It’s safe to say that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of Nintendo Switch’s best offerings. Being one of Nintendo’s most ambitious games at the time of its release, Breath of the Wild was the start of an incredibly successful era for the company that included some of the biggest titles in its history. The Switch has been home to a number of groundbreaking, revolutionary games that have transformed some of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises, and BOTW is certainly one of those titles.
Yet, BOTW is far more important to the Switch than it first seems. While multiple titles have contributed to the Switch’s overall success, BOTW was crucial to getting the system off the ground. Its role in helping Nintendo to redeem itself after the Wii U’s disappointing performance, and its influence on the Switch era as a whole, solidified BOTW as the system’s definitive game from day one.
BOTW Is One Of The Switch’s Best Games
Its Reinvention Of The Zelda Series Was Hugely Successful
Right off the bat, BOTW can be considered the Switch’s definitive game from its quality alone. BOTW is still one of the Switch’s best offerings to date, thanks to the sense of freedom granted to the player. The expansive world of Hyrule is filled with multiple locations to explore and secrets to uncover in any order that the player desires. That emphasis on exploration harkens back to The Legend of Zelda on the NES that propelled the series to success. However, it’s now on a huge scale that’s unlike anything the Zelda series has seen before.
Related
10 Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024
From long-running Nintendo originals to innovative indies to triple-A ports, here are all the greatest games to be released for the Switch in 2024.
BOTW‘s scale and ambition can be seen in how the game attempts to reinvent the Zelda series. The game’s open environments and unique mechanics ask the player to experiment with the tools at their disposal to overcome a range of challenges, whether that be difficult shrine puzzles or combat encounters. BOTW exceeds previous titles with its interactivity and open approach to progression, giving each player their own personalized experience. Creativity and experimentation were BOTW‘s biggest qualities, and have been a huge influence on how subsequent Zelda titles have approached gameplay.
BOTW‘s revolutionary changes to the Zelda formula and its emphasis on experimentation are precisely what made the game so successful. Breath of the Wild‘s universal acclaim still remains unrivaled by any other title on the Switch, and its commercial success is proof of BOTW‘s appeal with its huge scale and player freedom. BOTW remains one of the Switch’s best and most creative titles, making it an ideal candidate for the system’s definitive game.
BOTW Had To Launch With The Switch
Nintendo Needed To Redeem Itself After The Wii U Failed
While the game’s quality is certainly a huge factor, BOTW became the definitive Switch game for a more important reason. The launches of BOTW and the Switch are intertwined with what was a crucial period for Nintendo. The failure of the Wii U was a huge anchor for the company, one that it was desperately trying to get rid of. This road to redemption put the launch of both the Switch and BOTW on a much higher level of importance than what was probably intended for them.
In the case of BOTW, its dual-release on both Wii U and Switch was a necessity for the game to see any kind of success. As one of Nintendo’s biggest projects to date, BOTW would never have been able to gain the success that the company wanted if the game’s access was limited to a failing console that was already on its way out. Releasing BOTW on Nintendo’s fresh new console was a necessary move to ensure the game got the recognition it deserved.
Related
2025 Will Be Nintendo Switch Online’s Most Crucial Year To Date
Nintendo Switch Online has steady improved since its tepid launch, but a new console will set even higher expectations for the service in 2025.
However, the dual-release for BOTW ended up being more crucial to the success of the Switch itself. Nintendo was stuck in a difficult position following the Wii U’s underwhelming performance, and was in desperate need of a huge comeback. Of course, almost any game could have been placed as a launch title for the Switch to ensure Nintendo saw some success in the short term. Given the popularity of the series, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would have been a perfect launch title to push the success of the Switch when it first released.
Yet, the Switch’s launch wasn’t dependent on having titles available from the get-go. The Switch’s launch was Nintendo’s opportunity to prove to players that the company was able to provide the ambitious, game-changing experiences it was known for and that it failed to deliver on the Wii U. BOTW‘s huge scale and revolutionary changes made it the only choice, serving as proof that Nintendo was learning from its mistakes and moving towards a more ambitious future. BOTW may not be the launch game that was intended for the Switch, but it was the game that the system needed.
How BOTW Shaped The Future Of The Switch
BOTW Demonstrated The Switch’s Sense Of Ambition
BOTW has maintained its status as the definitive Switch game from day one as it is emblematic of the console’s main selling point: ambition. There’s no doubt that the Switch remains Nintendo’s most ambitious console to date. Its revolutionary hybrid technology is coupled with a slew of features from previous consoles, including the DS’s touch screen and the Wii’s motion controls. Together, these features made for a console that blew the doors wide open in terms of the possibilities for how any game on the system can be played, more so than any of Nintendo’s previous consoles.
While BOTW doesn’t take full advantage of the Switch’s features, it carries that same sense of ambition through the game’s huge scale and level of freedom granted to the player. BOTW was the perfect title to demonstrate to players the new approach Nintendo was taking with the Switch, and it served as the catalyst for one of the company’s most ambitious periods to date. Titles like Super Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon Legends: Arceus were all titles that pushed the boundaries of their respective series, resulting in some of Nintendo’s biggest games yet.
Related
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Review – More Than A Trainer Journey
Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes risks to introduce new gameplay to an old series, restoring the enjoyment in a trainer journey and Pokémon story.
As fantastic as these games turned out, these titles may not have been so successful if it wasn’t for BOTW. The game was proof of that ambition for the Switch, giving a promise to players of the incredible experiences to come, and it was responsible for helping to usher in this bold new era for Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s huge success and legacy on the Switch across its lifespan is the reason why it has held the title as the system’s definitive game from day one.
5/10
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Platform(s)
-
Nintendo Wii U
, Switch - Released
-
March 3, 2017
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- ESRB
-
E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes
