popular Legend of Zelda titles The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. These two Legend of Zelda titles helped to form the overall gameplay, changing how players see and explore the world around them.
Although seemingly distant, it's fascinating to see how Legend of Zelda has helped form The Outer Wilds and how players interact with The Outer Wild's environment. By combining the want to improve the gameplay of Skyward Sword with driving player intrigue like in The Wind Waker, The Outer Wilds provides players a game that really pushes players to explore the world around them and learn about it rather than just following the main quest and smashing baddies.
When discussing the making of The Outer Wilds with YouTube channel in The Wind Waker, players are offered a variety of pictures that are actually taken in game which gives players the opportunity to explore and find these places within the game's world. The Outer Wilds uses this idea of exploration to encourage players to continue exploring. Beachum mentions that the point of exploring The Outer Wilds is to satiate their own curiosity. It's not necessarily a demand, but rather a fun side adventure for players to enjoy. The Outer Wilds begs players to explore to learn about the world for fun and not necessarily for story.
This push for exploration is a response to Skyward Sword's less-than-stellar world exploration. Skyward Sword focused more on the actual story rather than allowing players to explore the world around them. Players were focused on objectives and beating bosses rather than taking the time to look around and explore. Beachum mentions that he is "a huge Zelda fan and Skyward Sword is emblematic of all the things that just pain me to see the Zelda series doing." Instead, The Outer Wilds allows players to search the depths of the world and their own curiosity. It's not a game focused on killing and conquering, but rather it focuses on learning and gain knowledge.
The Legend of Zelda series has given players game after game of world exploration. The creators find reasons for players to explore everything around them. The Outer Wilds matches this idea and expands on it, giving fans a larger world to explore until players feel satisfied in their knowledge of the world.
The Outer Wilds is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Noclip/YouTube
