Game Review - Nintendo Boosts BOTW With Masterful DLC

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (out of 5)

BOTW: The Master Trials is the first of two DLC’s available in the BOTW Expansion Pass. The expansion includes a much needed Master mode; a sword enhancing challenge, aptly named Trial of the Sword; a map step tracking mode; and a handful of loot and gear for Link to find spread out across Hyrule.

The Master Mode is a new way of playing Breath of the Wild. It offers a much higher difficulty ceiling for the player who has already completed the game once, and is looking for a challenge. Firstly, you can only have up to two saves at one time in Master Mode. This keeps players from going back to an earlier save as recovery, making every decision matter. The difficulty tier for every enemy is raised by one, meaning that level one Bokoblins (red bokoblins) are now level two (blue bokoblins).

The enemies also regenerate their health slowly over time if Link doesn’t deal damage. While this can pose for an interesting challenge, the time before regeneration is very slim, so if Link knocks away an enemy with any type of heavy attack, it can be very tedious to defeat the foe, no matter how weak it is. This only seemed to be an issue with lower level gear, however, and went away the stronger Link became.

Fortunately, high level weapons and shields can be acquired very early on in Master mode, as enemies and chests float around the world on little wooden rafts tied to Octorock balloons. These can be shot down by one to two arrows and makes for a comical and entertaining challenge.

Lastly, higher tier enemies like Lynels are spread across the map, and a new tier of enemy, gold tier, has been added to the game as well. All of this combined makes for a time consuming and very fun way for returning players to replay Breath of the Wild. Although a very cool addition to the game, a higher level difficulty was definitely needed, since most games provide this fundamental experience change right out the door. This addition could have been added for free and would be more of an upset if the DLC was overpriced.

Nintendo also added a challenge for end-game players titled The Trial of the Sword. This can be initiated by returning to the Lost Woods and reinserting the Master Sword into its pedestal. The trials consist of three different stages; Beginner Trial, Middle Trial, and the Final Trial. Each stage has 12 - 20 rooms filled with enemies of increasing difficulty. Link has none of his gear, and has to go through the encounters collecting and building up his arsenal to combat the enemies in each room. The trials are reminiscent of the Savage Labyrinth from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, yet each room in the trials is completely unique from the last, making the combat puzzle and strategy very fun for the player. The reward for defeating each trial is a damage buff to the Master Sword, bringing its overall damage from 30 to 60. The Trail of the Sword is the best part of the DLC, as it is challenging, and fun for those who want to be tested after beating the main story.

The third and final major addition to the game is a handful of new loot that Link can obtain by solving riddles found in a diary just east of the Great Plateau. This gear includes Majora’s mask, Midna’s helmet, a Phantom armor set, a Tingle armor set, a Korok mask, and a pendant that lets you create teleport points anywhere in the world.

While the gear is somewhat cool, collecting it feels almost lazy, since 80% of the gear is spread out right in front of Hyrule castle. Solving the riddles can be somewhat difficult, but it doesn’t feel as if the gear took advantage of how large and incredible the overworld is. On top of this, you can’t upgrade the armor, making it somewhat less appealing to use in the long run. This addition is by far the weakest in the DLC, and the developers could have done something more unique with the new gear. On the positive side, the armor looks really cool. The masks are a different story, as they do things that will benefit the player in combat strategy, especially Majora’s Mask in Master Mode.

Separate from the three main DLC additions is a way to track where Link has been on the map. This is a small feature and doesn’t really benefit or hurt the DLC in anyway. It’s mainly just a cool addition to the game, unnecessary, but satisfying to look at for players who have traversed large areas of the world.

All things considered, the DLC is definitely worth its price tag, as the $20 comes with a second DLC later this year. Since the base game is already filled to the brim with entertaining content, BOTW: The Master Trials gets the Mighty Mammal seal of Approval. Follow Mighty Mammal on Twitter @Mighty_Mammal.

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