Breath of the Wild itself can be completed without going to all of the game’s major regions. Additionally, the emergence of open-world games means that players no longer have to visit every area to complete a game. The amount of space that players have to travel can simply be too much. While there is something to be said for having expansive worlds, it takes serious design work to make these settings as memorable and iconic as their forbearers. As game maps become larger and larger, it is harder to keep track of an entire world the way players could in previous generations. This happens to be a trend that worries me about gaming as a whole. Each little section of those other worlds feels extremely distinct and easy to keep track of. In contrast, I have played games like Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword for much less time per playthrough, but I seem to have each area stitched into my brain. However, there are certain sections of the map that I just do not remember very well, particularly the Hebra, Eldin, and Akkala regions. But is the world too large to be as memorable as past Zelda titles? I recently realized that I have played Breath of the Wild for around three hundred hours over four or five playthroughs.
Overall, Breath of the Wild has by far the largest world in the entire series. The best Zelda game is a highly debated topic, but there are a few key reasons why Breath of the Wild comes out on top over Ocarina of Time.