Breath of the Wild was arguably the first great game I ever played. Before March 3rd 2017, the only consoles I’d ever had were a DSi and then a 3DS. I would play each Pokémon when they came out, and maybe the odd game with mario on the cover. I had managed to weave my way around masterpieces for my entire life. Until I finally had my first ever home console. I had brought it with my own money, and made the biggest purchase of my entire life until that point. I opened my Neon Red & Neon Blue Nintendo Switch perhaps 30 minutes before going on a weekend long road trip. I downloaded the demo for Snipperclips, set my profile picture to be my mii making a funny face, and inserted The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild into my Switch.

I had never played a Zelda game before, I had never played an open world game before, I had never played a game that I needed two control sticks for. The only games I had played that weren’t dependent on a certain clamshell device’s dual screens were games on an unnamed console that all shared the prefix Wii. There are so many firsts I could list for that game, but the most poignant is that it was the first game I ever loved. Getting lost in the treacherous terrain of Hyrule, dying 50 times to beat the grand plateau, naming my horses things which could only be called regrettable. I have fond memory after fond memory about what was essentially my first foray into video games that strived to be something more than a product; they strived to be art. Breath of the Wild revolutionized my idea of what a video game could be, and left an impact on the industry from lots of the other people who seem to have felt the same.

So along rolls E3 2019, an unnamed sequel to breath of the wild rolls around. After auditorily discharging my glee (and getting a stern telling off for it), I collected myself and started counting down the days until I could play the game.

I ended up counting 1,431 days. During that time I: finished my GSCEs, finished my A-Levels, started university, became an adult, experienced grief for the first time, lost my virginity, played a lot more video games (especially outside of nintendo), I lost friends, I made new ones, I changed, a lot. Over the time between these two games, I essentially experienced the prime of my childhood, plus a few more years. But the day did finally roll around, and I was, yet again, very excited.

I have been disappointed by games time and time again. Marketing builds up lofty expectations of what a game will be, and I fall for it. So many games come out, so few of those are good games, and even less are great games, and there are even fewer games that managed to reach the highs of what the megacorporation tells you it will be. Breath of the Wild is one such game. A truly magnificent adventure with freedom cranked up to 11. An experience that felt so new and so incredible. Yet, the marketing cycle came around again and the masses are presented a version of this masterpiece that is audaciously said to be bigger and better. A game that takes its predecessors freedom and quite literally declares the sky to be the limit. It was a miracle Breath of the Wild was not an empty promise, but it must be the will of god himself that this game wasn’t either.

There was a moment playing this game where I stopped. Ceasing the constant barrage of puzzles and monsters and vehicles for just a little while. I took some time and collected my thoughts on what I was playing. In that instance, I realized that Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest videogame I have ever played. I believe it to be the pinnacle of the medium thus far. Years and years of technical and artistic mastery had led to the game that I was playing right now for the first time.

I could sing its praises for hours and hours, on both a technical scale, and in a broader sense, but that has been done before. To keep it brief, every element of Tears of the Kingdom works together in perfect unity. The combat, the movement, the puzzles, the world. It all feels so meticulously designed, but you can also do whatever you want and not manage to shake that feeling. Perhaps they had to sacrifice 1000 goats to get the black magic to create this game, but it is so fucking good I can’t help but consider that it might have been worth it.

The final tale I have to tell is that of when I rolled credits on Zelda. Before the story’s climax, 70 hours in and decently cemented in my love for this game, I would’ve easily told you that, yeah, the story fucking sucks. But then, you get to that final battle. An epic sword fight that takes to the skies; incredible stuff. An exciting gameplay driven finale to a gameplay driven game.

But then, out of fucking nowhere that last catch really fucking got to me. I cried my eyes out at the end of this game. I think this is the only game that has ever made me cry. I’ve gotten close, but it’s never been like this. I can’t describe what came over me (and what comes over me each time I listen to “Final Catch cleanest version gamerip” on youtube). But to finally get a beautiful conclusion to a game that was so intertwined with who I am and the life I’ve lived, was a cathartic experience that may be unparalleled in my life thus far. Is the story shit? Yeah, I think so, probably. But, man, as a conclusion to what this game is and what it means to me, I think that it’s some beautiful shit. You finally save the princess, and make up for your mistakes. The kingdom is saved and the princess is home at last.

I would say there will never be a game like this ever again. But I would’ve said the same about Breath of the Wild, and here we are.

I love 2 play viddy game :)