Poll of the Day > Excluding Breath of the Wild, which Zelda game has the best overworld?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think I'd have to say Wind Waker. I know the sailing is a bit of a hassle at times and can get old, but I really enjoyed it. A Link to the Past would get my second vote.
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I think I'd give it to OoT. Not too big, easy to get around... it does suffer a bit from a dearth of interesting things to find, which means it falls short of the modern, open-world standard for overworlds, but as far as linking important locations together, it does an excellent job. WW's a bit too empty for my liking, though exploring it is still great fun (at least with the improvements made in WWHD).
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adjl posted...

I think I'd give it to OoT. Not too big, easy to get around... it does suffer a bit from a dearth of interesting things to find, which means it falls short of the modern, open-world standard for overworlds, but as far as linking important locations together, it does an excellent job. WW's a bit too empty for my liking, though exploring it is still great fun (at least with the improvements made in WWHD).

It's probably mostly nostalgia, but, A Link to the Past.

Majora's Mask. It has the most interesting stuff in it.
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ALttP and MM. Full of stuff and doesn't waste your time.
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Gaawa_chan posted...

ALttP and MM. Full of stuff and doesn't waste your time.

These

TP and OoT felt empty. Zelda 2 the world was kind of confusing.

Most of the 2d ones arent bad though
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Majoras Mask has some interesting looking places, plus even on the 3DS, where they screwed up the swift swimming, its fun to just explore the bay.
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Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda
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I was gonna say wind waker as well.

But one overworld that doesn't get enough attention is in Link Between Worlds. Lots of crevices to explore with flat Link. Easy to get around using the bird. Lots of good secrets. And the side quest to find the mai mai's is better than others like it, such as the gold skulltulas.
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wind waker for sure
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I think MM. I always liked MM a lot. And always had fun running around and exploring. Though, I liked WW, as well. But mostly just the island stuff... Or finding the random islands...
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Ocarina of Time.

Ill never forget the way I felt, how amazed I was, when I first stepped out into Hyrule field. I think I was 13 at the time. I was blown away.

A Link Between Worlds. There's a ton of stuff to do.
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I tend to forget just how dense MM really is. I didn't pick it though because I really only consider Termina Field to be the overworld. It's the only truly open part of the game besides the beach.
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Legend of Oasis

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Links Adventure I guess because it's huge. It just doesn't have a few towns it has a lot of towns. It's pretty much a whole world. Otherwise I'll vote ALTTP.

Link Between Worlds
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LttP

Everything has a purpose and it has the best overworld soundtrack

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toss up for me between link to the past and wind waker, ok?

it's probably link to the past, for the reasons mead said, though, ok?
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TP
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Including BotW, Skyward Sword because they dumpstered the traditional overworld for more of whats essentially dungeons.

CrimsonSmasher posted...

Including BotW, Skyward Sword because they dumpstered the traditional overworld for more of whats essentially dungeons.

Aside from Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures (which don't have an overworld), as well as maybe both DS Zeldas, I honestly can't think of a worse answer.
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ALttP

OoT was empty, but I'll give it a pass
MM was better about it, but I dont like MM
TP is VERY empty (on top of being one of the easiest)
Minish Cap seemed good enough from what I remember

BotW has the most to do in its overworld, but its spread thin. I really hope they reduce the overworld size and make it more content rich
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oracle of ages, love that map very dense with stuff and memorable locations for me

also better sailing than GC wind waker
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LttP easy. stuff everywhere, the way it should be.

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This is tough. LTTP might be it for me. Wind Waker's is great but dock some points for it taking a while to sail... just read about swift sail in Wind Waker HD which sounds great and makes me want Wind Waker HD for Switch even more
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AnnoyedCops posted...

This is tough. LTTP might be it for me. Wind Waker's is great but dock some points for it taking a while to sail... just read about swift sail in Wind Waker HD which sounds great and makes me want Wind Waker HD for Switch even more

Its great. Not to mention, you can also do stuff on the pad while sailing...
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LttP out of everything, including BotW (which is big, but feels too damn empty). LttP had a great world map size, beautifully rendered landscape, and relatively little of it felt like it was just empty space. Even the small passage between the swamp and the desert had an NPC (that was part of a side-quest), secret areas, etc. (iirc, it was also the portion where you get the Bombos Medallion.)

The thing I hated about OoT is that maybe half the map is just Hyrule Field, a big empty space that takes too damn long to cross and, other than the farm, has few points of interest. And literally everything else is far on the periphery of Hyrule Field. It's just kinda lame design. The way that everything was handled almost made it feel like Hyrule Field *was* the entire overworld and everything else was its own separate thing, whereas other games have their regions almost blend into one another.

As for some of the others, the original LoZ's map confused the fuck out of me. Spirit Tracks almost feels like it doesn't have an overworld because the only way to get between any location is via train (kinda the same for Phantom Hourglass, which also had small areas but at least you had more freedom of movement). Awakening had an interesting

faramir77 posted...

A Link Between Worlds. There's a ton of stuff to do.

tbh, while I enjoyed LBW, I don't remember *that* much about the overworld (although I assume it must have been similar to LttP's?). I guess I ought to replay it one of these days.

Mead posted...

LttP

Everything has a purpose and it has the best overworld soundtrack

This.

MechaKirby posted...

BotW has the most to do in its overworld, but its spread thin. I really hope they reduce the overworld size and make it more content rich

Or just add more content. Granted, either shrinking the map or adding a lot more content would look weird in a 3D game. And, while the towns are too damn small and few in number (plus there are no fortifications on most of them despite being in a world with monsters and a demonic invasion, wtf?!).
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Mead posted...

LttP

Everything has a purpose and it has the best overworld soundtrack

I think I liked the overworld soundtrack for A Link Between Worlds better...
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LinkPizza posted...

Mead posted...

LttP

Everything has a purpose and it has the best overworld soundtrack

I think I liked the overworld soundtrack for A Link Between Worlds better...

They're both great, but I'm gonna give the edge to the original, Link to the Past

OoT has one of the absolute worst overworlds in the series, so pointlessly big and barren.

LttP
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streamofthesky posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Mead posted...

LttP

Everything has a purpose and it has the best overworld soundtrack

I think I liked the overworld soundtrack for A Link Between Worlds better...

They're both great, but I'm gonna give the edge to the original, Link to the Past

OoT has one of the absolute worst overworlds in the series, so pointlessly big and barren.

I think it was that little extra thing LBW added that got me to like it a little more...
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