Daily Debate: Should Zelda U Have Night Music?

One of the most important components of Zelda games is music. It gives life to characters, profile to landscapes, and mood to scenarios. For example, who could forget the atmosphere of Ocarina of Time‘s Forest Temple theme? The distant, melancholy “Ballad of the Wind Fish” from Link’s Awakening? Or how about Dragon Roost Island from The Wind Waker?

Additionally, it’s typical to hear a main theme specific to the particular game. These case-specific themes oftentimes are the overworld themes. For example, Majora’s Mask has the Termina Field theme, which is a recast of the original Zelda theme.

For all the main themes particular to each game, the vast majority of Zelda titles omit music when the overworld turns to night. Sure, there are some exceptions. The early part of A Link to the Past has the protagonist exploring a Dark World. This theme technically doesn’t fit the bill, however. The Dark World is dark, well, all the time and does not change into day, even though it is a twisted version of the Light World.

Most of the games have ambient noises at night — a cricket here, a cuccoo there, and the sound of Link walking along the grass. No music. Yet one genuine example of Overworld music at night comes from Twilight Princess. It’s quite an atmospheric track with its alternating string pattern, periodic plucked bass and percussion, and variation of the Hyrule Field theme in the voice.

As we eagerly await the release of Zelda U, what do you think about night music? Should it have an Overworld theme at night or not? What’s your opinion and reasoning?

Cheers!