It has been almost 3 weeks since the Nintendo Switch launch and almost everyone who purchased the new system has been enamored with its main attraction, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The overall scope of the world of Hyrule is bigger than any other game in the history of the Zelda franchise. Some reports pre-launch had hinted at the map of the game being bigger than that of Skyrim. Those reports turned out to be true as this version of Hyrule is truly gigantic, bigger than any other Zelda prior to BotW.
As great as it is having a huge open world to explore, having nothing to discover or actually do was a main concern prior to release. That concern was quickly put to rest after the first few hours with the game. BotW includes 120 shrines (mini dungeons, if you will) as well as 76 side quests and other story related missions to embark on. There truly is so much to do in this game that it is easy to lose yourself for hours without realizing it. While that is a major accomplishment for BotW, there are some features that are noticeably missing. After finishing the game and all of its side quests and shrines, here are some things it can add to make the game even better than it already is.
1. Fishing
Why must you do this to us Aonuma? I understand you can just shock the water and kill all the fish, use a spear or even swim up to fish and catch them manually, but a fishing pole would be so appreciated. There are a boat load of fishing spots all around Hyrule and the ability to whip out a fishing pole and catch fish would just be the most relaxing thing to do. Is this nitpicking? Maybe, but with how many fishing spots there are? Plus how beloved was the fishing mini game in Ocarina of Time? You would think a fishing pole in this game would be a no brainer. Here’s to hoping a fishing pole will be added in the still-to-come DLC.
2. Ganondorf
I’ll start this point by saying that I loved the bosses in this game. From the many different sub-bosses to the different forms of Ganon all the way to his final true form, the developers truly did a wonderful job creating these boss fights. However, the one boss that is missing is the Gerudo form of Ganon himself: Ganondorf. The evil warlord is nowhere to be found in BotW and while he may not necessarily fit into the story, he could have easily replaced the first phase of the true Ganon fight (if you finished the game you’ll understand what I mean).
I understand that Ganondorf may not have a place in this game, but I still wish he were included. The portion of the game where you have to recall memories of your past would have been perfect for Ganondorf. He for sure would have stolen some scenes from the beautiful voice acting of Princess Zelda. I think it also would have made for a killer surprise if you walked into the Sanctum at the end of the game, and he is just there waiting for you to fight him.
3. A recipe log
This has been brought up quite a bit when discussing the cooking mechanics of BotW. There are A LOT of different meals and elixirs that you can cook up in this game. Unfortunately, you are likely to forget the recipe you used to make these different foods and elixirs. A standard cookbook tab in the menu screen would be really useful, not to mention that it would inspire people to trade different recipes therefore inducing more conversation about the game. Of the 3 features I have talked about, this feature seems to be the one most likely to be added — with all of the different ingredient combinations, it seems inevitable.
With that said…
It’s hard to look at a game such as BotW and say, “ok what can be added to make it even better?” The world is so huge and full of things to do that it is nearly inconceivable to say that it is missing something. This game is truly a masterpiece with very few flaws and it is more than deserving of its lofty praise.
The best part of BotW is that it isn’t over finished after you beat the game. A season pass was announced and caught a lot of Zelda fans off guard. The first DLC includes an additional map feature along with a hard mode, and the new cave of trials. The second DLC has Zelda fans buzzing because it will include a new original story, as well as a new dungeon along with additional challenges. The year ahead is full of excitement when it comes to Zelda and it seems as if the March 3rd launch date was only just the beginning.
