This BOTW Innovation Is Going To Be A Zelda Series Staple

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will certainly be a departure from the series' most recent entries, but it is carrying over a significant addition introduced by . The 2017 game brought something of a reinvention to the storied Nintendo franchise, opting for an open-world physics sandbox rather than the tightly designed action-adventure experiences that preceded it. is at least in part a return to form, embracing the series' 2D roots, but its inheritance of a feature implies it may be a mainstay going forward.

so far appears to be an interesting hybrid of influences. It clearly takes a lot of traditional DNA from 2D games like and, even sharing assets and an art style with the latter's 2019 remake. It also seems to share a design ethos with, where Echoes are used to approach puzzle solving from any direction, and the Bind ability closely mimics 's Ultrahand. Interestingly, inheriting 's (and 's) Adventure Log may signal a more permanent shift in the series' quest design.

It's been one year since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was critically praised. Why don't we talk about it like BotW?

's latest "" trailer, via the Nintendo of America YouTube channel, went into more detail on how players will explore the game at large, and it revealed that will utilize an Adventure Log almost identical to the one first brought to the series by . Even the interface details are nearly the same, with only a new color scheme, design on the quest description panel, and background accents. even mimics and 's quest pop-ups, including a large notification near the top-center of the screen when one is added to the Log, and a red exclamation point on dialog boxes for NPCs with new quests.

didn't introduce side quests themselves to the series – talking to NPCs for additional adventures has been a staple since 's inception – but its unprecedented scope did necessitate a quest log. Such UI details can seem inconsequential, but the Adventure Log carrying over into suggests the game might