Things I Played: Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 20 Hours in Hyrule

A controversial opinion I have about games is that there only two or three good ones released every year. I'm sure many will disagree but these days I get far less enjoyment from keeping up with the latest titles. Thankfully Breath of the Wild is one that's been worth doing so for.

It’s a game I’ve now spent about twenty hours playing since it came out just over a week ago and an experience I've really enjoyed immensely despite flip-flopping on the Zelda series as a whole. For that I’m thankful but so far I've only managed to complete one of the games' dungeons. I’ve spent the rest of my time exploring - taking in the sights and sounds of the game's absolutely humongous open-world.

If you've played a Zelda game before then it's a similar experience. There's a story which as usual has something to do with Zelda and Ganon and an ancient evil being awoken. What does differ though, is that this one is set in an open-world, punctuated by numerous sprawling vistas, hundreds of puzzle shrines, and about a billion different weapons.

It's been lovely wandering around trying to find hidden shrines and climbing all the way up to the top of imposing mountain ranges. It's helped all the while because the art direction is absolutely gorgeous. Breathtaking, if you'll pardon the really obvious pun. I really liked the chilled, serene music too.

Breath of the Wild is now gearing up to be one of my favourite games of the year. It's gotten some great reviews already. It looks like one of those rare occasions where you can and should actually believe the hype.

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