Breath of the Wild Review

Some very minor spoilers for the other 3D Zelda games as well. You might want to pause to read some of the text that appears at points but if this is your first time watching I recommend just letting the video continue to play.

Sources:
World 1-1 as an Introduction

Reality vs. Realism

[SchaffrillasProductions]

His 100-year slumber from reviewing Zelda games is finally over, hallelujah

[doctor-goggles]

"People think they want complete control over their experience when what they really want is to cut down trees to cross ravines--something they'll never actually do if they have complete control over their experience."

Damn if that isn't the truth.

[gardenhead]

It's such a minor point, but I was really disappointed I never had to cut down another tree to cross a chasm through the entire game. What's even the point of that section?!

[Serafiniert]

19:55 That is acutally a pretty cool easter egg: Someone wanted to shoot that EYE symbol in order to trigger something. Like the player is expecting something to happen, since the Legend of Zelda games have conditioned us to shoot eyes in almost every Zelda game. Either it's a weak spot of an enemy or boss, or it functions as a switch to trigger some mechanism that will drop a chest, open a door or solve a puzzle.

[MrCompassionate]

I feel like such a fool watching other people play Breath of the Wild. There are so many physics tricks I hadn't tried.

[MatrixEvolution]

25:26 "Sometimes it seems the only thing Link can't mount is Mipha"

holy shit lmfao

[dave]

I was waiting for the "Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is the sixth in a series of 5 reviews that I've done on The Legend of Zelda"

[Foostini]

The thing that excites me about BotW is, should Nintendo capitalize on it well, it's an amazing template for an even better game down the line.

[SilvethTheRadiant]

I have always really enjoyed how you have your closing thoughts over the credits of the game your covering. It creates a nice feeling of closure to your videos, without falling into that final word 'sting', before loud dubstep or something, that a lot of video essays fall into. There's no facecam asking for likes and subs, no links to other videos as if the viewer doesn't know how to navigate to your channel page. Just a soft resolution to the thesis.

I've enjoyed so much of your work, but I've never commented before. I hope you see this! Thanks for the well constructed vids.

[budgoodrich]

I lose it every time...

"These two are delighted to have found some durians and live happily ever after..." As Link descends on them with lightning arrows.

Your out-of-nowhere timing mixed with your deadpan delivery are an amazing combo.

Toss in all of the amazingly insightful, intelligent video game commentary, and I'm sold. You win at YouTube.

[daviddebergerack]

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, this is the sixth in a series of 5 videos that I've done on The Legend of Zelda."

[CrashDunning]

37:06 "Since Nintendo is known for their unique hardware, maybe one day they'll release a controller with a touch screen that can be used to quickly manage resources. One can only wonder the lack of such a controller affected this game's design."

That level of stank LOL

[Pan_Z]

Love the shot at the Wii U & Switch parity. Nintendo displayed full Wii U touchpad functionality with Breath of the Wild in an early demo. Come announcement of the Switch version, the feature was suspiciously dropped.

[Nexpo]

I'm so glad I discovered this channel. All of your videos are incredibly well done.

[Pan_Z]

38:42 Here's a reason I love this channel. Instead of tediously lecturing off every single possibility to make his point, he gives a list you can read if you're interested, as to not cause the video to drag.
These videos may be long, but they don't waste your time. Content gold.

[amariu]

52:25 Two years after the game came out and I still get "I didn't know you could do this!" moments.

[sagewaterdragon]

Matthew, my dude. This is easily your best straight-up review that you've ever done. In a way, it serves as the perfect companion piece to your God of War case study, which I previously considered the best video that you've ever made. It still might be the better standalone package than this, but together they help explore the roles of game design goals, and how they can affect the product for better and for worse. (Breath of the Wild is my favorite game, and I'm incredibly happy that you explained its strengths and weaknesses in a way that helps me understand my relationship to both in a more complete way.)

[jackbiesty]

Matthew: "Nintendo's family friendly slant might also explain the lack of human corpses in the Overworld even though they could be used to great effect for world building proposes"

Nintendo: "Hold my sequel"

[aquamidideluxe]

33:09
I remember reading some sort of interview with someone important to Breath of the Wild—maybe Aonuma or Fujibayashi—where it was said that Bokoblins were intentionally made likable with the implication that maybe something happened that made the Bokoblins start acting so violent.

[srsbizman]

25:27
“Sometimes it seems like the only thing Link cant mount on is Mipha”

J E S U S