It wouldn’t be until A Link Between Worlds, which was released twenty-two years after the debut of A Link to the Past, that the exploration elements thought to have been completely abandoned made a triumphant return. Traces of the series’ debut were seen one last time in the second and third acts of Ocarina of Time before Majora’s Mask made the Link’s Awakening model the standard. To accommodate the fact that the plot of Link’s Awakening had a definitive beginning, middle, and end, developers strategically placed roadblocks to ensure players couldn’t deviate from the narrative’s intended sequence.
LINK BETWEEN WORLDS ZELDA SNEAKS OUT MANUAL
Suddenly, the man who was limited to outlining the instruction manual of A Link to the Past now found himself changing the direction of the series. This changed when Yoshiaki Koizumi was allowed to pen the scenario for the series’ first handheld installment, Link’s Awakening.
LINK BETWEEN WORLDS ZELDA SNEAKS OUT SERIES
The series could have continued on as it did with the developers placing all of their effort in gameplay like the Mario franchise. A Link to the Past was considered a return to form of sorts when it allowed players a degree of freedom in the game’s second half. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link seemed like an anomaly when it forced players to adhere to a strict sequence. Though considered one of the most influential titles of its day, the series began gradually shifting away from the kind of design its debut installment codified. This was quite ironic given they themselves invented what many consider the first interpretation of an open-world game in the form of the original The Legend of Zelda in 1986. In the face of these numerous success stories, Nintendo found themselves in something of a conundrum they had never worked on a modern open-world game before. One of the most prominent examples of this phenomenon in action was Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which not only drastically changed the series’ gameplay, but also received widespread acclaim for it. Such was the extent of its influence that even long-running series known for their linear structure saw sequels placing protagonists in a metaphorical sandbox. Whether it was Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, or Just Cause, this style became the standard in the Western AAA scene. Despite the franchise’s success, it wouldn’t be until the 2010s that these open-world games took on a life of their own. Players could fulfill mission objectives or explore the large world at their own leisure, occasionally completing a side objective to obtain a helpful reward. The success of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series throughout the 2000s helped popularize these kinds of games.
In other words, their next project was to be an open-world title. He planned to reform dungeons and puzzles, the elements the series had hinged upon from the very beginning, and arrange them in a way to allow players to reach the end without ever engaging in the story.
He made their intent known at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo when their newest project was unveiled. Emboldened by this installment’s success, he and his team sought to “rethink the conventions of Zelda” for the series’ next console installment. In an era when gaming placed a great emphasis on storytelling, A Link Between Worlds would have been a sleeper hit had it not been part of a famous franchise. The series’ next installment, A Link Between Worlds, seemed to openly defy the design choices behind Skyward Sword, featuring a terse narrative and a largely non-linear design. Series producer Eiji Aonuma, though mostly satisfied with what he and his team created, ended up agreeing with these reservations. The latter aspect was especially ironic given the challenging nature of Skyward Sword. Though Skyward Sword was released to a positive reception, certain players voiced their displeasure over the sheer amount of filler present and the hand-holding nature of the game.
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