Current Events > The next Zelda could benefit from some optional lore *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

One of the best things about Breath of the Wild is the story it tells through its world; I can think of very few others that offer so much to speculate about via ancient ruins, destroyed settlements, monuments, and geographical landmarks

For example, the Seven Heroine statues in the Gerudo desert. There are seven statues, dedicated to 7 legendary figures throughout Gerudo history, all standing in a circle. However, there's room for an 8th, and nearby, you can find an NPC that mentions there being an 8th heroine, expunged from history

In the snowy Gerudo highlands further north, you find a massive sword buried in the mountain, exactly like the swords that the statues in the desert hold. Further still, you can find the 8th statue itself, situated in a snowy ravine

It'd be really interesting and rewarding if these areas had little sidequests associated with them, in which you learn the backstory and build a deeper understanding of the game world's lore and history

Might shake things up a bit from the standard questline with just some rupees or whatever at the end of it
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Zelda is the biggest source of wasted story potential in the entire Nintendo oeuvre.

They could easily flesh it out into an absolutely amazing world but they never will.

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Breath of the Wild, despite its many, many, many shortcomings, does have a world that's just dripping with things like this.

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I just hope BotW 2 isn't going to massively reuse the same overworld. I hear people asking for this, and I think that's insane.

AlisLandale posted...

Zelda is the biggest source of wasted story potential in the entire Nintendo oeuvre.

They could easily flesh it out into an absolutely amazing world but they never will.

Lol wut, Zelda is one of their most fleshed out series

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miki_sauvester posted...

I just hope BotW 2 isn't going to massively reuse the same overworld. I hear people asking for this, and I think that's insane.

What I'm suggesting is the only thing that would make the same overworld worth it imo. Since the trailer shows Link and Zelda spelunking in some caves, it'd be nice to have a focus on some archeological work, so to speak

Or if we at least see a Hyrule that is some way rebuilt. There's still a lot of life they can get out of this map

AlisLandale posted...

Zelda is the biggest source of wasted story potential in the entire Nintendo oeuvre.

They could easily flesh it out into an absolutely amazing world but they never will.

I feel like Zelda is at least fleshed out more than Metroid

Metroid has limitless potential, being set in a post interstellar travel world, but only gets like 2 games a decade
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miki_sauvester posted...

I just hope BotW 2 isn't going to massively reuse the same overworld. I hear people asking for this, and I think that's insane.

It's a direct continuation, it wouldn't make sense for Gerudo desert to be on the opposite side of the map. Obviously they need new locations but I would like to see things like some of the broken down villages in the first game being rebuilt.

This new game has the potential to be like the next Majora's Mask but not rushed, with so much of the hard work already being done for them. They need to go weird and crazy with the story.

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CM_Ponch posted...

Lol wut, Zelda is one of their most fleshed out series

Zelda likes to leave hints of a fleshed-out mythology without ever actually committing to doing so. Ninety-nine percent of its lore is self-referential connections to the main stories of other games. The other stuff is paper-thin flavor text, like the Shadow Temple holding the bloody history of Hyrule.

I feel like Zelda is at least fleshed out more than Metroid

Metroid has limitless potential, being set in a post interstellar travel world, but only gets like 2 games a decade.

Id be inclined to disagree, at least in terms of density. What does exist of Metroid lore is pretty thoughtfully crafted. Theres a relatively rich history not just of Samus, but of the Chozo, Space Pirates, Metroids, and Federation.

Though to be fair, outside of the manga and some other peripheral content, I think Retro Studios may have done most of the legwork there. >_>

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miki_sauvester posted...

I just hope BotW 2 isn't going to massively reuse the same overworld. I hear people asking for this, and I think that's insane.

Nobody asked for it or wanted it, Aonuma just told us thats what is gonna happen so we better suck it up.
That said, I hope they at least do something like a dark world or time travel to the past with the champions.

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AlisLandale posted...

CM_Ponch posted...

Lol wut, Zelda is one of their most fleshed out series

Zelda likes to leave hints of a fleshed-out mythology without ever actually committing to doing so. Ninety-nine percent of its lore is self-referential connections to the main stories of other games. The other stuff is paper-thin flavor text, like the Shadow Temple holding the bloody history of Hyrule.

I feel like Zelda is at least fleshed out more than Metroid

Metroid has limitless potential, being set in a post interstellar travel world, but only gets like 2 games a decade.

Id be inclined to disagree, at least in terms of density. What does exist of Metroid lore is pretty thoughtfully crafted. Theres a relatively rich history not just of Samus, but of the Chozo, Space Pirates, Metroids, and Federation.

Though to be fair, outside of the manga and some other peripheral content, I think Retro Studios may have done most of the legwork there. >_>

Retro did an absolutely phenomenal job of expanding the lore of the Metroid series, and that's what I think we could use way more of. Dark Souls got a praise for its backseat methodology to story telling, but Retro had that shit down to a science back in the early 2000s

Aside from Retro though, the lore expansion of Metroid has been pretty hit or miss; Fusion did a pretty good job of personifying Samus, while Other M, uh...didn't, and the others in the last 20 years have just been more fleshed out remakes
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MarqueeSeries posted...

It'd be really interesting and rewarding if these areas had little sidequests associated with them, in which you learn the backstory and build a deeper understanding of the game world's lore and history

Might shake things up a bit from the standard questline with just some rupees or whatever at the end of it

I mean, you do get the awesome Sand Boots and Snow Boots out of the sidequests connected to the Eighth Heroine.

Don't think you get much more backstory on the heroine from it though.

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CM_Ponch posted...

Lol wut, Zelda is one of their most fleshed out series

Most of Zelda's heavy lore is made up after the fact by fans who won't stop bothering Nintendo about it.

For the most part, I'm pretty sure the story ends up being more of an afterthought most of the time.

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The only Metroid games with story I care about are Zero Mission, fusion, and the Prime games. Seem to do a pretty damn good job on the prime games. Tons of lore

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