The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of those once-in-a-lifetime games. If it clicks with you, you’ll finish it feeling like you’ve just had an experience you’ll never forget or be able to replicate. I know it was like that for me.

Part of the reason it hits so hard is because of the many moments you’ll have throughout the game that are completely unique to you, even if everyone else playing the same technically experienced them too. These moments stay with you and leave a lasting impression.

Deciding Where To Go After Leaving The Great Plateau

After you’ve completed all the Shrines on the Great Plateau and finally earned yourself the coveted paraglider, you’re free to go anywhere in Hyrule. If you can see it, you can go there. Because of that, there are so many different options open to you, and everyone decides to go somewhere different at this point.

Personally, I ran down the road in front of me, almost immediately coming face-to-face with a Stone Talus that I was not expecting to come to life. Yeah, Link went flat on his face pretty much straight away. Not the most heroic start to exploring Hyrule…

Exploring Hyrule Castle For The First Time

In Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Castle is a constant, foreboding presence, shrouded in Calamity Ganon’s fog. I stayed away from it for as long as possible for that very reason - surely I wasn’t ready to face the monsters in there yet!

Finally taking the plunge and going inside Hyrule Castle for the first time is a unique experience for everyone. Perhaps you were well equipped, skilled at fighting, and ready to take on anything Calamity Canon could throw at you. Or you were sneaking around, trying not to draw any attention from vicious Guardians. One thing is the same for everyone though: being entranced by the ominous soundtrack that plays in every inch of the castle.

The music in the castle actually includes some of Zelda’s Lullaby, but in reverse.

Encountering Your First Lynel

Lynels are easily the fiercest, toughest enemy you’ll face in Breath of the Wild. Yeah, move over Calamity Ganon - you’ve got nothing on a centaur. The first time you come face-to-face with one of these things is definitely a moment you’ll remember. Before you can even get close enough to them to see their face, they’ll be pelting you with arrows, fireballs, and the like.

I actively avoided these guys until I had to see one when gathering electric arrows for Sidon (yeah, I didn’t realise I could get them literally anywhere else at the time). Though I imagine this isn’t the same for everyone. You might have gone straight up to one after leaving the Great Plateau, and promptly got your butt kicked. You might have extreme parrying skills, meaning you managed to beat one right off the bat. If that’s how it went for you, I’m seriously impressed.

When Your Horse Dies

For some reason, I became very attached to my horse in Breath of the Wild. I preferred riding horseback across the plains to fast traveling, and would even go back into the game long after finishing it just to ride my horse, see the sights, and listen to the gorgeous music.

What wasn’t so tranquil, though? The first time I tried to climb a cliff with my horse, who promptly slipped, slammed on the ground, and flopped around like a ragdoll. Talk about traumatising. Everyone has a story of how their horse first died in this game, and every one is as tragic as the last.

Thank god the Horse God exists, right?

Your First Being Targeted By A Guardian

There’s this one Guardian on the Great Plateau, and though it’s a scripted event, I bet we all approached it differently, and that none of you were as silly as me about it. I came out of the Shrine and was immediately targeted by it and proceeded to fight and die… I don’t know, about 50 times?

Then I remembered, oh yeah, this is an open-world game. I don’t need to fight this thing! I can just run away. So that I did. Most other players were probably much smarter than me, and either parried or ignored it. Or, maybe you threw everything you could at it - bombs, weapons, anything. Better than me just whacking it with a stick, at least.

Building Tarrey Town

Building Tarrey Town is akin to a spiritual experience. It starts off as an empty plain in the middle of the Akkala region, and you help to build it up to a thriving community completely from scratch. There’s a couple ways you can approach it: casually building and providing materials throughout your playthrough, or doing it all at once, like a side project.

I opted for the latter, and ended up becoming super attached to Tarrey Town and its new townsfolk. It felt like a second home, and I always ended up going back there, just to hang around the NPCs. Tarrey Town is a personal experience, and even though most of us all became emotionally attached to it, how we got there is different.

Seeing A Dragon For The First Time

Breath of the Wild has three breathtaking (pun intended) dragons, Naydra, Farosh, and Dinraal, who fly across their respective regions. Seeing one of them for the first time, especially if you didn’t even know there were going to be dragons, is a surreal experience.

If you’re up right next to one, it feels unreal to see this creature so close, and you might have even tried (and failed) to ride it. Seeing it in the distance is just as magical, as you try to get closer to find out if what you’re seeing really is a dragon.

Discovering Satori Mountain

Satori Mountain is easily one of the most beautiful places in all of Breath of the Wild. But if you explored it on a night when the glowing light wasn’t there, you might have gone all the way up to the mountaintop and thought, what’s all the fuss about?

If you followed the glowing light, however, you’ll have had an unforgettable experience. Mystical Blupees surrounding the mountaintop lake, and a forest god-like deer creature wandering among them all. I have no doubt we all tried to mount it and ride it around, but we’ll have all appreciated and remembered the view, and the first time seeing it, differently.

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Action Adventure Systems 9.5/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 96/100 Critics Rec: 96% Released March 3, 2017 ESRB E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Nintendo EPD Publisher(s) Nintendo Engine Havok
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DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Cross-Platform Play no Cross Save no Franchise The Legend of Zelda Steam Deck Compatibility yes Platform(s) Nintendo Wii U, Switch OpenCritic Rating Mighty How Long To Beat 50 Hours X|S Optimized no Metascore 97 Powered by Expand Collapse