...is "Breath of the Wild"
This is my favorite heckin' video game of all time.
5/5. Masterpiece. Would recommend. Is the game I envision myself playing when I am old and decrepit in a nursing home and unable to do anything else except watch Brain-Netflix on my Amazon neural implants and play video games in my wheelchair/exo-skeleton.
I've beaten it twice and I'm working on number 3 right now (thank you roommates Ben and Devin!!). The game took the entire planet by storm so I am aware that I don't need to convince anyone that the game is good. That's fact. But here's why I like it.
Exploration
I have never felt a truer sense of exploration in a game before. Yeah there are plenty of open-world games out there, but not like this. Not like freaking this. It forces you to actually play a fun video game while you explore the world. You don't do side-quests or exploration because you need the armor upgrade or some arbitrary XP requirements. You do them because it's fun. You see something weird or crazy in the distance? Go there. You can 100% get there. Every time. But you will 100% run into crazy obstacles and enemies on the way and die doing it. So just running around is hella rewarding; you find new stuff to do along the way and really get to play your own version of the game by doing what you want, how you want.
You die a lot
You are no longer the shiz. You will be killed so. Effing. Much. One minute your just walking on the sand then all the sudden CHOMP you just got eaten by a grabloid from 'Tremors.' You'll be minding your own dang business in a pretty field when all the sudden the game's pianist loses his shiz and a targeting laser scopes you out and a giant inescapable robot chases you down and nukes you to smithereens. You get the idea. These deaths are meaningful in that they force you to get better at the game. To try new things. To use strategy and upgrades to your advantage. The combat is simple but really fun to dig into.
Gorgeous
I daresay this game is work of art. It implements a cell-shaded animation style and very minimalistic music which let's you focus on everything around you more. You notice things like sunsets and sunrises and fireflies and pretty trees because dramatic adventure music isn't blaring at you the whole time and the environment is detailed just enough to not overwhelm or distract. It's pretty alluring. A lot of times I just want to run around in some fields and pan around with the camera because it's so pretty, rather than actually doing a quest. Sorry Zelda.
There are many more reasons to be obsessed with this game but I'll stop there. You should probably know my bias, however: I am obsessed with Zelda games. I grew up playing them religiously, so this game has an unfair advantage of impressing me by being able to hack into the nostalgia regions of my brain and use up every last ounce of endorphins that I got. Oh well it is what it is.
I"ll end with my "pro-tips to playing BOTW:"
5/5. Masterpiece. Would recommend. Is the game I envision myself playing when I am old and decrepit in a nursing home and unable to do anything else except watch Brain-Netflix on my Amazon neural implants and play video games in my wheelchair/exo-skeleton.
I've beaten it twice and I'm working on number 3 right now (thank you roommates Ben and Devin!!). The game took the entire planet by storm so I am aware that I don't need to convince anyone that the game is good. That's fact. But here's why I like it.
Exploration
I have never felt a truer sense of exploration in a game before. Yeah there are plenty of open-world games out there, but not like this. Not like freaking this. It forces you to actually play a fun video game while you explore the world. You don't do side-quests or exploration because you need the armor upgrade or some arbitrary XP requirements. You do them because it's fun. You see something weird or crazy in the distance? Go there. You can 100% get there. Every time. But you will 100% run into crazy obstacles and enemies on the way and die doing it. So just running around is hella rewarding; you find new stuff to do along the way and really get to play your own version of the game by doing what you want, how you want.
You die a lot
You are no longer the shiz. You will be killed so. Effing. Much. One minute your just walking on the sand then all the sudden CHOMP you just got eaten by a grabloid from 'Tremors.' You'll be minding your own dang business in a pretty field when all the sudden the game's pianist loses his shiz and a targeting laser scopes you out and a giant inescapable robot chases you down and nukes you to smithereens. You get the idea. These deaths are meaningful in that they force you to get better at the game. To try new things. To use strategy and upgrades to your advantage. The combat is simple but really fun to dig into.
Gorgeous
I daresay this game is work of art. It implements a cell-shaded animation style and very minimalistic music which let's you focus on everything around you more. You notice things like sunsets and sunrises and fireflies and pretty trees because dramatic adventure music isn't blaring at you the whole time and the environment is detailed just enough to not overwhelm or distract. It's pretty alluring. A lot of times I just want to run around in some fields and pan around with the camera because it's so pretty, rather than actually doing a quest. Sorry Zelda.
There are many more reasons to be obsessed with this game but I'll stop there. You should probably know my bias, however: I am obsessed with Zelda games. I grew up playing them religiously, so this game has an unfair advantage of impressing me by being able to hack into the nostalgia regions of my brain and use up every last ounce of endorphins that I got. Oh well it is what it is.
I"ll end with my "pro-tips to playing BOTW:"
- Don't do master-mode. It's harder but not any funner.
- Don't wait too long to explore Hyrule castle. There's some dank ish in there.
- Listen to the soundtrack when you're stressed at work.
Enjoy.
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