Summary
The Legend of Zeldais a franchise that depends on exploration, as adventure is at the core of its gameplay. From the first game on the Nintendo Entertainment System to this year’sTears of the Kingdomon the Nintendo Switch, Hyrule has proven to be a land that can be portrayed in a diverse set of ways. As the series entered the realm of non-lineargameplay withBreath of the Wild, exploring open worlds felt like such a natural progression for the series. Moving forward, however, it will be interesting to see how Nintendo will continue to take the franchise to new levels.
The evolution of each mainline game inThe Legend of Zeldaseries is a testament to how developers find new ways to keep the 38-year-old franchise fresh. Yet, the sheer comprehensiveness that the last two entries have had will give any future entry an even higher standard to live up to.
Tears Of The Kingdom’s Expansion Of Breath Of The Wild
DespiteBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom’s graphical similarities, the latter has undergone tons of improvement to truly cement itself as a sequel. For starters, Link has access to a plethora of new abilities, despite theloss of his Sheikah Slate. He can Fuse items with materials that can be found throughout the overworld, and use the Ultrahand to move items with ease to create practical items such as bridges and vehicles.
Most notably, however, players can now explore what liesunderneath Hyrule with The Depths. It parallels the top of Hyrule in an inverted way but essentially acts as an entirely new open world to explore. It’s one of the more challenging parts of the game, yet its traversal is incredibly rewarding. The addition of new maps to explore in a non-linear manner sets a demanding precedent for the inevitable next game in the franchise, particularly ifBreath of the Wild’s graphical style is abandoned.
How Previous Legend Of Zelda Games Can Act As A Blueprint Moving Forward
Previous entries in theLegend of Zeldaseries have had access to dedicated areas that act as a hub for Link’s exploration.The Wind Waker’s Great Sea andThe Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule Fieldare examples of maps that the player can explore in detail, not just to progress further in the game.
For future entries in the franchise, older locations within Hyrule can be revisited and updated, similarly to The Depths inTears of the Kingdom. Traversing The Great Sea in particular was a massive shakeup for the franchise, yet it would be fascinating if water exploration was revisited on that scale and modernized to the open world genre.
The Dark World inA Link to the Pastis similar to The Depths in that they are both bizarre mirrors of Hyrule. Returning to that framework with more non-linearity could work well,asTwilight Princesswas able to recreate the iconic parallel following the main themes and atmosphere of the game.The Legend of Zeldafranchise has so many iconic, complex locations that haven’t yet been explored on a deeper level, which could be a great opportunity for Nintendo to tackle in the series' next entry.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
