Pre Zelda Quest 2: Breath of the Wild

I'll be completely honest.  My thoughts on Breath of the Wild are like a roller coaster.  When I first got it for Wii U, I was absolutely captivated by the beauty and freedom and this feeling persisted when I picked up the game for Switch.  However, this copy was soon absconded by the wife who proceeded to play it for 450+ hours, searching all the nooks and crannies and even starting a separate file just to re-experience it.  However, when I rebought it a third time (after getting my own non shared Switch), I began to grow frustrated with the game.  I loved the exploration aspect but felt the game punished you hard for it.  It seemed like exploration was purposefully obtuse and whenever I would get anywhere decent, I would run into a powerful enemy who handed my butt to me, forcing me to trek back.  To be honest, it was offputting and for the better part of two years, I put off playing the game because of it.

However, after enjoying Link's Awakening, I decided it was time.  And boy, am I glad I did.  The game is incredibly flexible and despite the unforgiving beginning, once you start completing a few shrines or unlock new powers from the Divine Beasts, the game really starts to open up and become a blast.  I loved exploring the world, learning about the war against Calamity Ganon, doing side quests for people and unlocking all of the Shrines.  The atmosphere is awesome and while I hated the fact that weapons and shields broke at first, once I got used to it I was having a blast and enjoying the system.  Solving shrines is so fun because of the freedom the game gives you.  If you can imagine a unique puzzle solution, chances are if you can pull it off it will work.

Not only that but a lot of the side quests are unique and fun.  Finding a questionable statue with a background of double edged dealing or helping create a new town is so fun and awesome.  While I stand by how annoying the game is at the start, please put some time in and enjoy the game.

One thing I do NOT recommend though is collecting all the Korok seeds.  Yes, I ACTUALLY managed to collect all 900 Korok seeds in my playthrough of this game.  You only need about half to get all the max pack upgrades.  Finding the remaining 450 is a huge waste of time and only rewards you with a golden pile of poop that makes Hetsu dance.  That's it.

I managed to get 100% on the map completion but I have a few side quests left to do (4 if my count is accurate) and I still have to do the master trials to unlock the powered up Master Sword.  However, I have completed all 120 shrines, all named locations, all DLC shrines and sidequests (aside from the above mentioned Master Sword quest) and all korok seeds.  I even picked up all the amiibo armor but I have yet to upgrade everything and likely I don't plan to do so due to the overwhelming time it would take to do so.

HIGHLY recommended game.  I don't think it's as good as the hype leads you to believe but it's still fantastic.  Definitely play this one.  As far as how it compares to LA, there's hardly a comparison here.  LA is a fantastic game but short and sweet while BotW is long and will keep you occupied with tons of content and freedom unlike many other games out there.  For me, it's definitely better but LA is still fantastic.  As far as my wife's feelings go, it's one of her all time favorite games and one that she has spent three weeks of her life enjoying.  There's no question that it will top her list unless by some miracle she truly enjoys one of the other games in the series.

OVERALL RANKINGS:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2/ Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

WIFE'S RANKING:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild