The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildcompletely transformed theZeldaseries. With an open world and a bunch of different ways to approach challenges, it was like no Zelda game before it. Even so, it’s safe to say that it managed to win over the fanbase, quickly solidifying itself as one of the most popular games on the platform. So, when it came to a follow-up, it was no surprise thatNintendostuck with these changes.
Now, as this formula proves successful withTears of the Kingdom, the devs are never looking back. Speaking after Tears of the Kingdom’s launch, series director Eiji Aonuma confirms that this style of Zelda game will be the “new format” going forward, leaving the style of previous instalments behind.
Related:If You’re Missing Out On Tears Of The Kingdom, Wait For Baldur’s Gate 3
Speaking withGame Informer, series producer Eiji Aonuma confirms that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s style will be the blueprint for future Zelda games. In explaining this, he compared it to the effect thatOcarina of Timehad on the series in 1998.
“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,” says Aonuma.
However, he doesn’t necessarily believe that this was always a good thing. “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 [the Ocarina of Time format] didn’t really afford in giving people freedom.”
With this in mind, Breath of the Wild, and now Tears of the Kingdom, seem to be the antidote to this, with a heavy focus on player freedom. And this isn’t a development philosophy that it will be ditching anytime soon.
“We’ve arrived at Breath of the Wild and the new type of more open play and freedom that it affords,” says Aonuma. “I think it’s correct to say that it has created a new kind of format for the series to proceed from.”
So, just as Ocarina of Time guided the Zelda series for well over a decade, Breath of the Wild is doing the same. Grim news for anyone who just doesn’t click with this style of gameplay and prefers the old, but great for those of you pouring hundreds of hours into Tears of the Kingdom over the weekend.
Yet for the time being, a Tears of the Kingdom follow-up probably isn’t even on the devs' minds right now. Especially since the development of this game took four years, likely meaning that the next one won’t make it onto the Switch.
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