The Homeschooler

Evaluating Lifewire's BOTW Review

Mihai Negrean -

Today, I evaluated Lifewire's Breath of The Wild review to see if it's accurate. As someone who has more than 150 hours of playtime and has completed the game more than three times, I'm probably qualified to say whether it's accurate.

First, we can see the writer's name under the title. We can also see that there is a small bio of the writer, which makes the document slightly more credible. The link to the homepage is to an organization, and I became slightly suspicious at the first paragraph.

“We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.”

The writer of this webpage could not have been more vague if she tried. Consider this paragraph:

“Early in the game, you do get clear goals. You’ll need to visit certain shrines to unlock your magical abilities, and you’ll be required to talk to a man before you can leave the beginning area. When you gain access to the world beyond, you’ll get a few more missions. You’ll be told to visit a temple, then a laboratory, and finally, you’ll need to visit each tower in each land to uncover more of the map.”

In the main quest line, you are not required to do any of those things. In fact, it could not be more simple. Except for the EX quests, there are a total of only 15 main quests, in this order:

  1. Follow the Sheikah Slate,
  2. The Isolated Plateau,
  3. Seek Out Impa,
  4. Destroy Ganon,
  5. Locked Mementos,
  6. Free The Divine Beasts,
  7. Divine Beast Vah Medoh,
  8. Divine Beast Vah Rudania,
  9. Reach Zora's Domain,
  10. Divine Beast Vah Ruta,
  11. Forbidden City Entry,
  12. Divine Beast Vah Naboris,
  13. Captured Memories,
  14. Find The Fairy Fountain,
  15. The Hero's Sword.

None of the main quests involve visiting a temple, a laboratory, or any of the towers (except for the first one). All the quests that the author mentioned are actually in the game, but she doesn't make the distinction between the first two (which are the main quests), and the other three (which are optional side quests).

However, most of this article is accurate concerning the plot, graphics, controls, and combat. The statement of the plot being somewhat sparse is true. You don't get much info about what's going on at the start, and you have to travel around the map to get further information.

The graphics also look very nice. The game has a unique stylized look, and a very in-depth combat system.

The controls are simple and straight to the point. Most actions are accomplished by simply pressing a button. For example, picking up items or interacting with things is A. Jumping is default X, but you can change it to B. Sprinting or cancelling an action is B, and attacking is Y.

Combat is kept interesting by the many interesting moves that you can do, like backflips, shield parries, and charged attacks (by holding down Y). More moves are accomplished by special button combinations, like shield surfing, done by moving forward, jumping, and taking out your shield at the same time.

So, most of this article is accurate and trustworthy, although definitely intended to sell the product through affiliate links.

Sources:

Simon, Kelsey. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review. Lifewire, May 14, 2019, https://www.lifewire.com/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-review-4685759.

Evaluating Internet Resources. Georgetown University Library. https://library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content.