Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a phenomenal game- in fact, it may very well be the greatest game ever created. It is certainly a landmark title for the open world genre, and will probably go on to be its next evolution. It’s such an important game, that it’s bound to influence other developers of open world games, going forward.
One of those developers is CD Projekt RED, who, in 2015, similarly made waves with their open world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, they spoke about how Breath of the Wild has raised the bar.
“My expectations, and I mean for me as a Zelda fan, have changed for sure – they’ve raised the bar when it comes to world crafting and this sense of total immersion I get when I play it,” said Damien Monnier, senior designer at CD Projekt RED. “While its world includes classic open-world activities, collectibles and loot-filled mobs, it definitely doesn’t feel overloaded and allows the focus be on the exploration. You want to explore this land whether or not you are on a quest, or being tasked to collect/gather something. You know, If you were to remove all NPCs, quests and mobs, I would still take pleasure in exploring that beautiful world.”
You should definitely read the full interview, which also includes quotes from Assassin’s Creed developers- it will tell you more about just how much developers have found Breath of the Wild to be a game changer. The game is available now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U.