Chapter 888: A Seamless Tutorial
After immense effort, Zhao Lei finally obtained the paraglider and could leave the Great Plateau.
It was only then that he suddenly realized—could the entire Great Plateau have been just a tutorial??
Thinking back, it really seemed that way. From the old man teaching Link how to use fire at the start, to later activating the tower, exploring shrines to gain special abilities, and finally obtaining the paraglider... it all seemed like a step-by-step instruction on the game’s mechanics for the player.
However, this tutorial was incredibly extravagant. It not only consumed nearly two hours of gameplay but also set aside a special area—the Great Plateau—just for this purpose.
Reflecting carefully, the game mechanics of *The Legend of Zelda* were actually very complex, with numerous systems. For example, fire-related content alone included lighting flames, cooking, attacking enemies, and even quirky moves like swinging a torch to drive away bees. The protagonist’s special abilities included magnetism, ice blocks, bombs, time-stop, and many more. These systems could interact and influence each other, making them endlessly versatile.
Yet, despite such a complicated game system, playing it never felt overwhelming. There was no pressure to learn; everything seemed to come naturally.
The reason was that the entire content of the Great Plateau was meticulously planned, filled with puzzles tied to these abilities, progressing from easy to hard step by step. Each time a player solved a small puzzle, their understanding of the game mechanics deepened. By the time they finished exploring the Great Plateau, they had grasped most of these complex systems.
This gradual approach essentially broke the entire system down and fed it to the player in digestible pieces, so there was no difficulty in understanding.
Moreover, during the process, the player never felt like they were being taught how to play. The entire tutorial was smooth and natural. This was because the tutorial wasn’t delivered through stiff text prompts or forced actions, nor did it include any hints. It simply placed a few monsters and a rock there, letting the player explore on their own.
In other words, the player truly learned within the game. Even if a player didn’t discover a particular mechanic, they could still charge through. But since such map mechanics appeared frequently, they would eventually stumble upon it and have an “aha” moment.
To achieve the game’s high degree of freedom, *The Legend of Zelda* built many complex systems. To reduce the player’s cognitive and learning burden, it also created an entire tutorial area where players could continuously learn and grow through combat.
By the time the player obtained the paraglider and could leave the Great Plateau, Link’s abilities were fully unlocked, and the players understood how to use them. The journey ahead was truly a high-freedom adventure for them.
The main storyline was now clear: defeat the corrupted Divine Beasts, then go to Hyrule Castle to defeat Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. The next route was also set: glide off the Great Plateau to a nearby village, find a person named Impa, and get further guidance.
However, Zhao Lei didn’t want to leave the Great Plateau just yet. He could sense that there was still a lot of content here he hadn’t explored.
In other games, finding the four key shrines to complete the main storyline would make further exploration unnecessary. The rest would just be simple side quests or repetitive collectibles that didn’t affect the main experience and offered limited appeal.
But *The Legend of Zelda* was different. Zhao Lei even felt that running around the map was more fun than the main storyline...
What were the four Divine Beasts? What was Princess Zelda? How could they compare to catching grasshoppers in the meadow?
The entire Great Plateau was filled with hidden surprises. For example, cutting grass with a sword could reveal grasshoppers for making stamina potions; climbing a big tree might uncover a bird’s nest with eggs; chopping down trees to collect wood could be used to build a campfire; clearing a Bokoblin camp could yield large roasted meat and items hidden in their treasure chests; many lakebeds concealed chests; and there were those mischievous Koroks...
In other games, trees, grass, fruits, and bird nests were just scene models or textures with no interactive function. But in *The Legend of Zelda*, almost everything visible on the map could be interacted with. Especially for new players, even finding a bird egg or catching two fish in the water brought a strong sense of novelty and achievement.
Leaving like this felt like missing out on a fortune.
Zhao Lei used the paraglider to glide down from the temple and took another good look at the Great Plateau’s beautiful scenery.
Regarding the game’s movement system, you could climb any high mountain, swim across rivers and lakes (though not mud or icy water), and glide from high places to distant locations.
In other words, players could freely explore every corner of the map. In other games, there might be mountains or oceans serving as distant backdrops that players couldn’t reach through normal means. But in *The Legend of Zelda*, almost every visible spot on the map was accessible, and visiting them always yielded rewards.
It might be a few rare mushrooms, a Korok, a shrine, or some special material... In short, any place that seemed remote was bound to have surprises waiting for the player to discover.
Of course, climbing, swimming, and gliding all consumed stamina. This only limited players in the early game. Later on, players could increase their stamina to three full wheels using Spirit Orbs from shrines and stockpile plenty of stamina potions, allowing almost unlimited climbing or gliding.
Zhao Lei wandered around the Great Plateau a bit more and found two treasure chests.
Though he was still a bit reluctant, he checked the time—two hours had passed. While the battery life of the Stichpro and flagship matrix glasses could still hold up, Zhao Lei himself was feeling a bit tired from playing.
If he hadn’t looked at the time, Zhao Lei wouldn’t have realized he’d spent two hours in the game. The art style was very friendly and relaxing, and the small puzzles on the map kept his interest piqued, preventing any sense of boredom.
Taking off the matrix glasses, Zhao Lei immediately decided: buy it!