Breath of the Wild Fans Celebrate Game’s Sixth Anniversary

gameranx.com:

2023 is a big year for Nintendo for various reasons. It was confirmed this year that the Nintendo Switch is the 3rd best-selling system of all time, the publisher has multiple big-name titles coming out this year, and there are some big anniversaries to celebrate as well. Today is a dual-anniversary, in fact, one for the Switch and the other for its “killer app” launch title, Breath of the Wild. We admit the game also came out on the Wii U but does anyone choose to remember that? We didn’t think so. So with its direct sequel coming soon, let’s talk about what makes this game so great and what fans fondly remember of it.

First, it’s important to note the significance of Breath of the Wild to the franchise as a whole. The game took a long time to make, and the reason for that was simple. The title was the biggest entry in the franchise by a large margin. Other entries had big worlds to explore, but it was always linear. You always had a clear path to go to, and exploration was restricted to certain side quests depending on the title.

Here, you had a wide-open Hyrule that you could tackle however you wanted. If you want to explore? You could do that for hours on end. If you want to tackle the side temples to get as many heart containers as possible? There was plenty to do, each with its challenges. Even if you focused on the main storyline, you could tackle the four main dungeons in any order, a first for the franchise.

That doesn’t touch on new elements like the voice acting, the weapons system, the weather affecting the land of Hyrule, and more. The game was one of the things that moved a ton of units for the Switch, and the title won many Game of the Year awards for its quality. It also happens to be the best-selling