No Zelda game is closer to Breath of the Wild than the NES original
No Zelda game is closer to Breath of the Wild than the NES original
by cubechris
9 Comments
Curonjr
I feel A Link between Worlds comes closer with being able to purchase items wanted instead of from specific dungeons. This allowed for freedom when the Zelda formula was so engrained instead of in the first game where it could be whatever its limitations allowed so order was more free because of that.
Edit: Though in looks, controls, gimmicks, and important features Skyward Sword would be closer. Stamina and gliding feel just so important to BotW
flameylamey
So this idea of the games being “close” or similar in some way, really only works if you strip the games down to their core ideas and concepts while ignoring how these ideas were actually implemented. It’s actually become a bit of a pet peeve of mine when I see people suggesting that the original NES game and BotW are similar games – they’re absolutely not.
While the idea of freedom, exploration and being able to choose your own path may exist in both in an abstract sense… at that point you’ve stripped them down so thoroughly that you’re really arguing about a concept that existed in the mind of a developer, not the actual implementation of these mechanics and how they manifest themselves in the actual game – or perhaps most importantly, how they actually *feel* to play. It’s almost like there’s a glaring elephant in the room that people are willing to completely gloss over, and it frustrates me every time I see it.
For example, I wouldn’t say that moving through a rudimentary 2D plane with the option of going left, right, up and down to the next screen is in any way similar to the process of carefully scaling a three dimensional mountain, looking out onto the horizon and deciding to paraglide towards a distant tower. You could say they’re both “freedom” in an extremely abstract sense, but the final experience is so different that it almost seems absurd to compare them.
*How* ideas are implemented matters, it’s the final product and the experience of playing the actual game that counts. That’s why it frustrates me when I occasionally see some poor dad come on here and ask questions like “My 4 year old daughter and I really enjoyed playing BotW together, are there any games in this series which are similar?”, and people start suggesting Zelda 1 without even a hint of irony – whenever I see it, I immediately groan and bury my face in my hands. I can almost imagine the disappointment on that poor dad’s face when he actually fires up the game, haha.
waowie
The devs literally said that they looked to Zelda 1 when designing BotW. What is the point of this article
packerschris
Congrats Polygon, you’ve discovered a hot take that is five years too late. At this point I’ve seen dozens of articles and hundreds of YouTube videos arguing this same point. Sure they’re the exact same game if you don’t think about it very hard. The original LoZ allows you to freely explore the overworld, but there are plenty of areas that are gated by essential items needed to progress. Those limits don’t exist after the tutorial in BotW. I’m honestly so tired of hearing this take because these writers really feel like they are making a strong intellectual point, but they’re really not.
Lucky_Tumbleweed_260
…
So this post is bot gonna age well.
Expiration date : may 12th 2023.
Lol
motive09
Sure. In my opinion Breath Of The Wild and Elden Ring are two great spiritual remake of the first NES game.
TiToim
I thought the NES version was inspired from BOTW, which was under development since 1983!
ForsakenAd8015
Links awakening for switch was top tier game for me
brandont04
You do know that BotW is built from Zelda 1 right? Nintendo even created a new physic engine for Zelda 1 to test this new mechanic. They did a whole presentation on this at GDC a few years back. Talked about the chemistry and triangles of BotW.
9 Comments
I feel A Link between Worlds comes closer with being able to purchase items wanted instead of from specific dungeons. This allowed for freedom when the Zelda formula was so engrained instead of in the first game where it could be whatever its limitations allowed so order was more free because of that.
Edit: Though in looks, controls, gimmicks, and important features Skyward Sword would be closer. Stamina and gliding feel just so important to BotW
So this idea of the games being “close” or similar in some way, really only works if you strip the games down to their core ideas and concepts while ignoring how these ideas were actually implemented. It’s actually become a bit of a pet peeve of mine when I see people suggesting that the original NES game and BotW are similar games – they’re absolutely not.
While the idea of freedom, exploration and being able to choose your own path may exist in both in an abstract sense… at that point you’ve stripped them down so thoroughly that you’re really arguing about a concept that existed in the mind of a developer, not the actual implementation of these mechanics and how they manifest themselves in the actual game – or perhaps most importantly, how they actually *feel* to play. It’s almost like there’s a glaring elephant in the room that people are willing to completely gloss over, and it frustrates me every time I see it.
For example, I wouldn’t say that moving through a rudimentary 2D plane with the option of going left, right, up and down to the next screen is in any way similar to the process of carefully scaling a three dimensional mountain, looking out onto the horizon and deciding to paraglide towards a distant tower. You could say they’re both “freedom” in an extremely abstract sense, but the final experience is so different that it almost seems absurd to compare them.
*How* ideas are implemented matters, it’s the final product and the experience of playing the actual game that counts. That’s why it frustrates me when I occasionally see some poor dad come on here and ask questions like “My 4 year old daughter and I really enjoyed playing BotW together, are there any games in this series which are similar?”, and people start suggesting Zelda 1 without even a hint of irony – whenever I see it, I immediately groan and bury my face in my hands. I can almost imagine the disappointment on that poor dad’s face when he actually fires up the game, haha.
The devs literally said that they looked to Zelda 1 when designing BotW. What is the point of this article
Congrats Polygon, you’ve discovered a hot take that is five years too late. At this point I’ve seen dozens of articles and hundreds of YouTube videos arguing this same point. Sure they’re the exact same game if you don’t think about it very hard. The original LoZ allows you to freely explore the overworld, but there are plenty of areas that are gated by essential items needed to progress. Those limits don’t exist after the tutorial in BotW. I’m honestly so tired of hearing this take because these writers really feel like they are making a strong intellectual point, but they’re really not.
…
So this post is bot gonna age well.
Expiration date : may 12th 2023.
Lol
Sure. In my opinion Breath Of The Wild and Elden Ring are two great spiritual remake of the first NES game.
I thought the NES version was inspired from BOTW, which was under development since 1983!
Links awakening for switch was top tier game for me
You do know that BotW is built from Zelda 1 right? Nintendo even created a new physic engine for Zelda 1 to test this new mechanic. They did a whole presentation on this at GDC a few years back. Talked about the chemistry and triangles of BotW.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/nintendo-used-8-bit-zelda-engine-to-prototype-breath-of-the-wild/