'Ocarina of Time' Revolutionized Gaming. Nearly 20 Years Later, 'Breath of the Wild' Pulled It Off Again

'Ocarina of Time' Revolutionized Gaming. Nearly 20 Years Later, 'Breath of the Wild' Pulled It Off Again




In 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time revolutionized a medium still figuring out the jump to 3D, handing the industry a blueprint that is still followed today. Nearly 20 years later, Nintendo did it again. Unlike OoT, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild entered the scene when the open-world genre had already matured. That didn't stop the 2017 Game of the Year winner from tearing the scaffolding down and turning the genre on its head. Most open-world games of its era, such as The Elder Scrolls or Far Cry, were locked in a never-ending battle to populate their worlds with more: more icons littering the map, more collectibles to distract you from your journey, more cloned NPCs providing a false sense of a living world. Nintendo's first attempt at a modern open-world Zelda opted for a surprising approach: It decided to give the players less.


In 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time revolutionized a medium still figuring out the jump to 3D, handing the industry a blueprint that is still followed today. Nearly 20 years later, Nintendo did it again. Unlike OoT, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild entered the scene when the open-world genre had already matured. That didn't stop the 2017 Game of the Year winner from tearing the scaffolding down and turning the genre on its head. Most open-world games of its era, such as The Elder Scrolls or Far Cry, were locked in a never-ending battle to populate their worlds with more: more icons littering the map, more collectibles to distract you from your journey, more cloned NPCs providing a false sense of a living world. Nintendo's first attempt at a modern open-world Zelda opted for a surprising approach: It decided to give the players less.

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