I rushed through the game on my friend's Wii U (he let me borrow it because he got the game on a Switch). This game might honestly be my favorite game of the decade. For me personally, Zelda has always been more engaging when the exploration to dungeon ratio leaned more on the exploration side, so I'm obviously biased (that being said, I still think A Link to the Past has brilliant dungeon design and is the one example where I enjoy a Zelda game more for the dungeons than the exploration). Majora's Mask and Wind Waker are my favorite Zelda's because of this; the joy was less about doing a level filled with puzzles and combat and more about solving the mysteries of the land. Unlike most Zelda's, the game isn't about a Hero travelling through dungeons to collect Macguffins and save the world; it's about learning to navigate and survive a world filled with natural hazards as well as bloodthirsty monsters. Hell, my favorite moments in the game have less to do with the game's story and more to do with discovering how to finally reach the Goron Village on Death Mountain despite the sweltering heat, or stumbling upon the Gerudo Village when originally I was just exploring the nearby mountain range for the sake of it.

The whole game is about survival; thinking about how you want to progress and obtaining the materials to make it a reality. I LOVE the weapon durability because it reinforces this Link as a hunter-gatherer. You have to make difficult decisions with the limited resources you have, and giving a weapon infinite durability would cheapen that element of the game design.

Anyway, this was me gushing about BotW; I can't wait for Nintendo to reissue the Switch this Holiday Season so I can get the game with both DLCs and take my time with the game.