Breath of the Wild may be the best Zelda game ever

At this point, the Legend of Zelda series operates on a rhythm so predictable you can practically set your watch to it. In a Zelda game, after an extremely slow-paced tutorial, you progress from puzzle-filled dungeon to puzzle-filled dungeon, finding in each one a key item that—coincidentally—is crucial to beating the dungeon boss and to finding the next dungeon.

Between dungeons, you face perfunctory battles with simple enemies on a vast overworld map dotted with small towns and occasional mini-games and side-quests. Most of these give you rewards that are already so plentiful as to be practically worthless (oh, goodie, more rupees to fill my already full wallet). By the time you reach Ganon, your circuitous trip from point A to point B has given you a set of required powers that help you take on the big bad boss threatening the kingdom. Individual Zelda games each make slight variations to this formula, but the basic rhythm is there every time.

And then there's the new Breath of the Wild (BotW), a Zelda game that throws off this established rhythm so quickly, and with such force, that it practically feels like a whole new genre. In doing so, Breath of the Wild offers a compelling take on a stagnating series, bringing a sense of wonder and excitement back to Zelda that hasn't been felt this strongly since the original NES game.

Compelling characters

The one area where Breath of the Wild doesn't deviate much from previous Zelda games is in the extremely generic fantasy plotting. Link, the mystical guardian of Hyrule, has been awakened without memories from a 100-year slumber in order to find the previously peaceful Hyrule ravaged by the dark power of Ganon and his minions. The few survivors in this dark world huddle together in small villages, separated by vast plains and mountains crawling with monsters. It's up to you to traverse this massive world, regaining control of four giant, corrupted stone machines (called "Divine Beasts" in an odd bit of translation) that can help weaken Ganon and free Hyrule once and for all.

What the plot lacks in surprise or originality, it makes up for in entertaining and broadly written characters, divided into a few distinctly socialized species. In addition to Link's fellow Hylians, you run into the wary-yet-imploring fish-like Zora; the coolly strong, Amazonian female fighters of the Gerudo; the arrogant, bird-like Rito; and the jovial, rotund, and rock-loving Goron. In each society, you recruit the aid of a 100-year-old spirit who helps Link slowly unlock the memories of his past as Hyrule's protector.

All of the characters you meet are rendered with over-the-top facial expressions and cheesy, heartfelt dialogue that effectively conveys broad character quirks with just a few words. BotW even infuses its most throwaway characters with cute, clever traits and often goofy backstories that will stick with you.

The titular Princess Zelda, far from being a mere damsel in distress, appears here as a hard-working royal fighting for her kingdom. She's trapped in the castle, desperately using her powers to contain Ganon's damage, but you eventually learn about a younger Zelda—a cautious, careful researcher, working herself to the bone to develop her powers and save the world. Her apparent frustration with the challenge and her quiet resolve to succeed make this one of the series' most compelling "Zeldas" yet.

Fighting for your life

Zelda fans may be shocked at just how quickly Breath of the Wild throws special powers at its hero. After just a few hours in the gentle starting area (with a minimum of pop-up tutorial messages, thankfully), the game provides you with easily 80 percent of the key items and powers needed to progress in the game. These include an endless supply of remote-detonating bombs; handy magnetic magic that can move metal obstacles (or drop metal boxes on opposing enemies); a handheld glider that lets you float down from high peaks (and across vast valleys); and a time-freezing ability that stops moving obstacles and knocks them out of the way.

In previous Zelda games, each of these abilities would get its own lengthy dungeon, spaced out through the game to slowly teach you all you need to know. Here, the abilities are handed out quickly through five-minute puzzle shrines, after which the game trusts you to figure out when and where to mix and match your new powers.

Still, having so many powers so quickly doesn't make you feel dominant—Breath of the Wild constantly feels like a fight for survival. Enemies that you encounter, far from being the perfunctory fodder of older Zelda games, are tough and lethal, never hesitating to join together in groups and attack Link en masse.

Strikes on both sides feel impactful, especially when Link or his foes get knocked over and roll end over end, rag-doll style, across the ground or over cliffs. Right from the start, many enemies can kill an under-equipped Link with a single strike if he isn't careful. I'd compare the fights to those in the Dark Souls series, except that Breath of the Wild's battles feel more fast-paced and responsive than the plodding dodge-and-strike festivals that can characterize those games.

There's not a huge variety to the enemies—you'll see the same basic types with only minor variations over and over. Each one is beautifully animated, though, from unsophisticated, street-tough Moblins to skittering, human-sized lizards to slow, lumbering giants that frequently miss kicks over Link's head.

The enemies seem imbued with a sense of life, not just as they retreat and re-engage during battle but also as they sit all alone in the wild. Sneaking up on an enemy camp, you can often find monsters congregating around campfires in makeshift treetop bases or cave-dwellings. You'll see them dancing, sleeping, eating, and fighting each other even before you sneak up, and you'll often discover interesting detritus from their own living conditions after a battle is over.

Scrounging for supplies

You can work your way around many enemy encounters if you want, but it's not a great long-term strategy. Eventually, you'll be glad you faced down a tough group of monsters in order to pick up the powerful weapons they drop, which make the next battle that much easier. You can't rely on a single overpowered weapon for long, though, because even the sturdiest of weapons will break in your hands after just a few dozen battles (the same is true of shields and bows, which need to be constantly replaced due to wear and tear). This forces you to continually pick up new weapons dropped by newer and more difficult enemies or found in hidden nooks and crannies around the massive world.

You'll have to learn the different rhythms of each weapon type, as well. Battling with a powerful but slow two-handed broadsword feels very different from the quick bashing of a one-handed club, the long range poking of a trident, or a tri-tipped boomerang that doubles as a quick and effective sword.

Success requires a constant balancing act between using the most effective weapon for the situation and saving your powerful hardware for the tougher enemies you know are coming. It's also a welcome change from most Zelda games, where weaponry advancement practically begins and ends with the Master Sword.

The scrounging for survival extends to the hundreds of basic materials that you can pick up around the world, everything from apples and acorns to rare minerals, flowers, and even monster body parts. Many of these are useful on their own, but they're much more effective after being cooked at a fire with improvised recipes that unlock their true potential.

You can easily stockpile these cooked dishes, using their health-restoring and power-up properties to brute-force your way through some of the game's toughest areas and battles. That's a nice concession to gamers who might balk at the higher-than-normal Zelda difficulty of even basic battles and also a nice reward for those willing to take the time to forage.

Even the basic currency that's so prevalent in most Zelda games is relatively rare in Breath of the Wild. Instead of stumbling upon piles of loose rupees, you often have to consider whether to sell precious minerals and rare items to afford that shiny, extremely useful suit of protective armor. Items like arrows are also in relatively short supply compared to previous Zelda games that seemed to force them on players.

Between the tough enemies, the fragile weapons, and the constant search for cooking materials and other items, exploring and battling in Breath of the Wild feels like an important struggle for resources, rather than a perfunctory search for the few meaningful items amid a sea of useless drivel. It's an addictive cycle that urges you to keep working to replenish your constantly dwindling supplies.

Climb your way to freedom

More than any Zelda game before, Breath of the Wild makes good use of its 3D verticality. Link can climb up almost any rocky wall in the game, limited only by a stamina gauge that declines as he climbs and replenishes when he's standing on solid ground. (Stamina also limits your swimming distance and the amount of continuous running you can do.)

Increasing the size of this gauge (by finding short, puzzle-filled shrines hidden about the world) makes it easier to scale the tallest peaks, giving you a good vantage point to see far-off goals that might not even be on your map yet. Getting high up also provides a good launching point for Link to glide across long sections of treacherous terrain, which can be a much more efficient way to travel than slowly running across barren plains or finding a bridge over empty chasms.

Clever climbing and swimming, in conjunction with some stamina-improving foods and elixirs, can sometimes let Link work his way around apparent threats or into massive shortcuts down the "intended" path to a certain goal. That can put Link into situations the game obviously didn't expect him to reach until he was more powerful. While a few sections of the map are gated behind specific items or abilities, for the most part you really can tackle any part of the game in any order you want, as long as you're willing to scrounge for the weapons and items you'll need to survive the harshest challenges (or face them as an underpowered scrub—speedruns of this game are going to be incredible).