Breath Of The Wild Is Great, But Zelda Needs To Go Back To Its 2D Roots

_ Resident Evil 4 _ is so narratively inconsequential that Capcom remaking the game before _ Code Veronica _ might be the studio’s way of fixing the franchise’s overall plot. Who’s to say _ Resident Evil 4 _ won’t make its own narrative changes? It’s possible the game won’t flash forward, won’t dissolve Umbrella, and might actually serve as set up for _ Code Veronica

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a beautiful game. Despite the relatively limited hardware of the Switch, Nintendo was able to produce a vast, uncompromising open world that could be freely explored for hundreds upon hundreds of hours. Each discovery felt perfectly natural, with its picturesque landscapes and immaculate art design spurring us onward into each new location. It’s a masterpiece that remains unbeaten to this very

Catra from She-Ra and The Princesses of Power and Amity Blight from The Owl House also change their hairstyles to serve their character development, whether that be accepting their own sexuality and leaving behind oppressive familial structures or welcoming those who once pushed you away and putting aside a toxic life of villainy. Once again, these are all female characters confronting a heteronormative society and fighting back against it, even if said worlds are fantastical in nature and far more eccentric than our own. If done right, characters can still be grounded and relatable, as their struggles become ones we can sympathise with. It’s beautiful, so perhaps there’s a reason this tried-and-true trope has so much staying power in modern media.

Final Fantasy 9 ’s Princess Garnet is the closest comparison to Zelda in the gaming world, largely because their circumstances, personality, and overall drive are so similar. Garnet takes a dagger to her hair at a pivotal point in her character arc. Her kingdom is approaching ruin and her mother is gone, so this moment is a reclamation of agency that has long been kept away from her. Gone is the received pronunciation and royal procedures that have long held her back from living a normal, fulfilling life. Travelling with Zidane and company has taught her the importance of this heritage while simultaneously inspiring her to walk away from it. However, blood remains thicker than water, so returning to the city that helped shape her only to solemnly leave it behind is poetic.

I’ve played close to 100 VR games, and I’ve never had an experience like Resident Evil 4. There are better-looking, more immersive, and higher quality games out there, but none have ever given me as much joy and nostalgia as playing Resident Evil in VR has. As soon as the opening cutscene ended and I took control of Leon, I was instantly transported. I know every inch of RE4’s village, castle, and underground mines, but I never felt like I’d been to these places until now. RE4VR feels like the difference between looking at a picture of the Parthenon versus traveling to Greece and standing in the center of it. Seeing RE4 on a screen is incomparable to seeing it in person, and experiences like this have the potential to sell VR to even the most reluctant play

He’s one of the most iconic characters in video games, and Nintendo allowed us to shape him into something that represents us even if it goes against exactly how the canonical universe might have wanted it. All these years later, Elden Ring cosplay it remains one of the game’s strongest elements, and it seems Breath of the Wild 2 is not only expanding upon the potential for fashion, but providing the player with ample tools to make this version of Link into whoever or whatever they want. Obviously, I’m going off a brief reveal trailer, but there’s so much here to delve i

You also can’t climb in the rain, with Link being encouraged to find another route up a mountain the moment a drop of water falls from the sky. These are all polarising mechanics, and for good reason, but they also help define Breath of the Wild as a special experience that always changes things up, seldom having you repeat the same tasks in order to complete your objective. If it wasn’t different, it wouldn’t be Zelda.

There are countless ways to tackle the majority of combat encounters and puzzles, while exploration offers the same level of malleability as the world around you shifts and changes with the day/night cycle. It isn’t perfect, and I’ve expressed annoyance at rain grounding my heroic himbo on more than one occasion, but I’d be a fool to ask for its removal. Countless games have taken inspiration from Breath of the Wild’s revitalisation of the open world formula, with Genshin Impact and Immortals Fenyx Rising being the most notable, and guess what - they both let you climb in the rain. Mihoyo and Ubisoft likely recognised the occasional frustration of this and decided to make things easier for you, while also secretly knowing that it sacrifices something in the process.

The removal of design decisions previously viewed as irksome would undermine so much of what Breath of the Wild managed to achieve, and the last thing I want to see is Nintendo steering its formula in a direction that abides by more traditional genre conventions. Assassin’s Creed and similar games of this ilk are arguably more akin to content mill, built to draw you in for hundreds of hours even if much of that time is filled with uninspired busywork. The time you spend with the game is what matters, and Breath of the Wild managed to challenge a system that has become increasingly tired in the eyes of players. Its sequel needs to continue chasing that ambition, and not compromise on its own design ethos.