Almost three years ago, I had written a post about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At the time, I had written that I didn’t like Breath of the Wild despite attempting the game on three different occasions. I couldn’t get into it.

Earlier this year, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out. Just before Tears of the Kingdom came out, I decided to give The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild another chance.

This time it finally grabbed hold of me. The fourth time was the charm.

I started the game over from the beginning, again. This past Friday, I finished the main storyline of Breath of the Wild. I did it! Go me.

My BOTW Stats according to the loading screen

This (above) was all that I’ve done in the game.

I freed all four of the Divine Beasts. I got the Master Sword. I did not acquire the best armor or fully upgrade my armor. I was a bit nervous about the final boss fight before heading into it. I texted my friend, and local Breath of the Wild expert, Andy, beforehand and he said it would be a cakewalk. It was. I beat the boss on my first attempt.

I think I got the True Ending to the game. I freed all of the Divine Beasts and recovered all of Link’s memories.

As a caveat, I did cheat things a bit. I used a lot of Amiibo cards to get free gear and resources each day I played. It made things easier for me.

My playing time for Breath of the Wild: 75 hours

My total playing time for Breath of the Wild is 75 hours. That may seem like a lot for a video game, but this was over four separate attempts.

I’ve previously said that I didn’t like Breath of the Wild. But I’ve changed my thinking a bit there. I ended up enjoying the game.

I still find the durability of weapons tedious. But I’ve grown to appreciate the cooking. I still really enjoy the huge open world and finding (and solving) the shrines.

So what changed this time? I’m not sure.

The Legend of Zelda is one of my favorite video game franchises. I may have thought that this style of game was a one-off. The popularity of Breath of the Wild should have proven to me otherwise. The added popularity of Tears of the Kingdom is further proof.

I’m not sure what to play next. I’ve only played (and finished) two video games this year. Both games were very long (70+ hr games).

I have many games to play (including Tears of the Kingdom). I also have the Breath of the Wild DLC. But I may just need a shorter game as a palette cleanser.