The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a legendary game for numerous reasons, paramount of which is its approach to exploration. It seems baffling in hindsight that it was so revolutionary when it sounds so simple, but BOTW made exploration a key focus, ensuring that no matter what the player was doing while venturing across its vast and varied world, they had something of interest to do, look at, or journey towards. At no point during BOTW's extraordinarily lengthy campaign should the player ever feel truly bored. In fact, at least in my case, I was consistently surprised.

Of course, BOTW has many issues, the majority of which have been labored over ad nauseam and were unfortunately translated to its somewhat lackluster follow-up, Tears of the Kingdom. However, while no game is perfect, there is a lot that Breath of the Wild introduced to the world of gaming that has endured and helped completely elevate the bar that open-world games need to reach before being considered even remotely good. Unfortunately, one of the best BOTW inventions has yet to breach the RPG mainstream, and that's a genuine shame.

BOTW's Weather Mechanics Were Incredible

It Completely Transformed Traversal

One aspect of Breath of the Wild that I don't hear people talk about is its weather mechanics. Frankly, through my hundreds of hours with the game, I feel that this immersive element is one of the best parts of BOTW, not simply because it makes traversal more enjoyable and dynamic, but also because I've literally never seen weather implemented in such a way in any other RPG. For those not in the know, BOTW has weather like any other open world RPG, but it impacts the ground around you, the NPCs wandering nearby, and even the clothes Link's wearing.

Climbing up a wet cliff face beaten by torrential rain is nearly impossible for Link to do, as he'll constantly lose his grip and slip downwards. BOTW's many excellent NPCs will run for shelters or cover their heads if they can whenever it rains, which, again, I don't think I've ever seen in another open-world game. If Link is wearing metal armor or carrying a sword during a lightning strike, he'll be targeted by it, and in hot weather, his wooden gear will be set ablaze. It's all incredibly immersive and helps make BOTW's version of Hyrule feel more alive.

While I have seen some criticism of Breath of the Wild's weather effects, I wholeheartedly believe that they greatly enhance the act of traversing Hyrule in a way that no other game has managed. Having to factor in the weather while traveling makes exploration feel a tad more exciting and unpredictable. You don't know if it'll start pouring with rain while you're in the middle of climbing a mountain in your way, or whether lightning will strike in the midst of combat. I love how much personality that brings to BOTW's exploration.

Dynamic Weather Should Be An Important Feature

It Should Actually Impact The World Around You

It baffles me how few games really incorporate dynamic weather, including some of the best RPGs available. While there are a handful of games that have made its weather a key part of the experience - a recent example is Monster Hunter Wilds - so many will implement rain, snow, or even lightning, but will never have it do much to the player, either positively or negatively beyond making their character model look immediately drenched. It's a shame, especially in fantastical titles that could amp up the extremities of weather and make it more exciting.

There are also so many BOTW copycats that take its more pronounced or acclaimed features, but never its implementation of dynamic weather. As someone who values immersion in RPGs especially, I find it disappointing that more games don't make weather a priority. Of course, in more realistic games like Red Dead Redemption 2, there isn't really a need for interactive weather effects. However, I love how Breath of the Wild's interpretation of weather plays into the childlike wonder of it, such as making lightning a terrifying force of nature that could strike you at any moment.

Making a region harder to traverse due to a heavy rainstorm, or certain equipment useless during particular weather conditions, limits the player in interesting ways and forces them to adapt on the fly.

There is also a lot of value to be found in it being a core gameplay mechanic. As aforementioned, it drastically changes how players approach exploration in a way that I've not seen any other mechanic really achieve. Making a region harder to traverse due to a heavy rainstorm, or certain equipment useless during particular weather conditions, limits the player in interesting ways and forces them to adapt on the fly. That level of adaptability can be the difference between feeling like you're just going from point A to B and feeling like you're on an actual adventure.

Open-World Games Need More Dynamic Weather

It Would Make Them More Immersive Experiences

This is why I feel like more open-world games need dynamic weather. Assassin's Creed Shadows' season mechanic is a strong example of how it can work, with each season drastically changing the visuals of a region, making familiar territory suddenly feel brand new. It also affects stealth, such as making ponds that Naoe could swim underneath to hide, frozen over and thus inaccessible. While not as impactful as BOTW's weather mechanics, it does make traversing its version of Japan all the more exciting and encourages revisiting previously explored areas.

I don't think that every open-world game needs this, and I can appreciate that it would take a considerable amount of resources to implement and a lot of effort to figure out how to make it an immersive and interesting inclusion without increasing the challenge to a frustrating degree. However, that moment when I first saw an NPC run for cover the second it started raining in BOTW, and I rushed over and waited for the rain to peter out with them by a roaring campfire, I knew that this level of immersion should be present in most open-world titles.

It may seem like a small inclusion, a small change to the world, but it can make all the difference. Games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance prove that small changes like these are what ultimately make a game feel alive, and now that we've practically reached the peak of visual fidelity, I feel like chasing a believable immersion in open-world titles is the next goal to accomplish. Breath of the Wild's weather effects should absolutely be used in more open-world games so we can push the gaming landscape one step closer to that goal.