The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - An Open World Adventure

00:00:00.720[Music]

00:00:08.120every open-world game is different

00:00:10.980because each game uses its gigantic map

00:00:13.680for a different purpose maybe it's to

00:00:16.710give the player options in how they

00:00:18.749approach their objectives perhaps it's a

00:00:21.449stage for a shifting political drama or

00:00:23.880a sandbox so the player can blow off

00:00:26.730theme between missions and sometimes

00:00:29.069it's just a way to jump a big checklist

00:00:31.259of content on the player for the Legend

00:00:34.230of Zelda breadth of the wild Nintendo

00:00:36.629used an open world for a very specific

00:00:38.879purpose to let players go on an

00:00:41.579adventure and in this video I want to

00:00:44.219look at how Nintendo used and ignored

00:00:46.350different bits of open-world design to

00:00:49.109make a fantasy Kingdom that you'll want

00:00:50.820to explore survive and conquer

00:00:58.940for starters Nintendo gives players an

00:01:01.920enormous amount of freedom in how they

00:01:04.019approach the game there are only two

00:01:06.390things you have to do in breath of the

00:01:08.280wild after all finish your tutorial and

00:01:10.410fight Ganon everything in between is up

00:01:12.990to you you can do the four major

00:01:15.120dungeons out of order or not at all you

00:01:18.000can finish as many shrines as you like

00:01:19.770track down as many memories as you want

00:01:21.720and it's up to you whether you take

00:01:23.520Link's famous sword into the final

00:01:25.650battle or a wooden mop

00:01:27.380[Music]

00:01:33.900what this means is that you carve your

00:01:36.850own path through the world which is a

00:01:39.250pretty important factor in an adventure

00:01:41.110link story is your story defined by what

00:01:44.770you do and what you don't do as you

00:01:47.140explore Hyrule this is very different to

00:01:49.720previous Zelda games but also to most

00:01:52.120other open-world games which feature a

00:01:54.520rather linear story made up of mandatory

00:01:56.890main quests where your only choice is to

00:01:59.680either follow it or delay following it

00:02:02.440and aside from limiting the players

00:02:05.470freedom this often has the unfortunate

00:02:07.390side-effect of providing a disjointed

00:02:10.450story where you desperately need to

00:02:12.340track down your kidnapped son but you'll

00:02:14.500get to that just as soon as you explore

00:02:16.390the entirety of Boston but I think Zelda

00:02:19.690gets around this in a clever way you can

00:02:22.870take on Ganon at any point but because

00:02:25.450you'll likely get killed before you can

00:02:27.580even approach Hyrule Castle you're not

00:02:29.890delaying your showdown with the big bad

00:02:31.959you're training for it which means

00:02:34.510everything you do in the game from

00:02:36.400collecting heart pieces to boosting your

00:02:38.890equipment slots to activating the divine

00:02:41.110beast is in preparation for that fight

00:02:44.370Zelda shatters that barrier between

00:02:47.110following the story and doing side

00:02:49.540activities because everything you do is

00:02:51.970relevant well almost everything

00:02:55.800another thing Zelda does differently to

00:02:58.570most other open-world games is in how

00:03:01.209much information it gives you about the

00:03:03.190world which is to say hardly any at the

00:03:06.550start your map is completely blank and

00:03:08.530you need to climb up and activate these

00:03:10.630towers to fill in the gaps but unlike

00:03:13.090the towers in Assassin's Creed and Far

00:03:15.250Cry games

00:03:16.030this doesn't litter your map with icons

00:03:18.430for nearby activities side quests and

00:03:21.280collectibles instead you have to find

00:03:24.340all of that stuff yourself and this

00:03:26.350means you are led through the world not

00:03:28.269by icons and waypoints but by your own

00:03:30.940curiosity you might see something

00:03:33.400interesting on top of a mountain and

00:03:35.470decide to hike up there you might choose

00:03:37.930to climb up a tower and use your magic

00:03:40.299iPad to survey the landscape

00:03:42.540before dropping down pins and stamps to

00:03:45.390mark locations you want to check out or

00:03:48.269you might scour the map screen for

00:03:50.579interesting place names and structures

00:03:52.650and then go find out what's there

00:03:54.739importantly there's probably something

00:03:57.060good

00:03:57.659any collectibles you might find are

00:03:59.640genuinely helpful especially after your

00:04:02.129325th sword just broke and any shrines

00:04:05.040you might find provide genuinely unique

00:04:07.799puzzles instead of the usual copy and

00:04:10.260paste side content we see an open-world

00:04:12.390game or you might find something that

00:04:15.239tells you about the world of Hyrule

00:04:16.919because most of this game's storytelling

00:04:19.410is done through the ancient ruins giant

00:04:22.049bones Forgotten battlefields and other

00:04:24.510bits of the environment it's also

00:04:26.820important that you can always go where

00:04:29.310your curiosity leads you

00:04:30.900I was playing horizon zero dawn the

00:04:33.330other day and was intrigued by these

00:04:35.039giant robot bones up on the side of a

00:04:37.320mountain but when I tried to get there I

00:04:39.360was greeted by a cliff side too steep to

00:04:41.729climb and an actual invisible wall

00:04:44.160bummer

00:04:45.260Zelda though not only offers complete

00:04:48.120freedom but a generous climbing system

00:04:50.370means you can clamber up any wall

00:04:52.199provided you have enough stamina or can

00:04:54.210find spots to rest by the way Zelda

00:04:57.000makes it really fun to traverse Hyrule

00:04:59.190whether that's climbing riding a horse

00:05:01.470paragliding down from a tall tower or

00:05:03.840best of all surfing on your shield

00:05:06.590exploration is always encouraged when

00:05:08.639it's fun to move around anyway maybe

00:05:11.430that invisible wall in horizon was to

00:05:13.500stop me from coming across a mad robot

00:05:15.840dinosaur that was not yet ready to fight

00:05:17.789but rest of the wild shows that letting

00:05:20.340players get pummeled by killer enemies

00:05:22.380is no bad thing in the game's opening

00:05:24.870hours I stumbled upon this sin torch at

00:05:27.810a Lionel and the fight didn't exactly go

00:05:30.720well

00:05:34.889immediately the world no longer felt

00:05:37.389like a playground to enjoy but a

00:05:39.249daunting world to survive much more

00:05:41.830conducive to an adventure and it's not

00:05:44.169just big enemies but the world itself

00:05:46.240feels out to get you you'll need to

00:05:48.849contend with harsh climates like

00:05:51.069ice-cold lakes volcanic areas that burn

00:05:53.650up within weapons and deserts that flip

00:05:55.870between hot and cold and weather affects

00:05:57.849you too such as rain that makes surfaces

00:06:00.039too slick to climb and lightning storms

00:06:02.139that well

00:06:07.130but the thing about adversity is how

00:06:09.680good it feels when you overcome it I

00:06:11.720return to that Coliseum 50 hours later

00:06:14.300now is better equipment more hearts and

00:06:16.760a stronger understanding of the combat

00:06:18.530system and destroyed that lynal Zelda

00:06:21.440games have often explored the themes of

00:06:23.330growing up and becoming a hero but never

00:06:25.820quite like this rest of the wild also

00:06:29.840uses those tough enemies as well as

00:06:31.580steep walls and harsh climates to

00:06:33.530discourage you from exploring the map in

00:06:35.300one go and immediately seeing everything

00:06:37.340the game has to offer by withholding

00:06:39.560bits of the world in this fashion you'll

00:06:41.900still be discovering surprises including

00:06:43.820entire towns and different biomes well

00:06:46.760past the point where other open-world

00:06:48.740games would start to feel plain and

00:06:50.840predictable let me just go back to the

00:06:54.830map marketing for a second versus a wild

00:06:56.930does actually use some of the typical

00:06:58.970open world style wayfinding the main

00:07:01.790dungeon quests for example are marked on

00:07:04.280your map with yellow dots though

00:07:06.080thankfully the game avoids the little

00:07:08.090dotted line instead asking you to find

00:07:10.340your own route to one of the four dots

00:07:12.050and no doubt getting lost and distracted

00:07:14.300along the way you can also turn them off

00:07:16.550which I'd recommend unlike some games

00:07:18.770Zelda is perfectly playable without this

00:07:21.320help as characters give directions the

00:07:23.630map features place names and most Forks

00:07:25.940in the road feature signpost but that's

00:07:28.940just the main quest and with all of the

00:07:31.100side missions Nintendo decided to ditch

00:07:33.710these navigational aids altogether and

00:07:36.020instead the secret side quests and

00:07:38.690shrine quests can only be found by

00:07:41.330following scraps of information here's

00:07:43.790an example these two lads are talking

00:07:45.920about a treasure and they give me a clue

00:07:47.690to find it

00:07:48.500the little twin steps over the Little

00:07:50.930River my cave rests above that rivers

00:07:53.810source so I wander around find a sign

00:07:57.260pointing towards the little brother

00:07:59.120bridge sounds about right follow the

00:08:01.640river to its source

00:08:02.780climb up beside the waterfall and then

00:08:04.850uncover the hidden stash get in

00:08:08.320by following these rumors as well as

00:08:10.690song lyrics paintings and riddles you're

00:08:13.510asked to really explore the world and

00:08:16.060take in environmental details that in

00:08:18.280another game you might blow straight

00:08:20.320past Plus finding these solutions is

00:08:23.110always more rewarding if you ask me than

00:08:25.240simply following waypoints and [ __ ]

00:08:27.700trails if all of this sounds a bit

00:08:31.450familiar it's because I talked about

00:08:33.100almost all of this stuff last month in

00:08:35.710my video about the very first Zelda game

00:08:38.440breath of the wild features more than

00:08:40.390just old men spectacle rock and centaurs

00:08:43.900but also the freedom mystery and general

00:08:46.960standoffish design of Zelda 1 though you

00:08:50.140are going to have to turn off the HUD

00:08:51.910and objective markers to really get that

00:08:54.400experience but Nintendo didn't just look

00:08:57.550backwards to make this game it also

00:08:59.260looked outwards with the game's creators

00:09:01.450saying they research games like The

00:09:03.280Witcher and minecraft and you can see

00:09:06.160elements from loads of open-world games

00:09:08.590in breath of the wild the quirk puzzles

00:09:11.170feel like the Riddler trophies in the

00:09:13.000arkham games cooking to prepare for a

00:09:15.640big battle brings to mind the witch's

00:09:17.680alchemy smashing or is totally minecraft

00:09:20.530and breath of the wild captures Skyrim's

00:09:23.170wanderlust and horse bugs but you can

00:09:27.490tell that Nintendo used these ideas with

00:09:29.770careful consideration deciding which bit

00:09:32.320of design to use and which bits before

00:09:34.180go because an open-world isn't just an

00:09:36.640excuse to chuck in loads of random

00:09:38.830features and hope they all stick

00:09:40.390together like any good game everything

00:09:43.120should work together to contribute to a

00:09:45.340specific experience and in the new zelda

00:09:49.060the level of freedom you provided the

00:09:51.220focus on exploration the use of cryptic

00:09:53.710clues the daunting enemies and the

00:09:55.780consistence of prizes all add up to give

00:09:58.600breadth of the wild a truly adventurous

00:10:01.390spark

00:10:03.240[Music]

00:10:08.060hey everyone thanks for watching gM PK

00:10:11.250is funded by everyone on my patreon

00:10:14.130including these top-tier supporters if

00:10:16.860you're a longtime viewer of my channel

00:10:19.200you might be surprised to hear me praise

00:10:21.240a gigantic open-world game after making

00:10:24.209videos about the joy of exploring much

00:10:26.070smaller more compact worlds like Batman

00:10:28.800Arkham Asylum and Deus Ex mankind

00:10:30.570divided but in that Batman video what I

00:10:33.930said was game environments should be

00:10:36.000measured by how much meaningful content

00:10:38.250is inside rather than in square meters

00:10:40.350and Nintendo is one of the few companies

00:10:42.990alongside Rockstar and sometimes

00:10:45.300Bethesda who are actually capable of

00:10:47.579filling a massive world with unique and

00:10:50.010interesting stuff plus the game uses its

00:10:53.310space to make your adventurous tracks

00:10:55.380more epic and provide those

00:10:57.060all-important moments of quiet and

00:10:59.250introspection during travel so like

00:11:02.670everything in game design the size of a

00:11:04.740world comes down to what sort of

00:11:06.720experience the creators are going for

00:11:08.990anyway at the risk of turning this

00:11:11.579channel into Zelda makers toolkit my

00:11:14.250next video will be a Faust Keys episode

00:11:16.560on Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks

00:11:18.750and yes I will finish that series by

00:11:21.360talking about the dungeons in breadth of

00:11:23.279the wild and then I will never talk

00:11:25.350about zelda ever again until the next

00:11:28.290one