Breath of the Wild takes an open world sandbox approach to presenting a Zelda adventure and delivers a much needed breath of fresh air to the series.

I never really liked the 3D Zelda games. The N64 titles were cool and innovative for the time, but the rest were forgettable. Their linearity and fetch quests made exploration a drag, but in BOTW you're free to play the game however your want, without any NPCs wasting your time, bugging you to find their missing crap or kidnapped family members or whatever. Most of the essential weapons and tools are available from very early on, allowing anyone to jump into a new game and have a meaningful experience right away. Wondering around hunting animals, gathering resources, and completing shrines is both relaxing and compelling.

Zelda Breath of the Wild plays more like a lighter version of Dark Souls or Conan Exiles with its variety of weapons and survival gameplay. The dynamic soundtrack fades in and out of changing environments and warns you of danger, allowing you to escape. There's a huge amount of music to be heard, 5 CDs worth, with compositions by Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai.