The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Review - 9 Ups & 1 Down

Down

1. Combat Can Occasionally Show Its Age

There's just one slight negative, but let's get it out of the way.

So, in a world where Dark Souls nigh-on perfected third-person combat or other titles such as The Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn have all manner of dedicated dodge buttons and rolls, the 3D Zelda-standard 'four-way evade' system that was first established WAY back in 1998's Ocarina of Time can feel incredibly outdated when going up against tougher or more agile enemies.

Atop the fact that there's almost nowhere for you to go when a larger creature takes a swing other than learn to parry or dodge at just the right moment based on their specific animation, even locking on itself has a habit of targeting a creature across the room instead of what’s right next to you. During one particular fast-paced boss battle, it was all too easy to lose track entirely, and being said foe could fell Link in one hit, it resulted in some supremely cheap-feeling deaths that were entirely the fault of the game refusing to do what was asked.

For the vast majority of time these things aren't an issue, but when Breath of the Wild really wants to keep you on your toes and go sword-to-shield with a hulking boss or series of lightning-fast encounters, there's a chance its very own systems will be the death of you.