My brother-in-law and I are both long-time gamers, having each put in our time on the hobby, playing many of the classics and quite a few, not so classic titles, as well.
We have very different gaming backgrounds, however. Although we’re about the same age, I started a bit earlier than he did, with a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This was a time when Japanese game design dominated the console market and I was inundated in it, particularly Nintendo’s own design ethos on games like Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
My brother-in-law, Mark, however, didn’t really get into console gaming until the first Xbox came out. He was surrounded by games from western developers, games that shared DNA with the PC market, so he was playing games like Halo and Morrowind in his spare time.
This meant we could talk about a lot of the same games without always particularly having any affection for the titles one of us is playing compared to the other. Even when the games seem like they should reach the same audience.
The open-world simulator, for instance, has become an increasingly popular style of game. I’d dabbled with some attempts on consoles, like Assassin’s Creed, without really latching on to any title.
But when Breath of the Wild came out, I knew I’d have to try it and, lo and behold, something about Nintendo’s approach to the genre clicked with me, beyond just the visual trappings of a Zelda title. I was entranced with this wide-open expanse of Hyrule and spent countless hours exploring the nooks and crannies of this colorful fantasy realm.
When I finished, I recommended it to Mark. It is a Japanese game, of course, but it borrowed from games he played compulsively like Assassin’s Creed and the Elder Scrolls titles. I thought, if anything might connect with him, this might.
Meanwhile, I was curious about whether Breath of the Wild had opened me up to other open-world experiences and decided to try with the biggest exemplar of the field, the ever-popular Skyrim.
It was not a success on either front.
Mark played a few hours into Breath of the Wild, getting off the Great Plateau and reaching Hyrule below, but soon lost interest as he wandered the land. He never finished a single Divine Beast and eventually returned my game sheepishly.
I had little room to criticize. I started Skyrim eagerly enough, designed my character and was soon trekking across the region, raiding a couple of dungeons, slaying giant spiders, fighting a dragon, climbing a mountain to talk to some monks who teach elocution. But I missed the colors of Hyrule, the climbable terrain of Breath of the Wild and, most of all, the sense of magic potential everywhere I went. The region of Skyrim seemed dull and bland in comparison and I eventually fell off the title without ever advancing the thin storyline past learning a few dragon-killing words.
Since then, Mark and I tend to stay in our prescribed lanes. He continues to play his western RPGs, eagerly awaiting games like Elder Scrolls 6; I await the sequel to Breath of the Wild with bated breath. But there are no more swap meets between us when it comes to our preferred gaming experiences.
