When I first saw the trailer of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at E3, I was floored. “They finally listened to us,” I screamed internally. A Zelda game that will finally go back to its roots, its ACTUAL roots. I’m speaking of course, of the original NES and SNES titles. The ones that defined the franchise going forward. And no, I do not include Zelda II in this conversation, although it is still a good game in its own right and deserves to be played if you haven’t done so already.

What made those original Zelda games so memorable and a joy to play was their use of exploration and discovering the unknown. Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of all your favorite Nintendo franchises, wanted to make a game that relived the experiences he had as a kid, exploring caves and adventuring.

In The Legend of Zelda, you were dropped into an unknown world, given no direction and no purpose. It was up to you to decide what you should do and where you should go. If you ventured off into an area with powerful enemies, you’d get your ass kicked, because you weren’t powerful enough or experienced enough to defeat them. But, you could still try, and that is important. It created a memory and a learned lesson to take with you on your journey. You felt like an adventurer.

So, Nintendo decided they would try and recreate those emotions in their new Zelda game. However, this is a daunting task. How do you create that same experience on current platforms? It worked well for NES and SNES since games back then were already inherently difficult. But today, gamers are financially conservative and purchase games that they’ll play to the end., successfully getting their money’s worth. Luckily, there was already a game franchise that had mastered this sense of adventure and the unknown, Dark Souls.

If you look at Zelda: Breath of the Wild carefully, you’ll begin to notice all the striking similarities it has with a Dark Souls game.

• The game drops you into an unknown world with no information
• You are given basic equipment with weak stats that you can upgrade and swap out for stronger versions later on
• From the beginning, you are free to go anywhere you like in the world (you can even go straight to the final boss from the very start of the game if you feel inclined)
• Bosses are big, and you are expected to die… a lot

I am not saying that Nintendo did this on purpose. In fact, I think it’s just happenchance. What I am eluding to is this, there are two things that Nintendo does (and are willing to do) that makes them such a powerhouse in the industry. One, they try new ideas, no matter how risky or outlandish (I’m looking at you Virtual Boy), in an attempt to innovate and make better products. And two, they understand and cherish their roots. They aren’t afraid of digging deep into themselves and bringing back the parts that made them who they are today.