Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Review Roundup

On the eve of its launch, reviews for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have been published. Given that the last Zelda released for consoles was six years ago and that it's arriving on Switch, a brand new Nintendo platform, expectations are high.

Breath of the Wild looks like it will be meeting those expectations as reviews of the game are overwhelmingly positive. In GameSpot's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild review, Peter Brown awarded it a 10/10, saying it is "a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created."

We've collected a number of other verdicts from various publications and put them in a list below. Take a look and, by the time you're done, you'll have a good overview of its critical reception. For a much wider critical view of Breath of the Wild, take a look at GameSpot's sister site Metacritic.

• Game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Developer: Nintendo
• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Release: March 3
• Price: US $60 / £50 / AU $90

GameSpot -- 10/10

"No matter how gorgeous its environments are, how clever its enemies are, and how tricky its puzzles get, the fact that Breath of the Wild continues to surprise you with newfound rules and possibilities after dozens of hours is by far its most valuable quality. It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created." -- Peter Brown [Full review]

IGN -- 10/10

"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in open-world design and a watershed game that reinvents a 30-year-old franchise. It presents a wonderful sandbox full of mystery, dangling dozens upon dozens of tantalizing things in front of you that just beg to be explored. I've had so many adventures in Breath of the Wild, and each one has a unique story behind what led me to them, making them stories on top of stories. And even after I've spent more than 50 hours searching the far reaches of Hyrule, I still manage to come across things I haven't seen before. I'll easily spend 50 to 100 more trying to track down its fascinating moments." -- Jose Otero [Full review]

Game Informer -- 10/10

"Breath of the Wild is an achievement in the design of a living world. Hyrule is massive, with multiple environmental systems layered on top of a grand adventure. The only technical issue I encountered was one related to the frame rate when fighting multiple enemies in busy forests. Despite the massive scope of the game, Breath of the Wild retains Nintendo's knack for polish without any major technical hiccups to disrupt the experience. I was entranced by this version of Hyrule, and it surprised me at nearly every turn, from its wealth of discoveries to the way it shuns the established tropes of previous Zelda games. It represents a profound new direction for one of gaming's best franchises and a new high point for open-world interactive experiences." -- Kyle Hilliard [Full review]

Polygon -- 10/10

"I guess, in the end, it's not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it's leaned on for so long. It's that the evolution in question has required Nintendo to finally treat its audience like intelligent people. That newfound respect has led to something big, and different, and exciting. But in an open world full of big changes, Breath of the Wild also almost always feels like a Zelda game--and establishes itself as the first current, vital-feeling Zelda in almost 20 years." -- Arthur Gies [Full review]

Giant Bomb -- 5/5

This sense of wonder is something that I haven't felt so strongly since I played A Link to the Past when I was seven years old. Ocarina of Time was able to capture some of that same magic in my teenage years. Now that I'm in my thirties, I don't think that I expected it to be possible for a game to make me feel like that again. I've been reviewing video games for twelve years now, and I'm used to describing games in a certain way. "This game controls well. This mechanic is innovative. The graphics are stunning. The skill tree feels limited." That type of language doesn't adequately convey how Breath of the Wild made me feel. Nintendo may have changed so many long-standing traditions of the Zelda franchise, but the spirit of discovery is as strong as it's ever been no matter your age. I didn't think I'd feel the Zelda magic this strongly ever again, but I couldn't be happier to be proven wrong. -- Dan Ryckert [Full review]