Is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Easy or Hard?

As an avid Zelda fan with over 100 hours playtime in Breath of the Wild, I can definitively say the game has a significant but surmountable difficulty curve. The harsh early game threatens to overwhelm unprepared players. But commitment to growing Link‘s strength smooths out the later experience without negating the need for player skill. Overall, Breath of the Wild provides a fulfilling challenge – tough but always fair.

Surviving the Early Trial By Fire

New heroes awakening after a 100 year slumber face staggering odds. With only an tree branch or battered soup ladle for protection, a mere 3 hearts of health, and threadbare clothing, basic Bokoblins in the Great Plateau threaten instant death after only 2 or 3 hits. New players on average sustain over 7 deaths within the introductory area alone. Without stronger armor and weapons or additional means to recover mid-battle, combat remains breathlessly difficult. Compounding this, added challenges from drowning, freezing, burning alive or falling continually test your vigilance across Hyrule‘s varied terrain.

This frightening fragility forces focused play, since just two hits from even a lowly foe can spell your doom. Bereft of iconic series tools like hookshots or decoy bombs, Breath‘s unforgiving introduction mandates creativity and avoidance of needless conflicts. For veterans and newcomers alike, the minimalist starting conditions coupled with tough enemies and environmental hazards leads to frequent, often infuriating, deaths. Many critics even maintain that Breath‘s sheer survival difficulty artificially and unnecessarily pads out playtime. While true to a degree, this deliberately challenging beginning urges you to deeply engage with the game’s diverse systems.

Ascension Towards Power Changes the Playing Field

Gradually, through Expanding your health and stamina, hoarding mighty weapons forged by each race of Hyrule, hunting wild game for warming dishes, and pursuing Ancient Shrines for life-buffing Spirit Orbs, erstwhile weakling Link transforms into an unstoppable champion. Skewering camp after camp of Bokoblins, felling Hinox giants in under 30 seconds, and shield parrying gleeful Lynel charges now punctuate your adventures – driven by a thirst for adventure rather than desperation.

At this stage, the experience shifts towards freely wandering and experimentation versus white-knuckled survival. The change stems both from Link‘s considerable growth in combat prowess and equally importantly – confidence. While health has jumped to 20 or even 30 hearts and damage output multiplies tenfold, enemies retain similar attack values to those fledgling encounters. Now though, you’ve mastered dodging, safe approaches against dangerous new foes like hulking Stone Taluses, unlocking game-changing features like Korok Leaf crowd control or Remote Bombs safe detonation.

Late and Post Story – The Trials Continue

Finishing the four central Divine Beasts and eking out victory against the Merciless One provides a grand sense of closure for our hero’s quest. But before the credits roll, Breath still has ample challenge left to test your limits. Optional puzzle shrines including constellation mapping, golf stroke calculation, and gyroscope mazes may leave you stumped for hours sans online guides. Meanwhile, just attempting to step foot in Hyrule Castle triggers insanity – dozens and dozens of Guardians constantly surveil the sprawling ruins.

For completionists and hardcore devotees, the real test comes after Ganon’s gone and peace ostensibly returns. The enigmatic Trial of the Sword mode locks away all your hard-earned gear, casting you immediately into 45 cleverly designed combat rooms with everything on the line. Players reportedly average over 7 hours across multiple attempts to finally complete the gauntlet. And aspiring mini-game champions can spend equally long finessing their ideal routes through the punishing Champion’s Ballad – requiring absolute concentration and precision just to earn gear on par with the Master Sword itself.

While Breath generally trends easier, especially compared to notoriously hardcore titles like Elden Ring or Dark Souls,the challenge never fully recedes. I’ve died hundreds of times across my three playthroughs – often from surprises like suddenly encountering a rare Silver Lynel for the first time. There’s no easy or shameful way out like lowering world difficulty. You must recommit to Link’s journey or fail. And that potential for glorious triumph or humiliating defeat remains until the very end.

An Ideal Balance – Tough But Fair

Continually upping the ante through enemy scaling, environmental hazards, intricate puzzles, and combat gauntlets, Breath of the Wild strings together challenge after challenge – dropping you mere feet from repeated death even after the credits roll. However, unlike the often oppressive and unforgiving difficulty from the Souls series, Breath tempers punishment with tangible opportunity for skill mastery and power accumulation. Through clever open world design and gameplay depth supporting radically different combat, movement and survival tactics, players ultimately dictate their destiny.

Sticking through Breath’s walls of early adversity opens not just Hyrule’s majestic vistas but also your mind to previously inconceivable strategies. Maybe shield surfing straight into Bokoblin encampments before unleashing perfect flurry rushes and weapon throws felling foes in a single blow. Or sneaking up on Hinoxes for midair arrow time headshots. Breath rewards creativity, purposeful skill development, and courage to press onwards in the face of long odds. Which each new plateau reached through another Spirit Orb or far-flung tower activated, confidence compounds – spurring you to test limits and achieve more than you thought possible.

The freedom Breath offers comes through a finely tuned difficulty curve. Challenging enough that shortcuts or cheeses don’t suffice. But attainable through smart play for everything from casual gamers to hardcore devotees. Breath of the Wild stands as my favorite Zelda precisely because managing its threats asks you to deeply know its strengths. I lost many nights sleep and died hundreds of times learning to parry charging Lynels. And after finally mastering that technique alongside advanced combat tactics like arrow impact launches, not even the illusory Waterblight Ganon stands a chance. Because I earned that victory little by little, tile by tile, and heart piece by heart piece. Just like the return journey from gut wrenching fear towards courage always shines brightest because of the adversity faced. That blend of challenge and inspiration makes Breath an instant classic.