The new Zelda Tears of the Kingdom just came out, and after both happily and begrudgingly giving Nintendo $70 dollars, I’m amazed at this game’s huge scale. I know that open world games aren’t for everyone, having a huge map to explore filled with hidden caves and useless side quests is definitely something of an acquired taste. It’s like beer or cigarettes, some people never quite get the appeal, others have one or two every once in a while and others – not me of course – bought 4 of the 7 different versions of Skyrim to replay it for the tenth time… And don’t get me wrong, I loved playing Skyrim for hours and hours on end, but just like smoking too many cigarettes, I might’ve overdone myself there.

And not only are open world games an acquired taste, but also every open world game does things differently, so while you might enjoy Elden Ring or Fallout 4, Borderlands might not be for you. Hell, I love playing open world games – my slight addiction with Skyrim back in the day being a great example – but a game like The Witcher 3 absolutely overwhelmed me with it’s massive map filled with thousands of markers and useless interest points that made me lose hours on a side quest that I was clearly too low level to beat.

Every game has its little quirks and special things that make it appealing to others, and absolutely annoying to others – fucking duh, no surprise there. But, what happens when a game like The Legend of Zelda transitions from a fantastical guided tour through Disneyland to an African safari where they drop you in the desert with a wooden stick and 32 apples to your name?

THE PATH OF VENGEANCE… NOW HAS A GIFT SHOP AT THE END!

There has to be some sort of compromise when turning a very scripted game formula into an open world one. It can be small things like soft locking areas until you reach a certain story beat, getting a new ability or killing a boss, that sort of thing, but it can also be huge things like implementing a level up system, gear upgrades and skill trees like God of War did. What used to be a very linear story about a heavy metal dude crossing off the Greek pantheon from his “to kill list”, now turned into an -insert annoying to obtain material- grind to level your armor.

And you know, sometimes this kind of system can help the gameplay and give it a bit more depth or replay value. Let’s take God of War here as our example. The old God of War games were all about getting through the game as quickly and bloodily – for your enemies of course – as possible. You only had your fiery swords and combo meter to worry about, since all the cool upgrades are given to you through your murder trip in Disneyland. And maybe the occasional stop at the gift shop to collect all 5 special items that let you put a chicken suit on Kratos or something that doesn’t impact the game that much. 

Now jump forward to God of War Ragnarok, where not only are the best items, upgrades and abilities hidden behind “go get me this” type of side quests, it’s not unusual to need an online guide because you got lost and have no idea where to go next. Which, you know, Ragnarok has made a reputation of spoiling surprises and puzzle solutions in random dialogue, taking all the fun out of solving a cool puzzle and instead turning into the “fucking… yeah alright” kind of annoyance you have towards your Disneyland guide when he suggest going to the Bugs Life ride instead of Space Mountain, because there is less wait time. Yeah no shit, of course the kids ride has less wait time than the intense cool roller coaster.

Anyways, there are certain types of games, like the old God of War games, where having a tour guide that holds you by the hand and takes you to the next area is nice, because the game is not about exploring every corner of a map or looking for hidden collectables, it’s about going on a brainless murder rampage. But all of a sudden when you are thrown into a huge map where you’re still asked to go on a brainless murder rampage, but only after you solve this puzzle and go to the Bugs Life ride because your guide suggested it, yeah… it can feel kinda weird. I don’t want a guided tour through a world that asks me to explore at my heart’s contempt.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the recent God of War games aren’t good, they are amazing and a nice change of pace for the series, but in order to make this change of pace, well, they had to give up some things. Mainly the constant brainless murdering rampage.

QUICKLY, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! … KINDA

A lot of open world games also suffer from a huge ludo narrative dissonance – ooooh, big boy words – which just basically means that the game is telling you one thing, but the gameplay tells another completely different thing. It’s hard to take seriously the “Hurry and save the princess before it’s too late!” story beat when you’ve been running around caves for the past 50+ hours and nothing changes in the world. Clearly the princess can wait until I help this random dude find his lost fishing rod.

Of course it’s hard to make a game all about exploring at your own pace feel like you’re on a time limit. Unless you specifically want to rush or speedrun through a game, no one likes to feel like you’re being rushed to finish something. Instead of the game being fun, it just turns into an annoying to-do list.

But wait… what’s that in the distance? Could it be… another example of a game doing the thing that I’m talking about? Oh you know it baby, but this time around it’s an example of a game that did it amazingly… at the time. And honestly it still holds up incredibly. Yes, I’m talking about the masterpiece ToeJam & Earl for the Sega Genesis.

Kidding, it’s Majora’s Mask. Although ToeJam & Earl is great.

It’s no wonder I would end up talking about a Zelda game doing something cool, clearly I have a thing for the Nintendo magic, and from a game design perspective, Majora’s Mask is a masterclass on how to create a perfectly balanced ludo narrative.

At the start of the game we get thrown into a world that seems to be in panic mode. Not only did we get turned into a dumb plant kid, we are transported into a weird land where THE MOON IS FALLING. Yup, just straight up the moon is falling towards the earth. Then we get the awesome news that we only have 3 days to try to figure out what is going on and how to stop it. And while other games might just say that and then let you endlessly run around like an idiot, Majora’s Mask holds you to it.

So, you run around thinking it’s all fun and games until you notice… huh, is the moon getting bigger. Oh wait, there is an actual clock in the middle of the screen and it’s running pretty quickly. But it probably doesn’t matter that much, righ- WRONG! That clock is your life now, and in this game time is a resource you need to be very aware of, otherwise, the moon will absolutely destroy everything and everyone.

And the game is not scared of reminding you of this when for the first time you reach the third day of this time loop and an ominous screen pops up letting you know that your time is running low.

This ticking of the clock is constant and marks every aspect of the game, just as they told you at the beginning. They said you only had 3 days and they weren’t lying, not only that, but the people of Clock Town also know they only have a few days left and the interaction with them is also marked by this ticking clock. The innkeeper won’t give you her cherished family heirloom now, but wait until the final hours with a moon about to crash and she might feel differently. And this applies to the vast majority of the NPCs in Majora’s Mask, time truly IS of the essence, and with the ability to rewind time to the beginning of this final 72 hours – cos yeah you can do that – you find yourself running through the fields of Termina trying to reach an NPC at a very specific time.

Through and through Majora’s Mask brings a sense of urgency that is central to the story, and is also amazingly supported by the gameplay. Even though you have the ability to time travel, looking up and seeing the creepy ass moon inching closer and closer is a preeeetty good incentive to try and stop it from falling as soon as possible.

A WORLD YOU TRULY CARE ABOUT

One of the many things Majora’s Mask did exceptionally was making you care about its world and characters. Or at least for those who try to get every possible mask and item in the game, since in order to do so, you have to learn the routines and stories of almost every single character in town. Since you’re stuck in a three day loop, you start noticing patterns and consistent interactions, like how the mailman gets existential during the final hours or how the cute innkeeper goes out looking for her missing lover on the night of the second day.

It’s those little things that make your time sensitive quest feel bigger and actually time sensitive, but also makes it so that by the time you’re saving the world from the falling big rock, in a way it feels like you are also saving the friends and people of the town you care for, even though some of them don’t remember you, because this run of the time loop is different from the one in which you helped them make peace with their grief.

This feeling of caring for the world that I’m trying to save at the end of my quest is something that I love seeing in games, especially open world games. It’s the reason why I couldn’t finish The Witcher 3, although I love the books and the story, I just didn’t care enough about the world and the people in it.

But as I started playing Tears of the Kingdom and found familiar faces all around, I was happy not only to find myself again in a world that I know and love, but that this world also remembered and cared about my past journey.

This, I feel, is the downfall of many open world games. Be it that the gameplay isn’t  engaging or the world feels soulless and empty, or maybe it’s just not your cup of tea,  if you don’t care about the absolutely massive world being presented to you, well, you’re just not going to explore it.

Not every open world game is for every open world gamer, ya know? I love the world of The Legend of Zelda and I played Breath of the Wild for countless hours, exploring every corner of the map and finding all the secrets I could. And as a reward, not only did I get to find cool items or powerful gear, I also got to meet the funny and weird characters populating the land of Hyrule this time around. From the sassy Great Faeries who asked for too much money I didn’t have, to the construction crew whose names all HAD to end in ‘-son’ and helped me become a Hyrulian homeowner. The world of Breath of the Wild is one I love and always wanted to go back to time and time again.

So when I was diving head first as Link into the land of Hyrule, in all of its open world glory – for the second time around – I was devastated when the world I worked so hard to save was once again being attacked by monsters. But this time around, there were familiar faces and old friends from my past adventures, greeting me with warm welcomes, snarky remarks on my new hairstyle. Not only that but my trusty steed waited for me at the nearest stable, pulled right out of my Breath of the Wild save file to help me once again rid the world of evil and get stuck on a mountainside I was so sure I could just run through. 

Whether you like this new Zelda formula or miss the old one, I think it’s fair to say that Tears of the Kingdom managed to build upon the roots that Breath of the Wild planted. Somehow expanding immensely a world that was already massive, and bringing into the story characters that we encountered before. The sense of familiarity mixed with the clash of changes in the landscape, makes Tears of the Kingdom – in my opinion – an example of what open world game franchises might become. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Elder Ring follows this path.