The open-world genre has consistently been on the rise since the massive success of Skyrim set new standards for what players would expect out of a sandbox title in 2011. However, the open-world genre has since shifted, with 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild once again revamping what the expectation of these freeform adventures should look like.
It looks like a number of releases from 2020 might be the start of a new trend for the open-world genre to take, now that developers have had the time to repeat the success of Breath of the Wild. The trend might have some fans worried that some of these companies are simply trying to make a quick buck with a cheap clone, but the results so far have given players some impressive worlds to dive into.
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It would be impossible to talk about Breath of the Wild clones without mentioning both miHoYo's Genshin Impact and Ubisoft's Immortals Fenyx Rising. The comparisons have been made before, with both of these newer titles receiving a certain amount of flack for having copied the Breath of the Wild format instead of making an original design. However, if these games really were as simple as being knock-off Nintendo, then they likely wouldn't have found the success that they already enjoy.
Each of these games adds different layers to the newly immerging Breath of the Wild-like subgenre in ways that Nintendo might not have considered, or wanted to take the risk on. Between Immortals' improvements on combat, and Genshin's online capabilities, each of these games offers a unique experience that stands apart from its peers. This is a phenomenon that players have seen before in a number of genres, especially when it comes to indie developers tackling design concepts that don't get explored quite as often.
Fans of FromSoftware's Dark Souls franchise have seen the developer's breakout success turn into a whole new genre of titles that generally include imposing boss fights and crushing difficulty. As the series itself has expanded, and even the original creator has delved into creating Soulslikes like Bloodborne and Sekiro, there are plenty of new features that have been brought in by outside developers. The growing roster of the Soulslike genre have introduced dozens of new features to a series that might have stagnated if not for its surrounding clones.
Some key examples of these clones introducing new mechanics includes Code Vein's consistent partner, Mortal Shell's hardening system, and The Surge's stylized dismemberments. In the same way that each of these games have added new elements to the genre, Breath of the Wild's clones have taken the same design concepts of the original and layered new features onto it. The result is that while Nintendo's first use of this new approach to an open-world might still stand out as one of the better implementations of the genre, there is still a lot Breath of the Wild 2 could learn from these clones.
One of the biggest additions to the Breath of the Wild-like subgenre is Genshin Impact's introduction of multiplayer into this new type of open-world. While the genre has been explored with online features before, with popular MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 having large worlds, miHoYo is the first developer to bring Breath of the Wild mechanics to multiplayer. As a result, the game earned some initial backlash when it was first announced, but Genshin Impact quickly became one of the most popular titles in 2020.
Considering that the possibility of Nintendo including co-op in Breath of the Wild 2 has continued to be one of the most highly requested features around the upcoming game, Genshin Impact's success isn't surprising. This is one of those areas where Nintendo might never actually concede to fan requests, because implementing a second or third player into Breath of the Wild 2 would completely change the experience. If this is the case, then clones will be the only way that players ever get to explore a world like Breath of the Wild through either online or local multiplayer.
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On the other end of giving players new experiences, there is Immortals Fenyx Rising, which blends some of the more recent Assassin's Creed combat with Breath of the Wild. However, Immortals even goes above and beyond the combat found in other Ubisoft titles, by incorporating the stamina bar directly into how Fenyx fights and how players can best utilize their abilities. For anyone who's mastered the intricacies of Breath of the Wild's combat, the new systems that appear in Immortals are a breath of fresh air.
In the case of Breath of the Wild, much of the fighting lent itself to the physics and environmental engines, allowing players to find new ways around enemies. Some players would sneak around Bokoblin camps and steal all of their weapons, others could wait until night when the enemies sleep and dispatch them quickly, all in an effort to essentially get around combat. The contrast of this being the way that the enemies in Immortals are built around Fenyx's weapon types to deal both health and stagger damage, and turns many fights into a consistent test of skill instead of a puzzle that gets repeated every time the player encounters them again.
Looking at how other developers have already improved some of the key features and mechanics in Breath of the Wild, Nintendo now has a head start on where to take the sequel. The complexity of Immortals' combat could be implemented into Hyrule, especially with Breath of the Wild 2's bosses. Similarly, the success of Genshin Impact could introduce the incentive for Nintendo to add at least some form of multiplayer to the next installment.
In the other direction, the downsides of these games can also highlight certain things that Nintendo should avoid when working on the next Zelda title. One of the most obvious deficits comes from how Genshin Impact's locations are railroaded according to player level and where in the story they have progressed. As long as the developer keeps the criticisms of surrounding titles in mind, Breath of the Wild 2 has a good chance to far outpace its predecessor.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available now for Switch.