For years, many have been asking for an open-ended experience out of the Zelda franchise. It’s interesting since the series hasn’t used that approach outside of the first game.
Maybe the fascination comes from the series’ overworlds, which seemingly have the potential for a free-form structure. But if you try to deviate from the developer’s intended path, it’s easy to see how locked down each version of Hyrule is. Even A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo doesn’t offer full freedom. You can get lost in the overworld, but there are few opportunities to circumvent the fundamental structure.
The ability to almost completely forgo the game’s intended sequence in the original makes it truly feel like an open adventure. The only Zelda title to come close to replicating this was A Link Between Worlds on Nintendo 3DS.
