Jared’s Top Ten Games of This Horrible, Godforsaken Year

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

I had to borrow my neighbor’s Wii U to play this game, and I am very glad I did, because those three weeks were more enjoyable than any open world game I’ve had with the exception of GTA San Andreas, Fallout 3 and the Witcher 3. That is the list. It’s an all-timer for sure, hands down, based purely on what Nintendo was able to do with their world design, physics, immersive gameplay, and innovation. It could have looked like shit, sounded like shit, had a shit story and cut scenes, and STILL would have been revolutionary to open world games. I do not say that word lightly, either, because it makes all the games in the genre before it seem pointless now that you can’t glide or climb anything. No more climbing a mountain side with a horse in Skyrim, no more wondering how to get on top of a plateau in Metal Gear Solid V, no more slight parkour in Watch Dogs 2, no more mantling in Assassin’s Creed. I hate how it has forced my brain to think “boy, I wish I could get up there, I could do that in Zelda” all the time.

It’s hard to talk about games that came out earlier in the year, and ones so highly covered and so thoroughly combed over by critics and fans alike. I don’t think I have anything left to say about this game that has not already been stated somewhere online, but it’s just as impressive and creative and refreshing an experience as I can remember, especially for this franchise. I would have loved some big traditional dungeons to dig into, really chew on, as opposed to the rather thin and lightweight four boss things we got, but I’ll take what I can get when it comes to Zelda. I don’t like the 2D ones, I’m sorry, I just don’t, I’m working on it, it’s a problem, what can I do.

Breath of the Wild is the Dark Souls of Zelda games.