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Zelda's Overworld Should Be More Like SotC

J

Jason's Ultimatum

Member
Playing SotC again reminded me of how awesome the overworld is. It's just one big seamless world where you can explore without any loading time. The areas aren't segmented into a clusterfuck-like grid system like the 3D Zelda games. Every area was like a mystery. Swimming across a large body of water to find a secluded area covered in rocks that leads down to an underground maze and then back outdoors reminded me a bit of the metroid games.

So my first issue with fixing Zelda is to make the overworld more like SotC's overworld. And truth be told, fuck the handholding. No clues. Just explore the world and being able to find a dungeon and solve them in any order like in the original LoZ would be amazing.
 
J

Jason's Ultimatum

Member
Khezu said:
Boring and devoid of content?
Click to expand...

I never understood the villages and its people in the Zelda games anyway. They were annoying, and the tasks they ask you were boring.

Focusing more on exploration and dungeons would be better.

EDIt-Of course there would be enemies in the overworld.
 
M

mCACGj

Member
Couldn't agree more. There is a lot Zelda has tried to take from SotC, some good, some bad, but mostly just integrated it into a world that tells you what to do. I would have actually liked to see SotC not have a gauge, or anything, just had cues from the character as to when he was about to fall or losing his grip.

Get ready for an influx of shit saying they're completely different games, but they're missing the point.
 
H

Himself

Member
ITT: Butt-hurt Zelda fans make fun of one of gaming's masterpieces.

This is going to be ridiculous no matter which "side" one takes. This is not the year to have a rational conversation with Zelda fans, i.e. a person like me.
 
F

forrest

formerly nacire
Devoid of content, maybe. Lifeless, boring and empty? Lol! If anything it creates more mystery and wonder.
 
Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
No. I'm a huge fan of SotC and the answer is no.
 
S

Somnid

Member
The overworld in SotC served no reason other than to add a play time lengther by making you travel to each colossus.
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
Skyward Sword's overworld (the sky) was just one big area, if they had removed the loading needed for entering the town it would have been perfect.
 
T

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Thread backfire?

Zelda's Overworld has always been much more interesting and fun to traverse.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
sotc's overworld was awesome. i loved just riding the horse to the end of its world, overlooking the cliffside out to the ocean. the emptiness gave it a sense of mystery.

not sure it would fit for a zelda game. part of what made sotc's work was the feeling that a boss fight could pop out at any moment (although it was clear there were specific sections of the map dedicated to them). although i guess a little more unpredictability would be nice to see in the legend of zelda, too.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Himself said:
ITT: Butt-hurt Zelda fans make fun of one of gaming's masterpieces.

This is going to be ridiculous no matter which "side" one takes. This is not the year to have a rational conversation with Zelda fans, i.e. a person like me.
Click to expand...

Makes absolutely no sense.
 
V

VerTiGo

Banned
I loved Shadow of the Colossus, but I prefer how Skyward Sword approaches things. No, the scenery is not as epic, but Skyward Sword's provinces are excellently designed. They have platformer elements.

Would I like Zelda, going forward, to take more design cues from Shadow of the Colossus? Yes, and I love the whole climbing aspect and would liked more of that in Skwyard Sword, and would have liked Colossi-like boss fights, as I have been wanting ever since I played SotC.

SotC has had an influence in all games like it and Zelda itself. They are different beasts altogether though.
 
H

Himself

Member
BurntPork said:
So, if Zelda fans don't want Zelda to be like SotC, they're butt-hurt?
Click to expand...

Not at all. I was just referring to the first couple of posts of "boring and lifeless and dull and empty" or whatever that seemed like knee-jerk reactions from the horde of hyper defensive Zelda fans. I love a few Zelda games and I love SotC and I kind of see where someone can say Demon's Souls or SotC kind of took what Zelda started back to it's roots or makes it darker or more spiritual or something of that sort. And that's the first time I've ever used the term "butt-hurt", for the record, and I was only doing so to mimick puerile the tone of the initial posters.

I'm all about open discussions.
 
M

Mr Touchdown

Member
Himself said:
ITT: Butt-hurt Zelda fans make fun of one of gaming's masterpieces.

This is going to be ridiculous no matter which "side" one takes. This is not the year to have a rational conversation with Zelda fans, i.e. a person like me.
Click to expand...
Stealth Brag: Minus Stealth
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Jason's Ultimatum said:
So my first issue with fixing Zelda is to make the overworld more like SotC's overworld. And truth be told, fuck the handholding. No clues. Just explore the world and being able to find a dungeon and solve them in any order like in the original LoZ would be amazing.
Click to expand...

After watching two semi-casual gamers playing through the opening hours of Skyward Sword, christ no. This would be terrible for a massive portion of their players.
 
S

scitek

Member
I'll say that I'd prefer if the next Zelda game didn't seem like the entire planet was the size of a mall parking lot and inhabited by ~60 people.
 
B

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Himself said:
ITT: Butt-hurt Zelda fans make fun of one of gaming's masterpieces.

This is going to be ridiculous no matter which "side" one takes. This is not the year to have a rational conversation with Zelda fans, i.e. a person like me.
Click to expand...

Dude: no, just no.

There is no butthurtedness. There is only someone trying to turn Hyrule into a boring (beautiful) emptiness. Saying "no" is a rational answer. Dismissing rational answers by generalizing posters as "butt-hurt Zelda fans"... Not so much.
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
The, uh, 'underworld' of Zelda Skyward Sword was the right direction. If you had slower areas/towns connecting them, it would be perfect. A much better realization of the 2D games Than what came before. Majora's Mask was the closest before it. For the most part, Okami also does a better job than the 3D Zelda games.

Wind Waker, Skyward Sword's Sky, Twilight Princess, OoT, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks are all as empty as Shadow of the Colossus. For instance, Wind Waker is a 7000x7000 map made up of 1000x1000 sections, and only about 200x200 of each block contains something of worth. These are my favorite games but the overworld has always been a weakest point of the 3D Zelda games.
 
M

Mr Touchdown

Member
scitek said:
I'll say that I'd prefer if the next Zelda game didn't seem like the entire planet was the size of a mall parking lot and inhabited by ~60 people.
Click to expand...
This is true, it always bugged me that "Thriving Towns" like Skyloft are inhabited by like, 20 people with their own houses and no one else. Hell, most of the Academy students live JUST at the frigging Academy. I think Pippin is the only guy with a home outside that place.

Twilight Princess kinda did well with this, I think. The mobs of people too busy to talk and whatnot made it feel like there was more than your little village community. Too bad there were not may actually GOOD NPC's to interact with.
 
L

Let me in

Member
scitek said:
I'll say that I'd prefer if the next Zelda game didn't seem like the entire planet was the size of a mall parking lot and inhabited by ~60 people.
Click to expand...
Bingo. I think the OP is talking about scale. I like what they did in Skyward Sword, really enjoyed the game, but I didn't really feel like I was exploring a wasteland of a past civilization. Even FFXIII did that better on Gran Pulse.
 
W

web01

Member
Agree with OP.
The Zelda overworlds have always been too small since the games transitioned to 3D.
Something on the scale of Shadow of the Colossus or Red Dead Redemption would be amazing.
Would actually make it feel alot more like you are on an epic journey instead of riding for 20 seconds to be at next location. Wind Waker did a good job with the ocean but the islands were far too small.
 
T

TheNatural

My Member!
The best overworld is the way Majora's Mask was. Almost an inside out overworld, your home is centered in the middle with everything outside it the other stuff. Do that, with Wind Waker's spread out remote island type things with little mini towns on the map in different area, and you have a nice building block for a hell of a game. I don't recall if Majora's Mask had any towns or anything small outside of the center.
 
M

Mr Touchdown

Member
TheNatural said:
The best overworld is the way Majora's Mask was. Almost an inside out overworld, your home is centered in the middle with everything outside it the other stuff. Do that, with Wind Waker's spread out remote island type things with little mini towns on the map in different area, and you have a nice building block for a hell of a game. I don't recall if Majora's Mask had any towns or anything small outside of the center.
Click to expand...
What would be amazing is if they had like, a giant landmass in WindWaker to explore. WindWaker is still my favorite Zelda, but that would have tipped it into most epic Zelda ever.
 
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