Hype began for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it even had a title back in 2013, and that's largely thanks to the reveal that this will be the first in the series with a fully open world.
With this upcoming game for the Wii U and 'NX' standing as the nineteenth main instalment, this 30-year-long franchise has stood as one of Nintendo's most prominent franchises, pleasing millions of gamers (and critics) over the decades with its magical sense of adventure, action and cunning. Clearly, The Legend of Zelda has been doing something right.
However, for some, recent instalments seem to have lost some of the spark that the franchise has been known for over the years. Though critically acclaimed, entries such as Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword had perhaps become all too dependent on the many tropes of the series.
Although 'more of the same' isn't necessarily a bad thing if 'the same' is excellence, Zelda: Breath of the Wild's announcement promised to bring new life to the franchise.
It turns out that it is easily the most important Zelda game since Ocarina of Time.
Breath of the Wild requires you to leave your prior knowledge of The Legend of Zelda at the door before you jump in. Well, almost - mainstay characters such as Link, Zelda, Ganon and even the Koroks make a return, as do dungeons, rupees and presumably other reoccurring series features, but this is absolutely a completely different game. This is not just 'Zelda, but open world', it's something new entirely.
In fact, it's so different that when I got my hands on it for the first time, I admittedly felt bewildered and lost. A lifetime of playing Zelda went out of the window.
This wasn't an infuriating feeling though, but rather a complete sense of genuine wonder and curiosity at what the game's gigantic world held for us.
And when I say gigantic, I really do mean it.
Nintendo have gone all out for Zelda's first foray into open world gameplay, with a map 12 times the size of Twilight Princess. I was told as I zoomed out on the map that the segment I was playing in represented roughly 2% of the game's world.
Considering that I had spent over an hour exploring every corner of this segment, that's an astonishing feat. The vastness of the game can't be understated.
Exploring the open world really didn't get old, and I'm not sure I discovered even almost all of its secrets in my hour of play.
As well as finding various weapons (all with durability, so you'll frequently need to seek out more) such as swords, sticks, clubs, bows and leaves that could blow enemies away, the overworld is littered with apples, meat and various other food items.
This comes in handy to refill your health meter, as you'll no longer find floating hearts in cut-up grass or enemy's carcasses. Oh, and did I mention you can roast apples over a fire?!
In regards to combat, the basics are the same - you wield a sword (or a stick, or some other variant) as your main weapon and can use a shield to parry enemy attacks. Sneaking up on enemies means you can take them down before they alert others, so unless you want to run in and set the world on fire (literally - you can set the grass alight with fire arrows or torches and it'll spread like wildfire) you may want to have some tact about how you approach enemies.
Rather like Hyrule Warriors, enemies now have a health meter above their heads. They'll also take environmental damage from trees you chop down or boulders you push, so you can really mix up how you battle in this game. Players can even use their stasis item to freeze enemies and spam the attack button to rack up kinetic energy that'll impact them when they unfreeze.
Oh, and dynamic music in combat has made a return from Wind Waker. Why it hasn't been included in every Zelda game since is beyond me.
Combat can also be shaken up a bit thanks to amiibo functionality. Tapping the Wolf Link amiibo against the GamePad will make him appear in the game, and he'll helpfully gnaw at any nearby enemies. His health defaults at 3 hearts, but if you've played Twilight Princess HD on your Wii U, he'll have significantly more. I didn't find him very helpful, but I did miss him when I entered a shrine.
Speaking of which, Breath of the Wild also features 100 'shrines', which are effectively smaller dungeons littered throughout the world. In the one I came across, I had to utilise pistons to shoot my bombs towards stone walls in order to progress. These shrines are classic dungeon gameplay - use a specific item you've found in the world to maneuver further forward whilst working out intricately designed puzzles. If you love Zelda's dungeons, you'll be equally as pleased with the many shrines here.
Remember, this is all contained within an area apparently representing 2% of the game's map.
Even as someone who has become jaded by open world games, I'm filled with excitement for this game. Its overworld manages to be huge and open without being empty and boring. I could go on forever about all the little moments and things I discovered in just an hour of playing.
Dropping my extreme excitement for a brief moment, let's look at its flaws. The most glaring one for me is the stamina meter, which assigns an arbitrary limit on how long you can run, climb or swim for. Although it recharges quickly, I can't really see any positive reasons for this all too common modern feature. In a game so dedicated to exploration of its new, humongous open world, restricting that freedom of exploration in any measure without reason just feels... odd.
Why can't you sprint or swim without needing a rest every 15 seconds? Why can't you climb without tiring and falling down after a minute? After all, the game's sheer cliff faces are tall and tedious enough to climb as it is without having to stop at a ledge for a break.
I also couldn't quite make out whether I was experiencing either lag or framerate issues, but it was sluggish whilst out on the Hyrulian field. It's important to remember that this game isn't finished and that with a year to release this will probably be resolved.
If I were to be really nitpicky, I'd also take issue with the game including a crafting system for creating food, potions and other items.
I'm aware that this is a common feature in modern games that most players seem content with, so it's very much a 'me' issue.
All in all, these are fairly minor concerns, and I couldn't help walking away from Breath of the Wild with a beaming smile on my face.
I was excited yet skeptical of the open world concept being injected into a Zelda game, but if the rest of the game's expansive world resembles this sliver of gameplay, we're looking at a truly ground-breaking material.
Let's hope the finished game matches what this demo promises. Bring on March 2017.
