Why I’ll never finish “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”

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Some games are meant to live in your memory forever. These are the ones that become instant classics; people talk about it for years after release, sometimes even decades. They appear on all best-of lists and are played and replayed over and over again. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of those games.

First released as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, people are still finding out Breath of the wild four years later. Many who have played it are already clamoring for its sequel, which is slated for release in 2022. I started playing the game about six months after the Nintendo Switch released – the sooner I could finally get my hands on it. on the console. It was late enough to have heard the praise, but before that it had been cemented as one of the best video games of all time. I loved every second. It was tough, but it was worth moving on. I have spent hundreds of hours on Breath of the wild. I did most of what there was to do (except finding the 900 Korok seeds because no thanks). But there is one big thing I didn’t do: beat the game.

I completed all the story quests until the end. I even searched Ganon Castle. But I can’t bring myself to save Hyrule. Whenever I decide to go for it, I throw my controller aside. I can’t bring myself to do it. If i beat Breath of the wild, the adventure is over. As long as I avoid finishing it, there is still something new to discover.

Chances are, I’m not alone. Other players surely do, and not just with Breath of nature. I needed years to finish the original Kingdom Hearts and months to play the final mission of Control. And to this day I’m still not done pushing my way through the buttons Final Fantasy X-2 or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It’s not about losing interest; it’s wanting to always have more to play. When Mass Effect: Legendary Edition came out, I made my way through it and now I wish I had taken my time. I haven’t savored it enough.

This refusal to complete a game may seem ridiculous. But let’s face it: it’s not uncommon for the final to be far from the best. Too many times I’ve been upset by the way a story ended (:: cough :: Mass effect 3 :: cough: 🙂 or that a character didn’t get the closure that I really wanted. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that these things didn’t really matter; the goal of a game is the quest itself, not the end, so why bother going through it?

Avoiding a fateful ending also means more time with a beloved character. Yes, restarting the game is an option (as is New Game + on some titles), but it’s not the same as having something new to play. I still remember the thrill of tripping over the Omega Ruins when I was buried in a rerun of Final Fantasy X because it was something I had never experienced. While the DLC might scratch that itch a bit, it usually arrives too late and I completely forgot about the controls by the time it arrives on the scene.

I don’t know if I’ll ever end Breath of the wild. At this point, I’m not going to dive back into the game because I completely forgot what to do and how to do it. I have vague plans to replay it before the sequel releases, and knowing there’s a new episode will make it a more compelling option. But for now I’m sticking to my guns, it’s okay not to finish this Zelda variant, and if I never finish it, that means I’ll always have more worlds to conquer.