A few weeks ago, I finished the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. When I say "finished" I mean I finally completed my main quest objective, Destroy Ganon. I initially didn't plan on beating the game when I was exploring Hyrule Castle. There were still places within the castle walls I hadn't explored and I wanted to cover more ground. As I made my way top side, I peeked into what I knew was the room that contained Ganon. After thinking it over for a bit, I decided I would fight him. I had so many weapons, armor and food for healing that I was never in trouble. Usually after I beat a final boss, I call it quits on the game and move on. Not so with BOTW.
It amazes me that after all the hours I've sunk into this game (well over 120), I still want to keep playing. The first pack of DLC, which I am very excited about hasn't even dropped yet I am still eager to play this game on a daily basis. I want to complete all 120 shrines. I want to max out my weapon, shield and bow slots. I just may go for every single Korok seed even though the reward for doing so is a steaming pile of gold crap (I must admit, that heavily amuses me). BOTW is a game that drips with so much content that even after beating the final boss, there is still much to see and do.
What's really surprising me is that as I keep playing this game, I'm still finding things that I missed in areas I've already explored as well as fining new areas I've never been to. I know BOTW's map is massive but this just reinforces how large it truly is. I may not complete the game 100%, but I do want to get as much as I can out of it. (I finally tamed a bear instead of killing it.)
Cooking has always been one of my favorite aspects of BOTW. Seeing all the different meals you can come up with, finding the right ingredients to get a high defense or attack boost. But there's also a lot of fun with discovering rare dishes. One of the side quests of Rito Village has you gathering ingridents to cook a meal so one of the children goes off to sing. Said dish is Hearty Salmon Meuniere (made from Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter and Hearty Salmon if you were wondering) and it recovers full health and four bonus hearts. I've long since discovered meals that recovery full health and 20 plus hearts, but again, this was new to me. Besides, I don't always want to have a ton of extra hearts so it'll be a good dish for basic full recovery.
Even after the countless battles I've had in this game, I still get a big kick out of fighting enemies either with weapons or unconventional means. Freezing a horse-riding Bokoblin with Stasis +, watching the horse run off and seeing the Bokoblin fall on his bum when the effects wear off never gets old. I also have a lot of fun fighting Lynels, enemies that once use to heavily intimidate me. Now, I seek them out for their sweet bows and killer swords. It is especially nice to able to reflect Guardian lasers back at them, but even when I'm struggling with the timing, I shoot 'em in the eye and then cut off all their legs. Payback for all the crap they put me through earlier in the game. Thunder storms are now a weapon to me now that I've got the Rubber armor. Anytime the weather gets nasty, I just throw it on, get near an enemy when lightning is about to strike and let the weather do some of the damage for me.
Exploring has undoubted been my favorite part about BOTW, but even when I'm going through familiar areas, I'm having the time of my life with this game. While there are still things to see and do and that is part of the reason I'm still playing, the other reason is BOTW is just so much fun. This is the kind of game someone could just screw around in, not even finish the main quest and still have a blast.
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