In Japan, procedures and experiences are thoroughly codified and instructions are painstakingly communicated so that everybody gets it, and everything runs in a smooth and orderly fashion, says game designer Jordan Amaro, who has worked with Capcom, Kojima Productions and Nintendo.



Thus, when it comes to games, its no surprise that Japanese designers want players to experience all the possible variations  thats what they believe is the most enjoyable experience.



Amaro says that, in Japan, it is considered the designers job to guide the player through experience, leading to hand-holding and linearity  something frowned upon in the west.



Just like Legend of Zelda II, in which roads are always perfectly safe, the roads in Breath of the Wild are where the bulk of that carefully planned and desirable experience is, says Amaro.



More subtly, Amaro says that success in BotW depends on an important skill in Japanese culture and society: the ability to read the air. This means understanding body language, facial expressions and subtle hints, often used to convey information.



If you can read the air in BotW, youll find that the order of the divine beast is subtly signposted: seemingly non-essential yet critical side-quests, recommendations and hearsay from travellers, the location of certain NPCs (the Goron merchant in Lanayru, for example): all these hints are there for you to pick up. Japanese language is often indirect: an allusion is actually a comment, a piece of advice is really a warning. Thats how BotW works: there is a carefully designed and quite linear walkthrough hiding inside this huge world.