Of The The Legend of Zelda Breath

The Witcher III Hunt

Wild Into The

It has been over 19 years since I first played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then, I’ve completed the game in its many iterations nearly a dozen different times. Seven or eight playthroughs on the Nintendo 64, once more on the Wii Virtual Console, again on an emulator, and my last playthrough was with the Remastered edition on the Nintendo 3DS. I adored this game, even now I can still recall how to get all 36 Heart Pieces, or the button sequences for each of the melodies, or fight one of the numerous bosses with barely a scratch. I can still perform a perfectly timed dodge roll underneath Ganon during the final fight and quickly switching to the Biggoron Sword hitting his exposed tail then quickly nailing him right in the head with a Light Arrow just as he turns around. I remember the feeling of triumph, pleasure, and pain as the word “The End” etched over the image of young Link and Zelda as they look at each other at the Hyrule Castle Garden; the colors on screen fading away into black and white. I know that nostalgia is a deceptive beast and if I go back play the original game on an N64, I might be appalled at the low polygon count and the muddy texture and the poor sound quality thanks to its MIDI format. But the fact remains true to this day, that I absolutely adored this game.

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Since then, very few game were able to pull me into their world and dominated all my free time like Ocarina of Time did. Recapturing that childhood magic is, for the most part, all but gone for my adult self. There were exceptions of course, but the number of games that capture my entire imagination has dwindled more and more. Praise the goddesses of gaming however, because over the last several years, two such games crept their way in my life and have reignited my gaming inspiration, albeit in their own unqiue ways. ​ The Witcher III: Wild Hunt might be the ultimate evolution of the fantasy adventure genre. Looking back throughout the years, Wild Hunt is the accumulation of all great open world role-playing games combining into a package perfectly suited for an older adult audience. It nearly perfects all aspects of those types of game with incredible depth but also with an unmistakable familiarity for seasoned gamers. This is all told with with the backdrop of one of the most complex and interesting story I've ever experienced in gaming. It is at once recognizable, but at the same time refreshing and memorable. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the other hand, might be the ultimate expression of discovery and exploration, held together solely by the will and energy of the player's thirst for adventure. It does not rely on linear storytelling to propel the player to move forward, the player instead are granted the power to forged their own storyline and go on any path they choose. If the Wild Hunt was the ultimate evolution of a classic genre, then Breath of the Wild might be a look into a future as a Revolution of the entire open world concept.

And so this is the ultimate question I’m trying to answer, which game was better. I’ve completed both games, each about as much as I could. In Wild Hunt, I've finished the main storyline with all available side quests which include both The Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine DLC. I’m pretty much max level with the best gear and weapon and mutations (I’ll discuss those later), and I have achieved to be the consensus best ending in a game filled with multiple endings. As for Breath of the Wild, I finished about a little under a month ago with all 120 shrines completed, max upgrade to the best armor sets (I didn’t bother with some of the lesser used sets unfortunately), all the side quests, and about 300 Korok Seeds (although there are still about 600 more out there in its world). All in all, I’ve spent about 220 hours with The Witcher, and according to my Wii-U daily tracker, 140 hours with The Legend of Zelda. So let’s begin.

Story

In The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, the player controls the Witcher: Geralt of Rivia, a sort of Fantasy Blade Runner mix with a bit of Jedi and a dash of the Batman. Witchers are genetically modified humans created to track and combat the many creatures that had crossed into their world after a magical event, known as the Conjunction of the Spheres. They are trained and transformed at a young age into fearless superhuman-like bounty hunters, selling their monster slaying prowess for gold and the occasional Law of Surprise. At the start of Wild Hunt, Geralt has recovered from his amnesia in the previous two Witcher titles and is tracking his once forgotten lover, the Sorceresses Yennefer; as well as his adoptive daughter and one time ward, Cirilla (that’s her above). Cirila, or Ciri for short, is a descendant of a family of ancient elves who possesses "Elder Blood", a trait that grants the heriter control over time and space. (Players will also occasionally control Ciri, and she mostly plays like a more finesse version of Geralt along with a handful of her Elder Blood powers.) Geralt sensed that the Wild Hunt, a group of spectre Elves from an aligning dimension, has returned and are on the hunt for Ciri as well in order to force her to join their cavalcade. While all this is happening, two kingdoms are at war with each other and the land itself is ravaged by the conflict. It’s a race against time to find Cirilla before the Wild Hunt catches up to her first and manipulate her power for their own gains.

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The world of the Witcher is steeped in European and Scandinavian Lore. The term Wild Hunt originates from European myth and are described as riders in the skies often seen before great catastrophe such as war or plague. The land you travel are filled with classic fantasy creatures like werewolves, elves, dwarves, vampires, succubi, giants, trolls, leshen, crones and more. In term of world building, the Witcher owns its rich backstory and depth of lore to the series of book written by Polish Fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Even before the start of the first game title, there’s an abundant source of history and character relations already built into the framework of the story. Every primary and secondary characters the player meet will have their own thoughts, backstory, and motivations. It will be up the player to solve their conflicts or sometimes, completely ignore them. Along the epic journey, you will help a local Baron with finding his lost wife and daughter, only to discover his abusive past and mistakes which led to their disappearance. Or choose between a pair of siblings as the next heir of a kingdom on an isolated island out at sea. Or help an immortal man by fulfilling his impossible wishes only to discover that his motivation is to regain his mortality again. How each scenario plays out can be different based on the choices the player makes. The Baron might come to the realization of his wrongdoing and commit suicide, or reconcile with his wife who has gone mad. Choosing one sibling over the other may affect allies you can band with in a later chapter of the story. Helping the cursed man with his wishes may in fact bring doom to the player itself. There are multiple endings to the finality of the game as well, making the player feel that every action they take could have dire consequences down the road.

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In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon, a reincarnation of the ultimate evil in the Zelda Universe, has once again taken over the land of Hyrule. Ganon’s cunningness allowed him to take control of the Guardians and the four Divine Beasts, once protectors of the land, and captured Hyrule Castle. Princess Zelda, with her last remnant of power, shielded Link from Ganon’s power, enabling the loyal Sheikah tribe to hid away the young knight in the Shrine of Resurrection for the next 100 years. The game begins as Link is awaken inside, but the prolonged slumber has cause Link to develop Amnesia as well. The player is tasked with rediscovering his mysterious past, relearning his forgotten skills, and preparing for another showdown against the King of Evil, Calamity Ganon.

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The story for Breath of the Wild is not terrible, but compared to the depth and intricacy of the Witcher, it comes off as a bit shallow. It presents to the player again, the cliche of save the princess from the evil bad guy, like all other Zelda games. But while the narrative story told from cutscenes and dialogue are generally lacking in Breath of the Wild, it’s also entirely due to the nonlinear nature of the story, which allows the players to forge their own path. Breath of the Wild is the closest manifestation of a great “Choose Your Own Adventure Book”. Upon completing the tutorial section in the beginning, the first main objective the game presents the player with is: “Defeat Ganon”. That is so refreshing. Whereas typical games will only allow the player to tackle the final enemy after hours of training and encounters and story point, Breath of the Wild lets the player decide when it’s time to end the game. The game does suggest the next logical location to visit, but whether the player decides to go there or not at all is entirely up to them. Because of this narrative freedom, every player may have different goals on their journey. Some player might choose to see all the story points and continue on the path the game suggests, some might choose to freely roam the land in search of hidden shrines and secrets and generally not bother with saving the Princess, and others might go F it, and charged towards Hyrule Castle, mainly speedrunners.

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The Witcher however, is by no means a linear game. But compare to the complete openness and trust in the player of Breath of the Wild, the narrative structure might sound suffocating. The question then depends on which style is more appealing, and to me, I will have to side with The Witcher. Because although Zelda afforded me the ability to fabricate my own experience, the lack of narrative focus and weak, oftentimes unmemorable characters left a lot to be desired. The team at CD Projekt Red created a literary masterpiece in the form of a video game, and I truly believe that. The choices you make throughout the playthrough might determine who reigns as emperor, which love interest you might end up with (or be alone for that matter), or even whether Ciri survives in the end. There is real consequences in the player's action that is unlike many other RPG titles outside the realm of say a BioWare's Triple A blockbuster. What pushes the plot of the Witcher are all the memorable characters the player will get to meet and interact with. Even now I can recall the pain and regret from the Red Baron, the sinister and terrifying Crones of Croneback Bog, his lover of yore the beautiful and multiplex Yennefer, and the free nature and adventurous spirited Ciri. ​ The elaborate storyline of Wild Hunt was a very strong motivation for me to keep playing the game, which was not the case for Breath of the Wild. And while Breath of the Wild is taking the series to a new direction, the player knows that he will inevitably fight Ganon in the end and the Princess will be saved. The story of Wild Hunt can varied greatly, and while there is a so-called "Best Ending", the other options are just as intricate and interesting. Not to mentioned that Wild Hunt is succeed by two amazing DLCs that could've been full retail games by themselves. Wild Hunt handily wins this round.

Winner: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

Sights

Visually, it might be a no-brainer to assume that Wild Hunt would walk all over Breath of the Wild. And to be honest, it does. The Witcher is a near-perfect marriage between artistry and technical excellence. All the screenshots on this page are taken straight out of the game engine, and while some games might only look lovely in still images, this one looks even better as it moves. Wind blowing down a valley tosses the branches of trees along its path; skies are ephemeral, sometimes turning a brilliant amber sunrise into a harrowing storm before ending the day with a clear star-filled sky next to a brightly lit moon. The landmass of Velen and the islands of Skellige range from muddy swamps, open fields, dark forest, high snowy peaks, and beautiful golden coastlines; and all are beautifully rendered to amazing detail. Once players steps into a large city like Novigrad or Beauclair in the expansion "Blood and Wine", they are transported into a completely different world filled with bustling markets, knights patrolling on their route, beggars, thieves, every day citizens going about their day and so much more. It truly feel like cities and they are massive. Even after so many hours with the game, whenever I step into a large city I need to rely on the overhead mini-map to not get lost. It's a shame then that many of the buildings can't be accessed and the player can't fully explore the grand architecture they see.

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The characters in Wild Hunt are also highly intricate. Geralt’s hair flutters as he walks and flows as he runs. Armor pieces, weapons, and jewelry shines and glisten differently under different moods of light. Also tiny minute carving of words and patterns are seen on clothing that flop around when the characters move. The attention to detail for faces are stunning as well, as each character’s emotion can be easily derived from their facial expressions. Eyebrows heighten with delights, mouths scowl from discontent, and eyes looks away from dismay. You will actually feel empathy and their emotion from the ways the characters are animated. ​ The same attention to details also holds true to the incredibly designed and animated monsters who roamed this land. Wild packs of dogs or wolves travel together and attack the player in spurts. Leshen stalks in deep forest like a protector of nature. Gigantic Fiend charges at players looking like a bigger, more terrifying version of Walt Disney's Beast. There are also darker, more sinister redesigns of classic monsters. Vampires have more bat-like features, some with long grey beards displaying their ancient age. Werewolves are even more savage, with extra long limbs leaping towards the player on all fours. Most impressive of all are the three Crones the players will encounter about 15 hours in. These Ladies of the Wood are all uniquely designed with stuff nightmares are created with. ​ There are a few complaints however. Given such a large cast of NPCs (non-player controlled characters, basically the game's AI), it was disappointing to see the same reused faces on completely different characters for completely different side quests throughout the adventure. Also, even though they did an incredible job animating all the characters, the underlying system that produces the effect turns certain faces into procedurally generated masks. The various animals and creatures that roam the land might also perform strange action and animation as they travel across the land. Although they can be an eyesore, with hundreds of NPCs and creatures, it is but a minor quell.

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But what about Breath of the Wild? Given the system it was designed for, what Nintendo was able to pull out from such outdated hardware was nothing short of a programming miracle. I played through the game on the Nintendo Wii U, a gaming console with graphical technologies from 2010 on a machine released on 2012, all this for a game designed for 2017. Compare to Wild Hunt, it is nearly a two generational gap in pure technical power. However, Nintendo was able to incorporate some very clever tricks and design choices to make the game feel current gen. The game will always shows the player the many unexplored key location by using an orange neon glow and a mellow blue glow for the locations the player already completed. It doesn’t matter how far you are in the world, as long as you have a clear light of sight, you can be at the exact opposite of the map and it will be noticeable. Which brings the second point, the impossible draw distance for the world. Comparing foot by foot, I believe Breath of the Wild’s open world map is larger than all the map area of Wild Hunt. The open space and shear distance between location the player will encounter will blow minds. Players can get as high as possible from one corner of the map, and can see recognizable features and structure from the complete opposite end. I can’t stress how incredible of a feat this is. And the grass, oh my god, I’ve never been so mesmerized by such beautiful grass in a game. They rustle in the wind at the right time of day shimmers like blades of mirror all over the open field. The rain and thunderstorm effects are just as profound, you can almost smell the petrichor. All this from a system held back by two generations of inferior graphical power.

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Certainly the polygon counts are nowhere as high and the textures quality nowhere as detail as those found in Wild Hunt. But the designers at Nintendo are masters of creative and purposeful art direction, and they were able to create a unique aesthetic that hold its own against the dark fantasy theme Wild Hunt and it does not back down. Many of the ancient structures are inspired by the Jomon Era, a prehistoric Japan period set between 14,000 to 300 BCE. The curvature patterns of the shrines, towers, and ancient weapon and armor type are distinct and completely different from anything else.

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Character designs are also very intricate, take the Zora prince Sidon below for example. Besides towering over 10 feet in height, his burgundy outer skin contrast beautifully with the Zora Palace’s sapphire and cobalt blue. Looking closer, you might notice the folded jabot under his neck, signaling his royal relations; his pectoral fins lower from his elbow displaying his purposeful structure as a marine species; and most eye-catching of all is the outlined shape of a hammerhead shark as his head. It’s even more obvious if you google his name and look for his side profile image. All other secondary characters share this incredible attention to detail, so even though the casts for Breath of the Wild is smaller than that of Wild Hunt, the art designs is stunning and original.

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Nintendo also adopted a very modern color pallet to fill its scenery. Whereas Wild Hunt might be a Gustave Courbet or a Jean-François Millet painting; Breath of the Wild is more Claude Monet or Georges Seurat. The pastel hues of Breath of the Wild feels wider, more soothing; there’s a feeling surrounding this version of Hyrule that encourages the player to explore. Often in the game, players will see a tall obstacle and will be impulsed to climb it just to see the grand vistas and mark the location of their next interest. While Wild Hunt plays with all the varied colors through high dynamic range, Breath of the Rule relies on solid color shades with the use of its subtle cel shading to create a more focus art direction. So although Breath of the Fire does not boost the technology capacity of Wild Hunt, it uses color and space very effectively.

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With that said, despite the fact that Breath of the Wild put up a great fight and in some cases exceeds Wild Hunt with art direction, in just a purely visual experience very few games this generation can match the fidelity of Wild Hunt. The attention to detail is mind boggling, so let me give an example. Whenever Geralt sheaths his sword, he would use his left hand and pushes the scabbard backwards allowing an easier insert of the blade. I mean, who does that?! Someone at CD Projekt Red probably spent a week getting that animation right. Or how Geralt’s beard will gradually grow if the player neglects to visit a barber to get a trim. Or when consuming too many potions, it’s toxicity affects Geralt’s face; the higher the toxicity, the more sickly and viney his facial features becomes. Breath of the Wild has its high points in art direction and wonderful color hues, but Wild Hunt is just a prettier looking game.

Winner: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

Sounds

The Legend of Zelda has always been synonymous with excellent video game music. Any gamer, casual or hardcore, over the age of twenty-five can probably hum the main chorus for the series. The fanfare for the source music rang so loudly that a series of concerts titled: “Symphony of the Goddess,” was created back in 2011. Initially only performed in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London for the series’ 25th year anniversary, the tour has since continued and has now reaching its third season, cleverly named: “Master Quest”. I was fortunate enough to attend their first concert performance in the US back in 2011 at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The event was accompanied by two special guests, series producer Eiji Anouma and famed Nintendo composer Koji Kondo; Mr. Kondo also performanced a solo piano piece of Grandma’s Theme from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The entire night was very moving and a highlight for the gamer me. So how does Breath of the Wild compare musically? Is it an instant classic like Ocarina of Time? Or would it have more of a cult following like Majora’s Mask. I think Nintendo nailed it and Breath of the Wild belongs with the former in regards to musical brilliance. The soundtrack is at once fresh and familiar, with a bit of twist. Breath of the Wild does not include a grand open world music a la Ocarina or Twilight Princess, instead the movement is accompanied by subtle piano cues that comes and goes. What players will hear are the understated nuance of the environment itself. A breeze from the wind, the quivering of tree branches, birds calling in the distance, water flowing down a stream. The game presents a large pocket of serenity, as if to say no musical composition could measure up to the tranquil sound of nature itself.

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Some of the arrangement and placement may surprise longtime fans. The main Zelda theme I mentioned early for example, it’s largely missing in this game. A slower, more haunting arrangement can only be heard while riding on horseback, at night, under clear or cloudy weather. Most players, myself included, wouldn’t even realize it. I myself had to look this up just to be sure that it really exists. Now that is bold move, hiding the most recognizable musical theme of the series like that. Other surprises are more familiar for long time fans, such as the music of Rito Village, which is a reimagining to one of my personal favorite piece, the music from Dragon Roost Island from the Wind Waker. Other areas of the game also take cues from other past Zelda titles, particularly from Ocarina of Time. Music in the village also slows down to a more lethargic state during night time, adding to the game’s day to night ambiance.

Rito Village (Day) - The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild







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This time around, the producers also drew music from Eastern musical instruments, such as the Erhu and the Guzheng; its distinct sound can be heard in Kakariko Village or when the player encounters any of the three divine dragons flying around the world map. Other musical arrangement are cleverly used as well, such as the Side Quest for Tarrey Town. For those unfamiliar, the Tarrey Town sidequest tasked Link with gather building materials and different races all across Hyrule into building a new settlement on the North-Eastern part of the map. The empty town starts off as a barren plateau, and reflects it musically with its hollow arrangement and sparingly few instruments. As Link recruit more residents, they bring along a unique side melody that represents their race into the Tarrey Town's theme. At the end of the side quest, with a new village established, the full composition creates a strikingly different mood, one of optimism and of harmony.

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Compared to Breath of the Wild, Wild Hunt is a more traditional composed and sounding fantasy RPG. That is not to say that Wild Hunt is unremarkable, because the complete opposite is true. The game takes orchestral and choir music to a whole new level, matching those of mega budget blockbusters. Unlike the sorrowful score of Zelda, Geralt of Rivia is on an adventure in Wild Hunt, and perhaps the best showcase for it, is the battle music. The high tempo score along with the high yodelling chorus line of really puts the fight or be killed tone of the moment in impeccable perspective. Wild Hunt also boast some of the most well produced open world music I’ve ever heard. The only other games that are on the same league are by legendary series like the The Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, and The Legend of Zelda of course. The Fields of Ard of Skellig might be one of the best musical score ever composed, gaming or otherwise. The game keeps with its European Fantasy inspired roots, so you won’t find the same wide range of musical instruments unlike Breath of the Wild. However, it’s impossible to find a better blend of Scandinavia’s “far North” feeling of music anywhere.

The Fields of Ard Skellig - The Witcher III Wild Hunt







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However, there is one area that can't be overlooked, and that is the voice acting. Link himself remains as the silent protagonist, but the dozen or so major characters now have speaking roles during cutscenes. Although I appreciate that Nintendo have finally decided to add voice-acting to a Zelda title after 30 years, it is clear that they have a lot of catching up to do. Besides perhaps The Ruler of Hyrule, King Rhoam (Bill Rogers) and the original leader of the Gerudo Tribe, Urbosa (Elizabeth Maxwell); every other voice performances left a lot to be desired. Princess Zelda (Patricia Summersett) herself carries this weird British accent and never truly felt as if she carried herself to be a Princess. Daruk the Goron sounds brashy just for brashy-ness's sake. Mipha (Amelia Gotham), the old Zora Princess sounds really needy. Worst of all is Yunobo, the successor of Daruk (Joe Hernandez voiced both characters) at the current timeline, he sounds amateurish, incompetent, and just plain bad. It's a shame that our U.S. version of Breath of the Wild removed voice actings from the different regions, particularly the original Japanese versions. The English voice acting in general was mediocre to downright terrible. ​ On the Wild Hunt side of this topic, I cannot recall a single terrible voice performance throughout the entire playthrough, and this includes all the side characters and NPCs. Yes, the children you meet sounds pretty awful, but almost any game with child voice actings are awful. I think they nailed the voices of all the main characters, notably with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle, perfectly embodied the character's general lack of strong emotion with a hint of conventional annoyance, usually when dealing with the more foolish cast. Yennefer (Denise Gough) sounds confident and independent, but there's a deeper tone of affection when Ciri is the subject matter, and an obvious tone of pique when it comes to her old lover Geralt. Ciri (Jo Wyatt) sounds genuine, a little impatient and overall more emotional, as she is still a Witcher pupil. Even smaller side characters are wildly interesting and well done. Oh and they even got Charles Dance, who provided the voice of the Nilfgaardian Emperor, Emhyr var Emreis. It's hard to compete with a game that has frinkin Tywin Lannister voice acting as a mere side character. Also, try watching the Priscilla Song sequence, it's so out of the left field for most game and was a completely unexpected surprise that changes the tone of that story arc entirely. What's even more impressive is that every single one of the hundreds of character you meet in Wild Hunt has a voice in-game during cutscenes, dialogues, and when the player walk by in real-time; it is astonishing.

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The voice acting of Zelda is an unfortunate sticking point that can't be ignored, and it might have been better if they neglected voice acting all together like past Zelda titles. However, it is still a learning process for Nintendo and things will get better, even though it's 2017 and they should've delved into it years ago (And Star Fox 64 does not count). The music score for both games are fantastic, with Breath of the Wild nudging a little higher for me. I would have liked to call it a tie, but that would be a copped out. I will have to say that Breath of the Wild uses music more cleverly and effectively and I've also been listening to it than Wild Hunt, with the exception of Ard of Skellig and maybe like four other tracks. The melancholy mood of the Zelda overworld was more effective, and the smartly used piano cues with periods of pure silence was an ingenious design choice.

Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Systems

It might not be obvious at first, but Breath of the Wild and Wild Hunt shares many similarities, both in term of game structure and play style. Take the begining of both titles. In Breath of the Wild, the game starts the player off in The Great Plateau, an elevated landmass masquerading as a tutorial area. In Wild Hunt, players begin in White Orchard, large landmass in the countryside masquerading as a tutorial area. Players will spend between five to fifteen hours in their respective area learning basic controls, combat, gathering material, exploration, and so forth.

In The Great Plateau, the area cleverly teaches the player the rules of the game world, such as needing preparation when heading to a cold region, sneaking behind wildlife and enemies to initiate surprise attacks, and mechanic of shrines and the Rune powers the player will come away from, and most used of all, climbing. White Orchard on the other hand, teaches the player dialogue options when conversing in-game, the basis of a Witcher's Signs power, the economics of items and bartering, and finally realtime preparation before taking on the boss of the area, the fearsome Griffin. It is only after all essential skill is learned before the game allows the player to step into the rest of their world.

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What’s really impressive in Breath of the Wild, is that within the first few hours, the players would have already obtained all the necessary tools to traverse the entirety of Hyrule. The four Runes the players obtain: (Remote Bombs, Cryonsis: creating ice pillars over water surface, Stasis: objects frozen in brief periods, and Magnesis: manipulation of metal substance) are all the tools they will need to solve every single in-game puzzles and complete exploration of Hyrule (given the player have sufficient preparation in some areas). It is insane to think that all the critical traversal tools are handed to the player in the beginning, and it is even more insane to think that this is coming from a Zelda title. The traditional structure of Zelda games limits exploration based on the items Link has collected. There is a sequence the player must partake before more difficult area are accessible, much like a Metroid or Castlevania title. In Breath of the Wild, Nintendo completely reinvents player accessibilities and hands over the skeleton key within a few hours.

And even more impressive is what they are able to accomplish with just four basic tools. It’s like composing dozens of completely original songs with just four notes. Each song has to be uniquely differently, but at the same time easily deciphered and mastered; it is an extremely difficult task and Nintendo nailed it on their first try. What is enabling this masterful alchemy are the sophisticated physics and environmental systems embedded underneath Breath of the Wild’s gameplay. Every key object in the wild have a sense of weight, volume, and material makeup. Logs chopped from trees float on water, lit grassfire create updraft for paragliding, metal items left exposed in thunderstorm attracts bolt of lightning, surfaces can’t be climb when it rains, snow freezes Link without proper gear, and hot regions will burn Link without sufficient fire protection. The developers coined this system a "chemistry engine", and they work together as well as a typical player will surmise the same effect of physical properties do in real life.

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Being prepared for certain game situation can mean life or death, especially because this is probably the hardest Zelda title to come out in long time. Link is constantly in the mercy of his stamina gauge, and losing all available stamina during inopportune time will translate to instant death in the early game. And like all Zelda title, Link begins his quest with a measly Three Hearts, and players will come across foes that can easily one hit kill them if they’re ill prepared. Also, the game only provides the most basic of weapons in the beginning, so early playthrough will require the use of ladles, farming hoes, pot lid as shield, and if you’re lucky, a rusty claymore or two. Oh and all those tools will break after short uses, so players are in a perpetual scramble to find new weapons and protection.

The game does provide an alternative to survival in the form of cooking. Cooking certain ingredients in combination may boost health, stamina, provide protection effect against harsh environment, and more. Although cooking is entirely up to the player, the game constantly encourage the use of its cooking system by giving the player an access to tons of raw materials. Breath of the Wild is at once an exploration game as it is a grocery shopping game. Ingredients and materials sparkle on screen, tantalizing the player to come over and pick them up (This behavior can probably be traced back to coin collection in the Mario Series). Once ingredients are gather, it's time to cook and the game employs an addictively charming jiggle every time Link conjure up delicious meal, or a comically inept shimmy when he creates dubiously bad food. The pixelated dubious meals adds another layer of character to the game.

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The Witcher’s Signs system is similar to Breath of the Wild’s Runes, but definitely not as flexible nor is it even necessary under easier game difficulty. During Higher difficulty playthrough however, they are vital to tackle certain foes or dealing with stubborn NPCs. The five signs (Mind control, telekinetic blast, fiery blast, magic trap, and magic shield) can be upgrades in branching trees, allowing for a large variation of skills based on the player’s playstyle. Say a character in game isn’t handing out information to you easily and can’t be bribed, throw in a little mind control and he will now gladly spill the beans. Fighting a spectre your sword can’t hit, throw down a magic trap and lure the enemy inside, and now they’re no longer blade-proof. And while the signs can be very important, they don’t necessarily affect the overall gameplay unlike the Runes in Breath of the Wild. Because while Witcher’s World is breathtaking to look at, most objects and environments are static and can’t be altered, such as Geralt's inability to chop down a tree for example. And while Witcher III lacks Zelda’s sophisticated environmental system, the game instead deploys its own sophisticated dialogue system backed by its great character animation and voice acting. Nearly a quarter of the game are spent in conversation, listening to NPCs and evaluating Geralt’s response. Some choices have minuscular effect, while others may change the entire landscape of the game world after the decision has been made, and others yet have no conclusive answer to right or wrong. In rare occurrences, the player is given a brief time limit to quickly decide on an answer. A great example of this is a farewell conversation with Triss Merigold, Geralt’s love interest after he had amnesia from the first two Witcher games. At the end of a rescue mission for other sorceress in the city of Novigrad, Triss was adamant about accompanying her fellow sorceress with the escape. Here the player may choose several key dialogue option which could ultimately rekindle the romance between the two past lovers or they can walk their separate ways. But doing so will also mean that his love path with Yennefer will be affected, but that complication won’t be played out until many dozens of hours later in the game. The dynamic conversation system kept me engaged with the story until the very end.

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Speaking of choices, a huge bulk of both titles involves fighting the many different enemies in their respective game world, and the way the players decides how to tackle these encounter can greatly determine its success. In Wild Hunt, each monster has its own unique characteristics and vulnerabilities. The game encourages the player to study its in-depth Bestiary entry for each monster to learn their strengths and weaknesses before combat. NPCs will often remind Geralt about it, especially before fighting boss monsters, as these entries will teach the player which are the best potion to drink, bombs to throw, Signs the foe is weak against, and the most effective oil to lay on the sword before the encounter. Bringing the right tool to the job is critical, as Geralt can only consume a limited amount of health and stats boost items before becoming too intoxicated and damaging himself, thus he can’t rely on chomping down a dozen cheese wheels during a fight like some other open world action games. Besides the preparation I mentioned above, the game uses a branching skill systems called mutagens that can be interchangeable to suit each encounter. Mutagens can affect damage, health, protection, moveset, and more. Setting up use of a particular category of mutagen will also boost the effectiveness of Signs, bringing in another layer of complexity. Besides Signs, Geralt’s only other weapons are his two swords and a laughably bad crossbow only useful for few enemies. As a Witcher, he always carries a Steel blade when dueling with humans, and a silver blade when chopping up monsters. Both swords can be switched for better versions during the playthrough, but swords are Geralt’s only hand-to-hand weapon, oh and that and occasional fist fight. ​ There are mixed feelings in the gaming community regarding the combat system for Wild Hunt. And while I don’t believe it’s in the same league as say Dark Souls or Bayonetta, I was impressed with the subtle ways the game allows the player to customize each encounter. With the right combination of mutagens and signs, some fights may look like a dance performance. Geralt rolling out of danger, quickly deploying a sign to stun the enemy, then walloping on the foe during the short window of opportunity. I played through the entire game under the “Blood and Broken Bones”, the second most hardest difficulty, and nearly all encounter were challenging and interesting. If done correctly, the player will come out of a fight feeling like a total badass.

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So how does Breath of the Wild stack up combat wise? Not as well as I had hoped unfortunately. Unlike Wild Hunt’s limitation to sword weapons, Breath of the Wild’s has a wider weapon variety that includes agile one handed blades, slower but more powerful two handed heavy weapons, quick piercing spears, shields, and a bow and arrow set that is much more useful than Wild Hunt’s craptacular crossbows. Also weapons comes in all shapes, sizes, and effects that carries over to the game’s environment. Say Link is under the blazing desert sun and is burning up fast, if the player have a Frozen variant of the weapon, they can equip it and their body temperature will instantly lowered. The same works for cold region with fiery weapon types, as well as carry non-metal weapons during thunderstorms. The weapon variation is impressive, but the combat itself is quite simple with a few exceptions. Each of the main weapon type have the same attack animations regardless of different shape or elemental affects. A heavy two handed Great Flameblade will animate the same way as a farming hoe for example. And although that keeps the combat consistent, it quickly becomes predictable and a bit boring. More skillful players will utilize the more difficult parry, dodge and flurry rush mechanic, and while it keeps things more interesting, they all feel stale eventually. It honestly feels like a step backwards given the incremental improvement since Ocarina of Time. I really wished they would’ve added the counter moves from Wind Waker or the Finishing Blow from Twilight Princess, but then again, Link only welded a sword in past titles, so simplifying the combat system could be a direct casualty with the inclusion of more weapon types. The game's mechanic has been broken down so completely that very skill players have fought a Lynel, the most difficult enemy encounter in the game, with a frinkin ladle! ​ Which brings to my second point about Breath of the Wild’s combat and overall difficulty. Breath of the Wild is a hard game, it is a hard game until it isn’t. The curse of the gateless overworld meant that players will encounter enemies or places that are hostile and fatal very early in the game. There was this particular tower I encountered during my early playthrough that was beyond frustrating. Mind you this was very very early, probably less than fifteen hours and I have maybe five, six hearts at most. I ventured to this area, and I was well aware that I should not have been to yet, but I was compelled to reach the top of that tower and will keep trying until I get up there. The tower is surrounded by a lake of high level Lizalfos patrolling the water, as well as Lightning Rod welding Wizzrobes circling over the water surface. Both enemies can one hit kill me. I had very crappy starting weapons, little to no armor protection, and hardly any health. I spent hours there, dying again and again, trying different tactics to inch closer to the tower. I finally devised a plan to lure the Lizalfo out of the water, one by one, and bombing them over and over again until their health slowly diminish. Next, I have to lure the terrifying Wizzrobes, who moves erratically in strange patterns until I masted timing my arrows whenever they materialize. I slowly sneaked my way on a backside, started my climb, careful not to be within eyesight of the enemies on the other side and emerge at the top of the tower at last. It was at the same time one of the greatest accomplishment I’ve never felt, and one of the most frustrated moment. A couple dozens or so hours later, I happened to return to the same tower, and handily annihilated everyone there with better weapon, armor, and stats. It’s a double-edged sword, allowing the player to experience the hardship of the early game and the game's inability to scale up the difficulty due to the inherent structure of the game system. ​ One last example I want to share about Breath of the Wild’s difficulty issue is the aforementioned cooking mechanic. Basic game intuition would lead players to believe more complicated recipes with exotic ingredients would yield the most powerful dishes for consumption. When in reality, there are several single ingredient dishes that completely exceeds benefaction of many difficult to cook meals. A single Hearty Durian, when cooked by itself, completely fills Link’s heart and it will give him four extra Hearts that can’t be replenished once used. For mid to late game players, it makes more sense to cook single Hearty Durians then make complicated dishes that may give you 10 hearts on average, but will take five unique ingredients. Also, there is no limit to Link’s stomach, as they can consume as much as the player deem necessary at any point in time, especially in combat. For early gamers, most will have a large pile of apples available due to the commonness of the fruit. In more occasion than I can count, whenever things got tough, I can just chop down on 10 to 15 apples and Link’s health will be back in full. Breath of the Wild is very forgiving, almost too forgiving and once players learn to break its system, the challenge of combat are nonexistent.

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Nintendo is trying to address some of these issues with their DLCs, the first patch will add new items, add extra functionality to the menu, and most exciting is a harder play mode. This also makes comparing the two game more difficult, because Wild Hunt had its share of hardship and criticism, and CD Projekt Red had the opportunity to correct them while Breath of the Wild is still forthcoming. As of now however, the Witcher handles the problem of difficulty and power creep beautifully. Throughout the entire playthrough on “Blood and Broken Bone”, I felt the game presented a consistent level of difficulty. This is also due to the fact that I can’t rely on spamming health potions over and over again, and enemies scale up in difficulty better due to the evermore linear nature of its story structure. Even after so many hours, when I finally faced the last boss in its final DLC, Blood and Wine, it took me about a dozen trials and errors using different techniques and tactics before finally putting the enemy down.

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If there is one glaring down point for both games, then it has to be the the way player interact and travel through water. Although beautifully rendered, moving through water can be very annoying. Take Breath of the Wild first, Link swims blistery slow, and only marginally faster once he is fully equipped with the Zora armor set, in which point the player can spam the swim dash command. This is very crucial because swimming and dashing through water uses up a ton of stamina. So what if the player don’t have the armor set, well then in that case, they have to rely on a rectangular wooden raft that must be powered by swinging the Korok Leaf, creating wind gust over its sail. Although players quickly discovered that they can use the Magnesis Rune to lift a heavy weapon and push the raft to move, but that can be finicky and non-intuitive. Not that there are lot of large bodies of water to sail through, but when there is one, the only way to go about that is to spam the Korok Leaf, or fiddle with the Magnesis rune. Also, there are dozens of different horses Link can tamed over the great plains of Hyrule, but there is only one type of raft in the entire kingdom. Oh and Link can’t dive underwater now, and there’s no Iron Boot to obtained.

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As for Wild Hunt, although it provides the player with more options, sailing through great distances can be downtown tedious. Geralt is more adapt to water traveling than Link, as he can swim indefinitely, fire his crossbow at water dwelling monsters (One of the few useful cases for the lousy crossbow), and dive underwater. If the player consume a particular potion, Geralt can even hold his breath for extra long superhuman durations. But like Breath of the Wild, there is also only one type of boat Geralt can board and sail with. In this amazing detail world, in which you can see a number of different ships in all manner of size and designs, the player can only use this same junk-lot boat. The monotony is glaring when players travel to Skellige, one of the major game area in the original storyline. Skellige is a series of archipelago-like islands, and players need to rely on the boats to travel from one isle to the next. This is where the tediousness gets really annoying, because the boat travel quite slow, and there are enemies that appear every so often, wrecking the vessel. On average, i could only make it to four or five locations before my ship is about to sink. There was this time when I went out far in the deep ocean and dove for sunken treasure, by the time I was done, a flock of harpies started ravaging me and the boat. I fend them off and started sailing back, and the boat started sinking still far away from land. At that point, I could either reload an old save and do that whole ordeal over again, hoping it’ll be less disastrous, or swim Geralt’s ass back to shore hundreds of ingame meter away. I decided to swim back, which took far too long, found a sign post, teleported the hell out of there and never bothered to dive for treasure chests around that area again. It just took too much time, and it’s boring, and the risk of getting stranded on an island without a signpost to teleport away was just too much trouble. At least the player doesn’t have spam buttons or mess with finicky controls, but regardless, both games handled water sections quite poorly.

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But while combat might have been a sore spot for me in Breath of the Wild, there is something new the game brought along that never gets old, and that’s the exhilaration of exploration. The dynamic world held together by the game’s physics and environment can only be achieved by including a new gameplay mechanic to the series, the ability to climb any surface. It’s so simple and obvious in hindsight, but adding the ability to freely climb almost anywhere completely changed the tone and playstyle of the game and propelled Breath of the Wild to a place beyond even my wildest imagination. Also included is a gliding ability first used in my other favorite Zelda title in the series, The Wind Waker. Once Link obtain the paraglider, along with the four Runes and climbing, the feeling of endless possibility was one I had never experienced before. To illustrate this, try and imagine a typical action game with a beautifully rendered cathedral in this game world; now also imagine that the objective of this game is to reach the top of this structure. Most games will handle this task by giving the player a set path, they might be able to see the beautiful exterior, but it’s merely eye candy and not interactive, and the route to the top is logically located inside with stairs or ladder (eg. Grand Theft Auto). Games with more reflexibility might go a step further and allow players the ability to climb up from the outside using strategically placed ledges or windows (eg. Assassin’s Creed). Going even further, a game might allow a play to reach the top by climbing something even higher and float down with help from the game’s gravity (eg. Batman Arkham Series). In Breath of the Wild, all solution is viable and there are no wrong answers. Link can go inside and use the logical path, or start climbing outside choosing whichever route he choose, or he can glide down from a higher vantage point using his paraglider, or if there are metal boxes around, he can even build himself a temporary stairway. The ability to explore is only hampered by the player’s imagination and willpower. ​ There are no boundaries in Breath of the Wild, when things appear the most impossible (Like the Tower surrounded by Lizalfos and Wizzrobes above), the more it calls out to me to say “I dare you”. Even more amazing is how much things there are to do and see in this game world. Besides the 120 shrines scattered all over the ginormous game map, there are over 60 unique sidequests, over two dozens distracting mini games, enemy encampments all holding treasure chests, a plethora of mini bosses, a world filled with flora and wildlife, 900 cleverly buried Korok Seed puzzles, three godly dragons, and so much more. I would begin one path, and inevitably end up some place completely unexpected. And all this occurs while day turns to night, rain turns to snow, mountains turns to streams then to valleys then to lakes then to deserts and then back to mountains again all happening seamlessly. Going back and traversing in Wild Hunt after Breath of the Wild felt like playing a game from another era. It could've been a disaster, but Breath of the Wild's magnificently blends all these system together and created something truly special.

Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Summary

It's still too difficult for me to choose which game I enjoyed playing more at this point, but to summarize my final decision, I'm going to try and answer three final questions for each game: ​ 1. How obsessed was I? 2. In all honesty, how much fun was I having playing? 3. If I can erased all memory of one game and start all over again, which one would I choose?

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I started playing Wild Hunt June of 2015 and completed Blood and Wine the August of the following year. In total, I spent approximately 230 hours or so total in one playthrough. I was certainly occupied with the game but it was never to the point of obsession. A majority of my playthroughs are between 1-3 hours, with more during the occasional free weekend. It was a slow and satisfying burn, like reading a relaxing novel. I took my time seeing the vast landscape of Wild Hunt and I never felt the need to rush the storyline unless I was compelled to. I seeked out every single sidequest, monster contract and treasure hunt that interested me. I spent hours playing with the right combination of mutagens and armor to suit my playstyle. I visited every store, every forest, every village; I listened to all the dialogue and watched all the cutscenes. It was an amazing journey and I think I squeezed just about as much as I could out of it. Now with Breath of the Wild, I'm ashamed to admit that it kind of had a grip on me. No, simply calling it a grip is incorrect, because it was more like a giant 50 lbs metal clamp that wouldn't let me go. I started playing right on launch day and reached the end roughly a month later. Then I jumped back in and wandered around for another dozen hour or so, totaling to more or less 140 hours. Again, remember that currently none of the DLCs for Breath of the Wild is made available, so I predict I will reach close to 200 hours by the end of the second DLC. With Breath of the Wild, my daily routine would be come home from work, do whatever chores or cooking as fast as I can, showered and sit in front of my TV playing Breath of the Wild until way past my usual sleeping schedule. On weekends, I would find excuses for myself to stay home; do I really need to buy groceries? I have some ramen stocked up so I'll be fine. Do I really need to go to this climbing event? I'm sure nobody will miss me. Do I really need to visit my parents? I'll take them out for dinner next week instead, or maybe the week after that. I was completely obsessed, in a way I didn't think my adult self would allow me to. And when I'm not playing the game, I would spend hours reading about other player's experiences on reddit, or watched new tricks and bugs discovered on Youtube, I would dream about the game at night. There are only a handful of games in my lifetime I have become this obsessed over: Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 4, Demon's Souls, Dota, and now this. Breath of the Wild easily takes the answer for Question 1.

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But the funny thing about it is, even though I returned to its world after the end of the credits, I don't find the urge to replay the game at all, the same goes for the Wild Hunt too unfortunately. And in some ways looking back, I felt like Wild Hunt provided a more well rounded experience. I certainly wasn't rushing to beat Breath of the Wild at all, but a lot of it was a blurred. I can hardly remember any of the shrines puzzles besides a few. And the four main dungeons, while imaginative and different, hardly left an impression on me. The same goes for the combat and the enemies I slain in Hyrule, or the flat characters I met, the events of the game was just not very memorable. What I remember most was running around an open field, spotting a tall mountain in the distant and deciding to climb it. Or climbing a particularly tricky cliffside, made it to the top, spot something cool and new in the horizon and immediately jumped off and paraglide towards that direction. The joy of Breath of the Wild was absolutely the exploration, and I feel like I can do that even after Ganon is defeated. ​ Wild Hunt left me with a different feeling. Like my book analogy, it was like finishing an epic by a great author. Not surprisingly of course since the whole world is based on books. When I try to recall the adventure I had in Wild Hunt, I would think of the haunted lighthouse and the maiden left to die by her lover, eaten alive by rats. Or being transported into a land of fairy tales and finding a way out by climbing a giant beanstalk. Or being possessed by a ghost and taking an old friend to a wedding. The story and characters are interesting, original, and most of all, memorable. There was this side quest where Geralt is trying to withdrawn a sum of money from a bank because there was a misunderstanding that he was presumed dead. What transpired was a hilarious endeavour to obtain the right bank forms to clear his deceased status; throw in a fist fight for cutting in line as well as wooing of an bank employees with perfume as well. And in the end, the sum of money received as hardly worth the effort for poor Geralt. Even through such mundane tasks, Wild Hunt made it engaging and kept my interest. There are certainly beautiful and mysterious locations to explore in Wild Hunt, but the driving force of the game are its characters and stories, and I have to say that looking back, I found more joy overall with The Witcher.

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So the last question then. To be perfectly honest, I don't think I can or want to replay neither title all over again, it's just too time consuming for me right now. So I'm going to answer this question a bit differently. Imagine I can bring one game to my 19 year old self in college during a free summer, which game would I bring back? Both games are beautifully crafted and have their strength and weaknesses. Both games are at the pinnacle of the action adventure RPG genre. They're both at the top of my favorite games list, but there can only be one winner for me and that's...

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Winner: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

When I think back on both games, I believe The Witcher III: Wild Hunt to be the more complete package, it does nearly everything beautifully and to the highest degree. When I look back at the great time I had with Breath of the Wild, I feel that this is just the beginning and there's still so much more it can improve on, and I can't be more excited with the next Zelda title using this Open World/Open Air formula. I honestly don't know how else Wild Hunt can get better besides some minor technology issues, it is about as great as an action adventure title we gamers can hope for.