![]() As an open-world game, it was, if anything, even more mold breaking. As a Zelda game, Breath of the Wild was revolutionary, a refreshingly unfettered take on a series that had previously toyed only with panoramic space (see Hyrule Field in 1998’s Ocarina of Time or the choppy seas of 2002’s The Wind Waker). In the six long years since Breath of the Wild’s release (a veritable lifetime in the fast-moving, technology-driven world of video games), it’s become clear that the game was a watershed-not quite the anno Domini of open-world design ( Grand Theft Auto III takes that crown) but a reset both critics and players were clamoring for.įew would have expected such sweeping innovation from a franchise that, more than 30 years into its existence, was widely lauded yet also conservatively structured. Nintendo rarely releases direct sequels to Zelda games, but it feels fitting for Tears to borrow Breath of the Wild’s world, considering how pervasive the 2017 blockbuster’s influence has been. In this version of Hyrule, almost anything goes.įriday marks the arrival of Tears of the Kingdom, the long-anticipated sequel set in (mostly) the same sandbox as Breath of the Wild. On the other, systems and mechanics that combine in such a way that they both react physically to the player and seem to exist independently of them, alternately inspiring awe and glee and making a virtual setting feel truly alive. On the one hand, a sense of adventure that has few peers in video games: wanderlust, dread, the sublime, all achieved within a vast, meticulously designed open world. This dichotomy sums up so much of what’s special about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Poetry has been interrupted by a ruthless, hilarious act of God. Link is immediately toast, the hearts that symbolize his life wiped out. The cracks draw closer before one bolts down the center of the screen onto the game’s elf-like hero and his steed. Then rain starts to fall, moody clouds swelling above Link and lightning cracking in the distance. An image likely etched into a million minds: Link atop a horse galloping through a field of swaying grass, light glinting as a delicate piano score chimes in the background. The player, their four-legged companion, and the world are synchronized in a rare kind of concert.
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