Clair Obscur Author Explained Why The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Changed the Genre

The creative director of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 explained why he considers The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild a game that changed the perception of the open world genre.

Guillaume Broche, creative director of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, praised The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In an interview with Konbini, he stated that Nintendo's game changed the Zelda series and redefined the open-world genre.

Broche admitted that he had never been a big Zelda fan. As a child, he only played one installment on Game Boy, and then only became acquainted with the series through Breath of the Wild. The developer noted that he usually doesn't like open-world games and was initially skeptical of the project.

This is the first open-world game that truly delivered what the genre promised. You see something on the horizon and you just want to get there. But many other events happen along the way, and you constantly change the direction of your journey.

According to Broche, the game's main strength is its world design and approach to exploration. Instead of a mini-map and markers, players discover new places through their own curiosity. He called Breath of the Wild's level design "absolute mastery" and noted that this game was the first to truly impress him as an open-world genre representative.