Colorado Symphony’s Matt Krupa, Manager of Information Technology and resident “Nerd Consultant”, takes over our blog to answer the burning question: which is the best Legend of Zelda game ever made?
Hey! Listen: I assure you it’s not just the adrenaline talking, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the best Zelda game I’ve played since the original came out in 1986. Full disclosure: I have not played all of the games, but I’ve played most of them, and this one hit the mark like a silver arrow. In fact, stop reading this and just go play it. You’ll thank me!
Still with me? Then I guess I should back up my claim. The original The Legend of Zelda was ahead of its time, and may very well be the game that turned me into a nerd.
The NES was the first console that was actually mine, too. It wasn’t a hand-me-down Atari 2600 from my cousins. It wasn’t the Colecovision I had to share with my older brother. It was MINE! Well, I still shared, of course, but Santa brought it for me, dang it! So, yes, I have a long relationship with the series.
The last game I played was TheLegend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for GameCube, and I loved that one, too. SO MUCH SAILING, though. It was good to be on dry land again.
Breath of the Wild seems to have borrowed quite a few elements from that The Wind Waker, as well as from Ocarina of Time (another great Zelda game), but it still has its own look and feel. The animation had that Anime look, and the play controls were very similar.
If you’ve not played it yet, then the rest of this could be considered SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.
I went into Breath of the Wild without really reading the reviews beforehand, and I’m glad I did. Much of it was a surprise. Travel too far up the mountain and freeze to death? Not cool. (No pun intended.) And what do you mean my weapon is broken and shattered?! Link’s first sword was made of wood, and never had that issue! Which is to say: not all of the surprises were pleasant.
If those are my only gripes, though, then I really shouldn’t be complaining. This game didn’t follow the same pattern of “go here, kill this boss, and get this item from this dungeon that you’ll use to get over there.” I’m sure I still have a grudge from the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time.
They really nailed it with Breath of the Wild. I can only hope this brings a new fan base to the Zelda series. It did the same thing for Star Wars — but that’s another story, altogether…
Breath of the Wild has the best take on dungeons to date. Inside the belly of a giant mechanical beast? How can you not love that?! It took me a few weeks, but I saved the princess from Ganon, once again. Not bad for missing out on 100 years, huh?
See the Colorado Symphony perform the music of The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses June 30 and July 1, 2017! Get your tickets here. If you have trouble purchasing tickets… “have you tried turning it off and on again”?