The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild: 12 Critical Reactions You Need To Know

The Nintendo Switch is out now worldwide, and if there's one game owners of the new platform absolutely need to purchase, it's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Even the hardcore Nintendo crowd will surely confess that the Switch's launch lineup leaves a lot to be desired, what with 1-2-Switch and Super Bomberman R posting mostly mixed reviews so far.

Zelda, on the other hand, seems to be a major return to form for the franchise and proof perfect of where the Switch can succeed best, with absorbing adventures players can take with them on the go.

A game described as a "masterpiece" released as a launch title?

Not bad, Nintendo, not bad at all.

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12. The Open World Is One Of Gaming's Best

"Nintendo's first open world is up there with Azeroth and San Andreas as one of the greatest game worlds ever created...You really don't get this level of openness anywhere else this side of a Bethesda role-playing game." - Eurogamer

"Plenty of open world games allow you to explore the entire map at your leisure, but Hyrule’s landscape and Link’s ability to climb makes for more rewarding exploration than I’ve ever seen in the genre." - Giant Bomb

Shifting Zelda into the fully-fledged open world realm was definitely a risk for the franchise, but one that has evidently paid off dividends, as critics universally agree that the open world is not only gigantic but also richly detailed and capable of enrapturing players for potentially more than 100 hours.

The comparisons to some of the best open worlds in the genre are extremely relieving to anyone who was worried Breath of the Wild might end up feeling like a Ubisoft Zelda game. Not the case, not at all.