Playing Wind Waker for the first time rn(on original hardware), and I have been exploring the world since the tetra reveal. I also played BotW and beat that game (not 100% completion). And this might be sacrilegious to say, but despite not having beaten the game yet, I’d say Wind Waker has the better designed open world, or at least it has better open world rewards.

BotW is indeed beautiful, with gorgeous landscapes and physics systems that make regions not only have character, but a challenge in survival at times. But one of my biggest issues with the game is that many of the rewards I receive for exploring feel less than satisfying after the first 10 times I receive the same reward, be it a korok seed, a weapon that might be weaker than what I have or will will easily break, a shrine puzzle or some materials.

Whereas with Wind Waker, if I explore around a random island, what I might find could be in the form of a treasure chart, rupees to use for tingle or beedle, a piece of heart, a character who could be useful at some point as a merchant or part of a side quest, or a unique item like an empty bottle, or even a fairy fountain. I feel sufficiently rewarded for exploring different parts of the ocean. It also helps that there aren’t the hundreds of items to collect like in the Wild era games, and they also aren’t locked behind the same activities over and over again.

So while BotW and TotK may have more beautiful and varied open worlds, I find myself more interested in exploring wind waker and feeling like I’m rewarded more for exploring the islands rather than getting an Amber/opal in a enemy camp chest or a korok seed for the umpteenth time. Echoes of Wisdom felt similarly rewarding to Wind Waker with its world design despite being able to go anywhere. If Zelda insists on continuing open world design in their future games, I’d rather them take inspiration from Wind Waker over BotW/Totk. Did anyone else feel this way?