Breath of the Wild...

Secured my copy for the Wii U yesterday. How does it hold up?

AMAZINGLY.

The graphics and artstyle of the game are both very beautiful, resembling the works of a Studio Ghibli movie and making the scenery of the game all the more easy on the eyes. Also, the land of Hyrule is VAST and covered in a variety of habitats and terrains for you to adapt to in your quest.

The story, from what I've seen, is very engaging and makes me want to explore this vast world even more. I won't go into spoilers, but I will say that the setting is essentially "what if Ganon actually kind of had his way?"

Getting anything in this game is NOT easy, but it doesn't really hinder the game. If anything, it adds to the experience. You have to gather supplies, steal weapons, shields, and bows (because your weapons and shields will BREAK after too much use), and find ways to bolster your abilities in more creative ways. This means that you can't go charging into battle like some invincible juggernaut. If you do, odds are you'll get yourself killed SEVERAL times.

New controls and mechanisms are introduced and with them will inevitably come fun and funny jokes. I mean, HOLY CRAP I CAN JUMP VOLUNTARILY NOW! Also, Link can climb on just about anything, putting guys like Nathan Drake to shame.

I guess if I could point out one flaw, it's the voice acting. There are fully-voiced cutscenes, a first in Zelda history, but the voice actors are...I can't say they're necessarily "bad", but one can tell that they didn't have the time to land some of the real voice acting giants in video games. Bit of a shame, really. Wouldn't it be great to see people like Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, Jennifer Hale, or Nolan North in a Zelda game?

In the end, that small detail is a nitpick and it doesn't really take away from the experience of the game.

The best part about my experience with the game is this: I adore what I've seen and experienced so far, yet I feel like I've only scratched the surface. To love this game so much and feel like I've done so little just makes me more eager to explore this vast, beautiful world and delve into the deeper parts of this story.

I have to say that I've never been one for open-world games, but if the good majority of them have the traits of this game, I may just look into more of them.

This is a very different take on the Zelda series, but one that has been met with open arms.