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Zelda has over 25 years under its belt, and it has entertained people non-stop with its recurring styles made fresh with new elements coming about every new game. Yet, while the medieval atmosphere has remained the primary style throughout the series, certain different types of settings have come and gone. What are some of the more notable styles, and should any of them make another appearance in some part, or even the entirety, of a new game? Join the discussion after the jump!

Zelda has always been about knights protecting the kingdom and chosen heroes pulling a sword from a stone to save a princess, but there are other avenues to take for storytelling. In reality, this idea of atmospheric style boils down to time periods. The middle ages seem to be the closest thing to what Hyrule emulates, but other time periods have been taken from in the series, and it has worked rather well.

Tetra_and_PiratesFirstly, we just celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day, so let’s not forget the series’ 1800’s-style pirates. We have had glimpses of pirates in the Oracle games and Skyward Sword, but other times, they have had significant effects on the story. Majora’s Mask had an entire stealth segment because of the Gerudo pirates, and The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass were on the ocean, so pirates were rather common. In those games, the pirates were integral parts of the story, and had a much different feeling that the usual knights and bandits. Sailing the seas tends to feel much more open-ended than traversing the fields of Hyrule, and should not be overlooked.

316671053_f946fd5277_oTwilight Princess raised the questions of an American, 18th-19th century, frontier-style atmosphere. It is hard to say if an entire Zelda game could be set in a western style, but it is worth trying out again, because the primitive, bow-and-arrow, sneak-attack method you had to take in the Hidden Village was loads of fun.

Of course, many fans wish to see more advanced technology, bringing the Zelda world into the modern day and future, but many oppose this on all fronts. While the Zelda series seems like it could be greatly diminished by the use of advanced machinery, such mechanisms are not entirely uncommon in the series. Skyward Sword‘s Lanayru province best demonstrated what can be expected if the medieval and modern worlds collide, and honestly, it was fascinating. It may not be great for an entire game, but that is really up to you guys.

So what do you think? Should Zelda’s medieval worlds be be partly, or entirely, spiced up with more homages to different real-world time periods? Or should the series keep from digressing from its near-entirety of medieval styles? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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