hearing much of anything about the world’s history, and it doesn’t really matter to the game’s fun.

But the story is everywhere. Travelers are constantly running from monsters, structures stand in complete ruin amid an otherwise bright and calm landscape. This is a story about a second chance. Link is resurrected after failing to save Hyrule one hundred years earlier (spoiler for Age of Calamity). As you explore Hyrule, you can find the scars of this conflict and the lasting effects it has had on the world. Maybe this can convince you to stop wandering as much and focus on your quests.

Breath of the Wild rebuilt the series from the ground up, while keeping in mind much of what made it special in the first place. Which is why it deserves its place at the top. The question is how long will it reign before a new game dethrones it?

What do you think? What order would you put these games in? Was there one we left our or one we didn’t rank correctly? Will the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild be even better? Leave a comment below telling us your thoughts.

Matt Buckley

Matt Buckley

After studying creative writing at Emerson College in Boston, Matt published a travel blog based on a two-month solo journey around the world, wrote for SmarterTravel, and worked on an Antarctic documentary series for NOVA, Antarctic Extremes. Today, for Gamepressure, Matt covers Nintendo news and writes reviews for Switch and PC titles. Matt enjoys RPGs like Pokemon and Breath of the Wild, as well as fighting games like Super Smash Bros., and the occasional action game like Ghostwire Tokyo or Gods Will Fall. Outside of video games, Matt is also a huge Dungeons & Dragons nerd, a fan of board games like Wingspan, an avid hiker, and after recently moving to California, an amateur surfer.

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