Because of how open the game is, no one will have the same experience, but everyone will experience something truly magical. This is the type of game you discuss with friends, compare notes, and regale them with stories of your adventures. Walk in any direction, and there are countless areas to find and untold mysteries to solve. It rediscovers the pure joy of exploration first introduced in the 1986 original. Breath of the Wild breaks free from the franchise’s rigid formula and embraces more modern open-world games, while pushing the genre to stunning new heights. Or you could spend the next 100 hours savoring the best game of the year.

You’d die, of course, but you could do it. You could even march straight to Hyrule castle and challenge final boss Ganon. The expansive world beckons, and you’re free to go absolutely anywhere. In the opening moments of Breath of the Wild, you run hero Link to the edge of a cliff, at which point the camera pans out wide, showing off the Studio Ghibli-inspired land of Hyrule in all its glory.

Projared best games of 2017