Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

That was my first thought too. I sure hope this kinda stuff is either pre-production, or there's some kind of secret involving time travel where there's more settlements. Or there's interesting things in that picture that's too small for us to see, or under rocks. Or enemies that haven't spawned yet. Maybe that plateau is a battleground for a giant boss! Or a really cool cutscene.

I can't really see Nintendo designing a giant landmark on top of a mountain without putting something significant on top of it. Yeah, there's probably a dungeon in there, but to put nothing on top of it would be a huge waste.

I'm probably wrong about this, but wouldn't there be some bombable entrance or something similar like in the original?

I think it's okay for some areas to be a bit sparse. It would be jarring to find a dessert covered in... stuff. As long as there is a fun way to cross it quickly (ie. Sandskiff) maybe while facing the danger of giant sandworms... or avoiding roving bands of Rito bandits. That would be good.

@EOTW You're giving me good vibes! I like the concept of Rito bandits a lot. They would be a fine race to return with Gorons and Zoras.

Rito + Zora = does not compute.

Zelda lore is dumb. Zora extinction in The Wind Waker is the most righteous retcon anyone could ever make. But, if we have to choose, Zoras >>> Ritos.

In this case, yes. Rito are cool and all. But I want a giant water temple Zora palace. Like the one in TP on steroids. Seeing how this games goes ''back to its roots'', I feel that Zora are more appropriate here.

What if this game marks the convergence of the timelines? All the histories become one, and continuity no longer matters because timestones. Then zoras and ritos can both exist!

Yes! And this gen it won't have to be all underground either (though it'll probably still be underwater). What I always liked about the Lakebed Temple (and to a lesser extent the Water Temple) was how this posh, ornate staircase flanked by cogworks and tapestries wasn't at all what you expect from the fish race with alien heads who can dissolve in water. I want to see more of that, not just caves with a waterfall (though I'm also amenable to waterfalls).

I hope Breath's water temple is just the hardest damn thing. It would be ever-so gratifying to hear all the Zelda fans squeal.

@Haru17 Difficult water temples are canon, it will happen again.

However, I wasn't talking about the water temple, although I did really like the design of the Lakebed Temple and I do want to see something like that make a return. I actually meant Zora's Domain (maybe I shouldn't have called it temple then). The waterfalls in TP were neat, but it felt empty. Give me an entire city. Colourful decorations, waterfalls and all that. Something that makes your jaw hit the floor when you first discover it.

Yeah, they definitely need to graduate form the "caves-and-differently-shaped-rocks" mode of architecture. Especially in Breath of the Wild. I think the closest they ever got to a culture was the Gorons (Japanese people) in Twilight Princess. How, in addition to rolling, they bathed in hot springs and sumo wrestled.

Would I get pitchforks If I said I liked Ritos better?

Ah... that would be something, wouldn't it? I want all the dungeons to be hard! Screw novice players, I wanna be lost and confused! We should get a dungeon that's literally a rubix cube, a dungeon with a thousand moving parts, and water temples with six levels of water!

I'm exaggerating, of course, but it would be nice to see a few head scratchers

@Nicolai I thought we already got the Rubix Cube in Skyward Sword? Anyway, you wouldn't get pitchforks exactly. (You would get pitchforks, exactly.)

@Haru17 As much flak as the DS Zelda games get, at least the Goron had their own town in Phantom Hourglass. I prefer the idea of hobbit-like houses carved into a mountain over the Ocarina of Time Goron City. TP had something that was like the Goron City in Phantom Hourglass, but it lacked the individual houses. It's just a minor detail, but it's something that makes the game feel more alive and immersive. I mean, where do the Goron and Zora even sleep in the previous games? TP was definitely a step in the right direction, but I'd like to see more.

To hell with the lore! Just retcon the whole thing and have both. Zelda lore is not consistent at all anyway, so who cares?

Not quite, that was a slide puzzle. A rubix cube would be unthinkable! Even a 3x3x3 cube with 27 rooms would be pretty tough.

EDIT: You could technically do a 2x2x2 cube, though. It'd still be hard to think about, and it would actually have the same number of rooms as Sky Keep's 3x3 slide puzzle.

@Octane I think the Gorons at least might have communal housing. More architecture, though, is a must.

@Nicolai Wait, do the rooms turn upside down when you manipulate the puzzle?

@Octane: Yes. You're talking about my 2x2x2 rubix cube idea, right? Then yes.

@Nicolai 2x2x2 sounds small, but if you consider that each side of the room can act as a floor, then you end up with 48 possible ''rooms''; I like it.