The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Games review
As of Oct 19, 2026, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is rated 97/100 on Metacritic (117 critic reviews), and 96/100 on OpenCritic (169 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild worth it in 2026?
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild earned top-tier critical scores, including a 97/100 on Metacritic and a 96/100 on OpenCritic. Sampled reviewers roundly praise its expansive open-world exploration and impressive game design, celebrating the title as an exhilarating reinvention that grants exceptional player freedom. This approach departs sharply from earlier franchise conventions in favor of a vast, freeform environment. While critical sentiment in the sample is overwhelmingly positive, one reviewer did note encountering minor technical issues.
Players seeking an expansive open-world adventure centered on high player freedom, vast exploration, and a fresh take on the franchise.
A sampled reviewer noted minor technical issues, and the sweeping reinvention marks a major shift away from traditional series structure.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
Pros
- open world exploration5
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- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is evocative, exhilarating, and a masterclass in open-world design.
- I guess, in the end, it's not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it's leaned on for so long. It's that the evolution...
- The feeling of adventure has always been present in Zelda titles, but none of the previous titles have offered the same immense feeling of freedom as Breath of the Wild. The huge w...
- series reinvention5
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- Switch's debut and Wii U's demise are marked by a radical reinvention of The Legend of Zelda that will go down as an all-time great.
- The most freeform Zelda yet, without sacrificing the charm, fun or quality you expect from the series. Nintendo’s finest work since Super Mario Galaxy.
- I guess, in the end, it's not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it's leaned on for so long. It's that the evolution...
- impressive game design3
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- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is evocative, exhilarating, and a masterclass in open-world design.
- Breath of the Wild is a feat of design and polish. Hyrule feels like a real place, and the journey Link and Zelda undertake to defeat Ganon is compelling
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is no mere Zelda game, it is a return to form for the decades-old series, showing that Nintendo still very much understands how to handle t...
Cons
- minor technical issues1
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- Breath of the Wild is an absolute masterpiece, and may well be the best The Legend of Zelda game ever made. Despite a few minor technical issues, this a truly unforgettable experie...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 19 sampled reviews with text. Each score above uses its source's displayed count. Theme counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.
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