When announced that the latest entry in the The Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild, would have an open world concept, many fans of the series were skeptical of the change. But Breath of the Wild released to universal praise from fans and critics for breaking from the normative conventions of the series.
The game’s positive reception has some involved in the production of the series thinking about making the concept a permanent fixture of the franchise. When asked about the idea by online gaming website Famitsu, producer Eiji Aonuma stated:
I think that, in the future, open air games will be the standard for Zelda.
But before we all get too excited, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi was a little more facetious in an interview with GameRant, stating:
We can’t really say much at the moment but there are lots of things in this current game design we still want to explore. If, as a result of that exploration, we feel positive we can provide our audience with new experiences it’s possible this design could become the standard.
Even though both sides want to carry forward with the open world concept, there is some apprehension from Fujibayashi over whether the next game will further explore this concept.
Zelda fans will have to wait until the next entry in the series to see if the new vision will stay or go.
