The Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom open world format will lead the path for future Zelda games. As Nintendo's Zelda developer Eiji Aonuma states, Tears of the Kingdom offers a kind of freedom that they want to maintain in the future of the series.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally here and has already captivated fans around the world. This game is a true masterpiece and it has really exceeded all of our expectations for a Breath of the Wild sequel. Both games offer a kind of freedom unlike any Zelda game before.
When Breath of the Wild was released in 2017, it opened up a new format for Zelda games because it was so different from anything we've seen. Eiji Aonuma has now claimed that this format should be maintained in future Zelda games.
Zelda: TotK Format In Future Zelda Games – Interview With Eiji Aonuma
Those among you, who have played Zelda: Ocarina of Time might know where I'm going with this. Ocarina of Time was the first breaking point in the Zelda series, Breath of the Wild was the second.
As the first ever 3D Zelda game, OoT was originally the one to lead the path for games like Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword. Much like Ocarina of Time was the first to do things differently, Breath of the Wild has also started a new era for the Zelda series, giving players more freedom than ever before.
In a recent interview at Gameinformer, Eiji Aonuma talked about this new format from a developers' perspective, and how he thinks that this is what the series should proceed with.
According to Aonuma, with games like Ocarina of Time, the developers were restricted in how much freedom they could give the players.
[...] There were certain things that format didn't really afford in giving people freedom. Of course, the series continued to evolve after Ocarina of Time, but I think it's also fair to say now that we've arrived at Breath of the Wild and the new type of more open play and freedom that it affords. ~ Eiji Aonuma (via Gameinformer)
The immense freedom that we had in Breath of the Wild has just been multiplied in Tears of the Kingdom. The ability to fuse together your own weapons and to build all kinds of vehicles is giving us a whole new way of gameplay, where every playthrough is totally different. Even in a simple shrine there are countless ways of solving it, the game doesn't tell you how to do anything, you can find your own path. Eiji Aonuma also describes this as the excitement of cheating.
When you think about people... cheating is fun! [laughs] They like it! Finding that shortcut is enjoyable. People will look for an easy way to do something if they can avoid struggling. ~ Eiji Aonuma (via Gameinformer)
No bridge? No problem LMAO#Zelda #TOTK https://t.co/0EB30uagYU pic.twitter.com/B77qIuOiYs
— xMettyu | Naas Ball 2023 (@zMettyu) May 15, 2023
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If you've already played Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , I'm sure you're loving it as much as we do. Although this game has just been released, it also makes us think about the future of the series... Will there be a Breath of the Wild 3? Or maybe Nintendo will start something entirely new?
What we know is that Breath of the Wild has really stared a new era for Zelda games. The immense amount of freedom and the way of exploring this true open world is now indispensable in the future of Zelda games.
the new type of more open play and freedom that it affords [...] has created a new kind of format for the series to proceed from. ~ Eiji Aonuma (via Gameinformer)
Did you know that there is a special Nintendo Switch Oled model with the design of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? It looks absolutely stunning and you can even get it on Amazon right now , feel free to check it out!