After playing the base game of Breath of the Wild, many players decided to buy the DLC. But considering the base game comes with a staggering price tag followed by the $20 DLC. You have to stop and wonder. Is the Breath of the Wild DLC good? Is it worth it?
The additional story content and bonus modes are welcome, but with a few hours of playtime and the 20-dollar price tag, it comes down to whether players are willing to spend the extra cash on the title.
There is still debate on whether there is $20 worth of content in the DLC. Some people have gotten dozens of hours of extra playtime with it, while others fly through the story in only a couple of hours
Expansion Pass Bonus
Unfortunately, you can’t buy the DLCs separately. If you choose to get the $20 expansion pass, you’ll get both DLCs and 3 bonus chests. However, these gifts aren’t anything special.
The first of these is a Nintendo Switch shirt. Not only does it feel out of place, but it only has one defense; you can’t upgrade it, and you can’t dye it. You’ll most likely try it on once and never wear it again. It has no practical use in the game and doesn’t look cool.
The other two chests at least have useful items, albeit they aren’t hard to get in-game. One of the chests contains a ruby, and the other contains 5 bomb arrows. Don’t expect extra special items along with the 2 DLC packs when buying the Expansion Pass. These items are a cool little bonus but aren’t game changers.
The Master Trials
This is the first of the DLCs that you’ll be able to play, and it adds things that some players think are worth the price of the Expansion pass. I don’t like one DLC better than the other, as they both add some cool things.
Trial of the Sword
Trial of the Sword is the main attraction of this DLC. Remember Eventide Island? Well, these trials are a much harder version of that. The trials consist of 3 different levels, each harder than the last. The first has 12 levels, the second has 16, and the third has 23.
When you start the trial, you’ll have all your armor and weapons removed until you either complete it or die. You must scavenge the map for weapons and strategically eliminate enemies to progress to the next floor.
Dying during any of the levels will bring you back to level one of the current trials. Once you complete it, you can play again, but you don’t have to.
The real reward for completing these trials? A permanently upgraded Master Sword! Each trial increases the damage by 10 points. The third trial puts the sword permanently into glowing mode and highly increases dexterity.
Some people enjoy the trials, while others find them to be tedious. Whatever your opinion, the upgraded Master Sword is an awesome reward you should try to achieve.
Master Mode
Many Breath of the Wild players thinks this should have been in the base game, not a DLC. Master Mode is normal Breath of the Wild, but with the difficulty dramatically increased.
If you feel that Breath of the Wild end game is too easy, you should try this mode. You can have both a normal game and a Master Mode game. For starters, every enemy can regenerate health. I can only imagine how much of a nightmare this makes the Trial of the Sword.
Every enemy is now also boosted up one level. For example, blue Moblins are now black Moblins. If you thought silver enemies were hard, lucky for you, there is now an even harder type: gold. On top of the gold enemy type, enemies and chests can now spawn on floating platforms held up by Octoroks. These enemies are pretty cool and give some nice variety to the lacking enemy types.
Hero’s Path
This mode lets you view on the map every single place you’ve walked before. You can set the speed to go either fast or slow. On the slower setting, it shows you where you’ve died before.
This is perfect for explorers searching for new areas they haven’t gone to before. It’s also really fun to relive your journey from the very start of the game. This tracks up to 200 hours of playtime, so most players won’t have to worry about losing the beginning of their path.
Travel Medallion
The medallion is probably one of the most useful items in the entire game. It allows you to put a fast travel point anywhere on the map.
Love to farm at Hyrule Castle? Place the medallion on there and fast-travel after each blood moon. Need to go somewhere but don’t want to lose your place on the map? This’ll let you teleport right back to where you placed it.
You are only able to have one active at a time. If you attempt to place another one, the game will remove the previous one you placed down. This item is awesome for exploration and is lots of fun to use.
New Armor
These armors are pretty cool and spread out across the map in various chests. You must go to the stables to hear hints about their locations.
The Korok mask is probably one of the best armor items in the DLC, as it allows the player to locate Korok seeds much easier. Here are all the new armor sets.
The Champions’ Ballad
Is the Breath of the Wild DLC worth it? Well,this DLC is more story focused but also adds a few really useful items that make the game even more fun. You can access this one after you have completed all the Divine Beasts.
One-Hit Obliterator
The Obliterator weapon is probably one of my favorite parts of the DLC. As soon as you pick it up, your health immediately drops down to 1/4 of a heart. Any hit you take from an enemy will immediately end you.
Your mission with this weapon is to go about the Great Plateau and defeat camps of enemies. Each camp you defeat gives you a new shrine to complete.
This part is also reminiscent of Eventide Island and is one of the most enjoyable parts of the DLC. Enjoy it while it lasts though because it’s short and not able to be replayed.
New Shrines
After completing the shrines from the Obliterator missions, you are given the task of finding 4 new shrines for each of the Champions. The shrines are completely unique and are some of the most fun shrines in the entire game.
The shrines take all the mechanics given in previous shrines and craft completely unique ideas out of them. There were a couple I hated, but most of them I greatly enjoyed.
Boss fights
While completing these shrines, you’ll come across a bunch of really fun boss fights. Some are better than others, but these add some extra excitement to the game. A few bosses are unique, but a handful are ones you’ve already seen before. The way the game forces you to take on the bosses is also unique, but still easy if you have a lot of health.
Ancient Bridle and Saddle
What’s great about these items is that you can obtain them as soon as you get off the Great Plateau. They make exploring and getting around much easier with your horse.
The Ancient Bridle gives any horse you equip it on 2 extra spurs. The Ancient Saddle is the more interesting of the 2, as it allows you to teleport your horse to you from anywhere. You are also able to equip them onto as many horses as you own, so you don’t have to worry about losing them.
New armors
The armors you get in this DLC are also very cool. Just like in the first DLC, you need to locate a chest for each piece of armor. It’s quite fun searching for them and gives you a reason to explore areas you haven’t been to.
- Island Lobster Shirt
- Ravio’s Hood
- Zant’s Helmet
- Phantom Ganon Armor
- Royal Guard Uniform
Master Cycle Zero
The Master Cycle is a very odd addition to the Zelda franchise, but it is a fun one. Unfortunately, it kind of makes the Ancient Bridle and Saddle obsolete, as you probably won’t be using a horse much after.
The Cycle is fueled with various items found throughout the world, and it is not hard to get more items to fuel it with. It also is faster than a horse due to its constant speed and hill climbing abilities.
Stunts are also possible, as you can do short little hops on the bike. The Master Cycle also doesn’t get scared by enemies like horses can, making it better for combat. It also just looks really cool.
It’ll take you a little while to complete the whole DLC for it, but it’s a pretty awesome reward. I still think it’s odd for a Zelda game, but I love it nonetheless.