Zelda takes many open world concepts and perfects them but there is one that misses a lot of people by: the complete lack of a story.

At the start of the game Link already found the triforce, got the Master Sword and fought Ganon. Sadly he died. You wake up just after Link has reloaded his own save file and about to take on the last boss. You can literally just march up to the castle and beat up Ganon with a tree branch if you so wish!

Other open world titles have a push-pull mechanic where the world is pushing you to explore but the story is simultaneously pulling you down a linear path. Horizon Zero Dawn ‘suffered’ from this, partly because it has one of the best stories ever to hit a video game. It’s either/or. Explore or plot: your call.

Zelda manages to break this trend by telling the backstory through exploration but having very few story-based missions. It’s an incredible piece of games design that few publications seem to have picked up on and yet another reason it and Nintendo are at the top of the game.

The big test will be Tears of the Kingdom and whether it can pull the same trick whilst telling an active story.