Christmas is always a magical time of the year, but 2018 was definitely one of the best Christmases I’ve experienced as a parent. My brother-in-law gifted my son a Nintendo Switch, and I’ll never forget the smile on his face as he opened up the present. I still have the photo of it today, and I like to look at it now and then to remember how his eyes practically popped out of their sockets that magical morning. And the gift that my brother-in-law got for me was the perfect compliment to my son’s gift: a copy of Breath of the Wild. I had played a little bit of the game earlier that year when he lent us his Switch over vacation, but we all know you need to spend more than a week on it.
Now, being a full-time teacher and a parent already makes it pretty difficult to get in a lot of gaming time during the day. Add to this the fact that my son was having a tough time going to sleep on his own during that time, and you have a man who couldn’t count on having much free time until around 9:00 PM. And the school I was working at had a very brutal start time of 7:50 AM, which meant that I also had to go to bed at a decent hour. Most of my free moments during the day were spent getting up to date with people on Facebook and Twitter, watching TV shows, taking quick peeks at YouTube, and trying to work out on my stationary bike, so when all was said and done, I had maybe two hours at the most each day to try and carve out some Breath of the Wild time. After two months of this routine, I was still stuck wandering around the Great Plateau. I just didn’t have enough spare time to take a meaningful bite out of this massive cookie of a game.
That is, until one fateful night when a freezing cold spell brought doom and gloom to Alberta, Canada, but granted me the opportunity to spend a huge chunk of time in Hyrule.
I remember leaving work one day in March and, upon seeing my car covered with snow in the parking lot, felt myself tense up with anxiety. Most drivers in Alberta are accustomed to driving in horrible conditions during the winter, but no matter how many times you do it, it’s always a nerve-wracking experience. After brushing off the car, I called my wife to say that I was heading home. She informed me that due to the bad roads, freezing temperatures, and the promise of more heavy snowfall later in the day, she and our son would be staying at her mom’s house for the night. My mother-in-law was in charge of babysitting while we were both at work, so my wife had decided to just sleep over there rather than drive over early in the morning and risk having an accident on the dangerous roads. I agreed that she was making a safe choice, and the last remnants of my anxiety washed away as I realized that I would have the entire night to myself. I could finally devote a huge chunk of time to Breath of the Wild and leave the Great Plateau!
I got home safe and sound, invigorated by the thought of diving into this wonderful game. I raced to change into my comfy clothes and get my chores out of the way, one of which was to shovel the front steps and sidewalk. But the Zelda gods were apparently smiling down on me that day, as one of my amazing neighbors had already taken care of my property. I remember looking at the clock and seeing that it was only a little after 4:00 PM. I turned on the Switch, sat down, and got myself ready to play!
The first step involved a little bit of research. Playing the game sporadically meant that I didn’t actually know where to go or what to do next. So I found a guide that told me about some interesting things I could do before starting the main campaign. I searched around the northern edge of the plateau and glided down to the Gatepost Town Ruins, where I found some Bokoblins bullying a couple of locals. I landed and quickly dispatched the two monsters, saving the two travelers. They weren’t main characters, but helping them made me feel like Hyrule really was filled with living, breathing people I could talk to and become friends with. It was just one part of what I experienced that night as I became more immersed in the game.
I continued along towards Outskirt Stable so I could tame and register my first horse. I soon found out that simply mounting a horse would be a challenge. They would run away from me the moment I got close to them, so I kept having to chase groups of them down. But eventually, I did manage to tame one and bring it back to the stable. I found the stable’s design to be quite eye-catching, as the large roof and towering horse head made it stand out from the surrounding landscape. And the music was so calm and peaceful, I didn’t have to worry about being attacked here at all.
Completing the task of registering a horse meant I was now ready to both eat some supper and get to the Dueling Peaks. I didn’t want to waste any time making a meal, so I just grabbed some crackers, lunch meat, and a few carrots and quickly sat back down. I usually avoid eating and gaming at the same time in order to keep my controllers as clean as possible, but this night would be different. I was going to game the entire night until it was time for bed.
I fast traveled back to the Plateau Tower and devoured by food as I glided towards the mountains. I was excited to finally be making some headway towards the main quest. That night, I made it all the way to Impa and fell deeply in love with Kakariko Village. I never anticipated that I would end spending almost an entire hour tracking down a few Cuccos, but being able to buy items from the shops and interact with the villagers made it so entertaining. And I didn’t even have to rush my way to the village! I stopped numerous times to battle monsters, search for Koroks, and unlock shrines. There are three shrines located in the Dueling Peaks area, one near the summit of each mountain and one in the valley below. I remember learning that night that there really isn’t a “beaten path” at all. If you travel from one location to another, the game will encourage you to veer off the trail in search of hidden delights. If I was to have any hope of beating it, I would have to accept the fact that it might be take me several nights or a week just to travel across a small portion of the map.
Before Breath of the Wild, I had never played an open world game before, sticking mostly to the EA Sports franchises and 2D platformers. Having this night to myself made me appreciate the breadth of this game and just how much there is to discover. I was also jealous of others who had more time to play and would likely finish the game a lot faster than I ever could.
It wasn’t until midnight rolled around that I felt I should probably head off to bed. As I rubbed my aching eyes, I realized that I had been engrossed in the game for over eight hours straight. This experience reawakened my love for Breath of the Wild, and from then on, I made a point of dedicating more of my precious “free time” towards playing it. Only having around two hours every night to enjoy this game really taught me a lesson about being a patient gamer and just enjoying the experience (a lesson that would come in handy in the months to come, as it took me until that November to actually defeat Ganon). As a parent, you love your children and your family more than anything else, but I do still fondly remember the snowy night when I got to live the “bachelor life” and lose myself in my favorite game of all time.
To celebrate the upcoming launch of Tears of the Kingdom, we are dedicating two weeks of columns articles to its groundbreaking predecessor, Breath of the Wild! Check out our Countdown to TOTK page.
