Hyrule or Termina?

[Petman1325]

I am not speaking of which game is better, but which overworld was better: Ocarina of Time's Hyrule or Majora's Mask's Termina? I am also not speaking of specific landscapes. By that, I do not want you to say "I like Hyrule because of Kokiri Forest," but to much rather summarize all of the places that make you prefer one of the overworlds. With that said, I guess I should go first.

I pick Hyrule. It resembles something semi-realistic that is not just organized into four directions. Sure, Termina was more realistic due to the fact that Snowhead and Ikana Canyon were close together (Both were rough and rocky structures), and the same with Southern Swamp and Great Bay. Ocarina of Time's overworld felt larger to me, yet Termina was also better themed. Termina actually made it look large, yet compact, yet Hyrule also had dynamic transitions, rather than just a bridge or something.

 

[ChargewithSword]

I cannot choose between either. I love Hyrule for it's emptiness which gives me a sense of enjoyment and freedom for doing nothing. The fact it also looked wonderfully really for me as a land of mystery and adventure waiting around every corner.

Termina is a beautiful world made of bright colors and dark secrets. While it is fairly crowded, it gives me a sense of duty and fear. This emotion is what games need today. With that moon watching my every move, I feel like I must commence my duty.

 

[the walrus cat]

I choose Termina, and here's why.

Realism

Both are designed pretty similar. The center is a field. Then it has surrounding areas. In Hyrule, the surrounding areas seemed to be built like this:

(town)-Perhaps narrow, amount of land that's main purpose seems to be to put space between locations-(town)-Extra location, housing a temple

Non parenthesis means always there, towns could be on either side, or both.

The patterns quite common, isn't it?

(Kakariko Village)-Death mountain-(Goron Village)-Death Mountain Crater.

(Kokiri Forest)-Lost woods-Sacred forest Meadow.

Zora river-(Zora's domain)-Zora's fountain.

Gerudo Valley-(Gerudo Fortress)-Haunted wasteland-Desert colossus.

(Hyrule market)-Hyrule castle/-tower

So, it mainly follows the pattern I posted above.

Then in Termina, the four surrounding locations are more like one big area with related points of interest, but it's still somewhat similar to Hyrule. Overall I think termina wins for realism, due to certain areas feeling, perhaps less isolated and small? As well as being less..similar in being set up?

Elements/themes

(sorry if that's not a good word to describe it)
Termina uses some areas that haven't been seen many times in the zelda series. I will compare the two's areas and element.

italics=termina, bold=hyrule

Greenery/earth=Forest and Swamp
Mountain=Fire and Ice
Water=lake and Ocaen
Spirit/Shadow=Desert, Graveyard and Canyon/valley of...the dead.

This is kind of opinion based... I liked the areas of Termina better, and I also think Majora's mask should get ..something either way just for exploring other types of locations. So, for me, Termina.

In relation to gameplay/content

Termina had more heart pieces to earn, as well as much more story/main game related stuff to do in non dungeon areas. So... Termina also wins there in my opinion.

 

[Deku Scrub]

I'd say Termina. While it's field area around Clock Town isn't as open and free, it does have much more to do (More enemies, more obstacles, more fun). Then the parts branching out from the overworld are much more developed and filled up with stuff.

I'm not saying Hyrule's not good, but I prefer Termina. I just don't like the blank open space, it's too...boring.

 

[DeletedUser9]

I picked Termina.

It was just a much more fantastic world. It felt a bit strange and surreal, and I loved that. The areas and world were more colorful and odd. I did however find Termina Field to be a little annoying, but that's just a minor detail. I still liked it better than Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time.

I like high fantasy. And Termina was more of that for me. That's one reason I don't really dig Twilight Princess so much, because it has more realistic environments.

 

[knowlee]

I choose Termina. Not that I don't like Hyrule or anything, I love Hyrule, it's just that I prefer Termina more. The main reason why is because of the fact that Termina was only used in one game, compared to Hyrule who's practically been in almost all of the Zelda games. After Hyrule's many appearances I've come to expect what I would see in Hyrule when I play a Zelda game with that world as the environment. Termina, however, is a different matter.

As I stated before, Termina was only used once and because of that I found myself intrigued by it. When I first got the game and was allowed to go out and explore the world outside of Clocktown's walls, I remember thinking to myself, "I must go exploring and figure out what this place looks like! Onward!" ...okay, I didn't exactly say it like that, but you get the general idea.

Termina didn't have any landmarks in it that you had come to expect to see in Zelda games (ie: Lake Hylia, Hyrule Castle, Kakariko Village, etc.). Instead it had all sorts of new places and things that made it become a place that I wanted to explore. I wanted to know what was in every nook and cranny in Termina. It was that different to me.

Hyrule did give me a feeling of wanting to explore it, but it doesn't give me that much of a need as Termina did.

 

[Steve]

I prefer Hyrule, and here's why, because it's absolutely different in each game. The only difference we see is notable landmarks, but otherwise, the layout always varies. They could give each version a different name because of it. I love Hyrule, it's vast and gives you a nice feel of nostalgia when you play, but on top of that it is more empty and not overcrowded.

 

[Shadow Wolfo]

Termina for sure. It had new and more monsters,it had diffrent places/secrets.

Had all the features as hyrule did.(or almost)

 

[Golem]

Termina, definitely. I agree with a lot of what people said above about Termina. Every square foot of space felt necessary in that game, or at least more necessary than it was in Hyrule--Hyrule Field is just too empty IMO. Plus, Termina's just a really weird place, and I find that charming.

However--there's definitely a sort of charm to the consistency in overworlds between Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, and I loved how Wind Waker sort of updated that familiar space.

 

[Juxtor]

I would have to choose Hyrule just because i have been so impressed as to how much history has been created this make believe world. Termina is also great but the word "Hyrule" has a certain charm that many gaming worlds have attempted to achieve but not close.

 

[jamalthegiraffe]

I found this a hard question to answer. I picked Termina in the end though. Termina Seemed more diverese, while most of Hyrule seemed pretty similar. Lake Hylia didn't seem like a water themed area, just another part of Hyrule Feild. The Great Bay was a true water area. Termina was more fun to explore. Some parts of Hyrule, like Death Mountain Path, were a little boring. Compare that to Ikana Canyon, and it is pretty obvious, to me, which one was better.

Hyrule did have its ups though. It had a more realistic landsacpe and was more beliveable. It was also used so many times that it is a classic location, while Termina was unfortunatly only used once.

 

[Clucluclu]

I like Termina for its design and Hyrule for its size and diversity, so I can't really choose.

On a side note, does anyone know what the energy thing that Mikau can do actually does? (Other than waste magic)

 

[MrMosley]

On a side note, does anyone know what the energy thing that Mikau can do actually does? (Other than waste magic)

Hopefully we'll not get off topic with this one, but I'll answer it for ya. The energy shield thingy, electric deal just kills enemies. Like if you swimming, you do it when those fish are coming at you and it kills them.

 

[x-Link-x]

I like Termine for the one fact that is has more 'attractions' than Hyrule really. The over world of Hyrule was pretty empty, there were hardly any monsters out there or anything else to explore. I mean sure there was always the occasional cave or mystery, but it was never something, how can we say it? 'worth visiting again'
Hyrule was bigger, but what gets me is how empty it was, that's my main reason for chosing Termina over Hyrule.

 

[Zeruda]

I pick Hyrule. It resembles something semi-realistic that is not just organized into four directions. Sure, Termina was more realistic due to the fact that Snowhead and Ikana Canyon were close together (Both were rough and rocky structures), and the same with Southern Swamp and Great Bay. Ocarina of Time's overworld felt larger to me, yet Termina was also better themed. Termina actually made it look large, yet compact, yet Hyrule also had dynamic transitions, rather than just a bridge or something.

This is pretty much how I feel. While Termina has its own unique touches, I prefer Hyrule because it really feels vast. There are parts in the game that, while you can't access the, you know there is more. For instance, in Kakariko Village's graveyard, I used to use the hovering glitch to go a little higher than what was allowed. Of course, the map would end and I'd fall into eternal nothingness, but still, you know that it was designed to make it feel like there's more than what you're accessing during your quest. There are canyons and vast forests that you only see so much of. While the town isn't as detailed as Termina's Clock Town, there is just as much hustle and bustle with tons of NPCs. I was so surprised when I turned into Adult Link and found out that, at the bottom of that big, beautiful lake, there was actually a temple! I never guessed that'd have been there when I first picked the game up.

The beginning of Majora's Mask only added to the wonder and mystery of Hyrule. When Link was wandering through the woods, I so wished I could have explored that area more thoroughly in Ocarina of Time. Exploring in Termina was great fun, but after a while you can pretty much reach all of it. The only place that left me wondering was the ocean, because I wanted to venture out and see what more was there.... but Hyrule left me wondering about that in almost every area. It was also very interesting to see the areas tied together. You could reach Zora's Domain through a shortcut in The Lost Woods, and you could reach Lake Hylia through a shortcut in Zora's Domain. And those little shortcuts weren't random, either- they made sense. Water from Zora's Domain created a small pool of water in the woods, and the passageway from ZD to LH made you imagine underground rivers. There were streams in the overworld that I used to love following.

While Termina had some interesting areas, I feel like the landscape in Hyrule all tied together nicely, even if they were on opposite ends of the map. Some places were so mysterious.... like the desert, and seeing the pyramids in the distance if you played the Song of Storms. OoT left me wanting to explore more than I actually could, and that only added to it's splendor.