The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
It’s hard to fully get perspective on just how influential Breath of the Wild has been when the ramifications of its arrival are still rippling throughout the realm of game design. With this incredible release Nintendo reinvented its own flagship fantasy series, integrating deep systems into its world in ways that make it feel stunningly alive, a place packed with incredible interactions and discoveries rather than just a map filled with icons to clear. At a point in time when many AAA games are trying to be these massive, life-sucking, open-world time wasters, Breath of the Wild stands as a testament to a concept of open-world design that’s not about simply cramming a map with objectives to complete but making the world so interactive and responsive and surprising that you naturally want to spend time there, just playing and experimenting and discovering.
