November 5th 2023.
Zelda: Breath Of The Wild is one of those games that truly lets you fail on your own, without much hand-holding. It creates an atmosphere that is both exciting and challenging, depicting the sea-like ambivalence of nature when it comes to success and failure. It’s a sentiment that can be applied to many aspects of life, especially when it comes to learning and mastering something.
When it comes to this type of game, everyone has a different preference on how much guidance they want; from a more straightforward approach to an opaque one. In Breath Of The Wild, the memories were a great example of the latter. You had to study the pictures given and explore your surroundings to find the right spot that triggered a cut scene. This method of breadcrumb-style guidance lets you piece the puzzle together and uncover the rewards without being spoon-fed.
SnowRunner is another great example of this more opaque approach. It’s a game that forces you to learn from your mistakes and become more skillful as you progress. It’s almost relentless in its approach and the developers have created a game that immerses you in its world. It’s like an old-school PE teacher, making you work hard in order to learn a particular skill that you need to move forward.
The developers of such games are incredibly skilled in making the process of uncovering new features and learning the depths of their systems fit organically into the game. It’s a process that sometimes goes unnoticed, but is greatly appreciated as it takes a lot of extra time and effort.
So what have we learned? Probably not a lot. But what we can take away is the idea that it’s sometimes better to learn on your own, to make mistakes and to take your time while mastering something. It’s in these moments of challenge that we can learn the most.
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