Nintendo officially announced DLC for Breath of the Wild, and there have been a few different reactions I’ve noticed. They’ve ranged from positive declarations of pure defense toward Nintendo’s choice, to feelings of utter betrayal from Nintendo’s fans. Thus, I present my opinion in defense of the Zelda DLC.


Given this range of responses, I want to talk about each of them. I also want to point out what I think. Of course, this article is opinion and as such is not meant to be the definitive response.

Pure Defense toward the Announcement

This is the first type of reaction I’ve seen. Now, I’m a huge fan of Nintendo, and I think that Nintendo produces a lot of great content. However, I think that blindly trusting Nintendo isn’t the best approach to being one of their fans. Every one of us is one of their customers.

I think we need to understand that Nintendo is a business that primarily focuses on generating revenue. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “David, Nintendo’s primary focus is bringing us joy through gaming entertainment!” and I think that they absolutely want us to have fun! But, they are a business.

This type of thinking is flawed because Nintendo isn’t perfect. Performance records of the Wii U and a lot of their recent games show this. Nintendo won’t always give us the exact thing that we want, but we know that they’re doing their best to please us.

Utter Betrayal toward the Announcement

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#1ca6d8″ class=”” size=””]I fully believe that Aonuma and the rest of the company are not trying to undermine the player.[/perfectpullquote]

Some might consider this type of reaction as “salt.” I’ve heard people say that they’re incredibly upset about this announcement. “How dare they hide features of this game behind a pay barrier?” and “this stuff should have been included in the original price of the game!”

This, of course, is a common reaction because of Nintendo’s timing. This DLC announcement came before the game’s launch, and some of the DLC will launch the same day as the game. They are effectively turning a $60 game into a $80 game with this DLC. That’s all true.

I think this argument is flawed because Nintendo is following previously established business practices. So, I fully believe that Aonuma and the rest of the company are not trying to undermine the player. I believe that these features were not planned to be part of the game. The game only recently went Gold (reaching completion), and Aonuma stated that they’re just starting development of these features.

In Defense of the Zelda DLC – My Feelings

These two feelings are the absolute extremes of the spectrum. Of course, I’m not trying to attack anyone for their opinions and am not saying that people need to feel the same way I do.

Now, I personally believe that this announcement is flawed. This would have been received better if they announced it after the launch of the game. In fact, the majority of the content announced isn’t coming until the Summer or Holiday season.

Because of this, it really does feel like Nintendo is removing features and throwing them behind paywalls. I trust that these features were not part of the original game and that the DLC is actual bonus content.

Yeah, it sucks that there are some things that you can’t get without paying. Yes, it bumps the price up to $80. And Hard Mode definitely should have been part of the original game (even though I also think that the game’s difficulty is totally up to how the player chooses to play). But, the addition of a new Story and Dungeon could make up for the $20 price.

Conclusion

You’re welcome to be mad at Nintendo. You’re welcome to defend Nintendo with all your heart (something I think more people should do at times). But please, do not take this announcement as a personal attack against your dedication to Nintendo and Zelda.

The game will still be great. It still looks absolutely amazing. These features are optional, so if you don’t want them, you don’t need to get them. None of the features were ever part of the game as we understood it. They all seem to be bonus material, and I think that justifies the price.

What about you? What were your initial impressions? Are you excited for the game and the DLC? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below.

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