[The following is the transcript of the video]

Evergreen Relevancy

After a brief introduction teaching the basic controls, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild stuns us with a beautiful shot of our protagonist Link looking out over an incredible view of Hyrule. This is an open invitation to explore. The game shows us we can go here, here, here, even here. Beyond the tutorial, nothing limits our choices. It is how Breath of the Wild introduces its central design ethos: the possibility to create our own unique adventure by going anywhere we want and doing anything we’d like. Beyond the tutorial, nothing limits our choices.

This freedom creates a unique Design challenge. Breath of the Wild has no idea where we’ll go next. And yet, no matter our path, it must feel relevant to the long-term goal set after the tutorial: grow strong enough to defeat the Big Bad Ganon. Exploration for its own sake works for some, but for consistency there needs to be external motivation. Becoming the hero who can defeat evil certainly fits the bill.