Bethesda’s Todd Howard Praises Breath of the Wild as “…a magical game.”
Posted on December 07 2022 by Mike Midwood
Not only has Breath of the Wild been both a major financial success and critical darling, it’s also received adulation from industry peers. Whether listed as an influence or simply recognized for its outstanding achievement, other developers have had no shortage of praise for Nintendo’s open-world opus. Apparently, Bethesda director and executive producer Todd Howard is a big fan of the game. In a recent interview with the Lex Fridman Podcast, Howard gushed about Breath of the Wild, calling it “fantastic” and “…a magical experience.” You see Death Mountain? You can go there.
Todd Howard is nearly synonymous with open-world gaming. He was a project lead, director, or producer on the three most recent entries in two major open-world franchises; The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Perhaps no single game is more responsible for the mainstream popularity of open-world fantasy than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Though I’ll always go to bat for Morrowind, it was Skyrim that really demonstrated the mass appeal of this genre when all roadblocks and restrictions are removed.
It’s exactly this ethos that Howard praises while discussing Breath of the Wild. In fact, he states that Bethesda games often place greater constraints on the player than the modern Zelda classic. As many people have, he attributes Breath of the Wild‘s success largely to the lack of restrictions on the player, and the promotion of player freedom when exploring Hyrule.
What do you think? How does Breath of the Wild stack up to Bethesda’s open-world games? How will it influence the genre going forward? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast (via My Nintendo News)
Hi, I’m Mike Midwood and I’m a Senior Editor at ZeldaDungeon! Video games and literature are my greatest joys in life. An avid Zelda fan, some of my other favorite games include the Resident Evil and Dark Souls series. I hope you enjoy my content here on ZeldaDungeon!
“The sword has no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.”
