Gossip Stone (Response to Comments!): Should Zelda’s Dungeons/Puzzles Ever Explore Outer Space-Based Concepts?

Zelda’s dungeons, in all their usual “themes”, have gone through most, conceivable environments and concepts. If there is a type of environment on Earth you can think of, a dungeon has likely covered it. That being said, what about beyond the Earth (or whatever Zelda’s planet is called)? There’s a vast, unknown world out there beyond the sky, but beyond a few references here and there, Zelda has never really touched upon the idea of outer space. Yes, it is a medieval world, but realistically, there was a lot of real-world cultural – and even architectural – influence taken from the cosmos in ancient times. Zelda could do the same, and do it very well, I believe.

Last weekend, I posted an editorial on dungeon design, hoping for some interesting discussion on the readers’ ideas, and I was not disappointing. The comments presented some great concepts, including one person that sparked this idea, so once again, I’d like to respond to this person’s idea with some more detailed discussion!

Join in after the jump!

One final idea I can remember right now was the concept of a “Star Temple”: this was to be set in an ancient observatory, would have both fire and ice themed hazards (sun for fire; ice for moon), and would have many gravity based puzzles; Link rises into the night sky as he makes his way through the dungeon, and the final section of the dungeon is set in a palace atop the stars.” – Count Dragmire

Thank you to Count Dragmire for this great concept, as well as the other cool ideas in his comment (I really liked the “indoor ocean” thing).

I do not think anyone would expect a Zelda game to go full Super Mario Galaxy or anything, but again, ancient views of the cosmos seriously effected the lives of those that built real-life temples, and that created technology for exploring the world and its secrets. Zelda, being a fantasy world, could spawn some much more, well, magical places built in honor of, or directly tied connected to, heavenly bodies. Seeing the effects of the work of cosmologists in Hyrule and beyond could give us not only some really neat new locations, but some heavy additions to the series lore.

Going off of Count Dragmire’s ideas, the theoretical “space dungeon” itself has many possible design points to consider. for me, gravity-based puzzles was the thought that stood out first. After recently playing through Ori and the Blind Forest, the idea of shifting gravity swiftly and carefully leading you through a set of rooms became something I wanted a lot more of. Yes, that game is a side-scroller, but Zelda could do just as much, if not loads more, on a 3D plane, making you think much more through spacial awareness. Twilight Princess kind of used this idea in the Goron Mines, but you were on a very set path whenever you engaged in the magnetism-based travel. A strictly space-based dungeon would be much more likely to do it better, as it could be a primary gameplay focus. There could be entire rooms where you freely move along walls and ceiling, and having it based on gravity rather than magnetism means not having to move super slowly with big, heavy boots.

Other than that, there is still loads that could be done. The simple use of interstellar puzzles and architecture could give the whole place an almost futuristic feeling. Puzzles could have you traversing or manipulating small planets or moons (real moons, not like Majora’s Mask), and you could be opposed by strange, disturbing alien creatures (for more than five minutes, AGAIN, not like Majora’s Mask). I would love to see some constellation-based puzzles making you carefully examine star-systems, and the fire and ice idea Count Dragmire mentioned is intriguing, though, I could also see light-based puzzles for the sun and moon, toggling light and even elements of nature throughout a room. There could even be new items that do something similar to this.

What do you guys think? In what way could elements of outer space be implemented into a Zelda game? Could/should the cosmos be the basis for a new dungeon in something like Zelda Wii U? Drop a comment below!