Why Breath of the Wild's Empty Space is So Important

Spoiler-free, don't worry!

So, that new Zelda sure is a beaut, huh? I can't remember the last time a game instilled such a childlike sense of awe and desire for exploration like Breath of the Wild has. In this episode of Writing on Games, I explore the idea that the reason the game can accomplish this is because of its use of space—both in its world and game design.

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[TheShadow]

I think one of the strongest things about these empty spaces in Zelda as opposed to other open world games is that you CAN genuinely explore pretty much everything. My favorite thing about BotW is the ability to climb everything. So many times in MGSV, another favorite of mine, I was massively frustrated by Snake's inability to climb up to what looked like an excellent vantage point, or even up a small hill that was just a few degrees too steep. BotW seems to truly make the player feel empowered to feel like they have the potential to traverse any obstacle.

[PauLtus_B]

I absolutely agree with you.
Open world games have lost their way by getting bigger and bigger and then starting to compensate for the difficulties that come from it. What is an open world more than a glorified level selection screen when exploration has no role?

[Pumbear]

Why do people always need to pretend as if a clear flaw is actually of vital importance?

Exploring in this game is pointless. This because the mechanics of the game make it so there are no rewards possible. The best you can find is a unique weapon, but due to the durability system this effectively amounts to a temporary weapon skin that you will lose after 4 hits. Nevermind that the monster are just re-skins of the same 4 monsters as well, so the only challenges you will ever find are the exact same battles you've fought a milion times before. The single difference being that because the monster is now purple the fight takes 8x longer. Great. 10/10. It's a walking simulator with a glider and climbing mechanics.

They could have removed half the map and the amount of actual content would have been the same.

[morganlemons]

I love this game but dang there's so much to do lol I don't see the ending happening anytime in the near future.

[a_shovel]

WOG: "Here's what breath of the wild does different from other games and why that matters."
Commenters: "So you're saying that zelda does everything exactly the same things as other games but is better just because? Also i'm not going to justify my argument."

[Dzugashvili]

I completely agree, I finally started playing a couple weeks ago and have been loving the whole experience. I had no idea where to go after the Great Plateau, so I just started going wherever and eventually ended up stumbling upon the zora prince a couple zora I had run into told me to find. After doing that whole section, I had no idea and went around doing random things before deciding to get the couple of towers on the outskirts of the Death Mountain section.... Well done, and it was very refreshing not to have my map screen overloaded with icons just because I scaled a tower. I have to carve out the map myself and it feels much more satisfying this way.

[maksetratv]

I honestly think this game is highly overrated, I still think its an amazing game but it simply does not deserve 10/10 or 9/10 and definitely is not one of the best games ever created, there are many other games who make better use of their massive open world and put more life into the game (Not only the characters your meet but even down to the books in the game) Don't get me wrong, I have been enjoying this game but it still feels barren. I suppose the only reason people love this so much is just because its a different direction for The Legend of Zelda but I don't think that justifies the ratings, I think people need to realize its not the best masterpiece ever created and understand that its just a fun game with problems.

tl;dr Fun game with problems but highly overrated.

[matthewdavis]

I know this is a year old video, but he's right in how he compares this game to other open-world games. This game does not hold your hand, show you where to go and exactly what to do when you get there. It forces you to look around and think and sometimes think on your feet. I love the overall exploration that this game makes you actually want to do and enjoy.

I don't really mind the empty spaces because it makes the world seem more realistic rather than obvious placements too.

[thebadgersquad]

The patches of empty spaces you describe here remind me of my old World of Warcraft days. I feel like WoW used to have that sensation to it as well, at least pre-cataclysm.

[HenrikMyrhaug]

Thanks, I really hated the space before, but now realize how important it actually is.

[theinsfrijonds]

You should have explained the dynamics at work. Enemies can hunt because they need food, you can use a rock to take out enemies through the game physics, a moblin can through a bokoblin off of a cliff, fire propagates, you can enhance your abilities with food and it's powerful and makes sense

[TheAsheTalketh]

I clicked on this video by accident tbh because I was aiming for another one but I sat and watched because I was intrigued by the concept. Beautifully put and I absolutely agree 100%. I've always loved Zelda but this game has completely reawakened my love for games. I've got all the divine beasts and instead of going straight for Ganon I want to explore the world and see what I've missed, much like I did when I was 7 and stealing my brother's Ocarina of Time cartridge. Only this time the world is there to explore! Thanks so much for putting it into words and making me realise what this game has brought me.
Also hello from a fellow scot and boo to all the people making fun of our accent (they're just jealous they're no in on the brawest accent ever, eh?)

[helenanilsson]

5:14 For a split second I thought you were going to pair "the developers showing faith in the player's intelligence" with a clip of Link running straight off the edge of the plateau without a paraglider.

[chamab.]

I love the amount of land, forest and mountains. Its more real to me given the type of Universe Zelda resides. A vast amount of land that is not overcrowded with people. I would say this game is giving you more bang for your buck if you're the type of player that likes to take your time and really get into exploration as opposed to doing the bare minimum and rushing through. The landscape for this game is everything that OOT could have been if the technology had been there at the time.

[asmallbabby]

BotW's development was truncated to make the dual-console release deadline. That's the real explanation for all the Koroks and Shrines and empty space. It's the easiest quickest way to fill a large map with content without having to worry about balance or even if anything makes sense in relation to eachother; several developers can work in parallel, adding korok puzzles in their assigned area.

[JoaoFerreira-xhxl]

I played a lot of games during my child days, in different platforms. This zelda is one of my favorite games of all time. it's surprisingly amazing! It's funny to realize that i had my playstation portable for 10 year and i played tons of games, really good games, although, only the nintendo games make me go nostalgic! Pokemon, zelda, mario bros, mario kart, sonic, wario, even yu-gi-oh, this are just simple games that i feel in love with, and even nowadays with better games, i can't forget this games that made my childhood great! thanks nintendo! I feel great to be back to nintendo :)

[brokenwave]

The map is big but its not really empty at all.There are collectable items like food/gems/bugs, or monsters, or animals to hunt, or korok seeds, or shrines, etc....pretty much everywhere.

[hahajason]

such an amazing game. great analysis as well!

[gabrielgroenendaal]

It's got that Shadow of Colossus feel.

[Weldedhodag]

my personal issue with this is that such wide, empty spaces encourage the use of fast travel. Now, fast travel isn't inherently bad, it can be done well, but BotW takes the usual lazy 'find a location, warp there any time' approach. If it cost a resource, such as money or food or a rare resource like Guardian parts, then it would encourage players to actually explore and traverse all this empty space. But once you have enough fast travel markers, most people will probably just warp everywhere. That's a big problem with a lot of open world games these days though, though other games will fill it with minor things like mini games, the same small handful of random encounters, theres really no reason to actually explore the game's world since theres nothing to discover. Sure, in BotW you have shrines and korok seeds, but given that you get a shrine tracker and can just warp to areas where you haven't explored as much to look for shrines with a tracker (not really exploring if your hand is being held) and korok seeds aren't super important, it's still kinda pointless. In fact, I think Nintendo actually realized that the vast amounts of nothingness was a plague so they took steps to mitigate it, mainly through the use of the fact that horses with auto-follow roads.

If you want an example of an open world game done correctly, Morrowind is actually a great one to pick. When walking the roads, there are plenty of things that can happen. You can run into an NPC and find a side quest, come across a dungeon, find a new town, all sorts of things. And the only fast travel in the game, you have to pay for it or have a high enough skill level to use certain spells. the open world is filled with interesting things to stumble upon, and even if you just want to get from point A to point B there is a payment you have to make in order to do so.