The world is going crazy for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and it’s totally justified: The combination of new powers that give the player a lot of creativity, with an open and expansive world, full of things to do with those powers, resulted in a magical experience.
The truth is that, the Zelda saga was never the same since the release of Breath of the Wild in 2017. That title revolutionized the whole franchise by turning Hyrule into a true open world and now, Tears of the Kingdom perfected this format. Eiji Aonuma confirmed that this format is here to stay, and it’s possible that we won’t go back to the limited maps of previous entries.
The important statement from the producer of The Legend of Zelda
Eiji Aonuma is the acclaimed producer of the entire The Legend of Zelda series for years. If someone knows what will happen in the future of the franchise, it’s him. In an interview with Game Informer site, Aonuma talked about the open world structure that they introduced in Breath of the Wild, and how it set a precedent for the whole franchise, similar to how Ocarina of Time had already marked a before and after in 1998.
“With Ocarina of Time, you could say that it created a kind of format for the next titles of the franchise that came out later. But, in a way, that was limiting us a bit” Aonuma said, making a small retrospective on the past of The Legend of Zelda, “While we always try to give the player a lot of freedom, there were some things in that format that didn’t allow us to give them so much freedom”
It should be remembered that, being the first game of the saga in 3D, Ocarina of Time laid the foundations for this new dimension. In that title, Hyrule was a “Hub World”, a semi-open map where you could visit a couple of interesting places. This format was repeated in all its successors for Nintendo home consoles: Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. But this map was never a true open world. Especially when compared to other titles of those years, such as the Grand Theft Auto saga or the The Elder Scrolls saga. It should be clarified that this format was more than acceptable for that time, but inevitably, the franchise had to evolve.
“Of course, the series continued to evolve after Ocarina of Time, but I think it’s fair to say that, now that we’ve reached Breath of the Wild, we can allow a new type of game more open and with more freedom” referring to how influential was the 2017 release that launched the Nintendo Switch, “Yes, I think it’s correct to say that we created a new type of format from which the series can proceed” finally confirming that yes, The Legend of Zelda will continue to present a huge open world from now on.
Aonuma’s reasoning is 100% justified: Breath of the Wild, and now, Tears of the Kingdom are two super-successful video games. They were praised by critics, loved by fans and, most importantly, sold millions of copies. It would be very ignorant on Nintendo’s part to waste the positive reception of this open world. This new freedom of play not only changed The Legend of Zelda, but also the entire industry. If it weren’t for Breath of the Wild, there would be no popular games like Genshin Impact, Elden Ring or Sonic Frontiers.
Who knows? Maybe someday The Legend of Zelda will go back to using the format of more linear worlds from past entries. In fact, you could say they already did with the remake of Link’s Awakening in 2019 and the remaster of Skyward Sword in 2021. But as for the main titles that will come after Tears of the Kingdom, it is confirmed that they will be in the format of open worlds where the player can decide where to go and what to do, with complete freedom. The best part is that, as new consoles with more powerful technology arrive, Aonuma and his team will be able to expand and improve these fun worlds.
About The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:
In addition to the vast lands of Hyrule, the latest installment of the legendary Legend of Zelda series will take you to the skies! We hope that Link’s huge adventure will start again when you land on the new adventures in Tears Of The Kingdom.
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