Daily Debate: In What Ways Would You Like to See A Future Zelda Game Flesh Out Its World?

The Legend of Zelda universe remains my favorite setting in all of gaming. For all of its blatant disregard for pre-established geography throughout the years, nothing gets me theory crafting quite like the land of Hyrule. Indeed, one of my favorite elements of virtually any Zelda game is its ability to tell stories through its environment. Just one look at Ocarina of Time’s Shadow Temple, for instance, has me imagining all sorts of potential backstories.

Having said that, a part of me wishes that the series would flesh out its world more concretely. The vagueness of certain aspects of the lore is part of the appeal for many, but at least once, I’d like to see a Zelda game go full-on Hyrule Historia on us. Throughout the past decade, I’ve longed to see an entry in the series implement a proper in-game codex. Perhaps it could take a page out of Mass Effect’s playbook and offer several paragraphs of background information every time Link discovers a new character, enemy, item or location.

Such a feature could even strike that happy medium, providing just enough information to whet the appetite of traditional lore buffs, while also leaving enough to interpretation to keep the theory crafters busy. Breath of the Wild’s item descriptions were definitely a step in the right direction,  but I would love to see Nintendo extend this concept to locations and characters.

Of course, an in-game codex isn’t the only option. What ways would you like to see the series flesh out its world from within the games themselves? Let us know in the comments below!