It’s blasphemous to say, but Breath of the Wild is the most overrated game of all time. While it does so many things wonderfully well, it lacks the cohesion that makes an excellent game. Now, we are not saying that it is not a great game – it is. On our review scale, an 8 is “great”, which is where we would score it if we had reviewed it. But it’s not a top-five game of all-time, like IGN’s latest “top 100 games” list suggests. It’s not even a top-five Legend of Zelda game. If Breath of the Wild weren’t a Legend of Zelda game, would it have garnered the same amount of critical acclaim? That is the litmus test for any game, and the answer here is simply, no.
Breath of the Wild has a beautiful, expansive world, with a lot to do, but it gets old very quickly. The shrines have some interesting puzzles which can be solved in a multitude of different ways, and the physics engine for the game is masterful, but they’re too grindy. They are completely optional. Yes, it is in your best interest to play through most of the shrines and the dungeons, but you can forego them completely if you wanted to. Freedom is great, but there is a bit too much freedom. The game lacks any kind of cohesive structure. By cohesive structure, I mean it doesn’t have much progression from point A to point B. There are four dungeons (five if you count Hyrule Castle), and all of them are lackluster. Puzzles are what makes Zelda what it is, and while it’s great that the Divine Beasts tried something different, they are far too short and limiting. There is also a lack of diversity in the bosses (each boss is a variation of Calamity Ganon), which is usually an enriching experience in Zelda: every boss is unique and is a puzzle within itself with regards to how to beat them. Breath of the Wild, once again, lacks this. Item durability was an experiment that failed miserably and is often the main criticism of the game, along with its lack of story. It’s not even the fact that Breath of the Wild is a bad Zelda game; it’s the fact that it lacks diversity in its design, something that Breath of the Wild 2 hopefully rectifies.
Breath of the Wild also lacks a memorable story. While Ocarina of Time’s story was simplistic, it was executed to perfection; it is in part what makes it the greatest game of all time (though we maintain that Skyward Sword is the best Zelda game.) The story of Breath of the Wild is told through flashbacks and happens 100 years in the past. There’s no emotional connection to the characters, except for Zelda. Link is expressionless, which is a surprising omission considering it’s been a staple of the character since The Wind Waker. Just because Breath of the Wild has a beautiful open world does not mean it can’t have a strong narrative as well; the two can go hand-in-hand. Instead of building an emotionally touching narrative, this is sacrificed for a massive world ripe with exploration. The latter is not a bad thing, but the sacrifice is a part of what makes Breath of the Wild the most overrated game of all time.
Breath of the Wild set the foundation for an excellent game, even a masterpiece, but simply was not able to follow through. From the lack of story, stale dungeons, grinding shrines in order to attain the Master Sword, and item durability, the game falters on many fronts. As we said earlier though, it is a great game; it simply isn’t the masterpiece that the mainstream gaming media makes it out to be. If it were anything other than a Zelda game it would be criticized heavily on these fronts. It is enjoyable, but not elite.
Now that Breath of the Wild has set a wonderful foundation though, Breath of the Wild 2 has the chance to build on the successes and rectify the game’s failures. With the return of Ganondorf, the game should be story-heavy. Bring back some traditional items (with a twist of course) and true dungeons, and Breath of the Wild’s sequel will go down as the greatest game of all time. The problem with Breath of the Wild though is that a strong foundation does not make an excellent game; execution and follow-through do.
This is where Breath of the Wild fails and why it is the most overrated game of all time.