Ok, so you know how I said I couldn’t do The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Well, that turned out to not be the case – a friend was kind enough to lend theirs for the cause. And man, am I glad that they did.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a game grand in scope, broad in ambition, and magnificent in play. This is what I believe is Link’s first true adventure, where you as a player can actually decide where you go and when without the linear restrictions of the previous tales.

–Verdict–

Art: Take Skyward Sword, and mix in a little bit of Wind Waker. Now make the background explorable. It is a pretty game.

Gameplay: This is the same controls you’re used to, except SWEET JESUS YOU CAN JUMP FOR THIS FIRST FRIGGIN’ TIME. I mean, holy Hyrule, how is it that the savior of the entire continent took over a dozen games to learn how to parkour a little? This is a nice touch.

Also, you now can eat 300 mushrooms like a Skyrim player to recover a few hearts. That is also a nice touch, and a little frightening when you think of the sheer number of calories I had Link consume to defeat my first guardian.

Replayability: High. The map is purposefully huge, with half of the fun being running in the opposite direction of what the story tells you. My favorite parts of the game resulted from saying “What’s that?” and going to whatever “that” was.

Would I recommend? Yes. The game is fun, beautiful and massive. Well done, Nintendo.