The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builds upon the groundbreaking open world design of 2017's Breath of the Wild, and the creative leads behind the sequel have seemingly confirmed that the Zelda team will stick with this formula for future entries.
In an interview with Game Informer, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi discussed the future of the Zelda franchise, saying the open world format — or "open air" as Nintendo liked to call it in 2017 — is here to stay.
"With Ocarina of Time, I think it's correct to say that it did kind of create a format for a number of titles in the franchise that came after it," Aonuma said. "But in some ways, that was a little bit restricting for us. While we always aim to give the player freedoms of certain kinds, 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. Yeah, I think it's correct to say that it has created a new kind of format for the series to proceed from."
Aonuma's new comments mirror what the longtime Zelda producer said back in 2017. Just after Breath of the Wild's launch, Aonuma said, "From now on, this will probably be the standard form."
The open world standard doesn't mean we'll never see other types of Zelda games again. In the years between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom we saw a Musou-style Breath of the Wild prequel, a rhythm spinoff, a 2D Zelda remake, and a Skyward Sword remaster. Surely, Nintendo will continue to release other types of Zelda experiences while the next open world game is in the oven.
Nintendo has definitely struck gold with the open world Zelda format. We awarded Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom a pair of 10s, saying of Tears of the Kingdom, "Nintendo has followed up a triumph with a triumph, expanding and evolving a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds."
And for help with everything Tears of the Kingdom, take a look at our Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough and Guide about making your way through Hyrule. In fact, you can start here:
- 16 Things to Do First in Tears of the Kingdom
- 14 Things Tears of the Kingdom Doesn't Tell You
- How to Uncover the Full TOTK Map
- How to Expand Your Inventory in TOTK
- PSA: Your Old BOTW Save Unlocks Something Cool in TOTK
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.