The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has finally released, and the reviews are making it one of the most critically acclaimed games ever. We may be looking at the new benchmark for Zelda games–and for all open-world games.
Nintendo’s first modern open-world game looks to be a hit right between a Guardian’s eyes.
On November 21, 1998, Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64. To this day, it is the highest-rated game on Metacritic, and the second highest-rated game on GameRankings. It was maybe the most celebrated and lauded game in recent memory when it released, if not of all time. However, with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch and Wii U, we may have a new champion.
Edge Magazine — 10/10
“The result, for all the longevity of its series and the familiarity of the open-world genre, is a game that evokes feelings we haven’t known for 20 years. Not since Ocarina Of Time have we set foot in a world that seems so mind-bogglingly vast, that feels so unerringly magical, that proves so relentlessly intriguing. Plenty of games promise to let us go anywhere and do anything; few, if any, ever deliver on it so irresistibly. Nineteen years on, Ocarina is still held up as the high-water mark of one of gaming’s best-loved – and greatest – series. Now it may have to settle for second place.”
IGN — 10/10
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in open-world design and a watershed game that reinvents a 30-year-old franchise. It presents a wonderful sandbox full of mystery, dangling dozens upon dozens of tantalizing things in front of you that just beg to be explored.”
Gamespot — 10/10
“A breathtaking masterpiece. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created.”
“Breath of the Wild is an achievement in the design of a living world…..It represents a profound new direction for one of gaming’s best franchises and a new high point for open-world interactive experiences.”
Giant Bomb — 5/5
“Plenty of open world games allow you to explore the entire map at your leisure, but Hyrule’s landscape and Link’s ability to climb makes for more rewarding exploration than I’ve ever seen in the genre.”
Forbes — 10/10
“The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild isn’t just the best Zelda game I’ve ever played. It’s one of the best video games I’ve ever played. Period. It’s unflinchingly ambitious and tirelessly innovative, and yet it feels like the natural culmination of decades of game design experience rolled into one big, awe-inspiring experience.”
Time — 5/5
“It’s like nothing else Nintendo has made, an experience so simultaneously prodigious and accomplished that it feels like a mind-blowing mic drop to the sort of “open world” games (Grand Theft Auto V, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Witcher 3) the industry seems bent on proliferating.”
Game Revolution — 5/5
“The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is orders of magnitude larger than any Zelda game before it, presenting more things to do within its world than ever before. This is the sort of game that captures your interest for more than a month, temporarily making you forget about any other game you were previously interested in…….Congratulations Nintendo, you just earned my first ever perfect score on GameRevolution.”
COGconnected — 100/100
“I could go on and on about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s Nintendo firing on all cylinders. Like an interactive studio Ghibli film, it’s at times stunning to look at. It plays incredibly well with challenging, exciting combat and through exploration, you’re organically taught the world’s rules and mechanics. It’s not just the best Zelda game yet, it’s quite possibly the best game Nintendo has ever produced. Breath of the Wild is nothing short of a masterpiece.”
Digital Chumps — 10/10
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Nintendo’s Magnum Opus. It’s not only the best Zelda game ever created, it’s also one of the very best videogames in the history of the art. Games like this are so rare that it would be impossible to classify it as anything other than a masterpiece. Experience it at all costs.”
Nintendo Life — 10/10
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a landmark release for its franchise and Nintendo…….The end result, then, is a captivating experience. This will be in the running as the best game in the IP’s history, and it will likely be discussed as a leading contender in the broader open-world genre. Nintendo has bravely taken one of its biggest franchises in a new direction, and it’s delivered a triumph.”
Destructoid — 10/10
“This isn’t your typical boiler plate open world cash grab, rife with to-do lists and busywork. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an evolution of the formula for both eastern and western philosophies alike, and a new blueprint.”
What Other Games Have Been This Highly-Rated?
Looking back, the only non-Nintendo series to really give Zelda: Ocarina of Time a run for its money is the Grand Theft Auto series, which occupies four spaces of Metacritic’s top ten of all-time with Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360,) and Grand Theft Auto V (PS3, XONE).
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for the original PlayStation was another important release, as it popularized not only skateboarding games, but extreme-sports games in general.
The Super Mario Galaxy games are arguably the two best games on the Wii–and they released during a time when 3D platformers weren’t really being made anymore (they still aren’t).
And of course, there’s the original Soul Calibur for the under-appreciated Sega Dreamcast – not only the best game on the Dreamcast, but one of the greatest fighting games ever.
And with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, we may be looking at the best game of this console generation.
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