Combat.

What the hell is up with combat being pretty mid in the 3d games? You could say it’s not a focus but combat is everywhere in zelda games, So you would think by this point we wouldve gotten a game with amazing combat. But this is the series’ biggest slacking point IMO. (i dont really care about the story in games so bad stories don’t bother me.)

The n64 games get a pass because, well.. not much you can do there with the controller…

But the other games, especially TP and the switch games have very little of an excuse as to why combat is fairly mid in those games.

TP had a chance to have to combat to crazy, the moves look so cool and are fun to execute. But only the darknuts make the combat worthwhile. And you would think that because the game is skewed for an older audience, they would up the difficulty from wind waker, right? But they didn’t, and the game is incredibly easy which makes me more mad because we had so much potential.

The switch games were close to having good combat, but it has the same issue, being that lynels are really the only fun enemy to fight. These game doesnt even have much item gimmick enemies, so it extra surprises me they didnt focus extra on the swordplay.

I’m not saying these games are bad, but a good combat system would help alot with these game’s quality.

And it’s not like they CAN’T put a good combat system in these games, Nioh has a linearish-level based world and yet it has baller combat. Elden ring is an open world game muchlike the switch games, but it has awesome combat as well! Monster Hunter has you constantly fighting bosses with unique gimmicks around a huge area, and that game has possibly one of the best combat systems in gaming.

All i’m saying is that I really hope the next game steps up the swordplay because if a game like majora’s mask or TOTK had combat as fun as the games I mentioned earlier, they could easily be my favorites of all time.

I don’t hear many people talk about the combat aspect of these games, so want to gauge people’s opinions on this subject.

If my opinion is hot garbage, let me know. I want to see other perspectives, as that’s what i browse this sub for.

Since BoTW was Zelda 1 rehashed, ToTK serving as its sequel just like AoL, and EoW in AlttP's place, would this mean the next game would take inspiration from OoT or technically LA since it came first?

BoTW focused on exploration and discovery as a fully realised spiritual successor to the original 1986 LoZ.

ToTK focused on expansion and invention, recreating BoTW's charm but ultimately couldn’t live up to BoTW; much like AoL.

EoW added a fresh perspective on the Zelda series and added lore (Null) which would echo throughout the entire Zelda series. This is very similar to ALttP with its core components (Design, Music and Story) eternally integrated in later games.

Let me know your thoughts! :)

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the best Zelda game in the last ten years and a return of that Zelda magic.

After two 100% playthroughs since release, I can safely say this is the best Zelda game I've played in the last 10 years. (Hell, personally, it's the best Zelda games I've played since WW) More importantly: The Zelda feeling is back. Echoes of Wisdom actually managed to hit the sweetspot between old and new Zelda, evolving the formula while still keeping the Zelda feeling intact. It felt like returning to a franchise that had been gone for years. Honestly, it's the best original console Zelda game since 2003's Wind Waker, easily. I feel this game did a better job at evolving the formula established by ALTTP and OOT than TP, SS and certainly BOTW/TOTK.

This is the Zelda game I had been waiting for since Majora's Mask. After the N64 games came out, it felt like Nintendo didn't know where to take the franchise and it kept trying to either recapture the magic of OOT (TP) or do the exact opposite (the nightmare that was SS). They ended throwing everything out and practically made a new IP (BOTW/TOTK), but Echoes of Wisdom feels like a great jumping off point from the classic formula established in ALTTP/OOT towards the more open future seen in BOTW/TOTK.

Going forward, I hope Nintendo looks at EoW, not BOTW for guidance. Echoes themselves can be a one-time thing or evolve into something that's not the sole focus of the next game, but the way the world and story opens up in EoW, with proper dungeons that were actually enjoyable, was perfect. The regions and story progress were perfect.

I wish we had gotten this game back in 2003 after Majora's Mask. The series could've saved years in trying to find an identity.

Now on to more "asthetic" things": the music was amazing, some of the best in the series. It felt so good to have some real music in a Zelda game once again. Every region's background tunes were classics, but the little theme song that played when you turned on Swordfighter Mode is an absolute all-timer. Iconic.

Echoes were fun. I really liked this gameplay and trying to find which one worked best felt like a mix of Dragon Quest Builders and Zelda. The game would improve if Zelda could actually fight alongside her echoes, which is something the next game in the series could look into. That's definitely needed. I guess the Swordfighter form helped with that, but yeah I'd much prefer classic combat for the next game.

The story was interesting and original, I love that it revolved around Din, Farore and Nayru instead of Hylia. This game really is a love letter to the classics. This game in general really feels like an evolution from the ALTTP/LA/OOT/MM era and that's a dream come true. I also loved the villain, and loved that it was an Eldritch abomination that felt more like the Shadow Nightmares from LA than a retread of Ganon. I also loved how he was basically the anti-thesis of the Golden Goddesses and connected directly to them.

Storywise, I also really liked that the main quest involved saving people related to Zelda at first and then helping the races. It really shook up the original formula while sticking to the Zelda basics.

Dungeons were fantastic. Easily the best dungeons we've gotten in 10 years. Jabul Ruins, Hebra and Faron were amazing but they were all great. The Bosses were all good, I liked each and every one.

Exploration actually felt interesting in rewarding in this game. So glad Pieces of Heart are back and going Might Crystal hunting was fun.

The races were top notch in terms of stories, designs and areas. The new characters you meet throughout the story were also interesting and well-developed.

Smoothies were fine. It was much better than the cooking system from BOTW/TOTK. Hell, everything was much better than BOTW/TOTK. EoW succeeded where BOTW/TOTK failed: successfully evolving Zelda while keep the Zelda magic intact. Now I just want to talk specifically about the game's art direction and character design, which was probably my favorite part of Echoes of Wisdom:

Something I adore about this game is that it feels like a natural evolution from the classic games' (LoZ, AoL, ALTTP, LA, OOT, MM, OOX) visual style.

Its art direction and character design are taken straight from the era, and I love it.

The entire art direction and character/enemy design of Echoes of Wisdom is based on and is a perfect evolution of the classic art direction from the LoZ, AoL, ALTTP, LA, OOT, MM era of Zelda.

Every character, enemy, location, item, etc. was ripped straight of that era mixed with the beautiful Link's Awakening remake art style. It's like a dream come true. This is how I imagined the Zelda franchise evolving back in 2000 after playing Majora's Mask. I mean, the Dekus were brought back with visual perfection. We got Wolfos, Lizalfos, Darknuts, Peahats, Guays, fucking River AND Sea Zoras with Lord Jabu Jabu to boot, Volvagia, classic Blue Pig Ganon, Deku Babas, Poes, ReDead, Gibdos, Zols, Ball and Chain, Tektites, Wizzrobes, Buzz Blobs, Octoroks, Freezards, and they all looked ripped straight out of either ALTTP, LA, OOT and MM but updated beautifully to modern times without losing the essence. (We even got a few enemies from AoL and WW with updated designs as well).

Its entire visual language is a natural evolution from the one that had been established in ALTTP, LA, OOT, and MM (and the Oracle Duo which is basically LA style). This game could have easily been released in 2003 after MM and it would've fit in perfectly with the games released up to that point.

As much as I love WW, and I do love it, it's in my top 5, I have to concede that it was too much of a deviation for the series. It alienated a lot of fans and while its art style is absolutely beautiful, and I adore it, I think it would've been better for Zelda to evolve visually closer to the art style of the previous games, to the art style we got in Echoes of Wisdom. Then the next 3D Zelda would've built on that, looking closer to OOT and MM, (instead of being a drab, boring, brown-grey mess that was TP or having the ugly, faux watercolor style of SS) and continue on, always evolving but sticking to that baseline art style.

(Honorable mention to A Link Between Worlds as well, another great example of a game following this classic art direction while freshening up the style.)

In general, it just felt like a return to classic Zelda greatness to me. It was just fun from beginning to end. I absolutely loved it. Yes there is room for improvement, but this is the best Zelda game (along with LA remake) on the Switch and it's not even close. Hell, it's certainly the best Zelda game we've gotten since ALBW. BOTW/TOTK alienated me from the franchise but EoW reminded me why I loved it so much.

Above else, I'm grateful that EoW completely ignored the new visual style and art direction introduced in BOTW and TOTK and just went with the classics. That was absolute perfection and it played a huge part in bringing that iconic Zelda feeling back. I hope the next Zelda takes this design cues from EoW.

Grezzo did a fantastic job with Echoes of Wisdom and they gave us the best Zelda game in years, if not decades.

10/10 art direction. 10/10 characters. 9/10 story. 9/10 dungeons. 9.5/10 overall score.

I'd give it that extra .5 if it only had a better endgame and Malon and Talon (and Ingo) were running the Hyrule Ranch lol.

Finished EoW. Super fun. But… is it technically a kids game?

I loved the game, and I had a lot of fun, but it was just insanely easy. Not just the gameplay itself, but even the constant puzzle hints. It just all came so easily. I get that Nintendo wants to make their games available for everyone to play, and I wouldn’t expect it to be like some of the other main line games, but damn was it easy.

Just a question but why do we have calamity Ganon who is inside hyrule castle and ganondorf under the castle at the same time and personally i think there two separate entities and that ganondorf was a power hungry tyrant that was sealed away by ruaru (I think I spelt his name right) but that begs the question where did calamity Ganon come from ? can someone please share how this is possible .

Was Ganon actively using its power against Link during their fight, or was it simply stored in the other room, holding the Dark World together?

Even with Link wielding the Master Sword and the Silver Arrows, would these tools be powerful enough on their own to overpower the entire Triforce? Did Ganon not have that godlike power after he made his initial wish, or did he just underestimate Link and throw the fight?

I've been playing Twilight Princess for a while now and recently reached Zeira's shop again after completing the first dungeon. I noticed that the background music changed, but I couldn't find the new song anywhere, even after searching for it. Does anyone know where to find it?

I'm currently working on a project about Zelda 1. To gather information from Zelda players I made a short Google form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCeqVhRB35GXnmmczymIHp3y5NIvtXxHTjdWRDJ86hxzasCA/viewform?usp=dialog

If you have the time, I would really appreciate anyone who fills it out. Thank you guys!

Exactly what the title says. There may be spoilers for the contents of every Zelda game, so if you haven't played Skyward Sword, BoTW, ToTK and etc, then please come back when you do.

So, there have been many similar theories created by people due to the timeline shenanigans which happen in each game and due to this, I believe the main timeline has split exactly 3 times.

The first is in SS, where Link wishes the destruction of the Imprisoned and the time travel caused by Ghiriham, forming an alternate past where Link slays Demise. At the exact point the last Gate of Time is destroyed, the timelines are seperated and are 1000 years apart. Zelda in the past would emerge from her amber crystal and retrieve Skyloft early, only a few weeks after the first war. This leads to Minish Cap, whereas the future where Zelda and Co return to is the Wild era. We'll get back to this later.

The second is in Minish Cap. The two endings where Vaati wins or is defeated both carry on and show the result of his outcome, either fully draining Zelda of the Light Force or is destroyed completely. This is yet another split which has Four Sword when Vaati is sealed when Link cannot reach Vaati in time and the Hyrulean Civil war into OoT many years later when he is vanquished. (MC-> FS -> FSA -> ALttP, MC -> OoT)

Lastly the infamous OoT split needs no explanation.

So what does this mean? FSA, OoT and ToTk's 10000+ year old past occurs at the same time, but with differing events, conjoint to Ganondorf's first incarnation in each timeline. FSA Ganondorf immediately finds the Trident of Power, transforms into Ganon and knows of the evil wind mage Vaati, but not of the Triforce due to it being hidden. He is defeated and sealed in Four Sword by Link and the maidens but breaks out in ALttP to be slain.

OoT Ganondorf schemes and betrays the King of Hyrule to obtain the Triforce. He is defeated and sealed once but breaks out after a few centuries in Adult, and also is thrown in Sage Jail in the child timeline.

ToTk Ganondorf does not know of the Triforce as it also forgotten due to Zelda hiding the Triforce but instead wants the Secret Stones and betrays the king. He is sealed sacrificially by Rauru for way over 10 millenia and his mind, power and malice persists on in sheer hatred, manifesting at least two lesser Ganon avatars until he is defeated in his most powerful last ditch form in ToTK.

Each of these stories seem like they are similar and repeated, but are instead the same events, at the same exact time but in different timelines, destined to happen by Demise's curse.

That's all, what does everyone think?

There are people who don't like the idea of the Zelda games being connected, seeing the timeline as a mess meant to connect games that never had any relation in the first place. A lot of these people will say that the games work better as all being retellings of "Link has to save Zelda and work with her to defeat Ganon", but that... just can't be true, and kind of sucks?

Majora's Mask, Link's Awakening, Phantom Hourglass, Triforce Heroes, Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom, they all can't be retellings because they're either completely different story outlines, they don't have Ganon, are direct sequels to previous stories, are unrelated to Hyrule, or some other issue.

And then the games that can kind of fit into a "Hyrule retelling" all have their own issues. Ocarina of Time is a prequel to Link's Awakening, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are sequels, and they have their own messages and character arcs.

You also don't see people wanting other franchises to do this because... It kind of just sucks? Why even bother making a story if they're all meant to be the exact same basic plotline?

Final spoiler warning for Echoes of Wisdom before I get into discussing this idea I've had for the timeline merger. Other details I touch on come from the beginning of Wind Waker, the end of Twilight Princess, and general details about Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

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Given the now known timeline placement of Echoes of Wisdom between Tri Force Heroes and Zelda 1, we know it's in the Downfall Timeline. However, because of the creation story told by the Golden Goddesses in Echoes of Wisdom, we know that Null precedes all known timeline splits. Because Null is defeated only one known time in the Downfall Timeline, it may be safe to assume that Null and the Tris still existed in the other timeline branches. My proposal is that Null actually succeeds in destroying the world in the other two timelines and, in a last ditch effort to preserve what was lost in each of those timelines, the Tris restored what was otherwise lost to a realm that wasn't threatened by Null: the world of the Downfall Timeline. This would bring in people and artifacts and world history from the Child and Adult Timelines into the Downfall Timeline, setting it up for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to look as they do.

Admittedly, this does require the idea that each of the timeline branches are accessible to the Tris, which would be a huge point of speculation. It also requires reason to think Null would win in these other timelines, which is more speculation, but I think this is potentially easier to back up. In Echoes of Wisdom, there is a prophecy about a Priestess and Hero that would defeat an evil that seeks after the Triforce. Typically, these prophecies of a hero seem to me to involve the Spirit of the Hero, which is notably absent from the Adult Timeline, which means it's very possible that this piece of the puzzle being missing leads to Null's victory in the Adult Timeline. What about the Child Timeline though? I actually think this might possibly be due to the Triforce of Power going missing from Ganondorf at the end of Twilight Princess. Where it goes is never mentioned, but it being absent from a wielder and not being protected in any known way does seem to leave it open to being captured and used by Null in the Child Timeline without warning or gaining the suspicion of a Priestess and Hero as he did in Echoes of Wisdom while he lacked the Triforce of Power. This would also lead to his victory there.

So, assuming that the Tris could, probably with some Golden Goddess derived magic, traverse timelines as if they are dimensions (like they do between Hyrule and the Still World), and assuming that Null has the opportunity to destroy the Child and Adult Timelines, then it seems possible to me that the Tris then could have restored what they could from the Still Worlds of the Child and Adult Timelines to the Downfall Timeline before all was consumed by Null in those timelines as a last ditch effort to save people and the world.

A potential objection I see being raised is that the Tris just mend rifts, and their restorative abilities are always in the place where things were lost to the rifts. I don't actually think this is the case. Given the ability to return to the Still World, the geography and inanimate objects that are restored to the world actually seem to be echoes. When it comes to animate things, living beings, those seem to play by different rules; upon revisiting Still World locations, the people that were stolen away by rifts are no longer floating in the void but have been returned to the world above. We also see at the end of the game that living beings are returned in bubble sorts of things, which is different than the way environments are brought back. Not only this but, Zelda and Null, in using their own echo abilities, have the ability to summon echoes of living beings (and really anything that can be echoed) anywhere, not tethered at all to their original locations. With this in mind, I think it could be possible for echoes of the worlds of the Child and Adult Timelines to be restored anywhere, and in circumstances beyond that which is typical for the Tris, they might just do that.

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As a little bonus theory, it seems possible to me that the Depths that appear in Tears of the Kingdom might only be possible because Null is no longer present in the Still World, which was shown, in some sense, to be under the world above created by the Goddesses. Without Null, things could naturally come into being there as they did in the time prior to creation, though they would be uninhibited by Null. It could also be the case that it existed as a dumping ground for things that Tris restored from the other timelines that were so wholly incompatible with the world above but still would have been good to keep around somehow. This could maybe do some of the work to explain duplicate but inverse geography as well as the presence of items and armor from the other timelines. It doesn't do all of the work, but I think it might do some of it.

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It's getting late, I'm tired, and I might be missing some crucial details or something. I'm totally open to this idea being picked apart, edited, thrown out, or whatever it may be. I just wanted to get the thought out there just in case, somehow, nobody else had thought of it yet.

So one of the biggest debates I’ve seen is if the “Spirit of the Hero” Demise curses at the end of Skyward Sword is the literal or figurative spirit of Link. The debate is if the “Spirit” is like the Avatar where the body might be different but it’s the same ghost of sorts, or if the “Spirit” is more of Link’s goodwill and courage to do anything for what’s right.

And I’m not sure on this but I feel like there’s no evidence for the reincarnation interpretation? I’m not certain don’t yell at me, but I just don’t know what evidence there is for it?

But the figurative interpretation has the fact that the Hero of Time doesn’t exist in the Adult timeline and yet both Links are still the guy. And Ganondorf himself says that he has “The spirt of the hero of time” during their battle.

And also the existence of the Hero’s shade is the biggest point against it? He is literally the ghost of the Hero of Time and helps train Twilight Link. I guess it could work under the reincarnation thing as the same way Aang talks to his past lives but this seems like a really special case and is because of the Shade’s regrets.

Am I wrong and dumb? Is there more evidence for reincarnation that I’ve been missing?

Recently replayed ALttP and had an amazing time. My first playthrough was 8 years ago or something (not a childhood game for me) and I thought I could give it another go. (haven't played much Zelda these past years, I should really replay some of these again)

And… this game is still amazing even 30+ years after it came out.

First I am getting the few things I don’t like out of the way:

The swimming controls are ass.

I do think starting with the Dark World that enemies do a bit too much damage for my taste, which can be especially gruesome in dungeons, even with fairies and potions or the Magic Powder trick (which isn’t reliable because hitting these red skulls is hard). Overworld travel can become tedious due to enemy spam.

The DW dungeons throw you into very hard to avoid situations sometimes with conveyor belts and the like. The Ice Dungeon and Turtle Rock are good examples, and the moth boss is also a pain if you enter the room without potions or fairies, not getting hit is almost impossible. I had to treck back to get some stuff and then return just for the boss, which is tedious.

Still most things are doable and buying potions before each dungeon means you can use your money, so this only detracts from the experience a few select times, otherwise it's a great challenge.

The bosses also are not that interesting (visually they are, great designs) but I can excuse that.

Now the stuff I like

Heart Pieces: one of the best things in the whole franchise is introduced here. There not perfectly implemented as most are just laying about and don’t have interesting sidequests attached to them (the time race and chest minigame ones being a neat precursor to later games) but finding these is a great feeling, and rewards you for exploring the world.

Bottles: another franchise staple. The game generously gives you 2 easy ones right at the start, and with fairies, potions and enemies doing a lot of damage you get some great use from them.

Dark World: the idea is genius both from a gameplay perspective but also allowed the devs to reuse design with slightly altered assets, so it’s neat from a dev perspective as well. It is such a unique feature in only the third game… the only thing I would criticize would be that at the start it is a bit obtuse to return to the DW without a mirror portal. (Maybe give a hint that the castle gate is one) OoT timeskip is simply a different spin on this so once again this game set up later gamer being great.

Dungeons: I love almost all of them. In terms of solving puzzles while fighting enemies these are so incredibly well designed.

The first 3 are a bit on the simple side, which is fine considering this was their first foray into a more puzzle oriented game. All 3 still work well, the third can actually be pretty tricky. The leadup to the tower is also nice, climbing the mountain, your first experience with the Dark Word, great stuff.

The DW dungeons are where the real meat is. These are just really well crafted.

The first one is such a good introduction to the Dark World dungeons, it amps up the difficulty and lets the player know stuff is getting real, but it’s never unfair. Great pacing and atmosphere, it has a similar feeling akin to OoTs Forest Temple (which I love)

The water dungeon plays with the water level without being annoying (aside from the end where you can’t attack the water walkers) and the beginning makes good use of the mirror and expects players to remember the Light World for puzzles.

The Skull Forest dungeon is one of my favourites in the entire franchise. The different ways of entry, how you have to think outside the box and fight off though enemies while avoiding wallmasters is great. I actually had a rather easy time with it this time, mostly because I remembered it so well from my first playthrough due to the impact it had.

Thief Hideout has a unique perspective gimmick and the fake-out probably was a nice setpiece abck in the day when you didn't know about it (the guy in the Light World having dialogue foreshadowing Blind is also neat). A bit easy compared to the other ones.

The Ice Dungeon is iffy. The design is still creative and good, but the ice physics are so awful I just get frustrated a lot when taking unfair damage. Still, the design is so good its still mostly fun. You do get more defence here which is good.

The Swamp one is incredible. So many rooms, so much to do… you really have to keep a mental map of the layout to progress. I just wish the dungeon item was used more, you get it so late.

Turtle Rock is the only one I just don’t like. The stupid panels, the eye lasers…

Ganons Tower serves as a neat closing challenge with a puzzle portion and an enemy gauntlet. Big and challenging, though I was actually getting through rather easily. The only thing I don’t like is the torch rooms (wastes so much magic and it is quite hard) and the fact that falling down during the Ganon battle resets the whole fight, which is cheap.

Other things:

The small story bit with the old man in the bar and how you eventually meet his son in the Dark World only to inherit his ocarina after telling the old man about his sons fate… it is such a great little thing to add, and it has that melancholic feeling  that I like in Zelda across the whole franchise.

I also like how the game uses information and connections between the 2 worlds, like when you find the blue chest in the DW and have to remember being told about the silent old man being a thief.

In the end I was able to find everything but 4 heart pieces (looked up a map so I still had to compare my own list deduce which ones I was missing) and 2 of those were super easy and I just assumed I had already gotten those.

The ending showing all inhabitants and their current whereabouts end a great adventure. (I do wish your uncle and the ocarina boy stayed dead, feels cheap.

The music is also great, not that that says much in this franchise. It introduced many classic tracks. My only criticism would be that some tracks are rather short and the soundfont could sound a bit better.

My favourite track is far and away the Staff Roll Theme. Such a strong and sentimental track, I love it. Dark World and Dark Forest are also amazing, and the castle theme is just great.

One thing that really surprised me is that in the past few years I have become very critical and sometimes nitpicky about many things, but I just found myself enjoying the game so much in most areas.

While it isn’t my favourite Zelda, it is definitely up there and I can only praise the work of everyone that worked on it.

As probably all of us know, one of the TotK creators said in an interview that all the Sheikah technology suddenly disappeared after beating the Calamity Ganon, but doesn't give a reason why that happened. Well, the real reason is obviously for the game to get some new content, but I like being creative and filling up the plot holes. So here's my thesis:

All the Sheikah tech was somehow powered with malice.

We know that the technology was made in order to make fighting the Calamity easier, and that its creators already experienced it. When Ganon was sealed by Zelda's ancestors, it probably left malice all around the Hyrule, the same way it did in BotW. The Calamity is also said to posses the power humans can never match (aside from Link lol). The concept of using Ganon(dorf)'s power againt him being the key to victory is also known from the previous games, for example OoT. So I can imagine the Sheikah thinking that they can defeat Ganon by using his power in form of technology made out of malice.

That is why Calamity Ganon could so easily take over thousands of guardians in just a few minutes after awakening. And that is why all the technology fell apart and disappeared after Link defeated Ganon.

But if that was the case, then how can Link regain control of all the divine beasts? Well, it's because controlling such giant, complex constructs remotely was difficult even for Calamity Ganon, who is just a mindless monster, probably created from Ganondorf slowly breaking his seal, like the Imprisoned in Skyward Sword. That's why Ganon sent the four little Ganons into Divine Beasts, and defeating them made controlling the beasts impossible for him. By the way creating the Ganons probably took a lot of energy from the Calamity, and the divine beasts shot it shortly after it broke Zelda's seal, so that is why Calamity didn't do it again after re-awakening.

As for stuff like shrines, towers etc not being evil, it just wasn't worth it for the Calamity to control them. It didn't see them as dangerous and didn't waste its energy to corrupt them.

What do you think of this theory? Thanks for reading btw!

Personally, I'd make it so Fierce Deity was actually the very first hero (but not named Link) and is the source of the Spirit of the Hero which holds each reincarnations of Link together (except maybe WW Link as I know this is subject to debate in the fandom).

So basically something similar to what Hylia is to Zelda and, even if less so, what Demise is to Ganondorf.

Because I see everyone here seemingly using that theory as a fact whenever there's a discussion on this specific topic.

Personally, I'm still quite sceptical concerning this notion that SS Link and the Hero SS Zelda mentions after giving us the sailcloth are one and the same (most notably due to how exactly could the legend of the Goddess giving her Chosen hero a sailcloth have been created based on what Link does when travelling back in the past during the game).

I'm not sure if this is a new theory, but I was just thinking about TotK's placement on the timeline. I think it makes more sense if it takes place in a timeline split following the events of skyward sword. At the end of skyward sword, demise is defeated twice, in the present and in the past. In theory, defeating demise in the past should effect the timeline the same way that planting the Tree of Life in the sealed temple in the past changes the present (like the tree was there the whole time based on Groose's reaction). But when Link and Zelda return to the present, nothing has changed. This seems to suggest that unlike planting the Tree of Life, defeating demise did not self correct in the timeline. So at the end there are two timelines, the one where the demise is defeated by making a wish on the triforce (where the events of skyward sword and all subsequent zelda games take place), and the one where demise is defeated by Link (where the events of skyward sword and all subsequent zelda games do not take place). I think this timeline split is where TotK and BotW should be placed.

When Link and Zelda return to the present they choose to remain on the surface and eventually establish hyrule. In the timeline where demise was defeated by Link, the events of skyward sword don't take place so it's unlikely that Hyrule is established the same way. This is where it gets a little far-fetched. Some people from skyloft make it to the surface... somehow and eventually become the geurdo and hylians. The rest stay in skyloft and eventually become the zonai... somehow (developing magic and technology along the way). This happens over the course of thousands of years. Then the events of totk happen with Rauru establishing Hyrule, Ganondorf being born, ect.

The triforce is missing because Link never went into the Sky Keep to retrieve the triforce. The forgotten temple in botw/totk is the sealed grounds and the temple of time was never built on top of it because there was no need to hide the triforce in the temple of time.

I like the symmetry of this theory because the imprisoning war could take place at the same time but in two different timelines. TotK Ganondorf is not a reincarnation but is instead the same as the oot Ganondorf just in a different timeline.

There is a bit more to flesh out, but what do you think?

Edit: lmao I forgot about the master sword I think this theory is dead.

I'm not sure if it was in 2017 or 2018 but I believe in one of those years Historia got a reprint that fixed some errors from the original release, such as correcting the Medallion error from page 89, and the "Famicon" error on page 3 being corrected as "Famicom".

I recently got a second new copy of Historia and was able to see the two corrections listed above, but was curious about any other corrections.

So, the know the Wind Waker has to power to call upon and borrow the power of the gods.

"This conductor's baton can call upon and borrow the power of the gods" — King of Red Lions (The Wind Waker)

We see this with most of the songs we learn in the game. The Wind's Requiem and the Ballade of Gales are taught to us by the twin gods Zephos and Cyclos. Well, technically we learn the former from a shrine, but it is Zephos's shrine, so he practically taught it us.

Earth God's Lyric and Wind God's Aria are clearly named after gods. Exactly who the Earth and Wind Gods are is a topic for debate, but the most accepted candidates are Din and Farore.

The Command Melody isn't as obvious as the others, but it is taught to us in the Tower of the Gods by a Servant of the Tower. It's also worth noting that before and after we fight Gohdan, we hear a mysterious voice, who may be the god/spirit/kami in charge of the Tower, and possibly the one controlling Gohdan. Maybe this is the one who's power we borrow when useing the Command Melody.

Song of Passing and Sun's Song

This just leaves the Song of Passing, which is just taught to us by some random guy, who learned it from some other random guy. So, where did it come from?

Well, the song is very similar in both sound and function to the Sun's Song from OOT. The Song of Passing could easily just be a version of that song that changed over time by the fact that it was being passed down between many generations of mortals. Despite this, it still kept it's power to change the time of day, but seems to have lost it's power to stun the undead.

This still doesn't answer the question of which god we are borrowing powers from when playing this song.

The Sun's song was composed by the Composer Brothers, Flat and Sharp whilst studying the power of the royal family. The Royal Family itself inherited this power from the goddess Hylia.

The Sun's Song seems to have some relation to the Song of Time, which (according to Zelda in MM) is implied to be connected to a figure known as "The Goddess of Time".

Assuming this Goddess of Time exists, it's unknown if she is a separate figure or a goddess we are already familiar with. The two most likely candidates being Hylia or Nayru, both having ties to Zelda. Of course, whether you believe the Goddess of Time is Hylia, Nayru or someone else entirely, it doesn't realy matter. All that matters for this theory is that the Song of Passing let's you borrow the power of this goddess.

P.S.

Also, just so you know, the Ocarina of Time is never stated to let you borrow the powers of the Gods. Whilst some songs (like the Sun's Song) may be tied to a god, many of them are probebly just generic spells. E.G. Saria's song is probebly just some kind of magical phone number that lets you talk to Saria. Of course, if you do think every Ocarina song is powered by gods, feel free to share your ideas.

Always been a huge Zelda fan.
Still remember buying the Hyrule Historia and seeing the timeline before experiencing all the debates and theories. With there always been a lot of debate surrounding the fallen timeline, I created a theory of my own to justify why this is the only point in the timeline in which this split occurs.

Note: maybe someone else already came up with it as well. I just never read it before.

-

Theory
The only known split occurs within OOT. A game that not only involves time travel, but is also features the Tri-force being split apart after Ganondorf comes into contact with it. This could have led to the timeline fracturing ever-so-slightly, with the events of the game leading into three different timelines that reflect the train of the individual pieces held by the games Protagonists/Antagonist.

Wisdom-Split

The Adult Era would follow the perspective of Wisdom. Finally moving on from the history of blood and war that has seemingly-always plagued Hyrule. Washed away by a great flood.

This is a timeline almost devoid of Ganondorf. His only inclusion having him seem more wise; contemplating his desires in a way that we have never really seen again. Zelda herself is allowed to become someone new in the form of Tetra. Discovering new lands and having more of a staring role in WW and ST. The games also reflect this by focusing more on puzzle-solving over combat (if only due to the limitations of the DS)

Courage-Split

The Child Era would follow the perspective of Courage. Featuring some of the darkest games filled to the brim with hope and adventure.

MM would be the start of this timeline. A game that besides for one cutscene, does not feature Zelda or Ganondorf, nor Hyrule. Just a new land where everyone seems to have a story to follow. Where doom and gloom literally hangs over everything. But at the same time, there seems to always be a spark of joy coming from the often-bizarre characters featuring in these otherwise-realistic cast.

And this continues into TP. A game that DOES feature both Zelda and Ganondorf, but almost like background characters. Their on-going fight almost inconsequential to the Hero of Light. Focused more on saving his friends, helping Midna, and stopping Zant spread Twilight through-out Hyrule.

Four Swords Adventure would be a slight outlier. But it does feature four Links in one game...

Power-Split

The Fallen Era would follow the perspective of Power. And is it really a debate for why this timeline feels like it belongs to Ganondorf?

A Link to the Past. Oracle of Seasons/Ages. Link's Awakening. A Link Between worlds. The Legend of Zelda. Adventure of Link. If Ganon isn't the evil mastermind you face as a final boss, he is being summoned as a shadow monster, or resurrected for the umpteenth time. Gone is any hint of that wisdom shown in WW. Now he is often just a mindless brute with enough power to bring destruction upon Hyrule.

Hyrule itself is constantly being set back. Faced with constant danger. Is it a wonder that we have three games set in the same Hyrule design? The kingdom has become stagnant due to constant threats that hinder any attempts at progress.

Merged-Timeline

As for everything that has come out since the switch-era of games. Maybe some event does occur that re-combines the timelines again. Hyrule Warriors (even if non-canon) does featuring timelines crossing over.

-

Anyway, I've been thinking about this theory for about ten years now, and just finally wanted to get it out of my head. A lot of it is mostly just how you choose to interoperate the games, and really, only offers a solution to why the timeline isn't always splitting every time you see the game over screen.

For a while I've wanted a timeline theory that did a few things:

1: Got rid of the impossible "downfall" timeline 2: Placed TotK's Founding story shortly after Hylia's period (which appears to be canon now) 3: Didn't shunt TotK's resolution of Zelda's timetravel story into a branch that potentially would leave her in dragon form in a different branch 4: Allowed Zelda the First to be the first Princess without her only being woken up in one branch but not another.

This timeline is inspired by the following theories:

https://youtu.be/DEjafLI2LwY?si=7bNw3kJAlhxweSOj

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameTheorists/comments/17hp1kk/zelda_timeline_theory_fixes_a_36_year_old/

https://www.reddit.com/r/truezelda/comments/bhcw75/say_nintendo_tells_you_to_somehow_shift_the/?chainedPosts=t3_1h8txl2

Additionally, I have consulted Hyrule Historia, Zelda Encyclopedia, Creating A Champion, and TotK: Master Works. I have attempted to include as much canon lore as possible, and rearrange pieces so that much of the canon presentation is preserved.

The result is a theory that utilizes Skyward Sword's (Bringer of) Demise death split to address those four problems, and a number of other ones I have with the "official" placement.

Here's the basics of my version of the SS split:

SS branch 1: Demise is destroyed via a Wish on the Triforce, Skyloft falls to Hyrule, Skyloftians begin living on land and Sky. Priestess Zelda and Link found a new land called Hyrule. The Interloper War happens and the Temple of Light is built to protect the Triforce, with the Master Sword and "Secret" Stones acting as keys. Rauru and Sonia, Zelda's descendent, found the Kingdom of Hyrule proper, The Imprisoning War happens, and Ganon begins manifesting from under Hyrule Castle, before being subdued for an "eternity" by the combined might of the Shiekah and Zonai contributions to Hyrulean civilization.

SS branch 2: Ghiarhim travels to a past after The Demon King has been sealed but long before Hylia and her Chosen Hero reincarnate, and attempts to unseal the sealed Demise, both are defeated, and Demise's spirit is sealed in the Master Sword, which is then carried back to branch 1, leaving Skyloft and the Goddess Sword still in the Sky. Eventually with Demise dead, Priestess Zelda and Knight Link lead people to land. A war with the remnants of Demise's forces breaks out, and the Minish descend from Skyloft with the Goddess Sword and the Triforce, the former is gifted to The Hero of Men and the latter to the Hylian Princess, and the monsters are bound in the Chest. Hyrule is founded as a Triforce using Kingdom until a Hyrulean Prince grows jealous of his sister, Princess Zelda, for being able to inherite the sacred power when he can't. She's cast into an eternal sleep, and the Triforce is sealed away. The Prince orders that all subsequent Princesses must be named Zelda. All this happened a long time ago, and even longer than that.

The branches continue with:

Branch 1: BotW/TotTK--OoT>

Child: MM/SC2---TP/LCBT--HW Teen: TWW/TT/PH-TBF/FPTRR/RTBTL--ST/TFH

1a: AoC

Branch 2: TMC--FS-FSA----ALttP/LA/AST--ALBW----EoW---CoH-LoZ/AoL/OoX/FoE/WoG/ZA

I want to hear thoughts about how this works, cracks in it, and how it can be made better.

Branch 1: variously called Wish or Triforce Timeline

The in-universe legend of Calamity Ganon recurring multiple times results from losing the memory of the TotK Imprisoning War where Ganondorf became the Demon King. He manifests from under the castle as Ganon, who is disastrous for the population and called a Calamity. He was defeated by the combined Sheikah and Zonai tech, Sonia's descendent and a Zonai hero, and then stayed subdued for a few thousand years at most. During which time the story of the Imprisoning War and Calamity are both exaggerated and we end up with what Link is told in BotW, that Calamity Ganon reappears constantly.

Some time after, BotW and TotK occur.

I place BotW/ToTK in branch 1 at the start, and not in Branch 2 or at any end point for the following reasons:

1. Zelda's knowledge of the sacred springs ritual, which she would only have in a timeline where Impa showed them to her ancestor Priestess Zelda.
2. The presence of the Sheikah as a group, and not just a people who existed "long ago"

3: By placing ToTK early before any later splits, we don't end up with Zelda getting rescued in one timeline, but stuck as a dragon in another. 4: Sonia is a Priestess in Zelda's line and explicitly references being connected to Hylia. The Master Sword ritual Easter eggs are hence prophecies.

The story of Ruto on the Tablets in Zora's Domain could be a reference to the Imprisoning War Zora Sage.

The OoT sages could be named after the TotK Sages and the Divine Beasts. Putting BotW/TotK before TWW also gives the possibility that Medli was named after Vah Medoh.

As for the ruins throughout Hyrule that appear to be ruins from OoT/TP... they aren't, even in Nintendo's "forever after" placement.

They might be references on the part of the developers, but the Temple of Time ruins on the Great Plateau are placed wrong in relation to the Desert, Zora's Domain and Death Mountain to be from OoT. Same with the ranch ruins, and as for Arbiters Grounds ruins? There was a Temple of Time in Lanayru in SS, and ancient tech scattered around the place. We have no ruins of that Temple anywhere in BotW. Right? No reason to expect ruins from TP to be there or identifiable.

I think ruins in BotW/TotK are there for us to find and give a sense of depth to the world, but not to indicate anything. Especially because they are contradictory. Tingle Island and Koholint references? Just references, imo...

The Hylia ruins in BotW/TotK were built after SS by the Skyloftians

Kakariko Village is the hidden village, aka "Old Kacariko"

The Dragons of SS/BotW/TotK are connected to the Light Spirits

After TotK, The Master Sword is re-located to the Temple of Time. The Sacred Stones remain with their respective tribes until needed to unlock the Gate of Time. This is why the Triforce goes unmonitored in the Wilds era

The Hyrule Civil War occurs after TotK, as a result of Ganondorf II rising to power under the guidance of Twinrova (who survived from the Imprisoning War). The reason Ganondorf is able to break into the sacred realm at this point is because Link was not ready to weild the sword, not simply because it was drawn from the pedastle. The Gerudo took a chance on a new King named Ganondorf out of hope to redeem themselves. The fact Ganondorf seemingly sought only their good endeared him to them.

The rest of the Post-OoT timeline occurs mostly normally, save for TFH being after ST, there being no Fallen Hero AU leading to ALttP, and FSA being used elsewhere. And oc course HW being included.

As for the Ooccaa, well, the Zonai were going extinct, according to the TotK art book, so some of the more ... experimental Zonai got very friendly with the Loftwings.

Branch 2: variously called Murder or Cursed Timeline

Four Sword Adventures follows shortly after Four Swords and depicts the origin of ALttP's Ganon and how he in arrived in the Sacred Realm prior to The Sealing War.

The Goddess Sword, called the Picori Blade is broken and reforged in TMC, and used in FS and FSA, before being renamed the Master Sword because it could only be weilded by a worthy Master. This prevents there being two sacred blades being brought from the heavens. It couldn't be found during the Sealng War, and because Ganon had been sealed within it the force of him breaking out resulted in the Sword's weakening and it's needing to be recovered in the Lost Woods and later powered up in the Palace of the Four Sword during ALttP.

The Triforce of Courage isn't sealed away separately in the Temple of Courage until after EoW, which itself is set during the Decline of Hyrule.

Following the Zelda 1 Manga by Mishouzaki, Zelda from TLoZ is Zelda XVII.

Calatia, Labrynna, Holodrum, Koradai, Gamelon, and Tolemac were once part of Golden Age Hyrule, hence why Ganon seeks to control them.

As a slight retcon, Link is not found in Zelda's mirror in WoG, but rather that is a Mirror Link. Hero Link was captured, Mirror Link secretly releases Ganon, and Hero Link is being used as the source of Ganon's power on ZA.

Please, add to this or poke holes as you wish!

Impa says:

You know, I read something in the village's old literature-a passage about what the ancients called Dragon's Tears.

"Where the Tears rest upon the earth, we marked down the images to which they gave birth."

That tells us that the geoglyphs were made by the ancient sheikah and that their shapes are based on the images the Tears "gave birth". It doesn't tell us why they appeared during the Upheaval:

During the Upheaval, huge pictures

appeared out of nowhere, images that
sprawled across fields and hills.
We are calling them geoglyphs.
I understand they have been found in
locations across the kingdom.
Cado and I are traveling from region to
region in hopes of seeing them all.

Do you think that Zelda going back in time is what made them appear? I know that this is a closed loop, but do you think that the geoglyphs are a change to the timeline? Is there anything on this in the game? I wonder if the Masterworks says anything on this.

Edit: This is what the Masterworks says:

11か所に残された、龍の泪と地上絵。地上絵は遥か過去に描 かれたものと思われるが、つい最近まで観測することはできなか った。時の経過とともに消えてしまったようである。

Dragon tears and geoglyphs had been left in eleven locations. The geoglyphs are thought to have been drawn in the distant past, but they have not been observable until recently. They seem to have vanished with the passage of time. 

天変地異とともに現れたのは、空島の解放もしくは魔王覚醒が 鍵になったものと思われる。もしかすると「龍の泪」そのものが 時の力によって復活し、あわせて地上絵もその姿を見せたのかも しれない。龍の泪に込められた時の力が地上絵にも作用している のか、描画の跡が淡く輝く様子も見られる。

Their appearance together with the upheaval is thought to have been due to the release of the sky islands or else the key of the Demon King’s awakening.  If that’s the case perhaps the ‘dragon tears’ themselves were revived by the power of time, and the geoglyphs could be seen at the same time. The power of time that envelops the dragon tears may affect the geoglyphs, and a faint glowing trace of the drawing can be seen. 

If they "vanished with time", it makes sense to me that the power of time revived them. It's suggested that the Tears themselves are some vestige of Zelda's time power on another page and this seems to be following up on that to say that maybe that power is what made them appear. That still doesn't explain why they only appeared NOW, since they've always been tears. Maybe these tears are fresh? But basically: "time magic".

It would've made sense if Link receiving the time power at the Temple of Time did it, but the geoglyphs are visible before then, so... Yeah, "time magic". That only activated now.

Echoes of Wisdom was damn near perfect for me and it felt like I was finally playing a Zelda game for the first time in 10 years. It really connected with me in a way the franchise hadn't for decades, and I think in large part this was due to the art style and direction chosen for the game (among other things I'll discuss in a future post).

First and most obvious, it uses the Diorama-style graphics from the Link's Awakening remake which I think is the best style ever for 2-D Zeda. I love it, so just with that we were off on the right foot.

But what truly sold this game for me was how the art direction and character design, be it enemies, races, places, animals, etc. was taken straight out of the more visually cohesive "classic era" of OOT - MM - ALTTP - LA - LoZ - AoL (you could include the OOX games too). This game could've easily come out in 2003 after Majora's Mask and it would fit right in. It feels like a natural evolution from those game's visual style. Its art direction and character design are taken straight from the era, and I love it. A modern evolution of the classic Zelda art style. Perfection.

The entire art direction–every race, character, enemy, location, item–is based on and is a perfect evolution of the classic art direction mixed with the beautiful Link's Awakening remake art style.

I mean, the Dekus were brought back with visual perfection. We got Wolfos, Lizalfos, Darknuts, Peahats, Guays, fucking River AND Sea Zoras with Lord Jabu Jabu to boot, Volvagia, classic Blue Pig Ganon, Deku Babas, Poes, ReDead, Gibdos, Zols, Ball and Chain, Tektites, Wizzrobes, Buzz Blobs, Octoroks, Freezards, and they all looked ripped straight out of either ALTTP, LA, OOT and MM but updated beautifully to modern times without losing the essence. (We even got a few enemies from AoL and WW with updated designs as well).

It's like a dream come true. This is how I imagined the Zelda franchise evolving back in 2000 after playing Majora's Mask.

The game's entire visual language is a natural evolution from the one that had been established in ALTTP, LA, OOT, and MM (and the Oracle Duo which is basically LA style) and feels like a love letter to classic Zelda. I wished this had been the path, at least visually, the franchise had taken after MM.

With visual style alone, this to me already became a top tier Zelda game. Echoes of Wisdom is how you evolve the franchise, by including new mechanics while preserving what makes the franchise special. This is where BOTW/TOTK completely failed, and EoW succeeds.

Going forward, I hope Nintendo devs use Echoes of Wisdom as a compass to develop new Zelda games. The art direction was absolute perfection.

Story, music, characters, dungeons, the world, everything was top notch, the best completely new Zelda game on the Switch easily, (hell the best new Zelda in decades) but that's a post for another day.

I've just finished the second skull kid fight and am in the secret woods thing in North faron. I put the master sword in and walk down the stairs and im put in a fight with 5 shadow beast. I try use midnas power but it won't active, I've tried pressing it and holding it but nothing will work. Any help would be appricieted 🙏

While I think the Faron region is incredibly underutilized in Breath of the Wild (and to a lesser extent tears of the kingdom), finding lurelin village on the outskirts of the map was an awesome discovery. 

Tears of the Kingdom builds up this quest to take the village back from pirates from the very beginning, the merchant at lookout landing tells you about it. 

The first part of the quest is fine, it’s disappointing that the “pirates” are just the monsters you find everywhere. I also think they had a missed opportunity to make this an epic set piece of sorts and intertwine it with the main quest but whatever. My main issue is the second part of the quest. 

Bolson asks you to help rebuild the village and collect materials. This is just a worse version of the tarrey town side quest in breath of the wild. The appeal of that was that you were building an entirely new town, if you already played breath of the wild you’re just getting back what was already in the first game. Also Bolson doesn’t remember you, and that whole aspect of the game where important NPC’s from the first game doesn’t remember you is incredibly irritating. They focused on making the game accessible to newcomers at the cost of the story and world. 

So now you’re collecting materials, which isn’t really good gameplay, you’re just going to trees and grass and cutting them down for logs and hylian rice (you can also fast travel to a shop and just buy it, that’s probably easier and even worse.) Now this was also in the Tarrey town side quest, in fact it was even longer and basically destroyed half of your weapons, but like I said the reward in breath of the wild was actually cool. 

The 3rd part of the quest has another issue that permeates the entire game- ultrahand tank to fit the palm tree logs in roofs. Also you have to do the exact same task 4 times. And for some reason they decided to have these annoying loading times in between rather than you just going to these houses. 

So the lurelin village side quest

• Reuses an idea from breath of the wild but executes it worse
• Has a ton of ultrahand jank
• The characters you interacted with in the first game don’t remember you 
• Involves collecting materials in boring fashion 
• Unnecessarily long loading times/dialogue 

Like half the game’s side quests include one or more of these elements. At least the reward here is better than usual, although I don’t really find myself going back to the village for the free stuff. I’m sure it’s cooler for those who haven’t played breath of the wild. 

I know it could feel kinda forced and too fan servicey but if you wanted to make the Faron region more interesting and include a quest like this they could’ve at least made it so you’re rebuilding Ordon Village or something. 

Ive seen quite a lot of people talk abut how the next zelda game must be set outside of hyrule or how they are sick of this setting and their land marks and races and that they doubt Nintendo could just make a new open Hyrule as good as botw era, but, I dont understand how people can say botw era hyrule is the peak of the series that cant be topped by another future 3D game...

there are so many ways they could improve on what botw era hyrule granted, sure at this point they SHOULD make a game on another kingdom or land or parallel world...

But they could also just make a new hyrule and make bigger cities, spread out enemy variety, improve interactions with constructuions (like the abilty to destroy structures), explore underwater, heck they could even flesh out caves and the skies even more.

they can change the setting of hyrule too, imagine flooded hyrule or ancient hyrule but with the same expansiveness as botw era, it would be bassically Assins Creed black flag but in hyrule

heck they could set a game in new hyrule, with their more advanced technology and explore that kingdom or they could have the original hyulre but in a future with new technologies, we know there was a time period where hyrule was extremely advanced as sheikah tech was part of everyones lives and very normalized, plus they could set a game in far future of botw era hyrule too but make so they advanced technologically, Purah does meantion that her plan is to make sheikah tech part of everyones lives so there is room for that

I think that people saying they are sick is just not a valid argument when most people dont even know if they are actually sick of Hyrule or just tired of botw Hyrule, nobody complained about echoes of wisdom map or said it was too stale despite still carrying over the same regions, races and biomes...

which is also something Ive hear some say to which I argue they could make a hyrule and take away some land marks but then these people argue "if you make hyrule without the land marks you might as well not call it Hyrule" which is quite irrelevant, since Nintendo has made Hyrule and took away land marks, not every hyrule has a zoras domain, or a gerudo desert or Hyrule castle or a death mountain or a lost woods, heck they can add new land marks and regions, akkala and necluda were new regions, they could expand on those and then sideline the rest.

And nintendo can innovate on existing landmarks and races, the zoras domain from ocarina of time, breath of the wild and echoes of wisdom are so different, they can literally just make another zoras domain, change the art style, maybe use the river zoras more, give new motiffs and thus make it feel different yet familiar.

The fact that Nintendo has made basically entirely different landmarks or even continents or just majorly shifted the land to the point of being almost unreconizable and called it Hyrule (phantom hourglass, wind waker, zelda 2) means that yes, they can make a game without the major races or land marks and still call the land of hyrule, because in the end it quite literally doesn't matter what the land is called as long as they can make a map thats interesting, fun and, innovative explorable.

And there are ways they could change Hyrule meaninfuly, here is some crazy ideas:

They can blow up and freeze death mountain and have its insides be warm creating various thermal zones where the weather goes haywire with has massive storms and tornadoes around it mixing the region into a chaotic land of fire, wind, ice and electricity, turn zoras domain into a massive underground water basin society where both the zora and a underground race live together, make gerudo desert into a lush jungle that is being degraded into a desert (like how it happened irl to the north of Africa), turn lost wood into a whimsical and quirky colorful forest like an alice in wonder land but junglepunk style where people get lost due to how weird the place is (instead of the usual cursed forest or seemingly normal but subtly cursed forest), lake hylia could then be on winter (or elevated due to weird geographic shifts) causing it to freeze and become a massive ice lake, they could even inovate on central hyrule and make actual large cities or even just varied vilages, heck maybe a special settlement like tarrey toen where people of all races can live comfortably symbolizing the unification of the kingdom, plus make more stuff like the great plateau too.

Heck they could even give ganon or vaati or another demon king some sort of dark kingdom, a region that is actually under their rule in the borders of Hyrule and has been like that for a while, with the looming danger of them gathering power and preparing to take over the landmass, and this could give a proper society to the monsters like bokoblind, lizalfos etc, as plenty of games hint at them actually having their own societies and settlements plus actually being an intelligent but that they deliberately follow and serve demon kings because its within their nature but they are just as capable of betraying their kind and finding love and meaningful interactions when given the opportunity (which has also been shown in the franchise too).

Hyrule is the center of creation, the sacred land that the Triforce rests, there absolutely is ways they can innovate and explore it, be it by using different time eras, natural disasters or parallel world that merge with it.

The fact that can just get the gimmicks from the oracle games and make:

a Hyrule where you explore the past (ss hyrule), present (normal Hyrule) and future (maybe modern urban setting or even cyberpunk style Hyrule), like time travel is still a viable gimmick in the series, nobody would complain about a MM style game with a time limit and all but set in Hyrule, you have to explore a big open map but you gotta have urgency or the world end, no more distractions with just drifting form the main story otherwise you need to reset your cycle and inventory...

Or make a Hyrule that lets you shift seasons and control the weather so you can see the land go through multiple styles and how the different seasons interact with each region, active with lava and earthquake and inactive lush and green plus maybe frozen death mountain, have a gerudo desert that shifts between semi green and bountiful desert with oasises or just as dry, death trap of a land with basically no resources, lake Hylia that can freeze, flood with water or dry out a bit and expose more land, a lost woods that shifts between creepy deadly forest and magical fairy forest, by link controlling its weather and seasons Hyrule can be greatly expanded.

Like bro, Hyrule can still be used plenty, I literally just gave out 3 or maybe 4 core sets of ideas that could basically all makeup their own zelda games and Im just a single guy, Nintendo has a whole studio full of people giving ideas and greater imput. Hyrule can definetly still be explored, reshaped, expanded or reused with a new twist, I think people are under estimating Nintendo especially since Nintendo is known for having eras of innovation and stagnation (look at the mario games, especially and the 2D and rpg games), there is still demand for flooded hyrule and demand to bring back twilight realm and lorule.

The point is, people should let Nintendo cook, Hyrule is not a stale setting, if they want to make a game in Hyrule they will, if they want to make a new land they can do it too, they will prioritize fun at the end of the day so they will deliver a map worth exploring no matter what name they give to it.

I haven’t seen anyone complain about this but I do not understand why they decided that having a ton of incredibly hard to break rocks in caves was a good idea. There is no exciting gameplay that can come out of it, you are just spamming rock hammer hits, which in the early game destroys your durability, and in the late game means you’re probably just giving up an inventory spot. It is incredibly tedious, so what is the solution? Spam Yunobo’s sage ability, which is still very tedious. Now it actually could’ve been interesting if they made it so you have to use yunobo’s sage ability to progress through a few caves but that conflicts with their design philosophy. 

So, in Link's Awakening, the Wind Fish well asleep, and his dreams created a fake island called Koholint Island. Unfortunately, he ends up tapped in an eternal sleep by a demon called "Nightmare".

Link is sailing along, and ends up trapped on the island (Can't remember if it was the Wind Fish himself who did this, or not), and an owl (WF avatar) tells like to gather the "Instrument of the Sirens" to wake the Wind Fish up, explaining that it's the only way Link can get off the island.

Now, MM has the "Ballade of the Wind Fish" in it, implying that the deity itself did exist during the events of OOT and MM, and by extension, exists in the unified timeline.

So, what happened to him in the Child and Adult timelines? Is he still trapped in his dream land? Did Nightmare even do anything in these timelines?

Also, if he's the "Wind" Fish, does that mean he has a connection to Zephos and Cyclos from WW?

When the Minish first visited the land of Hyrule, it is said that they gifted the royal family the “Light Force”. On a stained window in the game, this force is depicted as looking like a piece of the triforce. is it exactly known what the light force really is? Does it even have anything to do with the Triforce?

Holy Mount Lanayru is located in the north of Hyrule, near Hebra Mountain. It is connected to the goddess Nayru, and it is home to the Lanayru Temple. It is the highest point in Hyrule. https://zeldawiki.wiki/wiki/Holy_Mount_Lanayru

It's not even on the map of EoW. It's probably a location we visit in Hyrule that is not in Lesser Hyrule region but in greater Hyrule.

But since TLoZ comes after EoW, does that mean Holy Mount Lanayru becomes inactive with snow, and transitions to becoming volcanic? Because I still believe Holy Mount Lanayru is the predecessor to the Death Mountain area caves you visit in AoL/Zelda II when traversing inside to reach lesser Hyrule.