How do you Zelda?

The open world of Hyrule is more vast than ever and the versatility of doing things your own way has never been better. My particular game play is slow. I like games to be a journey, not a conquest. Beating the game is important to me on an eventual basis but what makes Breath of the Wild so great is that you get to choose the difficulty level you are ready for and go from there. For me, I have poor hand/eye coordination so I always struggle with timing, defending myself against attacks, and direct combat with mini-bosses and dungeon bosses. The more I play and the more I approach minor foes on the dangerous roads of Hyrule, the better I become with the controls, setting me up with the skills to defeat those bigger bosses. But my favorite part of playing Zelda has always been the puzzles, figuring things out, and the sense of discovery I get just by walking around. After talking with a few people who are as consumed with playing Breath of the Wild as I am, my favorite discovery is that there are no two gaming experiences that are alike.

This is how I Zelda....

I open the game and decide, based on where I left off, what I want to accomplish.

Am I one or two Shrines away from 4 Spirit Orbs so I can get more stamina or another heart container? If so Shrines might be my focus. There are 120 of them so your Shrine detector should go off fairly often.

Have I learned about some awesome new clothes to protect myself against high heat and blistering cold? Then I might make the treacherous trek to Goron City or Rito Village.

Am I in the mood to feel *accomplished*? Then I go to the Villages and treat myself to some simple side quests that are easily finished in a short amount of time. I also like to work on my cooking skills when I visit the villages. A good dish could be the difference between life and death on the treacherous  roads ahead.

Are the uncharted parts of the map causing me to forget my way? If so, finding and climbing Towers might be my focus so I can unlock more of the map. This is actually my favorite thing to do. I have a full color version of the map that came with the walkthrough book I bought for collecting purposes, but I rarely consult it. I love figuring this stuff out for myself and I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when another area of the map is revealed to me.

Am I trying to earn more rupees for buying better armor, such as ancient armor from Akkala Tech Lab? Then a scavenger game might be my goal...climbing mountains to find precious ore, fighting minor foes to get monster parts, selling cooked dishes, etc. The high cost for ancient gear will help you better protect yourself against those pesky Guardians. I always try to have a few ancient arrows to better destroy the difficult Guardians from a distance (these helped A LOT on the road to Death Mountain).

Do I want to work on the main quest without committing to it? I might try exploring the map to find locations of Captured Memories, an optional main quest that helps Link, through a series of pictures, remember who he is after his 100 year slumber. I found 5 or 6 so far. Hint: Talk to the painter, Pikango, in the villages and stables around Hyrule and he will give you clues on how to find nearby Captured Memories (this optional main quest unlocks via Impa in Kakariko Village and a trip to the Hateno Tech Lab).

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Then there are the times that I open the game and I don't have specific plan but just let it lead me wherever. This has led to countless happy accidents such as visiting Rito Village and defeating Divine Beast Vah Medoh. I had originally planned to gear up and then make my way to each Divine Beast and defeat them before facing Calamity Ganon but I decided to just go with this Divine Beast quest since I was already there and those Rito folk are just so persuasive. This was a relatively easy dungeon once you figure out that tilting the aircraft is essential to help solve puzzles that unlock the Sheikah terminals. Windblight Ganon is the dungeon boss and from someone with game control issues, I didn't find him to be too difficult despite his menacing appearance.

Another accidental discovery was the Fang and Bone Shop. I kept hearing about this shop through the Hateno Village/Stable folk. It is a shop that is only open at night, and sells cool things in exchange for Mon currency (which is attained by selling monster parts). I couldn't seem to locate the Fang and Bone at first but eventually I followed some clues to Skull Lake and talked to Kilton the shop owner which then 'unlocks the shop'. Now I can take advantage of Kilton's cool wares any night I'm near a village. Some cool purchases I have made so far are a Bokoblin Mask and a Moblin Mask. These allow me to blend in with the monsters and get close enough to attack while these monsters are off guard.

As Takuhiro Dohta of Nintendo said:
"This game had a lot of technical strong points, such as the vast and seamless world, but what I most want players to notice is how each player has their own unique game play experience. When we were creating the game, we created it so that the player can do almost anything that they want to do. There is no 'correct' way to play this game, so I hope that you all find a play style that you enjoy."

I couldn't agree more. Zelda has always been as much a game based on discovery as it has been about the puzzles, bosses, dungeons, etc. Whether it is finding Korok seeds or discovering a new way to do something, this game has enchanted me and I look forward to sharing more of my gaming experiences and hopefully  learning more about how other game fans *like to Zelda*. Feel free to contact me to share your stories.



Note: Photos are not my own and are used for reference only. 

In the Presence of Perfection-Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch

Nintendo has done it again! The Switch console redeems and improves upon everything that was wrong with the WiiU, while enhancing what gamers loved about the original Wii (motion controllers) and the 3ds (portable handheld). The result, a new versatility to the way we play games at home and on the go. The $299 price point is standard Nintendo and while additional accessories such as Amiibos, additional joy cons, memory card, etc. are fun for Nintendo enthusiasts, they are not required.

The Switch is playable right out of the box using the tablet style gamepad with removable joy cons, which are smaller but similar to the original Wiimotes that made the Wii console so popular. By removing the joy cons, putting them in each hand (or the provided grip), then inserting the Switch tablet onto the docking station, you can enjoy games on your TV in the traditional fashion. Since my family and I are often on the go we love that the Switch is portable like a 3ds but with all the features and perks of a full console. The Switch is pretty amazing even with the lack of games available on Day One. While lack of games might be a big deal to some, it wasn't for me. Why? Because one of the games that happens to be available is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You may have heard of it. 😉

Everyone knows that my husband and I are generally pretty frugal but we are frivolous when it comes to things like games and books. So the fact that we were picking up the Nintendo Switch on release day is probably no surprise to anyone who knows us. We also picked up two games: Zelda and 1-2 Switch (more on this game in another post). The console only has 32 gigs so I knew digital downloads wouldn't give me much room for games without inserting a memory card so I was glad the games were on cartridges (smaller than a 3ds game cartridge) and not disks which scratch too easily. 

After making our purchase I noticed the store associate taking out a larger box for another customer that I originally mistook as a game promotion poster for Breath of the Wild. It was in fact a Special Edition of the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Special Edition with game, Sheikah Slate Switch case, coin, 24 song soundtrack, and Hyrule map

I left the store and began having serious remorse about not picking it up when I had the chance. Yes, it was $99 but as a Zelda fan since 1986 I knew I had to have it for the Sheikah Slate case alone, not to mention the perks of getting a Hyrule map, coin, and Breath of the Wild soundtrack. I waited a couple of days so by the time I talked myself into buying it, the Special Edition was sold out just about everywhere. After some perseverance we were finally able to find one and my awesome husband bought it for me.

I won't get into tech talk like Cel shading, controls, graphics, and all that stuff because I would reveal myself as a phony to all the tech people who actually understand what that means to the design of a game.  While I appreciate the technical aspects of the game, I'll leave writing about it to the ones who know how. I just want to talk about the way Breath of the Wild makes me feel and it makes me feel wonderful. It is gorgeous and nostalgic but totally new and in a league of its own.

It starts out with Link waking up in blue liquid where he has been asleep for 100 years. He does not remember who he is but finds a mysterious tablet called a Sheikah Slate. He hears a voice(Princess Zelda?) telling him the Sheikah Slate will guide him after his long slumber. The Sheikah Slate reminds me of an ancient relic from Egypt (or some other ancient advanced civilization) and we don't know where it comes from, why it is important, or what it actually does...YET. We soon learn it is a key, a map, a source of instant travel, and likely much more. The first quest of the game is to collect the Spirit Orbs from 4 Shrines and bring them to the Old Man (every Zelda game has one) in exchange for a parasail. With the high cliffs and deep valleys of Hyrule, it is obvious this will be a valuable item as the journey and travel gets more intense. That is the beauty of the Zelda series, the game unravels. As Link learns his purpose and how to survive the long quest ahead, we learn along with him, discovering all the dangers and treasures Hyrule has to offer on our own terms and at our own pace. I'm planning on taking my time with the BOTW so my completion review might be months away but I promise it will include the heroic story about how I saved Hyrule and defeated Calamity Ganon. 😉

In conclusion, Breath of the Wild appeals to everything I love about the Zelda series while giving our hero, Link, more abilities than ever. He climbs trees and cliffs, hunts and forages, and cooks up new recipes and elixirs to help him on his way. It is an immersive and beautiful game with all of the joys and frustrations of a tried and true RPG and no two gaming experience is exactly alike. It is hard for me in general to give a 10/10 score but honestly, I don't know what else I could give this game...Breath of the Wild is perfect and it was well worth the wait.