Breath of the Wild Returning areas

[PlumBandit]

Which areas from past Zelda games would you like to see make a return? I want to see something like Lon Lon Ranch again. And since we know this is Hyrule, I think it'd be amazing to see some of the mountain tops bear similarities to the islands in Wind Waker.

 

[DekuNut]

I think that we need to see a Lost Woods in this game. It's a puzzle made out of the world itself, which seems perfect for an open-world game.

 

[Spamomanospam]

I want Death Mountain to return as the home of the Gorons with a big interconnected cave system leading between multiple underground towns. Almost something akin to the mines of Moria from Fellowship of the Ring. That would give a ton of area to explore above and below ground, and Gorons are awesome.

 

[Din.Farore.Nayru]

I think that we need to see a Lost Woods in this game. It's a puzzle made out of the world itself, which seems perfect for an open-world game.

I definitely feel like a Lost Woods / Forest Temple area in BotW would be amazing. Especially without load screens. I'd love something like that.

Number one for me would be a massive Zora's Domain similar to OoT. It'd be amazing to discover it behind a giant waterfall in BotW. I still remember the first time I ever played a Zelda game - I had rented OoT from Blockbuster and I spent like the entire rental period pretty much running around exploring the river leading up to Zora's Domain on the previous customer's save file because I thought it was so amazing. When I finally opened the waterfall and went in - damn, it was really an amazing moment.

 

[Lenzo]

the mountain tops bear similarities to the islands in Wind Waker

If we could have areas that resemble the islands of Wind Waker then I'm hoping we could also see the Isle of Frost from Phantom Hourglass. It's a bit further away in the World of the Ocean King but I just want to see a return of the Anouki. Sarcastic penguins with antlers, has to be the greatest race in Zelda.

Lost Woods is a good shout too, would really work well with the art style. I'm thinking something in line with the Sacred Grove in Twilight Princess, but more expansive.

 

[Nicolai]

I would love a big 'ol Skyloft. I've always thought Skyloft was kinda small in Skyward Sword, and it would be cool if it was a place you could visit half-way through a game, rather than at the beginning.

Unfortunately, it doesn't make much timeline sense, since:

Spoiler

Skyloft as we know it returned to the ground and essentially became part of hyrule's central town, and there isn't really any reason for it to go back up there.

But it doesn't have to be Skyloft anyway; A big floating city would be cool. That big flying thing in the distance could hopefully be that (not Skyloft, though, obviously).

 

[Lenzo]

I would love a big 'ol Skyloft. I've always thought Skyloft was kinda small in Skyward Sword, and it would be cool if it was a place you could visit half-way through a game, rather than at the beginning.

Unfortunately, it doesn't make much timeline sense, since:

Spoiler

Skyloft as we know it returned to the ground and essentially became part of hyrule's central town, and there isn't really any reason for it to go back up there.

But it doesn't have to be Skyloft anyway; A big floating city would be cool. That big flying thing in the distance could hopefully be that (not Skyloft, though, obviously).

Yeah, islands in the sky are sort of a recurring thing. I reckon there's a really good chance that the flying thing in the distance is a floating region you can visit. A Skyloft style area would be cool, even though as you say actually having Skyloft appear seems very unlikely.

What about how you would get up there though, would you want a return of the loftwings? I reckon that would be epic in this massive open world game.

 

[Nicolai]

Yeah, islands in the sky are sort of a recurring thing. I reckon there's a really good chance that the flying thing in the distance is a floating region you can visit. A Skyloft style area would be cool, even though as you say actually having Skyloft appear seems very unlikely.

What about how you would get up there though, would you want a return of the loftwings? I reckon that would be epic in this massive open world game.

I think Skyloft is the only one of its kind in the Zelda series. The Arbiter's Grounds in TP and the Palace of Winds in Minish Cap were dungeons, but not quite whole villages. But you're right, the theme of ascending above the clouds has been quite a trend lately.

I like the theory that (I think) I heard from GameXplain, where:

Spoiler

you get to that floating island when it gets close to Death Mountain by riding the heat from it all the way up.

I think Loftwings would kinda kill the experience, though, when it becomes too easy just to fly anywhere without limitations. You can already have the exhilarating experience of gliding off of any mountain peak. That's epic enough for me.

 

[Lenzo]

I think Loftwings would kinda kill the experience, though, when it becomes too easy just to fly anywhere without limitations. You can already have the exhilarating experience of gliding off of any mountain peak. That's epic enough for me.

I see what you mean, but there'll almost definitely still be some kind of teleportation in the game, so Loftwings would be a form for that to take. But you're right, if they were in the game it they would have to take a pretty central role, and that could ruin the experience of exploring.

 

[PuzzleMaster7]

I can see Lost Woods and Death Mountain appearing in some fashion in this game. The game's central focus will be on exploration, so I'm also hoping there will be vast and varying landscapes that have not been seen in a Zelda title yet.

 

[Cartoonmaniac]

I would love if you could ride Epona through an improved Gerudo Desert while listening to the awesome theme from OOT

 

[Spirit]

I dont want to see too many returning areas. We had ALBW that used an entire overworld again....

We're getting Death Mountain, Temple of Time etc. We'll see a Lon Lon Ranch type of area, sure. But i'm not wanting too many new areas, i want more new than old.

The only place i'd really want to see is Zora's Domain.

 

[Kylo Ken]

I'd like to see a really nice Castle Town.

 

[Castle]

Certain returning areas are a given in theme if not in name. The obligatory desert region might not be Gerudo Desert or the Desert of Mystery but it's there. A dense forest region is also a given as is the Lost Woods. The prospect for a unique navigational take on the Lost Woods in an open world is simply thrilling. And if it's not explicitly Death Mountain (which it is afaik) then a volcano is also certainly a given. I'd love to see the return of a coastal region, perhaps with some navigation by boat a-la Witcher 3.

I'd love to see the return of a snowy mountain region, and the return of Lake Hylia in some form is practically a given at this point. I don't know if we can expect to see some version of Castle Town or at least some large central city (or several) or of Kakariko village but I would much rather see many villages and settlements scattered around like in Link's Adventure.

I want Death Mountain to return as the home of the Gorons with a big interconnected cave system leading between multiple underground towns. Almost something akin to the mines of Moria from Fellowship of the Ring. That would give a ton of area to explore above and below ground, and Gorons are awesome.

This. So much This.

Multiple connections to the surface would even make for a fascinating seamlessly interconnected underworld/overworld thing, with ways to navigate to parts of the overworld not directly accessible above ground and vice versa. Think of it as a massive seamless underground dungeon that's connected to the overworld at multiple points. As you work through it you can unlock more of it. The amount of depth this would lend to exploration is mindboggling! Skyrim had something similar with a massive subterranean area accessible via multiple dwarven ruins at various points on the map- only this would be like that taken to 11!

 

[Spamomanospam]

Certain returning areas are a given in theme if not in name. The obligatory desert region might not be Gerudo Desert or the Desert of Mystery but it's there. A dense forest region is also a given as is the Lost Woods. The prospect for a unique navigational take on the Lost Woods in an open world is simply thrilling.

For some reason this made me think of navigating the Lost Woods by chopping down every tree so you didn't have to solve the maze. Think harder, not smarter. XD

Multiple connections to the surface would even make for a fascinating seamlessly interconnected underworld/overworld thing, with ways to navigate to parts of the overworld not directly accessible above ground and vice versa. Think of it as a massive seamless underground dungeon that's connected to the overworld at multiple points.

This reminded me that the Skull Woods were kind of like this in Link to the Past. It's a concept that can be used in multiple scenarios, so it'd make a ton of sense!