The Witcher and Assassins Creed Devs Talk About How Breath of the Wild Will Change Open World Games

We deconstruct the key lessons for developers with the help of Assassin's Creed and The Witcher designers

[thekhurg]

Umm I know studios like to be nice to each other and all but BotW did nothing new compared to Witcher 3. It didn't do anything better than it either and took several steps back in key areas of gameplay.

[Jon61586]

Exactly. I feel as if when Nintendo does something it is praised as the second coming even it something that has been done for years.

[Sirk7x]

I suppose developers are all lying then when they say that BoTW has given them inspiration, and that the game design is brilliant. They're all just saying it for no reason at all but to circle jerk, right?

[-Foxtrot]

Pretty much a circle jerk.

If it wasn't called Zelda or done by Nintendo develops wouldn't be saying shit

[The 10th Rider]

Now we're supposed to believe it's not just reviewers that are biased, it's all the other developers praising the game?

The people making those claims can't provide a single shred of evidence that what they say is true. Breath of the Wild shattered the record for the most perfect scores awarded. Apparently it hasn't occured to the people screaming bias that they themselves are the ones biased against Nintendo, which is the more likely scenario considering the near universal praise the game has gotten. Even reviewers like Angry Joe, who doesn't play Zelda games, heaped praise towards the game.

[Imalwaysright]

The 10th Rider

He can't prove anything. That foxtrot guy is the one that is biased as he was for some reason downplaying the scores the game was getting even before playing it. Now he wants us to trust him and wants us to believe that these developers are lying as if they had any reason to lie whatsoever.

[thekhurg]

Developers are always praising studios for their work. Zelda didn't bring anything revolutionary to the table.

If it was the exact same game just not by Nintendo and not with the Zelda name it would have just been another standard open world game with an annoying inventory micro-management issue and shallow on the story side. It would also have been criticized for its lack of 100% voice over as well. But Nintendo gets a pass on that.

[Imalwaysright]

thekhurg

A pass? These developers are giving the game a pass? For what reason and what did they say that wasn't accurate about the game?

" Zelda name it would have just been another standard open world game"

Really? Where are those open world games with a physics system even comparable with Zelda? Where are those open world games in where each object has a logic based reaction when you interact with them which adds a somewhat realistic feel to them? Where are those open world games with as much interactivity as Zelda? Where are those open world games that allow you to experiment? What other open world game offers the same experience as Zelda?

[_LarZen_]

If you dont think BotW did nothing new compared to the Witcher 3 or any open world games. Then you clearly have not played BotW.

[thekhurg]

Oh it did new stuff. Having an annoying inventory micro-management addition was a huge one. By nothing else in the game stood out beyond any of the other great open world games I've played.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Witcher 3's game play is the only bad aspect of the game. what are these " Key Areas of game play" you are referring to?

[Maybay]

Did you read the article? "Developers the ones stating this," not bias members on a gaming website.

Jon61586

Play the game, then go and play other open world games. If you can't find at least 3 things BOTW does different, then you simply don't care or are bias.

[DanteVFenris666]

It's sad that fanboys would rather not be gamers and disvalue a game because it's not on their console of choice

[Istolla]

Should I take your word for it or actual developers. Hmmm.... Tough decision.

[DrumBeat]

Please don't put Breath of The Wild and Witcher 3 in the same sentence. Makes Witcher 3 look bad.

[iplay1up2]

Uh, not. The Witcher 3 is amazing, but BOTW is way different, it really is an open adventure for you to explore.

[Munnkyman]

The devs in the article are saying that you explore botw because you want to just explore it, not because something is indicating you to go somewhere. That is super hard to achieve that.

[Aenea]

Nonsense I've spent hours of exploring in The Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn for instance while avoiding continuing the story. It literally is nothing new. The easy climbing is neat tho, so are other things and it's a lively game, just started it recently, but I don't feel it's groundbreaking at all.

[Aenea]

*lovely

I hate you can't edit simple typos like that anymore....

[Munnkyman]

This is base on my experience with the game. I love it and truly had a great time with it and keep going back for more, I just have a lot of fun with it. I have never play horizon but with witcher 3 I got really bored with it. And played the game more like a chore since I spent money on it. Just a personal opinion.

[DanteVFenris666]

I took your comment seriously until you mentioned horizon. Theirs literally nothing in the game world too explore? So all your exploring is moot and not rewarding or rewarded.

Zelda trashes horizon in that aspect completley

Your talking from a perspective who hasn't played. Play the game and what people are saying will make more sense

[Aenea]

@Dante

Have you played Horizon? I have, and loved to get to places where seemingly nothing is left to do, the views were usually amazing as well.

As for Zelda, don't be foolish, I'm not speaking from a perspective of never having played it, I am currently playing it, I like it, I like it a lot, but it doesn't do anything really new, just combines a lot of things and does it really well, which incidentally is exactly what people say about Horizon as well.

You say that in Zelda your exploring is rewarded, is it really tho? Another Korok seed? What else is there as a reward, I haven't seen any yet and honestly, past few days I've had trouble returning to it, it's just running around, discovering and 'solving' shrines, grab more weapons, kill some of the same enemies you've seen before, grab even more weapons, drop the ones that are breaking, oh look a Korok seed, etc., etc. It's becoming stale to me at the moment. To be fair I think I skipped a lot of things and areas so I bought the strategy book a few days ago. Will give it another go today and see if I'm missing things in the game...

So far tho, I had a lot more fun with Horizon, Horizon got my blood pumping at times, I also couldn't put it down which I can't see I have the same with Zelda. I will keep going, am hoping I will eventually see the brilliance and that I can't put it down either.

Maybe people are just different? Dunno...

[-Foxtrot]

Every open world game when people start out they explore themselves to check the world out it's nothing new...jeez

[Movefasta1993]

Elderscrolls and fallout games from last gen spring to mind

[DanteVFenris666]

Maybe play the game unstead of making a fool out of yourself.

You think those developers are stupid and don't know that? You think the players and critics are?

It's the way Zelda is designed to perfection that makes it so much supieriour.

[Dan_scruggs]

Well it would be a positive Nintendo article without a pissy comment form Foxtwat

[rainslacker]

Seems kind of subjective to me. Would highly depend on if what was worth exploring was of interest to the player themselves. I imagine for any given open world game, one could find one boring and one great in this area, while another player could feel the exact opposite for the same games.

It doesn't make Zelda revolutionary, because I have played open world games where I just feel like exploring for the heck of it and go off the track from the game itself. In fact, this is why I tend to get bored with good open world games, because I spend too much time exploring things that interest me, and not much time following the story, so I always feel that the story isn't all that urgent.

Sometimes, just to get through an open world game I actually have to force myself to go back to the story.

I have spent countless hours just wondering around in games like WOW exploring, and that's a pretty open world game....that does set some content limits of course.

Can't speak on where I stand on Zelda at the moment though. Still muddling my way through Horizon because I keep going off track to wonder around with no real purpose. BOTW is on my to do list soon after I finish that game up. Maybe with Nier between them.:)

[WeAreLegion]

So, Zelda finally catches up with RPG's from a decade ago and this stuff happens? This is absolutely insane.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

The first Zelda did this. Zelda BotW just took every Zelda did in the past and make one big thing.

[Uken12]

OtakuDJK1NG is right. Why are you hating on Zelda when so many have created elements in gaming that almost every game has taken from.
The development team of BotW clearly stated that Elder Scrolls games and the like were an inspiration. Nothing wrong with other developers taking cues from BotW and incorporating them into their games.

[Deep-throat]

You clearly didn't play any Zelda game before. Enjoy your Ubisoft clone with its blind AI.

[joab777]

Love the idea of being able to make my way anywhere. Though Zelda has boundaries too. But for games like Horizon, Id prefer a realistic way of climbing mountains, which it seems to have. Just scaling a flat surface with your hands may work in Zelda but not in TW etc. You could pretty much go anywhere in that game too.

As far as the physics. Hope to see it in Mario, and something like it in more realistic games, but with a sense of dynamic gameplay.

[DanteVFenris666]

Well horizons climbing isn't realistic

[InTheLab]

I disagree with the majority of this with exception to the environment and physics. There is no real reason to explore in Zelda as your reward will be the same thing it's been since you first emerged from awakening. Shotty Styrofoam weapons, seeds, and shrines....and maybe some clothing that defies the logic of breakable equipment in the game because thread and chainmail are both stronger than steel unless the steel is armor ?

I sure as he'll hope more devs pick up on the physics and survival aspect of it at toss the story telling, half assed voice acting, terrible combat, broken AI, boring quests, non existent dungeons, pointless fetching, etc.

[DanteVFenris666]

Another person who has a negetive bias for a game he hasn't played

Most of your critics plainly don't exist

[InTheLab]

Easier to say I haven't played the game than address my issues?

Tell me...does it make sense that weapons break so easily but armor doesn't? Are tailors more skilled than blacksmiths?

Are shrines really a good addition to Zelda instead of dungeons?

Outside of Lynals and guardian bosses... is the combat Good? Or painfully mediocre? Can I toggle through targets to take on larger threats? Why isnt my stamina affected by combat? I can swing an uncharged attacked indefinately but jumping up a ladder tires me out?

I get it though. Most critics loved this game and could look past the nonsense but I couldn't. I've played maybe 20 hours of the game and I just don't like it.

[DanteVFenris666]

@inthelab

Completley makes sense. Armour is wa harder to obtain and is upgradable. Why would you want to lose hours of work? This is a game not real life.

Shrines are a fantastic idea for the open world format.

That's a bad argument. Why would you want your sword to take stamina?!? It wasn't designed as so and there is too many enemies you face. This isn't bloodborne some enemies take dozens of swings just for a regular for.

None of that is nonsense. All of those flaws are actually good design decisions

[kindkinesis]

what an amazing game! that i played for more than 150 hours and i still wanted to explore more. Idk why people on this site are so salty bout this game. If people such as developers and journalists have enjoyed it and found inspirational then whats the problem? why cant people be allowed to enjoy it?

[Razzer]

I love the game as well (over 100 hours myself), but it isn't flawless or above criticism. I love the shrines, love talking to folks in villages and getting side quests, and I love the style. Especially love the hanggliding. I don't love the combat or the disposable weapons. I wish I could craft arrows in the field and not have to buy them.

The open world is fine. Just as good as HZD or Witcher 3, but it isn't revolutionary, imo.

[DanteVFenris666]

Horizons open world was one of the worst designed open world games I've played.

Witcher is far supiorer same as Zelda, all the elder scrolls and fallouts.

It came to the point where I was wondering why horizon was even open world? the open world didn't add anything to the game. Every single interesting thing was guided through the main story. A few optional well designed quests but other than that a world cluttered with boring busy work, boring busy work with 0 rewards

[Darkfist_Flames]

lol, yea by makings really big empty world, while mostly wasting time running around collecting stuff, fetch quests, and same easy shrines you do(i hardly feel any difference after doing 10 of them, now nothing but another collectible), and look how many tower you climb, and hardly any story, those are same things that people complain in open world game(aka ubisoft games), and then nintendo do all those things but be praised for it, i remember when many gaming websites show gameplay of the tutorial area and talking about all those mysterious towers(that you need to climb), then those same websites saw Horizon zero dawn tallneck "oh my god look, look everyone, thats ubisoft tower, ubisoft towers".

[Uken12]

Use periods

[DanteVFenris666]

All reviews understood that the towers in Zelda were like Ubisoft towers

[MilkMan]

I hope to God they keep BotW in Nintendo land and let the other devs do their own work. If all games start to resemble this "thing" then I suppose it's just as a good time as ever to unboard and get into something else.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Oh please, like stuff such as Assassin's Creed and Far Cry were anything special in that regard either?
They borrowed concepts too, yet not one of the hypocrites here bitch about THEM not changing much.

[Deep-throat]

Indeed. More games need to copy Ubisoft's games and Rise of the Tomb Raider like the "masterpiece" Horizon Zero Dawn did.

[blawren4]

If you take the time to read the article, it is very well written and makes a lot of valid points.

[Dan_scruggs]

How fast the fanboys turn.

[christocolus]

So much praise for this beautiful game. I'm getting a switch in the fall and will definitely pick up breath of the wild too.

[DanteVFenris666]

Thank you for being one of the only reansonable people in the comments

[Istolla]

Fanboys versus developers. I know which side I'm on.