It’s not often that a piece of media comes around that redefines how people think about its genre. Some older game genres like first-person shooters have seen multiple titles like this, includingDOOM,Half-Life 2, andCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The open-world sandbox genre has certainly seen a few titles like this, particularlyGrand Theft Auto: San AndreasandGrand Theft Auto 5, but it’s easy to forget how relevant these titles were now that most AAA games are trending toward larger worlds. Even so, there is still the occasional title that rises above the rest, and one of the biggest in recent memory isThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Released for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U on March 3. 2017,Breath of the Wildhad a lot riding on it. It was supposed to release earlier as the Wii U’s newLegend of Zelda, but a combination of factors pushed it back to the Switch’s launch. The Wii U’s hardware and software sales were falling short of expectations, and fan reception of Nintendo games was becoming lukewarm. Fortunately, Nintendo managed to strike big with the best-sellingZeldagame ever, which also gave the Switch a strong start. While there are a lot of different opinions on the game’s changes toZelda’s formula and the mechanics it introduced, the consensus is thatBreath of the Wildraised the standard for open-world games. Looking back on the genre’s entries since then makes it clear that this was no idle declaration.
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What Breath of the Wild Did for the Open World Genre
One ofBreath of the Wild’s greatest achievements was constructing an open world that felt full of things to do. Far too many games fall into the trap of making a giant world that ends up feeling too small thanks to a lack of diverse activities. This can come in the form of just not having enough content to justify an open world, but it more often concerns the player getting bored with the repetitive tasks filling up the map.Breath of the Wildsolves this through bespoke design, hand-crafting many small puzzles and placing them everywhere as shrines, Korok puzzles, and quests. The malignedradio tower mechanic from Ubisoft gameswas also given a facelift, with every tower Link climbs posing a different challenge. Even the mechanics themselves were detailed enough to allow for experimentation after tens of hours of playtime.
Breath of the Wildalso took great pains to both direct the player toward the many tasks dotted throughout the landscape and not put too much pressure on them to do anything. Designing basic geography that subtly leads the player through points to fight enemies, gather materials, and enter a shrine in the span of a few minutes is daunting enough. That the entire game can entice players toward new content is stunning, and shows that there is still room for open-world games to improve. Combining that withZelda’s usual brain-teasing puzzlescreated a game that was easy to simply get lost in for hours, with no barriers in the player’s way but the ones they decide on.
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What Other Games Took From Breath of the Wild
Not every game can aspire to the same level of minute design as a Nintendo game, but they can still learn lots of little lessons fromBotW. Spacing out and leading players to optional content have been given more attention, giving titles likeDying Light 2andElden Ringthe approach they need to fill every inch of their worlds with discoveries. Many mechanics have made their way to other games, and spiritual successors likeGenshin ImpactandImmortals Fenyx Risingwouldn’t have executed them so well withoutZeldacoming first. Nothing quite likeBotW’s open-ended main quest design has been attempted, but there is a growing acceptance toward letting players dive deep into territory they aren’t strong enough for yet.
However, if there’s one lesson that the entire game industry took away fromBreath of the Wild, it’s that gliding is fun. Paragliders began cropping up everywhere within a couple of years ofBotW, as the mechanic was one of the smoothest and fastest ways to travel. Just in the past few months,climbing-heavy games likeHorizon: Forbidden WestandDying Light 2are making a point of giving players their gliders after some manner of prologue. EvenPokemon Legends: Arceusopens up the ability for trainers to fly freely throughout the environment.Grand Theft Autofans have known the importance of air travel for a long time, but it wasZeldathat helped make it convenient.
Breath of the Wild Will Remain A Name to Respect
Thus far, no game has quite matchedBreath of the Wildin the eyes of the gaming public, but several have tried.Elden Ringis the latest and perhaps also the closest, filling its open world with a huge number of different sights and experiences while making time for smaller dungeons and collectibles.Red Dead Redemption 2andDeath Strandinghave seemingly usedZeldaas a measure for mechanics to exclude, refining their core experience of realistic movement.Ghost of TsushimatookBotW’s many approaches to combat and innovations in guiding the player to heart, and even theAssassin’s Creedseries added aZelda-tinged flavor to its exploration afterAssassin’s Creed Origins, de-emphasizing the series' prior stealth and platforming.BotWwill be pointed to as an inspiration for years to come.
Games likeBreath of the Wildwill only come around once in a while, but players will always be able to hold up the game as a name to beat, much like other genre-redefining games. Things will get interestingonceBreath of the Wild 2reemerges, as it will invite constant comparisons to its predecessor. It isn’t clear what Nintendo’s plans for futureZeldaor open-world games are right now, but it may be best to move away fromBreath of the Wild’s formula for a while to avoid too many comparisons.Breath of the Wildisn’t leaving the game industry’s headspace any time soon, and with discoveries still emerging from faithful players, it’s earned that level of appreciation.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis available now on Switch and Wii U.
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