issue 23 // volume 43 arts // no. 9 The new ‘Zelda took my breath away > ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ video game review Mike LeMieux Contributor kkenaenknx e Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the latest game in the long running series by Nintendo. It released earlier this month for the Wii U and Nintendo's new console, the Switch. It may be the best game I’ve ever played. All right, that was probably pretty sudden. Let’s back up a little. The Legend of Zelda series celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. This newest addition to the series does away with a lot of the standard Zelda fare that was popularized by games like Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker. The series stagnated a bit following 1998's Ocarina of Time, with most successive games rarely deviating from the same structure. This newest Zelda game replaces that tried-and- true formula with a complicated mix of inspiration from other popular series. In structure, Breath of the Wild feels closer to The Witcher than Twilight Princess. Youre set free to roam a giant open world taking on random quests. It doesn’t stop there, however, as many parts of the game seem to have drawn from games like Dark Souls, Portal, Far Cry 2 and even a little bit from 2016's The Witness, if you can believe it. It expertly melds the structure, action, and puzzle elements from series like these, while still somehow maintaining a Zelda feel. It ends up feeling like a link to the past era ‘Layers of Influence’ unveiled at Museum of Anthropology of video games, sort of a cross between 1986's The Legend of Zelda and basically every great game in the last decade. You play as the hero Link, a blank slate who has starred in every Zelda game (though you don’t get to change his name in this one). The game begins with Link awakening in a cave, having no memory or knowledge of himself or the world. He meets an old man—who might as well tell him that it’s dangerous to go alone—and off you go into the wide open world to do as you please. There's no real tutorial—the game has you solve a few puzzles where you organically learn the basics, and that’s it. It’s up to you what the adventures of Link entail, and where he'll go in the vast world of Hyrule. And what an amazing world it is. It has a beautiful, Hayao Miyazaki-esque art style that is the logical evolution of Skyward Sword’s look. The Hyrule of Breath of the Wild is also staggeringly huge. It’s actually quite daunting just how big it is. You can spend hours just exploring the crafted world without even engaging in any designed content. When you do choose to tackle the game’s many mini-dungeons or the larger story- driven dungeons, you'll find a more free- form approach to solving the puzzles. Sometimes you can see what the game intends you to do, but you can also figure out your own, more efficient way to complete the task. Those moments make you feel like the smartest person on the planet, and the rewarding of your own creativity is one of the most infectiously illustration by Ed Appleby great things about Breath of the Wild. But it’s not all sunshine and rupees. Breath of the Wild has some notable technical flaws on both the Wii U and Switch versions. Occasionally—often in areas with weather effects or lots of enemies—the frame-rate can dip substantially. It never lasts more than a couple seconds, but it can really chug. The controls on either version can also feel incredibly clunky at times. I’m 80 hours into the game and I will still hit the throw weapon button by accident, or drop a bomb at my own feet instead of hurling it at enemies. The thing is, you find yourself not really caring about a frame dip here, or muddy graphics there. Breath of the Wild is a time vampire. It will consume your life if you let it. You're always two minutes away from discovering something amazing. On paper it might read like a mishmash of other games, but it’s more than a sum of its parts. Breath of the Wild has been a truly great experience, and it’s one for the history books. MURR ake MTree. du SLB MITTS until April 9, at which point it will be taken down in preparation for the upcoming Amazonia exhibit. > UBC shows off collection of textiles from around the world Greg Waldock Staff Writer Ihe Museum of Anthropology at UBC is currently displaying 130 unique pieces of clothing, robes, blankets, and other textiles with the new Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures exhibit. The collection has fine examples of woven craftsmanship from around the world, from Chinese silk shirts to Scandinavian funeral wraps to Coast Salish blankets. The assemblage was unfolded from UBC’s textiles collection, and goes beyond showing simple, everyday clothing. It places an emphasis on the roles clothes and costumes play in demonstrating « : d spiritual . oy prestige, power, and spiritual connection, according to the MoA homepage. Each display is supplemented with an explanation of the materials used, the context it would be worn in, and when that particular item was made. Most of the items were processed through the adjacent UBC textile research lab, which is a new addition to the MoA, alongside an oral histories lab. The garments are displayed in the Audain Gallery, and are hung up in a beautifully-lit room for optimal viewing. No matter how pretty they are, touching anything in the exhibit is strictly prohibited, as well as any flash photography. Some of the more valuable items, such as a set of centuries-old Maori cloaks, are ina display case for their own protection. If you have any questions, there are museum staff at hand happy to help with the identification of anything at the exhibit. It’s open during all the regular museum hours and tours can be booked online for a richer experience, as with all the collections they have. There is also a current “mini-exhibit” running, recounting the life and cultural impact of First Nations advocate Mabel Stanley and her donated collection of regalia and artifacts. The exhibit proudly shows off MoA’s impressive collection. One section has Hindi wedding dresses and fabrics, including a veil made of silk so thin, it’s transparent and silver at the same time. Another section shows contemporary and Chinook blankets, with notes from their creators on the blankets’ emotional and spiritual significance. Another section has a wall of majestic purple or yellow imperial Chinese robes and high-collared dresses, connected to vibrant blues from Central and West African dresses. The museum curator, Dr. Jennifer Kramer, has taken full advantage of the global diversity that the Museum of Anthropology has to offer. : hiaX aye UR Nake] Photos by Analyn Cuarto