Daily Debate: What’s Your Most Pleasantly Surprising Aspect of Breath of the Wild So Far?

Warning: Breath of the Wild spoilers ahead!

It’s been over two weeks since Breath of the Wild’s release. At this point, many of us have at least gotten a feel for the game, if not completed the quest outright. With two dungeons, 24 shrines and about thirty hours clocked into my adventure, I have had my fair share of surprises. The game is relentless in its efforts to provide the player with something new at seemingly every other turn.

Some of these surprises are elements that, going in, I was somewhat apprehensive about, but ended up being refreshing shakeups to the Zelda formula — things that I didn’t even know I wanted. Others, meanwhile, are things that I had hoped Nintendo would incorporate, despite being unsure as to whether it would.

One of my favorite aspects of Twilight Princess’ setting is how fleshed out the relationship among Hyrule’s races feels. For instance, we see the cooperation between the Gorons and the citizens of Kakariko Village firsthand once the conflict with Darbus is resolved. Likewise, we see healthy relations between Lanayru’s Hylians and the Zora. There are even two Goron merchants in Castle Town! Additions such as those go a long way toward making the world feel organic and lived in.

I didn’t know how Breath of the Wild was going to handle this element of Hyrule, but was thrilled to see it demonstrate a similar care for world-building as Twilight Princess. I won’t go into spoilers, but of the three tribes that I’ve visited so far, each one has a distinct relationship with the rest of Hyrule. More so than that of almost any other Zelda game, Breath of the Wild’s world feels like a real place populated by people who have their own, individual problems.

What aspect of Breath of the Wild has pleasantly surprised you the most, though? Is there something that you didn’t think that you’d like but ended up loving? Let us know in the comments below!