5/5 ★ – MichaelROLeary's review of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a ten-out-of-ten video game that I eight-out-of-ten vibe with. What it does, particularly the ability to explore in any direction from the jump, it does to the grandest degree — I just wish that level of freedom was what I loved the most about video games. I prefer a bit more of a guided hand because I love the idea of experiencing a story rather than discovering it and that just isn’t what this game does. It never tries to, nor should it, which is why I can still say it’s a masterpiece because it achieves what it is striving for, even if that’s not the precise and particular thing I want. In a more traditional “review,” I’d get into how I think the control scheme is fairly wonky or the fact that the frame rate chugs when entering towns but really, that’s not what this game is about. Those are minor blemishes that give character and personality to a pristine face in the case of Breath of the Wild because what it manages to do in spite of them is art. And like all classic works of art, it’s just not gonna hit the same way for everyone.