Breath of the Wild Will BOTW kill traditional 3D Zelda design?

[Azure Sage]

If by "traditional 3D design" you mean item gating and designing entire dungeons around 1 item that doesn't get used anywhere else significant, then gee I sure hope it does. Kill that dead. I don't want that to come back. Link's Awakening Switch reminded me how much I've come to actively dislike that. Even when I encounter it in other games I like, like Ys, I frown and grumble. Let me go everywhere that I can see if I'm smart enough or skilled enough to do it. Blocking me off from something like a collectible in plain sight just because I haven't progressed far enough in the story is a huge pet peeve. It's more understandable if its like, an entire area, like progressing to unlock regions, but my point still stands. I'm a huge exploration junkie and that nonsense doesn't sit right with me.

Now if you're talking a more linear narrative, sure. I'm always down for that as long as it doesn't impede my exploring. Let me go to places before they're relevant and I'm happy. Only acceptable reasons to backtrack are 1. I went there early and need to return for something new 2. I missed something the first time 3. I feel like it. Having to backtrack to grab a heart piece that has been sitting in plain sight on a cliff for 60% of the game because it wasn't accessible without a specific item is a big no-no. BotW did a fantastic job of making that sort of thing virtually non-existent.

Traditional dungeons are more than welcome to return if they are more akin to SS and are nothing like the "one item and done" routine of TP. I wanna be using multiple items in the same dungeon for various reasons. SS did a great job at this. I want items to stay relevant the entire game, no matter when you got them. I loved BotW's runes and shrines and Divine Beasts for these reasons.

I definitely think the series can benefit from blending BotW's open aspects with bigger and more linear storylines, as some others have said. I just don't wanna have to sit behind a pointless item gate for something that's only gonna sit in my inventory again.

 

[Chevywolf30]

Blocking me off from something like a collectible in plain sight just because I haven't progressed far enough in the story is a huge pet peeve.

I disagree with this. You actually touch on why later in your post:

1. I went there early and need to return for something new 2. I missed something the first time

I like having a mental notebook of stuff I need to go back and grab, it gives a better feeling of progression than a whole area being finishable the first time you go. Going back to get something a lot of times is the best way for me to find something else.

 

[WyJim]

Isometric 2D feels like 3D still compared to side scrolling 2D. The only 2D Zelda game in my opinion still is the 2nd game.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Having to backtrack to grab a heart piece that has been sitting in plain sight on a cliff for 60% of the game because it wasn't accessible without a specific item is a big no-no

sorry but you're just wrong have a nice day

 

[Turo602]

Considering we haven't had an original 3D Zelda game using the traditional Ocarina of Time formula since 2011, I think it's safe to assume it's pretty much dead. By today's gaming standards, that type of game is no longer the giant it once was and in some ways can be seen as outdated for a series like Zelda that has a certain status and reputation to uphold in the gaming industry. It's like expecting Rockstar Games to go back to making games like GTA III and Vice City after all the progress they've made since with games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption II.

We might continue to have more top down style games in between major releases simply because they're much cheaper and easier to produce and fill in that void of a bygone era, before everything got all 3D and changed the landscape of gaming forever. Despite their obvious differences, both style of 3D Zelda games are still 3D Zelda games and the point of them is to move the series forward. I just don't see them wasting time on a 3D Zelda game that exists simply to fulfill a niche. It may be a smaller game than something like Breath of the Wild, but it's still too large of an undertaking just to be niche and not move the series forward.

Breath of the Wild is very clearly the future of 3D Zelda and I think that's for the better. The entire game was essentially one giant tech demo showcasing the many ways we can interact and engage with this new Zelda engine. It quite literally laid down the foundation for the next game and taught us everything we need to know before moving forward. We could still very well see the return or evolution of the series' many traditional elements, they just weren't essential to the point they were trying to make with the first Breath of the Wild.

Nintendo did seem to take to heart the criticism we the fans had for Skyward Sword when it released and gave us Breath of the Wild, the complete polar opposite of Skyward Sword, despite how much critics loved it at the time. So maybe they've been hearing us this whole time too and making certain changes to Breath of the Wild 2 that will address our gripes. That's all we can really hope for at this point.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

There's a lot of good in BotW and in original Zelda. I think that they can both learn lessons from each other, rather than every future game being solely one or the other. BotW, while renowned for it's openness, really needed more structure. With an expanded sense of exploration comes a depleted sense of urgency and story linearity. Regular Zelda has more structure and linear story, but oftentimes it's a little too stop-and-go. If future Zelda games were two parts linear dungeon and story with more open areas and time to explore, that would be great. Let's just hope Nintendo realizes and doesn't just decide to go one way or the other.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

I would like to see 3D Zelda take more inspiration from the true classic formula, and by that I mean the very first title.

I don't think its killed anything, considering that Nintendo can easily do one Zelda title one way, and another Zelda title another way.

 

[MapelSerup]

I would like to see 3D Zelda take more inspiration from the true classic formula, and by that I mean the very first title.

Wasn't BOTW meant to return to the formula of the first title? Especially considering the original demo.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Considering we haven't had an original 3D Zelda game using the traditional Ocarina of Time formula since 2011, I think it's safe to assume it's pretty much dead.

the problem here is there's only been 1 major game since 2011

I'm certain the sequel will keep the open exploration method, but it's up in the air as to whether the next big game after will still be open world or return in some way to the old formula, of course we're years and years away from that

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Wasn't BOTW meant to return to the formula of the first title? Especially considering the original demo.

I don't know who keeps saying that but they're structurally nothing alike. The only thing they share is the open world

 

[MapelSerup]

I don't know who keeps saying that but they're structurally nothing alike. The only thing they share is the open world

The developers themselves say that...

"Our mission in developing this new Zelda game for Wii U is quite plainly to re-think the conventions of Zelda. I'm referring to the expectation that the player is supposed to complete dungeons in a certain order, or that you're supposed to play by yourself. The things we've come to take for granted recently. We want to set aside these conventions, get back to basics and create a newborn Zelda so that the players can best enjoy the real essence of the franchise." -Eiji Aonuma

“I wanted to create a game where the user could truly experience freedom in this play field, and a sense of adventure again and again, as they freely navigate through it,” Fujibayashi said through translator. “When I started to think this way, the NES Zelda came to mind. Every time the screen scrolled, there was a new discovery to be made.”

"One of the main things we wanted to do was go back to the open-world concept of the original 'Zelda' games and design with that in mind." — Derrik J. Lang

“...as the series progressed, there were more added features. As we started doing that, we realized that the game was becoming more and more sequential. We really wanted to go back to the original spirit of Zelda, which is freedom. In past Zelda titles, there was a tendency for NPCs to explain everything about the world. We went back to the origins of Zelda, where [as you start the game,] you don’t know who you are, what you are supposed to do." -Shigeru Miyamoto

 

[Turo602]

the problem here is there's only been 1 major game since 2011

I'm certain the sequel will keep the open exploration method, but it's up in the air as to whether the next big game after will still be open world or return in some way to the old formula, of course we're years and years away from that

While that's true and all, I highly doubt they went through all the effort they did with Breath of the Wild just to one day go back to the N64 way of making Zelda games. I mean, we already know what the next Zelda game is, so that makes it 2 games. Like I said, it's more likely they'll reincorporate those elements than outright ditch the formula they have established. Could be as early as the next game, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Wasn't BOTW meant to return to the formula of the first title? Especially considering the original demo.

That's what they've said. Breath of the Wild was a game that focused on providing less guidance and restrictive handholding, going back to the more open ended nature of the original game.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

The developers themselves say that...

There are similar elements, but it's weird to hear that the spirit of zelda is freedom

 

[twilitfalchion]

Adventure games are in no small part defined by the freedom they offer as you journey through the worlds the player is given to experience. Considering how the majority of Zelda games feature overworlds that the player can explore at their leisure (going back to the first game, specifically), it makes sense that one major factor defining Zelda is a sense of freedom.