How did The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild redefine open-world game design?

The answer

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, released March 3, 2017, for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U, fundamentally redesigned open-world gameplay. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi's team spent a year prototyping with a simple 2D version to perfect the game's core physics-driven 'chemistry engine,' where fire spreads to grass, metal conducts electricity, and wind affects objects realistically. Unlike previous open-world games that relied on map markers and quest checklists, Breath of the Wild used environmental curiosity as its primary guide - players could see a distant mountain and simply climb to it. Every surface was climbable, any problem had multiple solutions, and the game gave players all core abilities within the first hour. It sold over 31 million copies and won over 250 Game of the Year awards, more than any game in history.