The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Before You Buy

00:00:01.110game ranks presents another episode of

00:00:03.310before you buy the show would give you

00:00:04.900some straight-up gameplay and our

00:00:06.190thoughts on the latest games releasing

00:00:07.720as usual I'm your tour guide

00:00:09.370Jake Baldino and today we're talking

00:00:10.809about the Legend of Zelda breath of the

00:00:12.700wild breathitt a wild has been in the

00:00:14.289news for the past few days for one

00:00:15.940reason it's been getting Kahler reviews

00:00:17.920aside from just getting ten out of tens

00:00:19.449everywhere it even reached the highest

00:00:21.220score from some places that only give

00:00:23.050these scores out to games like Metal

00:00:24.669Gear Solid Mario 64 half-life etc etc

00:00:27.609this all almost came as a bit of a

00:00:29.980surprise because leading up to the

00:00:31.720release myself and you know many others

00:00:33.340were a bit skeptical you know sure

00:00:35.050there's the average hype and excitement

00:00:36.520that comes with a new Zelda game but it

00:00:38.470seemed odd for Zelda to embrace those

00:00:40.210conventional modern open-world game

00:00:42.190design philosophies and potentially lose

00:00:44.230some of its identity but I'm happy to

00:00:46.690say Zelda didn't lose its identity at

00:00:48.640all and it's absolutely worth all the

00:00:50.500praise that's been receiving it's not

00:00:51.970perfect and I feel like I need to say

00:00:53.260this more often than I'd like but of

00:00:54.730course no game is perfect but I think

00:00:56.410this is definitely a worthy addition to

00:00:58.390the Zelda franchise and probably one of

00:01:00.370the stronger ones we've seen in a while

00:01:01.780and just as an FYI this is a spoiler

00:01:04.089free video I only recorded there early

00:01:05.950hours of my gameplay because I know some

00:01:07.720of you guys are sensitive to

00:01:08.830environmental spoilers and stuff the

00:01:10.600story sets up simple enough though your

00:01:12.130link as usual the chosen hero who this

00:01:14.860time wakes up from this magical tomb 100

00:01:17.350years after the fall of Hyrule to the

00:01:19.420dastardly calamity Ganon you're dumped

00:01:21.370into the opening area which is already

00:01:22.840pretty damn big you're given a little

00:01:24.790bit of guidance but once you get the

00:01:26.200paraglider the game essentially begins

00:01:27.850and the entire world is open to you and

00:01:29.860it's up to you really to figure out what

00:01:31.570you need or even want to do breath a

00:01:33.670little wild is absolutely freaking huge

00:01:35.710maybe even a bit too huge at times but

00:01:38.530when you're wandering up a lonely

00:01:39.520mountain or sprinting across a giant

00:01:40.990field it can't help but feel kind of

00:01:42.610like a big open world Western RPG like

00:01:44.770Witcher or Skyrim but it's the gameplay

00:01:46.870systems within and how exactly you play

00:01:48.970that make this game feel distinctly

00:01:50.680unique and thankfully still totally a

00:01:52.810Zelda game at least I've always kind of

00:01:54.400dug seeing Japanese game developers take

00:01:56.380on the open-world gaming trends most

00:01:58.420recently with Metal Gear Solid 5

00:02:00.040breathitt a wild has that basic stuff

00:02:01.990it's got a big old map it's got side

00:02:03.729quests it's even got towers to climb to

00:02:05.770unlock more map but it's how Zelda

00:02:07.390handles these very differently that

00:02:08.829makes them special climbing towers

00:02:10.719honestly doesn't really get you much but

00:02:12.459they do get you a nap

00:02:13.680VantagePoint you're free to take out

00:02:15.420your scope thing and scour the

00:02:17.069environment and place as many pins as

00:02:18.720you want on the map in kind of like an

00:02:20.489open-ended way it almost feels kind of

00:02:22.200like an old-fashioned game when you're

00:02:23.790stuck with a physical map almost like

00:02:25.680say it with me

00:02:26.610the original Zelda so you could totally

00:02:28.170see what they were going for here in

00:02:29.670terms of setting your own adventure and

00:02:31.500discovering things for yourself but I

00:02:33.359think the way they handle these towers

00:02:34.799is a good indicator of most of the other

00:02:36.659mechanics in the game there's a light

00:02:38.459cooking crafting element but it's simple

00:02:40.650and surprisingly deep and tons of fun

00:02:42.870the game also barely tells you about it

00:02:44.609and doesn't hold your hand in fact this

00:02:46.470is probably the least handhold Lee Zelda

00:02:48.329game we've seen in a while that may

00:02:50.250scare some casuals but holy [ __ ] does it

00:02:52.680make this game really good and exciting

00:02:54.930especially when you discover something

00:02:56.250for the first time like links awakening

00:02:57.959or Ocarina or whatever all their Zelda

00:03:00.120game is your favorite breathitt a wild

00:03:01.709really embraces that aha moment so well

00:03:03.989you know figuring [ __ ] out is such a

00:03:05.939reward that's the reward and feeling of

00:03:08.010achievement you get for all your

00:03:09.120exploration combat is mostly your

00:03:11.040typical Zelda fare but it's much more

00:03:13.230challenging and I think for the better

00:03:14.730weapons degrade and they degrade really

00:03:17.010quickly it honestly could be a bit

00:03:18.569annoying

00:03:19.019despite some workarounds that the game

00:03:20.310does give you later on I think honestly

00:03:21.840it's one of the few questionable design

00:03:23.250choices here it seems like it just

00:03:24.780exists just to exist but thankfully with

00:03:27.359it comes a variety of different sized

00:03:28.889weapons and hammers and swords and

00:03:31.019staffs and stuff that you'll end up

00:03:32.760using all types at least once it kind of

00:03:34.919freshens that now classic lock-on attack

00:03:37.379backflip Zelda combat stuff and in the

00:03:39.870comment you can actually get one shotted

00:03:41.519quite easily and often especially early

00:03:43.979on in the game this Zelda game is

00:03:45.449definitely not for the faint of heart

00:03:46.590but like I said earlier at least

00:03:47.760exploration does reap rewards finding

00:03:50.639and completing these bite-sized dungeon

00:03:52.139challenges that you points to buy more

00:03:53.879hearts and more stamina so getting these

00:03:55.650necessary upgrades takes quite a bit of

00:03:57.659exploring and climbing mountains and

00:03:59.310running across rivers and because of

00:04:01.019that and seeing you that you need more

00:04:02.519stamina and more hearts to really

00:04:03.840progress I foresee this game taking you

00:04:05.639a long-ass time even still now I'm over

00:04:08.310like 30 hours in and I still see no end

00:04:10.769in sight that stamina system I mentioned

00:04:12.449does make traversal pretty interesting

00:04:14.280though it may seem kind of like a pain

00:04:15.720in the ass that everything drains your

00:04:17.699stamina like every single action but it

00:04:19.650does make you think more about how to

00:04:20.909get to the more difficult areas doing

00:04:22.740some specific things like most

00:04:24.240importantly eating sir

00:04:25.380foods will buff something like your cold

00:04:27.360resistance or give you more stamina for

00:04:29.460the long road you're probably gonna have

00:04:30.780ahead of you it's this added strategy

00:04:32.430element and really importance of cooking

00:04:34.260and stuff that manages to make these

00:04:35.610somewhat tedious systems feel really fun

00:04:37.740and rewarding same goes for a lot of

00:04:39.480things in the game like even catching

00:04:41.070and taming a horse you need to form a

00:04:42.540bond with that horse before it actually

00:04:43.830can completely follow your commands and

00:04:45.660obey you the gameplay and open well

00:04:47.160they're effective because that's the

00:04:48.300main event here but so is the story I

00:04:49.890think it does go just beyond a typical

00:04:52.230Zelda tale and some voice acting here

00:04:54.450and there actually shakes things up

00:04:55.650pretty nicely most of the voice acting

00:04:57.360is fairly well done it at least from

00:04:59.280what you could expect voices would sound

00:05:00.930like in a Zelda game but the real

00:05:02.430stories in the games are the ones you

00:05:03.870make for yourself in this surprisingly

00:05:05.490gorgeous look in open world yeah okay

00:05:07.680look it's not super high res or

00:05:09.660detail-oriented it's running on

00:05:11.610technically outdated hardware but like

00:05:13.800there's really good lush colors and

00:05:16.020contrast here not to mention some

00:05:17.760awesomely well done sunrises and sunsets

00:05:19.590and just visual light design that just

00:05:21.960helps keep the game looking pretty good

00:05:24.090and not really pulling you out of the

00:05:25.770immersion the framerate can take a dip

00:05:27.420from time to time most notably on TV

00:05:29.790mode on switch but it's not the biggest

00:05:31.860problem and it's not totally a

00:05:33.450disastrous one it's really about the art

00:05:35.130design and style here and I think breath

00:05:36.720of the wild has it in spades at least

00:05:38.220overall though honestly this is a damn

00:05:39.990good Zelda game through and through you

00:05:41.490know by following these modern game

00:05:42.960conventions it actually if you think

00:05:44.520about it took a risk for Zelda fans but

00:05:46.590thankfully it seems like it paid off

00:05:47.910you're most likely gonna be drawn to

00:05:49.860this game it's hard to describe why it's

00:05:51.780so good and I kind of only scratched the

00:05:53.610surface here but I highly highly

00:05:55.200recommend it for fans of the series if

00:05:57.360you can somehow get your hands on a

00:05:58.950console that plays it but you guys know

00:06:00.660that's how well before you buy works

00:06:01.800I'll give you some pros some cons and

00:06:03.540some personal opinion honestly I didn't

00:06:04.980have a lot of cons this time around but

00:06:06.420now I want to hear yours down in the

00:06:07.800comments if you've been watching a lot

00:06:09.090of video of Zelda or if you did pick it

00:06:11.130up I want to know what you think also if

00:06:13.110you have a perspective from the Wii U

00:06:14.610since I didn't get my hands on that

00:06:15.840version please let me know what you

00:06:17.640think of that version we want to hear

00:06:18.870from you guys down in the comments below

00:06:19.950I'll be there answering as many

00:06:21.120questions as I can but also as always be

00:06:23.460on Twitter Facebook and Instagram at

00:06:24.870Jake Doughty you know as well you know

00:06:26.370the deal clicking the like button helps

00:06:27.720us out a ton and we really appreciate it

00:06:29.460the Nintendo swoosh before you buy

00:06:31.080actually hit the top 11 trending on

00:06:33.270youtubes front page which is something

00:06:35.190really crazy and weird but if you are

00:06:37.470new

00:06:37.800subscribing is a good idea because we

00:06:39.449put out stuff like this all the time but

00:06:40.919as always thanks for watching and we'll

00:06:42.659see you guys next time

00:06:44.930[Music]

00:06:55.710you