Karly B

Definitely one of my favourite games. Thank you for the article!

I struggled with building a relationship with Breath of the Wild. To me, I feel like that narrative is essential to a Zelda game because, to me at least, that is what makes it feel like an authentic Zelda game.

Building a foundational relationship between the characters is one of the things that I enjoy the most about Zelda games. In Ocarina of Time, there was Saria, the Great Deku Tree, Zelda, Malon, and so on. In Wind Waker, there was Aryl, Link’s grandma, Tetra and her pirate crew, and the King of Red Lions. In Twilight Princess, there was Ilia, Colin, Talo, Malo, Beth, and Midna. In Skyward Sword, there was Zelda, Groose, Fledge, Pipit, Peatrice — just these likeable, charming characters. Even Majora’s Mask, one of the more melancholic Zelda games, had memorable characters (such as Anju and Kafei) with heartwarming stories to which you could quickly grow deeply attached.

Perhaps that’s why I had such a hard time receiving Breath of the Wild in the same way others have, not that there’s anything wrong with how others received the game. What I tend to like the most about Zelda games are their strong, character-driven narratives and the personality of the game itself. I had a difficult time emotionally connecting to Breath of the Wild as I had with its predecessors because of this reason; most of the narratives in Breath of the Wild take place 100 years in the past, so it’s difficult to feel connected to the story when you know that most of Link’s closest bonds are all dead. Perhaps this melancholy is what the developers were going for; I did get a bit of a ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ vibe from it. Unfortunately, I often found that I was asking myself “why should I care about this when I can just dick around?” which is not what I wanted to take away from such a game that has been in the making for such a long time.

Overall it’s still an incredible game, and it’s well-deserving of its praise from critics and fans everywhere. It’s visually stunning, the open world is mind-blowing, and I love the RPG elements. As a stand-alone game, I can definitely say that it’s a masterpiece all on its own. However, as a Zelda game, it’s a little hard for it to win my heart entirely over in the same way the older games have. I just hope for the future that they focus on the character narratives because that’s what I personally enjoyed the most about the other Zelda games.

I think there’s an art in remakes and remasters, especially when adapting games from an older era to a more modern, innovative audience.

When the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D came out, even with near-perfect reviews from critics, fans still insisted that it wasn’t the same as playing the original — I suppose that I agree in that there’s just no replicating the nostalgia that comes with playing the original during its peak years. Sometimes the original “faults” and “glitches” in these games are what makes them so charming and lovable in the first place.

However, while it’s easy to dismiss remakes and remasters as unoriginal cash grabs, we need to understand that remakes and remasters aren’t going away anytime soon. Perhaps we ought to know the value in them: 1) Game developers can see what has worked the best with older games and they can see how they can incorporate these methods into future franchises. 2) Like what you had mentioned, it can introduce new audiences who have never had a chance to play these older, beloved games to these popular franchises.

There’s plenty of originality in the video game industry, although I think our disappointments lie in where we are looking. Massive video game companies like Nintendo and Square Enix may struggle with creating genuinely unique games because they might feel bound to their already established franchises. If we want originality in the game industry, we just have to know where to find it. I’m a huge supporter of indie and third-party games, and I think that’s where we will discover the originality that we want while still appreciating the innovations in remakes and remasters.