To celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, we're running a series of features looking at a specific aspect — a theme, character, mechanic, location, memory or something else entirely — from each of the mainline Zelda games. Today, Mitch discusses goofing around with puzzles in one of the lesser-known, under-celebrated entries in the series...
By this point in time, what is there left to say about Breath of the Wild? Nintendo’s seminal ‘Open Air Adventure’ has rightfully garnered universal acclaim for how effectively it deconstructed the Zelda formula without losing the core of what makes the series great. The art style struck that nice balance between the gritty realism of Twilight Princess and the cel-shaded expression of Wind Waker. The massive overworld and relatively freeform structure instilled a sense of wonder and exploration that previous entries could only hint at. There was no annoying support character to pop out every four seconds to spoil puzzle solutions or reprimand you for letting your batteries get low. It's no exaggeration to say Breath of the Wild is both the most important and ambitious entry in the series since the original release on NES, and there’s plenty of new or retooled elements you could point to that would back that claim.
For all its innovation, though, what stuck out the most to me in my first run through Breath of the Wild was its open-ended approach to puzzle design. Puzzles in previous Zelda games were always engaging, but that age-old ‘lock-and-key’ design did start to lose its luster a bit over the years. Shooting a projectile at a crystal or an eye shaped decoration on the wall felt great the first time, but doing it for the twentieth time four games later felt more like watching reruns of a show you’ve seen too many times already.
I knew Breath of the Wild was going to be a different approach to the series, but I’ll admit that my expectations were tempered as I came into it. The game industry—both fans and creators—certainly has a tendency to overhype the new entry in whatever series as the ‘biggest and best’ experience ever, when the reality is usually something a little less exciting. And while the E3 demo I played when it was revealed was certainly a promising proof of concept, there was a lingering doubt in my mind that Nintendo wouldn’t quite be able to stick the landing.
My concern was that a lot of the cool new ideas would be underutilized or quickly swept aside in favor of a safer, more comfortable direction, and so I was preparing myself to find some way to be excited when I was again asked to fire an arrow at a crystal to open a door.
The moment that finally broke my sceptical mindset came relatively early in my playthrough, as my eyes were finally opened to what the new approach to puzzle design would mean going forward. I’d stumbled my way into the Myahm Agana Shrine, which is the one with that annoying ball and maze puzzle that requires you to use motion controls. It was a cool idea — I appreciated what they were trying to do with it — but I just could not get that silly ball to go where I wanted it to.
Frustrated, I decided that I’d maybe come back to the shrine later to finish it, and I set my Joy-Con down for a moment. In doing so, the slightly desynced motion controls caused the maze to tilt heavily to the side, revealing to me a possible way out.
There’s no way this’ll work, I thought, as I picked up the controller again to test my idea. Sure enough, you could just flip the maze over and have the ball drop onto the smooth underside, instantly turning the puzzle into a simply bypassed obstacle. I was dumbfounded, to say the least. And while I’m sure that the designers were aware that’s a possible approach to the puzzle, it very obviously was not the ‘solution’ to the challenge I was presented with. It totally changed the way I approached Shrines from that point forward, as I recognized that the rules for this Zelda game were actually different.
It totally changed the way I approached Shrines from that point forward, as I recognized that the rules for this Zelda game were actually different.
This point was driven further home later on when I came into the Kay Noh Shrine. Here, I was asked to find these big batteries to power nodes that would open doors leading to the goal. Starting out, things were going just fine, but I got stuck when I made it to the last door and couldn’t find the final battery to open it. For this one, I looked through a thread on Reddit discussing solutions to various shrines, and somebody on there mentioned that they solved it by just laying out a bunch of metal weapons to create a path for the electricity. No final battery required. It definitely didn’t sound right to me, but I figured it’d be worth giving a shot and, sure enough, the door opened for me.
It’s moments like these that were the most impactful in showing me that Nintendo really was sort of soft-rebooting the Zelda franchise with Breath of the Wild. Whereas previous titles always had a sole solution to each of the various obstacles in your way, this new entry dared you to think a little bigger. If you didn’t like the rules, you could simply bend them to your will and make a solution. After all, why shouldn’t you be able to use the underside of a maze to take a shortcut to the solution?
Above all, this design mentality has made Breath of the Wild the most personally resonant game in the franchise. By that, I mean that everyone’s journey through will look a little different and play out in a way that’s unique to their playstyle. We all encounter the same obstacles and traipse around the same world, but how we engage with it depends on who’s holding the controller. I’d imagine there are plenty of people out there who have never discovered the more esoteric ways to approach puzzles and have marched through using the ‘intended’ solution every time.
On the other hand, you have all the streamers and enthusiasts that have found increasingly ridiculous and contrived ways to utilize the emergent systems to serve their ends. Unlike all the previous entries, there aren’t any strictly right answers here; it’s more about empowering you to arrive at an answer that fits you.
All of this is to say, I hope Nintendo continues to focus on this creativity-first approach to its Zelda formula, and that it expands on Breath of the Wild’s ideas in a way that creates ever more space for that personal touch. There will always be a place for the old-school approach to Zelda games—I’m especially hoping we see more 2D entries in the near future—but I personally find it a bit difficult now to go back to the older games and their decidedly more 'limited' design. The future of Zelda rests in the expansive and emergent design they prototyped with Breath of the Wild, and I’m sure we’ll be wowed all over again once we see what’s in store for its follow up.
Comments 49
"It's no exaggeration to say Breath of the Wild is both the most important and ambitious entry in the series since the original release on NES, ..."
I'd say Ocarina of Time was also very important
I just wished a few more of the shrines had puzzles like these. Far too quickly I noticed the handful of shrine puzzles used and could blast through them.
The challenge ones were handy for keeping a stock of guardian weapons so I never had to worry about breaking weapons again though.
Personally for me, the shrines or Beasts never filled the hole I needed for a true dungeon in the game.
BotW reminded me of the original Assassins Creed, an amazing sand box tech demo with veey little to actually do apart from exploit the game mechanics. Hopefully the second game can lay an actual game over the foundations of the first just like AC2 did.
Nice Read... I'm really hoping that they can mix in the Shrines with more traditional Dungeons in BOTW2.
I love when people take a unique approach to one of the most unique games ever
I think this gameplay design is a double edged sword. It was pretty awesome discovering that you could solve puzzles in new, unorthodox ways. But once that discovery happens, the puzzles felt more trivial than ever before because for most of them, you didn’t really have to solve the puzzle any more.
@mariomaster96 I agree. OoT was probably even more so important to the franchise than BotW.
Breaking shrines was the best. I'll admit a few of the ones where the controller rotated the stage to guide a ball, I would flip the controller upside down to give me a flat surface and then ping pong the ball until it was where I needed it, toss the ball high in the air and flip the stage back.
Yes, to me that was easier than doing the stage correctly lol. I kept thinking...did no dev playtest that you could do that? But in hindsight, that is likely considered the harder way to complete it so they likely didn't care.
It was hilarious reaching the other ledge by blowing myself up with a bomb. Pretty sure that wasn't the intended solution 😂
https://youtu.be/WBZzj8m_AIk
This what happens when the game designer wants the player to feel like a genius instead of the game designer wanting to feel like a genius by having the player spin around the wiimote to open a door for the 30th time.
@SwitchVogel this is exactly the same moment that sealed the deal for me as well. I was literally talking to my mate about this exact same shrine the other day!
@mariomaster96 Absolutely, more important no question.
I agree with this despite not having really clicked with BotW yet. I love games like Skyrim and Just Cause where using the game’s systems to essentially break the game is almost encouraged.
@mariomaster96 It was important, but I'd say OoT is overhyped these days. It made that huge step to 3D and that can't be understated, but it basically just translated the existing structure that A Link to the Past had perfected. BotW did something new, it changed the formula in a way none of its predecessors had tried.
I super appreciate this article. I had a similar moment of "oh wait, I can do this a different way..." when there was a shrine with a runway of spikey swinging balls on chains. There was enough of a gap between each one to stand, so presumably stasis would be the default way of getting past it, stop a ball, move to the gap, stop the next, move to the next gap, etc, etc.
That felt like it would take too long to me, so noticing they were metal I grabbed each one with magnesis and hung them up over the arms they were swinging from, immobalising the balls and clearing the entire walkway. Might seem an obvious alternative solution, but clocking it makes you feel like a real genius. And this game had moments like that in spades.
"...for how effectively it deconstructed the Zelda formula without losing the core of what makes the series great."
Absolutely false. The game doesn't even feel like a Zelda game.
They need to get rid of Aonuma and hire someone who isn't obsessed with Elder Scrolls and Monster Hunter.
Oh yes, I did the exact same thing with the ball maze.
The shrines were the part I disliked most. I would've liked more traditional "dungeons" more. Finding the shrines was cool though.
I think both lock-and-key and creativity-first approaches have their places. The lock-and-key approach really works when you want to make elaborate, multiple-part (and even multi-room) puzzles, and convey the idea that you're in this foreboding ancient temple with an exact configuration of traps and challenges. The creativity-first shrines in Breath of the Wild (and in stuff like Portal) favor smaller, tighter puzzle design, with different solutions and a shorter running time. I think the Divine Beasts tried to combine both approaches, but didn't quite get there. (Though I still find them a lot of fun.) Part of what makes the dungeons in, say, Ocarina of Time so memorable is the drama and architectural narrative of your movement through them. I've been watching speed runs of it lately and stuff like the Forest Temple feels as powerfully atmospheric as ever. And this emotional, narrative component is key to Zelda dungeons, not just their complexity and interactive opportunities. (Though speed-runners have certainly broken even the most linear, rigid dungeons out there.) Conversely, Breath of the Wild's shrines and beasts are not quite as memorable, but, during my current Master Mode run, I've still found them beguiling. I really, really like how each shrine has an optional chest with, usually, an optional puzzle attached to it. That reminds me of the special challenges in Portal, forcing you to re-solve the puzzles in harder, more efficient ways.
Great article! The vaults in Immortals Fenyx Rising also have this same appeal.
I received the game on Saturday and I did a ‘break’ on the Myahm Agana Shrine by turning it sideways, then knocking it into an easier part of the maze so I could just flip the ball onto the slope.
@switchvogel are you guys not covering the 3DS titles in this anniversary series?
While breath of the Wild was in fact very creative & daring (& admittedly its hard to knock), I would say with confidence that it does not retain the core of the Zelda experience. The best thing that can be said about it is that it is very elegant in its open world design.
@Kevember the director is Fujibayashi, not saying that Aonuma doesnt hold a lot of power, but the best 3D Zeldas were under Aonuma or heavily involved him.
@SwitchVogel Oot isn't my favourite Zelda game, but Ocarina did a lot more than just transition link to the past into 3D (besides its closer to Link's awakening's design)
@mariomaster96 I agree. ALttP set a foundation for Zelda, OoT defined and fulfilled that foundation, and BoTW built a totally new structure on top of that foundation.
While I didn’t get on with BotW, I do agree that games that allow you to solve problems in all sorts of different ways are a lot of fun. I think that’s the reason Mario 64 still holds up, as there’s often lots of ways to collect the the stars in each level.
I'd say Ocarina of Time was at least equally important, if not more so. I do agree about some of the shrines which were excellent in their use of puzzles, to me its just a shame that far too many were just that one enemy or had nothing to do inside. BOTW does have some truly amazing gameplay mechanics which allow for some our of the box thinking but this is coupled with a lack of true dungeons where these could have really shone
@SwitchVogel I'd say Ocarina is underrated these days and that jump to 3D whilst maintaining and elevating that level of gameplay was far from guaranteed. Just having a decent camera in 3d adventure games wasn't a guarantee, let alone great controls and don't forget the Z targeting system that many 3D action adventure games have basically used to some degree ever since
@Aerona Wait what? I need details. How in the heck did you...
@Beaucine Beautifully written. It was really incredible that, in addition to the 3d, in an era where 3d was really ugly, they brought so much atmosphere in Ocarina of Time. I kind of missed that in Breath of the Wild, as amazing as this one is.
I like the approach in this article, but I have to agree with others that it is a little much to say Breath of the Wild is "more" innovative than Ocarina Of Time, or that Ocarina merely transferred the series to 3D. Ocarina did more than implement A Link To The Past type gameplay in 3D, it defined the now-standard approaches to 3D game design all modern games take from, and set the gold standard while doing so (this is the video game equivalent of building the Titanic 100% perfectly without blueprints in 1500 A.D.). Breath of the Wild reinvigorated the otherwise predictable and waning open world mechanic and set the gameplay standard for how open world games should be designed in terms of building a seamless world-player interaction system that rewards players with something interesting no matter where they go or what they do (how much of an influence it will have on the industry has yet to be seen). The truth is that both titles are innovative in different ways.
It's hands down the single most ambitious game ever for Nintendo. And you can tell. Pure masterpiece. Say what you want but it flipped everything that previous open world games had with limitations. This game is borderline revolutionary and I'm not some Zelda snob, it just is. My main is Metroid.
Ocarina of Time, along with Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII, is partly (if not largely) to blame for kickstarting the games-as-art debate. From the vantage point of 2021, we have the perspective now to say that, well, in terms of game design and overall flow, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening (and I'd also go to bat for the first Zelda) are at least as good if not better than Ocarina of Time. But when it came out, Ocarina of Time was a real eye-opening moment for a lot of us. Its influence cannot be overstated and its DNA is all over other games that were, in turn, also massively influential, including Shadow of the Colossus and Dark Souls. It was a game that suggested the Dream of Videogames — a fully-immersive virtual world that contains all other art forms and modes of expression — was close at hand. In part because graphics had advanced to the point that it was possible to build "cinematic" interactive experiences. And the comparison to cinema, an established artform, gave weight to videogames' claim to artistic integrity. Now that we're enlightened 2021 gamers we can go back to, say, Pac-Man from 1980 and go, yes, this is obviously art. But back in 1998, we needed Ocarina of Time and its brethren to spur the conversation.
@Cyz
Very true. Ocarina of Time does things with sound design, music, architecture, and color that are extraordinarily effective. I like Mario 64 very much (played it for the first time last year), but it's clear to me that Ocarina of Time was a massive aesthetic leap for Nintendo (and the Nintendo 64). The reason your first walk into Hyrule Field is so emotionally resonant is not because Hyrule Field is an exciting place (it isn't) but because of how carefully the game leads up to that point, after hours running inside a tree or around a small forest village closed in by foliage. And when you enter Hyrule Field, you don't immediately emerge into the wide expanse but have to walk down a hedged-in corridor first, ensuring maximum effect when the horizon finally stretches out in front of you. It's like a musical composition but with architecture and level design. That kind of thing goes a long way towards elevating the early 3D graphics.
@mariomaster96 exactly my thoughts as I read the same section
@NintendoArchive I couldn’t agree with you more. Z targeting was all the rage thanks to this game and it really did set the bar for 3D games of the time. As a child of the 80s I can say that I was way more blown away by OoT (the transition from pixels to polygons alone was staggering) than I ever was with BotW. Don’t get me wrong, BotW was a fantastic game and definitely one of the best Zeldas but it will never hold as much importance to the gaming world as OoT.
@the4seer same. i miss the traditional dungeons.
@Ryu_Niiyama I think I made it sound more exciting than it was, There was this one part where the ledges were close but you have to solve a puzzle to get across. I was just like 'no thanks' and recoiled my way there.
@Ryu_Niiyama https://youtu.be/WBZzj8m_AIk I uploaded my Switch video for you. 🙂
One of the many reasons why this game is a masterpiece in my eyes. During my second play through, a lot of the shrines felt fresh being able to tackle them in a different way.
@Aerona I got a solid laugh out of that. Smart thinking! Although a bit dangerous considering how many hearts you had.
@Ryu_Niiyama I like to live dangerously 😎
I just wish weapons and shields weren’t breakable
There is no right way to solve any of the puzzles in BotW. You could either jump through all the hoops laid out by the devs or take a massive shortcut along the way, but as long as you arrive at the end, the nice dessicated monk will praise your heroic "resourcefulness in overcoming this trial" regardless.
What impresses me about BotW is not just how ground-breaking it was, but the fact it simply didn’t need to be. It didn’t have to exist at all.
Ocarina, like Super Mario 64 before it, broke new ground because, well… it sort of had to. Both are undeniably epoch-making games, but this is not unexpected from two titles released at the beginning of a new gaming epoch. The fact they broke this ground so deftly and convincingly is notable, but as the first 3D games in their respective series, as well as some of the first mainstream 3D video games ever, they were always going landmark titles.
Breath didn’t have to be such a landmark title. Yes, technological progress had made realising expansive 3D worlds easier, but there was no reason Zelda needed to unfold into that potential new space. It could well have stuck to traditions, much as Game Freak did when they decided that impassable miniature slopes should be a thing in Sword and Shield because they were a thing in Red and Blue. They were part of the canon of Pokemon Game design.
But for whatever reason, the Zelda development team decided to throw the book of canonical Zelda game design in the bin, and instead focus on realising the Zelda ‘spirit’ - of exploration and adventure - and the result is a bloody masterpiece.
A lot of people will say Breath of the Wild is not a ‘real’ Zelda. It lacks the common tropes. It ventures too far into unfamiliar territory. This always seems a strange criticism make of a game that spearheads the ‘adventure’ genre. Venturing into unfamiliar territory is at the very core of what makes an adventure adventurous. And for that reason, it is to me, the most Zelda that Zelda has ever been.
"it very obviously was not the ‘solution’ to the challenge I was presented with."
Ah, I thought that flipping the controller over WAS the solution — the maze just seemed so needlessly convoluted, especially in a game whose puzzles, while cryptic, are actually forehead-slappingly simple once you figure them out.
umm so Nintendo knew this during development and even told us that there were 'many' solutions to shrines. This is nothing new.
There's a few shrines I still have no clue how to solve "correctly". There's one with two see-saws at the end. I think you have to use something other than Stasis on one of them, but I just fumbled through, hehe.
This was true for some of the shrines.
The ones where I didn't like the availability of the "unintended" solution is where you have to rotate these cubes to light all the torches without them getting doused in water. When you realize you can just set the torches on fire with fire arrows and bypass the puzzle, it destroys the puzzle.
Prior to BOTW, I was solidly in the "OoT for life" camp. I love that game. Wind Waker is another favorite. But man... BOTW really put Zelda in a whole new light for me. I can see why some people think it strays far from the formula, but BOTW feels like the ultimate Zelda experience to me. The only change I hope to see in BOTW2 is the inclusion of a few large, classic style dungeons. Sprinkle in two or three of those and i think we will see my new favorite Zelda game.
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