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What constitutes an open world in Zelda?

which of these are "open world games"?

  • ocarina of time

    Votes: 6 31.6%
  • breath of the wild

    Votes: 19 100.0%
  • wind waker

    Votes: 10 52.6%
  • a Link between worlds

    Votes: 4 21.1%
  • Zelda 1

    Votes: 12 63.2%
  • skyward sword

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Twilight princess

    Votes: 6 31.6%
  • triforce heroes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19

Uwu_Oocoo2

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I think Botw and Zelda 1 are both obviously open world. You go where you want, when you want to or die trying. That's open field in its purest form.

People who are voting for wind waker but not ocarina: what's the difference?
WW is in my opinion a sort of middle ground. It's more linear than games like Botw but not to the extent where it is a linear game. The difference is about where you can go. While a game like Oot has progression based on where you are in the story, WW (while it has some of this) is mostly item progression. You can go where you want when you want to. Sometimes you can't do much there yet, but it's like in Zelda 1 where you can't get to certain places without, say, the raft. In that way WW is still more open than the other mostly progression blocked games.
 

Chevywolf30

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The 4 I voted for and my thoughts on them:

BotW: The most open one. You can go pretty much anywhere and do anything right from the drop of the green flag off of the Plateau.

WW: Very open, even moreso than BotW in a way because you can go anywhere from the start pretty much, but you can't really do much in some places without items, like Oocoo said

TP: This one is a bit more limited, but once you finish part one (Get the Master Sword) it's a pretty open game, although there are a few more areas to unlock, like Snowhead.

OoT: Can I give half of a vote? I didn't really want to vote this one, but in a way it felt wrong not to. You're pretty limited in this one, mainly by the owl and story limitations, but also there's stuff like the longshot to get into Gerudo Desert.
 

Uwu_Oocoo2

Joy is in video games and colored pencils
ZD Legend
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Does Zelda 1's requirement of items to access certain dungeons or secrets not change this?
The difference here has to do with direction. Both Botw and Zelda 1 have that aspect of not having a set destination and being able to go anywhere you want within your ability. Zelda 1 dungeons being item-blocked is in my opinion equivalent to not being able to go to Hebra because you don't have any warm clothes or heat potions. If there's somewhere you cant reach, you go somewhere else until you can. Either way there's nothing guiding you through step by step other than a general idea of I-can't-get-here-yet.
 
Honestly, reading the responses in this thread made me appreciate just how much freedom Zelda 1 gave to the player over 35 years ago. While some of the dungeon locations are extremely obscure and can feel unfair, its entire design plays into exploring every bit of the overworld, which is so different than many games at the time. While the structure that A Link to the Past introduced to the series made it more accessible, it definitely sacrificed that freedom that the original had and that only truly came back in Breath of the Wild. I will say that despite being linear in the main quest, the games that used the ALttP formula still had a lot to offer off the beaten path in terms of hidden collectibles and caves, so going for 100% definitely makes all Zelda games more open than simply completing the story.
 

Mikey the Moblin

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The difference in votes between skyward sword and twilight princess is so peculiar

The only conclusion drawn is that breath of the wild is an open world game

Wind waker and Zelda 1 getting a similar number of votes makes sense to an extent. I wish there was a way to know whether people voted for one thing but not another since I'm guessing people who voted for wind waker or Zelda 1 tended not to vote for the other but I have no way to prove it
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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I only voted for Breath of the Wild and Zelda 1. I think some other titles on this list qualify as at least semi-open worlds, but they have gated areas at points for whatever reason and that prevents them from being truly "open", at least open by my definition.

I think definitions of what constitutes an open world might vary from person to person. Personally I define it as a world that offers a majority of itself very early in the game, with barely any limits on where you can travel. You can explore the majority of the map in Zelda 1 as soon as you start the game, sure you might die if you go too far and come across powerful enemies, but aside from that there is nothing stopping you from doing that exploring.

Breath of the Wild is the same, aside from the short tutorial like area that the Great Plateau serves as, it's world is completely available to explore right from the start.

I think of The Wind Waker as a semi-open world, the problem is it takes a long time to break out of being stuck in the scripted path that doesn't finally give you free reign until after the Forest Haven (I can't really remember if the KoRL gets onto Link if he doesn't follow a path straight to Greatfish Isle). Anyway, the point is by time you finally can sail to your heart's desire, it's taken too much time for the game to set up what I think a completely open-world game should offer. There are also other linear paths you get stuck on, like not being able to leave Outset until you get Nayru's Pearl from Jabun.
 

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