In early January I purchased a Nintendo Switch. It's a gadget I'd wanted for quite a while and after having a bit more free time on my hands over the Christmas break I decided to pull the trigger.
I knew that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had been reviewed extremely positively and it was one of the first games I should play. I've been blown away by the experience so far! This might be because I've been so out of the gaming world for about ~10 years. The Switch is the first console I've owned since having a PS3.
I've thoroughly enjoyed various aspects of the game like the sort of cartoonish art style, the relaxing little chimes of music and the dialog between characters that reminds me of playing old Pokemon games. I really like the range of controls too. It start with just simple sword swings and climbing on things but soon progresses to be full on combat strategies that you need to take against more difficult enemies.
When I started the game I was terrible; like really really bad at doing everything in the game. My roommate Pat who is much more of gamer than me played through a few puzzles and found it easy! I just wasn't really picking up on a lot of the mechanics of the game or just generally what to do.
What's helped me overcome this is reading guides on how to play. The Zelda Dungeon guide is excellent but there are many more out there. I've also been getting more into gaming YouTube and watching other's play the game. I tend to watch speed runs and glitches but there's still some informative content in there for just playing the game normally. I've enjoyed watching lots of videos by SmallAnt who I think also has a big following on Twitch.
Reading and watching this content has sort of made me more engrossed in the game. I now play it more regularly; at least for 30 minutes each day. I think this has also been good for my mental health.
Some of the things I now now how to do which I had no idea on before include selling things at stores, what kind of things to look for in shrines to solve puzzles and just some general combat strategies you can take against enemies.
I can really see now why Breath of the Wild has won so many awards and is being lauded as one of the best games ever.