10 Ways Zelda Defined Open World Standards (And Continues to Today)
Open world games have a formula to them, a decently predictable one, forged from countless games that have morphed the genre into what it is today. If you were to trace those roots all the way back, though, I'd argue…
Open world games have a formula to them, a decently predictable one, forged from countless games that have morphed the genre into what it is today. If you were to trace those roots all the way back, though, I'd argue that you'd find the origins in The Legend of Zelda.
Ever since the very beginning in 1986, The Legend of Zelda has been the pinnacle of open world exploration — and while the story may have been linear in most of the games, the world itself wasn't, allowing players to explore every corner of the map and find all the secrets hidden within it. This isn't even one exclusive game in the franchise, it's the entire series that continues to define open world gaming.
If you were to break down many of the tropes that The Legend of Zelda either started or popularized, you'd realize that it's the literal blueprint of a successful open world game. The Venn diagram between patterns that open world games follow and the Zelda Formula has a lot more significant of an overlap than what players would initially think.
It's a delicious recipe that players of all kinds seem to eat up every time, but if it weren't for the Zelda Formula, open world games wouldn't be anywhere near what they are today.
10 An Immediate, Drop-In Intro
Instant Immersion (Trial by Fire)
If you were to ask any Zelda fan which game had their favourite opening, they're almost always going to point to games that start with an immediate introduction after the Legend is told ... while Twilight Princess is more of an outlier in this example, practically every other Zelda drops you into Link's shoes right away.
Actually, these games tend to drop you into his sleeping time (or nightmares, as we see in Ocarina of Time), but I digress.
It's all the abruptness of a cold open without the complete lack of knowledge or understanding — typically, Zelda games give you only a crumb of information before telling you to go out in the world and figure it out for yourself. It's basically trial by fire, but in the best possible way that you could experience it.
Of course, it just so happens that a lot of open world games opt to start similarly (such as God of War and Baldur's Gate 3); and it ends up being that taking an immediate drop-in approach with opening up these games works wonderfully in their favour. It's no wonder, hooks are always supposed to grab your attention, and Zelda games know how to hook their players.
9 Environmental Interaction is More than Encouraged
You Don't Know What's Hiding
The background environment, as proven video games, doesn't always mean that it's simply in the background. Sometimes, it's hiding treasures in plain sight, and we see this time and time again in Zelda games, ever since the original. Even in modern Zelda games, the environment is still wholly interactable, allowing all kinds of player creativity when approaching an enemy encounter.
Regardless of whether you're playing a 2D or 3D Zelda game, there was always a rock you could push or a bush that you could cut that would reveal something that will genuinely change the entire experience and the way you'd play the game. Even if it was just a nice treasure, the rewards you get from selling those treasures and your subsequent shopping spree after is a convincing enough domino effect.
Unsurprisingly, we also see this in other open world games, where the world is essentially a mine of diamonds, just waiting for you to come and find them (and in Minecraft's case, the analogy is literal).
Whether it works with you or against you is wholly dependent on your own situational awareness — just remember, fire spreads across flammable surfaces/terrain.
8 Dynamic Music Uplifts the Experience
Every. Single. Game.
When you think about The Legend of Zelda, how long do you think before the soundtrack of one of the games starts to accompany those thoughts? For me, it's instantaneous, and the music that's almost always playing in my case is from Wind Waker — it doesn't help that Wind Waker is the most intertwined with music when compared to any of the other games in the series.
Every single hit is accompanied by dramatic strings, every single enemy completely changes the tone of the background music, one of the mechanics is even centered around conducting music. Music is everywhere, and it completely changes the game, regardless of which one it is. While I think Wind Waker is the most prominent example, the soundtrack is still front-and-center in every Zelda title.
With this in mind, you'll be able to notice that nearly every single open world game follows a similar approach to their soundtracks: uplifting the gameplay, enhancing the worldbuilding, just making the game overall better. There are all kinds of ways that this is done, whether it's DREDGE having a gentle piano to make the uneasy sea feel just a little calmer or the intense chorals that heightened every single battle in The Witcher 3, the music amplifies everything.
Sure, you could argue that soundtracks have been essential to all media since music could even be added, but you can't deny the uptick in noticing this music after a Zelda game.
7 Allows Player Freedom (No Matter How Goofy)
Matching Your Energy
Zelda games are notorious for letting players do basically whatever they want, especially in entries like Tears of the Kingdom where you're given all the tools for chaotic creativity, and that's how you end up with some of the coolest (or outright hilarious) creations.
Even in older games, like A Link to the Past, the game considers consequences for even the most ridiculous actions the player might take. Just think about the chickens. There's no real point to you killing a chicken in the game, but if you continuously attack it, a sudden horde of chickens arrives, attacking you until you die by chicken wing.
Subsequently, open world games will match your energy in much of the same way — Baldur's Gate 3 is a notorious example in modern open world games. Even then, we'll see this same kind of player freedom in games like Cyberpunk 2077 or any of the Grand Theft Auto games, you can guarantee that you'll get back whatever you put in.
Player freedom is unparalleled amounts of fun, so it makes me wonder how the next, wholly original Zelda game will allow players to do whatever they want ... and the consequences of that, no matter how unhinged.
6 Working with Item-Based Progression
Either Partially or Completely
You can tell exactly where you are in a Zelda game and how far along you are in your progress based on what items you've unlocked and now have in your inventory. Item-based progression has been a staple of the Zelda Formula (with Majora's Mask doing it best, especially with all the different masks), and it's a staple that open world games have unapologetically dipped into.
And I'm not talking about games like Skyrim or Elden Ring where you need a few key items in order to beat the game and that's it (though you could make an argument with those games, especially with how it scales with the player). I'm talking about games like Ghost of Tsushima (or its sequel, Ghost of Yotei) where players can notice progress just at a glance. Just saying, I know exactly where you are in the plot if you have the Ghost Armor.
It's hard to do item-based progression while also keeping things open world, but as we see, some games manage to nail this and make it look easy.
5 Talking to Every NPC is Essential
If Nothing Else, They're Quirky
I blame The Legend of Zelda for my excessive need to speak with every single NPC, sometimes multiple times, to make sure I've gotten through all possible lines of dialogue with them. It's a requirement of the franchise, and even if the NPC isn't catastrophically important, they're all quirky and distinct enough to offer a unique experience with each conversation.
More often than not, though, speaking to a new NPC means that you're more than likely going to get on a new lead to a new quest, or end up with a new item in your inventory.
This is a habit that open world games also encourage, especially if it's an open world RPG where all of your dialogue options have a weight into who you are (ie: Mass Effect) and how the game itself plays out. These NPCs can go as far as to completely change the trajectory of your game and how you choose to approach it, regardless of what you're talking to them about.
Ironically, though, some games have decided to reference Zelda's most iconic NPC's most notorious line when they have an NPC give you something: "It's dangerous to go alone, take this!"
4 There's Minimal Hand-Holding
Honestly, Good Luck
The original Legend of Zelda, while it came with a guide, didn't give you a lot to work with at any given point in time — basically, players had to learn through trial and error, figuring things out on their own. The rest of the franchise ended up following this pattern, with Breath of the Wild being one of the most ruthless entries we've seen (thanks to enemies that absolutely one-shot you, like the Guardians).
The game, simply put, does not hold your hand even for a second; it sooner throws you into the deep end and laughs at you flailing while attempting to learn how to swim.
Open world games ended up taking a similar approach to this, dropping you right into the world and barely even wishing you luck. Often, you have to just run around and hope for the best, learning the world and all of its intricacies without any guidance — the only difference between gaming now and then is the fact you can just look up a walkthrough, now.
Even then, it's better to learn through trial and error anyway, it's a process that Zelda games made all the more entertaining.
3 The World Tells the Story, Too
Environmental Storytelling is Just Good Storytelling
The world itself will tell a story alongside the main plot you're following, but as far as what story is being told is dependent on the game, obviously. Breath of the Wild, for example, will have players running through the ruins of Hyrule, witnessing the overgrowth on a post-Calamity world — and if these ruins are genuinely stunning to look at, all the better.
Even in the more "linear" Zelda games, like Ocarina of Time, you're able to figure out the lore and tidbits of the world just by walking through it and taking a good look. It often enhances the current main story we're following, but it's not uncommon to see other side content that just adds to bringing the world to life.
Environmental storytelling, as a result, is one of the most crucial components of any good open world game, allowing players to learn more about the very setting they're wandering through. Especially as graphics continued to improve with technology and the times, more and more could be packed into a world for players to put together and piece a story together from there.
I'd argue that environmental storytelling is one of the most essential video game mechanics out there — and it's thanks to games like The Legend of Zelda that brought it into the limelight and popularized it by showing just what it can do.
2 Dungeons Are Defined by Puzzles
Sometimes, It's All Puzzle
The Zelda games are known for their dungeons, whether they are good or bad (say what you will about the Water Temple, you can't deny that it's known for its controversy). The key thing about these dungeons, however, is the fact that they're incredibly puzzle heavy, or often one giant puzzle overall.
If you were to ask any Zelda fan which dungeon is their favourite, it doesn't matter what they pick: the dungeon is going to have an intense puzzle component regardless.
Unsurprisingly, open world games decided to approach their dungeons basically the same way. Of course, there are some where it's a traditional dungeon crawl (just look at some of Oblivion's dungeons) where it's combat-intense, but for the most part, dungeons incorporate a puzzle within them (also look at some of Oblivion's dungeons). That is, if it's not a massive puzzle itself.
It's an easy way to keep players on their toes with what to possibly expect while having a variety of content within a game, and it's something that we have Zelda to thank for.
1 The Focus is on Adventure, Always
Exploration is Zelda Itself
Of course, The Legend of Zelda would not be what it is today if it wasn't a pure, unfiltered adventure, with exploration in all the best possible ways — I personally think Breath of the Wild has the best exploration/adventure in the series, but the entire franchise does an excellent job at incorporating exploration into the very core of the game.
In the same vein, open world games cannot be what they are if it weren't for the sense of adventure and exploration; however, the root of this kind of exploration can be traced back to Zelda, very easily. There truly was no game that did adventure quite like it before, and every single game has been trying to replicate that same magic ever since.
It's a magic that only The Legend of Zelda has mastered, honestly, but many open world games have come close .... they're just not on the same level as Zelda, and that's honestly a testament to the series' legacy.
This just makes me all the more interested in how the Ocarina of Time Remake is going to handle exploration and redefine the genre (and by extension, open world gaming as a whole) once again.
8/10