Parents Say: age 9+ 
62 reviews
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A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
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Educational Value
a little
Scores of puzzles based on logic, physics encourage players to apply understanding of how both real world, this fantasy realm work. Kids will need to manipulate objects, make use of concepts including time, kinetic energy, magnetism, concussive force.
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Positive Messages
some
Themes include characters taking responsibility, showing courage in face of mortal peril. Qualities such as curiosity, persistence rewarded in exploration, in solving puzzles, in battle. Mildly sensationalizes medieval-style combat.
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Positive Role Models
some
Link is a knight sworn to protect world of Hyrule. He does a lot of fighting, but it's to help others, banish evil from realm. He also must call upon his wits to find novel, nonviolent solutions to many problems.
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Ease of Play
some
Could take a while to grow accustomed to unusual button layout. Combat, puzzles both start off easy, grow more challenging over course of dozens of hours. Later battles, puzzles can be very hard.
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Violence & Scariness
some
Link fights fantasy monsters with variety of medieval weapons, including swords, axes, bows and arrows. Enemies don't bleed, but some break into pieces -- arms, legs, heads -- that continue to hop around. There's talk about war, death; Link encounters spirits of long dead. Link also can use his weapons to hunt variety of animals, including boar, deer, fish. No blood shown in hunting activities, but dead animals disappear, leaving behind items labeled as meat, guts, eyes, and so on.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
very little
Huge fairy-like woman has very large, bouncy breasts covered lightly in leaves. Link said to be in love with one of the champions of Hyrule, but their affection is discussed, not shown.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
very little
Side character shown in a state resembling drunkenness.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an action role-playing game set in an open world. It stars Link, a noble knight who must journey to defeat an ancient and growing evil by fighting monsters and solving puzzles, helping strangers whenever he can along the way. Combat against monsters involves swords, axes, bows and arrows, and other medieval weapons, but enemies simply disappear when defeated, and no blood is shown. Players also hunt animals, but their bodies disappear in puffs of smoke, leaving behind food items and materials for crafting. Some characters exhibit mild sexuality, including a two-story-tall fairy woman with large, bouncy breasts covered only in leaves. Another character behaves as though drunk.
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Game Review 1:02
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Community Reviews
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- Parents say (62)
- Kids say (249)
age 9+
Based on 62 parent reviews
John Jones Adult
October 4, 2020
age 9+
PLEASE STOP AND READ MY REVIEW
This game is amazing! The art style is beautiful, and the endless possibilities are a nice touch. In this adventure, Link goes on a quest to save Hyrule from an awaking evil. On the way, you'll encounter enemies that Link can battle, puzzles to solve, and over 100+ side quests. There is NO blood or gore, instead, the enemies disappear into a puff of smoke. All the characters (specifically women) are dressed modestly. There is no profanity or sex either. There is a reference to alcohol though, as there is a lady who runs a shop in the game who sells drinks that "are definitely just for adults". Thankfully Link can never obtain these drinks for himself. In addition, there is a character within the game that says "heck".Overall I'd say this game is great for kids 9+ and will provide endless amounts of fun for kids looking for an ever expanding and amazing adventure.
This title has:
Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
10 people found this helpful.
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Sohrob Parent of 12 and 13-year-old
July 22, 2022
age 8+
I couldn’t believe it was such a good game 👍
This is the BEST game I’ve ever played. If you could rate more than 5 stars, I’d be rating it 100 stars.😄😄😄 💯
This title has:
Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
3 people found this helpful.
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What’s It About?
As with all Zelda games, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD is set in the fantastical realm of Hyrule, a world filled with a mix of familiar animals and fantastical creatures and populated by several intelligent races, chief among them the human/elf-like Hylians. Players once again take control of the timeless hero Link, who wakes up without any memories in the Temple of Time and gradually learns that his kingdom was destroyed long ago. Now it's up to him to journey on an epic quest to defeat the evil entity that brought ruin to his country and nearly killed him a century ago: Calamity Ganon. Unlike previous Zelda games, this one provides players an enormous open world to freely explore. It's filled with plains, mountains, deserts, towns, and more. Much of the game is focused on exploration and survival, with Link needing to gather, kill, and cook his own food and work out how to survive drastically different climates, scale cliffs, and battle monsters. He also explores scores of shrines, each one containing clever puzzles that need to be solved to earn orbs that will increase his stamina and life. There are dozens of hours of side activities that can be tackled in any order players wish, but Link's primary goal throughout is to recover his memories, grow in strength, and gather the forces necessary to confront and defeat Calamity Ganon.
Is It Any Good?
Our review:
Parents say (62):
Kids say (249):
Nintendo's iconic adventure series has finally taken its first steps into modern open-world play, and it's done so in a way few other franchises could muster. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an absolutely huge game, providing players with a vibrant and colorful world that presents itself almost like a living painting. And over every hill, ridge, and mountain lies one or more new locations that you'll want to explore, such as towns full of interesting characters and shops, shrines loaded with puzzles and treasures, imaginative monsters to challenge, and secrets waiting under rocks and within old ruins. Keeping track of everything would be nearly impossible were it not for Link's tablet-like Sheikah Slate, which lets you place pins in a map to denote areas of interests and allows you to capture photographs of everything encountered -- animals, monsters, plant life, and more -- for posterity or to be used as a method for future tracking.
A lot of this is common to many open-world games, but Breath of the Wild injects its own flavor via an upbeat atmosphere, quirky characters, and an all-ages sense of humor. More than that, it adds little details -- many to do with survival -- that other games haven't dared. A storm in the distance? Better store anything made of metal, lest Link risk getting struck by lightning. A mountain in your way? No need to go around. Link can climb virtually any surface (so long as he has the stamina required and rain doesn't come along to make the surface slick). All players need to guide them is common sense and a curiosity to seek and discover. Nintendo's designers have taken care of everything else. And in doing so they've created the first essential game for Nintendo Switch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about screen time. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an enormous game with few clear boundaries between objectives, making it easy to just keep playing, but how do you limit sessions based on duration rather than accomplishing specific tasks?
Discuss duty and responsibility. If you woke up after 100 years with no memory of the past, would you feel obligated to fulfill the obligations of your former self? What makes something your responsibility?
Game Details
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Nintendo of America
- Release date: March 3, 2017
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More, Adventures, Horses and Farm Animals, Wild Animals
- ESRB rating: E10+ for Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Last updated: October 16, 2018
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Where to Play
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Related Topics
- Magic and Fantasy
- Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More
- Adventures
- Horses and Farm Animals
- Wild Animals
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