Idea For the Next Legend of Zelda: More Buildings, Basically

[vanguard333]

So, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been out for more than 3 months, and it has been extremely well-received. In all likelihood, the next big Zelda game will still be a few years away. But there is one question: "how can the next one possibly be as good/better than this while still being different?"

Just to be clear, I personally absolutely enjoy Breath of the Wild and none of this is a complaint about the game itself. This is just me sharing my idea for how the next game can be different.

One idea I had for the next game came while I was playing Breath of the Wild, and it is this: put the open-world everywhere-can-be-explored gameplay from Breath of the Wild in a game with a lot more... civilization (for lack of a better word); essentially having almost the opposite setting of Breath of the Wild. 

In Breath of the Wild, I loved that there were Hinox and Lynels in a 3D Zelda game, but I found myself almost missing fighting armoured opponents such as Darknuts and Iron Knuckles. Similarly, I loved all the different fortress ruins scattered throughout Hyrule, but they were in such a state of disrepair that there was almost nothing left of a lot of them. A lot of the enemy bases were tree-forts and giant skull fortresses, and it fit the game and was very good. I liked the divine beast dungeons, as, again it fit the game and was rather creative. I found myself thinking about the various dungeons and even enemy bases from previous Zelda games, and all of this together gave me this idea.

In keeping with the theme of my idea, the game would have a Hyrule Castle Town that, to scale, would be about the size of a small medieval town, and you can explore every building and every part of the fortifications. There could be a forge, an inn, a potion shop, an archery range (and other mini-game areas), etc. Then there would be some villages, but also a number of fortified structures, big and small. These fortifications would have proper defences, and, while some would be in a minor state of disrepair, they're in a lot better shape than in Breath of the Wild. Some are being used by Hylains, but the rest have been overrun by Ganondorf's minions. Also, much like how (sentence continued in the spoiler tag)

Spoiler

Ganon was completely bestial in Breath of the Wild, in this game, he would very much be Ganondorf.

Goron City could be much more city-like and perhaps inside Death Mountain (these are a race of people that mine for their food; why not live inside the mountain like in Ocarina of Time). The dungeons would be actual structures (and there would be more of them). And Ganon's Tower could return; more fortified than ever. At one point in the game, every part of Hyrule Castle can be explored.

What do you think? Do you like this idea? Anything you can think of that would add to this idea?

Edited June 12, 2017 by vanguard333

[NinjaMonkey]

I'd like to see a traditional 3D Zelda, with none of this open-world garbage. 

Of course that's not going to happen, since Aonuma has said that the next Zelda's will follow BotW's template.

Edited June 11, 2017 by NinjaMonkey

[Anacybele]

I'd be down for a game like this! My only complaint with BotW is the lack of dungeons in such a HUGE overworld. I expected a lot of dungeons because it was so big, but was disappointed that there actually are only a few. I don't mind open-world, but I always mainly played Zelda for the dungeons, battling monsters and solving puzzles, and the story and characters. Exploration is a bonus, really.

[Tuvy]

48 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

I'd be down for a game like this! My only complaint with BotW is the lack of dungeons in such a HUGE overworld. I expected a lot of dungeons because it was so big, but was disappointed that there actually are only a few. I don't mind open-world, but I always mainly played Zelda for the dungeons, battling monsters and solving puzzles, and the story and characters. Exploration is a bonus, really.

I uhhh....

Agree for once

[Anacybele]

18 minutes ago, Tuvy said:

I uhhh....

Agree for once

We don't agree much? Huh, I never noticed... But you agree with me now, so yay. :P

Edited June 11, 2017 by Anacybele

[Lightchao42]

Something I want from the next Zelda is more races and enemies. BotW developed the races it had pretty well and the Bokobins, Lizalfos, and Moblins were fairly detailed if you closely observed them, but Zelda has plenty of other races that could fit in an open-world game. Some races I would particularly like to see are Deku Scrub and Stalfos/Stalchildren civilizations like in Majora's Mask, the Subrosians from Oracle of Seasons, the ancient robots from Skyward Sword, and more dragons. I would also like to see Dodongos, Wolfos, Like Likes, Skulltulas and Poes among other returning enemies.

[sylveonzoroark]

BotW is gr9, but I'd really like more villages and dungeons. More unique characters too. The game just felt a little empty to me. I also really miss the unique (and unbreakable) weapons.

[vanguard333]

On ‎11‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 7:36 PM, Lightchao42 said:

Something I want from the next Zelda is more races and enemies. BotW developed the races it had pretty well and the Bokobins, Lizalfos, and Moblins were fairly detailed if you closely observed them, but Zelda has plenty of other races that could fit in an open-world game. Some races I would particularly like to see are Deku Scrub and Stalfos/Stalchildren civilizations like in Majora's Mask, the Subrosians from Oracle of Seasons, the ancient robots from Skyward Sword, and more dragons. I would also like to see Dodongos, Wolfos, Like Likes, Skulltulas and Poes among other returning enemies.

I do like this idea. In keeping with the theme I suggested, perhaps there could be armoured variations of standard enemies that only take damage when hit in exposed areas. For example, an armoured Wolfos can only take damage either when jumping to attack or when being struck in the tail.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Keeping the enemy pool restricted to humanoids really hurt BotW, so I hope they noticed that in retrospect despite the sea of trigger fingered 10/10 reviews. I'm also hoping Shrines don't return with the same frequency. Dungeon supplements are a good idea for such a non-linear game, but they are not a suitable replacement for traditional, mandatory dungeon experiences. And if they're going to do shrines, give us some more interesting visuals. There's a lot of shrines, so they had to reuse the same, basic visual assets. But blocks are boring. Instead of underground puzzle rooms you can recreate in Minecraft, have them be something in the sacred or silent realm. The Silent realms of Skyward Sword are an excellent baseline for leaving the player guessing as to what they may find in this alternate world.

[Magical Glace]

My main wish is more for better dungeons.  I didn't mind MM having so few dungeons, since I found them rather large and well designed.  I did not get the same experience with the Divine Beasts, finding them much too small/short compared to the dungeons in previous 3D Zelda games, on top of some design problems with how they work (Vah Ruta was particularly annoying, with the trunk mechanic being much too guesswork based).

I like BotW, but its dungeons really need work.

[BakanGin]

I want to see a literal underworld ruled by a stronger being than the triforce