Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Best Open-World Game 2017
Of all the vast open-worlds brought to life by the various games nominated for this award, Breath of the Wild’s is perhaps the least visually detailed, the least populated, and tells the most shallow of stories. And yet, the first proper open-world rendition of Hyrule is among the most compelling and captivating environments we’ve ever played. Its go-anywhere-do-anything design, aided by revelatory traversal mechanics and the sum of hundreds of tiny but incredible details culminates to produce a truly astonishing game. Breath of the Wild hasn’t just shaken up the Zelda franchise, it’s ushered fresh innovation and ideas into an entire genre… in its debut outing. It may well be remembered as a seminal open-world game in years to come.
With Breath of the Wild, series producer Eiji Aonuma once likened Zelda’s transition to going from “Japanese food to Western-style food”. But while there’s no doubt one can see the influences of popular Ubisoft and Bethesda titles in the roots of Breath of the Wild’s design, this is far from a carbon copy. In fact, by stripping away typical features and tropes of the by now well-established open-world template, Breath of the Wild feels so much more rewarding. The lack of waypoints or handholding make each discovery – shrine, faery, side quest, Korok seed, you name it – feel like a special achievement. It’s a game in which investigating a small glimmer in the distance leads to magical chance encounters that constantly thrill and surprise.
Binding this wonderful experience together, a charming aesthetic, melodic score, and endearing characters make for a special and heartwarming adventure. Breath of the Wild has completely reset the benchmark for the genre, and it’s hard to imagine many games will dethrone this open-world title for some time to come.
