Breath of the Wild is the best Zelda game because Stone Cold said so

WWE superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin has declared that Breath of the Wild is better than Ocarina of Time, thus ending the long-running debate over which Zelda game is best. 

Austin crowned Nintendo’s open-air adventure as the best Legend of Zelda game of all time during an episode of The Broken Skull Sessions. In a 30-second quickfire question and answer session with fellow WWE superstar Cody Rhodes (thanks, VGC), Rhodes is asked which is the best Zelda game. Rhodes quickly says: “Ocarina of Time, hands down.”

But not according to Austin.

The six-time WWE Champion interjects, saying: “No. No, dude. Breath of the Wild.” Rhodes, who is visibly taken aback by Stone Cold’s stunning pick, doesn’t seem to necessarily disagree, but admits that the Texas Rattlesnake has made “a bold choice.”

With a Metacritic score of 97 after 109 reviews, there’s no doubt that Link’s latest adventure was a hit with critics, but it can't top Ocarina of Time's ridiculous score of 99 – albeit from only 22 reviews. 

But Breath of the Wild isn't just critically acclaimed: It's also sold 25.8 million copies as of December 2021, suggesting it's gone down well with fans, too.

Even though many gamers are of the opinion that Breath of the Wild is indeed the best Zelda game ever created (myself included), not everyone feels the same. That’s hardly a surprise, of course, as game reviews are subjective. You’ll very rarely find a game that – if ever – is universally loved by all. From my personal experience, though, Breath of the Wild does come at least somewhat close.

Now, where is Breath of the Wild 2?

Even though we highly doubt that Stone Cold Steve Austin will be the first in line to buy Breath of the Wild 2 when it releases, Nintendo’s successor is easily one of the most anticipated releases on the horizon. 

Breath of the Wild 2 was recently pushed back to 2023, as series producer Eiji Aonuma said Nintendo “decided to extend our development time a bit, and change the release to Spring 2023”. That means we should see Breath of the Wild 2 release sometime between March 20 and June 21.

But could one of the biggest games on Switch also be released on new hardware? Potentially. According to tech experts Digital Foundry, recent trailers for Breath of the Wild 2 include a number of graphical features that the Nintendo Switch would struggle to run based on its aging hardware.

We could, then, see a Nintendo Switch Pro or Nintendo Switch 2 release in line with Breath of the Wild 2, which would make a great showcase title if a more powerful console were to arrive.

Nintendo has been extremely coy about releasing a new Switch model, however, going as far as to say that the Nintendo Switch has only reached the mid-point of its lifecycle. The company also launched the Nintendo Switch OLED in October last year, making the possibility of new hardware even less likely.

Still, whether Breath of the Wild 2 releases solely on Switch or ushers in a new console, we can’t wait to see what Nintendo has in store. For now, though, Breath of the Wild is the best Zelda game of all time – and that’s the bottom line because Stone Cold said so. 

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