Breath of the Wild: DLC - Part 1

 

Breath of the Wild (BotW) was released at a time when I wasn't posting much, and thus I never had a post dedicated to the game. This is despite the fact that BotW is not only one of my favorite Zelda games, it was one of my favorite games of any genre or series. BotW is the exact opposite of many previous Zelda games, especially Skyward Sword. Most Zelda games show you locations you cannot access initially because a rock is in the way, or the grass is too tall, or there is a wall you cannot scale, etc. From the moment you start BotW, you are allowed to explore the entire map, including Hyrule Castle. The map is huge and the environment is beautiful. It's my favorite version of Hyrule, so much so that it is the only Zelda game I've continued to play after finishing the main story, without restarting the game. Despite finishing the game nearly 4 years ago, I still return to my original game to play because the environment is so fun. This is actually pretty unique for me for any game (the one big exception is Sim City 4), which goes to show how much I like this game. Despite playing BotW for over 140 hours, and finishing the main storyline by defeating Calamity Ganon, I only completed 33% of the game. After finishing Skyward Sword, I was in the mood for more Zelda, so I decided to return to BofW's Hyrule, but this time with a purpose. That's where the downloadable expansion packs come into play.

BotW is a fantastic putzing game. It is very easy to launch the game and wander aimlessly, waisting time and accomplishing nothing. It's easy to do this because the game environment is so good. I wanted to complete more of the game, but do so with objectives beyond finding Korok seeds. The downloadable expansions add a number of side quests and trials, and is a great way to return to the game with some objectives to accomplish. I started this process a couple of weeks ago and thus far have enjoyed my return to Hyrule, finding various rare treasures and helping locals with various tasks. Part 2 of this topic will update you on my progress on the game and my thoughts on the two DLC packs.