Aonuma: Open World Will Be Zelda's New Standard

[MW7]

I would like to see a similar style game with more traditional dungeons, Zelda items, and magic/abilities. To allow for an open world I think granting access to most essential items early on is necessary, but granting abilities at the end of a dungeon like BOTW did is a good idea. You could have abilities/magic like Din's Fire, swimming underwater, and transformations in addition to the kind of things BOTW had. You would receive essential items at the beginning of the game and other items that are beneficial from main dungeons.

I loved the physics based puzzle solving in BOTW. I think the next game could benefit from more traditional Zelda items like the Hookshot/Clawshot, Cane of Somaria, Mirror Shield, Dominion Rod, Iron Boots, etc. Each of these stuck out in my mind as items that could also be used in physics or environment based puzzles.

I like the direction that BOTW took the series, and I think it provides a great foundation from which the series can continue to improve. I think the next step would be incorporating elements from prior games in the series as well as newer elements that fit into the general spirit of an open world Zelda game.

 

[Cartoonmaniac]

I definitely love BotW, and it is one of my favorite open-world games, but it doesn't feel like Zelda to me. The older Zelda games, such as WW, had smaller worlds to explore (although there was still a lot to do) but they also had great stories, characters, music, and dungeons. I feel that making the main focus of the next Zelda games open-world will cause the series to fall into the same category as series like The Elder Scrolls, Assassin's Creed, or other open-world games, instead of keeping Zelda unique and special.

 

[YIGAhim]

I as well, like the food idea MUCH more than the heart idea, although, think they should add hunger to the next Zelda games, rather than just eating when you take damage. I do hope they make at least ONE more linear Zelda game, though...



I think I prefer linear

 

[Aku]

I'm glad they sound like they might be focusing on open world and non-linear games now, because I think the series really needed that change and return to the older adventure style (judging by the very enthusiastic response BOTW got.) To some dismayed by a departure from OoT style linearity it might not feel like 'real Zelda,' but is it any more 'real Zelda' then the linearity that supplanted the initial open world design?

 

[Wiggum]

In terms of "open world" vs. "linear progression", and considering "storytelling" ... you all should realize that you can't really tell a story when you toss someone into an open world and let them proceed in whatever direction, order, sequence, etc that they want, right?

In a linear game, you can start the game with a little back-story, and tell the rest of the story during the gameplay ... the game and story are both something that happen in linear fashion, and lend themselves to each other to work together properly.

When you have an open world, all you can really do is have a bigger back-story, an ending (for whatever the end-game boss and trigger are) ... and in between the start/finish you can have a few story-related tid-bits during gameplay that can't really be timelined or sequential because there's no way to know when you may encounter those experiences.

That's why BotW is the way it is, and why people who love the stories are so upset about it.

I'm the kind of person that really couldn't care at all about "the story". I never have, and never did ... because regardless of the story, you're still Link, you're still going from here to there, doing the same basic stuff, fighting this dude, solving that puzzle, rescuing the princess, saving the world, etc. It's the same "gift" no matter how you wrap it up ... and that's all it is ... wrapping paper. Not trying to poo-poo on the whole story idea for those of you who really like it, but rather just explaining how I see it.

Music ... that's another issue entirely. In previous Zelda games, there weren't very many audible "clues" that were necessary for gameplay. In BotW, there are TONS of times when very subtle audible clues make a huge difference to the gameplay experience. If they had blaring music playing over all that like in previous games, it would hide all the environmental sounds and audible clues, thus destroying an essential part of the open world environment. I'm not sure how they could have handled it any better. They play background music when you're in towns and other places where environmental clues/cues are not required. Out in the world, exploring, you need to be able to hear what's around you.

Having said all that, I enjoy both styles of games ... and hope Nintendo finds a way to combine the traditional linear fashion with an open world. Perhaps have a progression of smaller open worlds, where you have to "complete" the first open world to get to the next ... or keep one huge open world where there are certain places you just can't get to until you accomplish certain things. Who knows ...

 

[Neonic]

I think having inaccessible areas adds to the feeling of mystery and magic to the games. Having everything accessible and so open in BotW actually made the world seem smaller than it was, in the end. I don't think there's anything wrong with having more linear, closed off worlds like in previous Zelda's.