Large, Populated Urban Areas
Although Breath of the Wild’s open-world rendition of Hyrule wasn’t anywhere near as detailed as other fantasy settings, such as Skrim’s Tamriel or Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Ancient Egypt, it had an x-factor that made it infinitely more compelling. Part of the magic was actually the void of clutter. It truly felt like a wilderness, and Link an isolated explorer discovering secret corners of its world. Each expanse of desolate badlands or grass plains made stumbling across a dense woodland or Fairy’s Grotto an event to be appreciated. Similarly, each small settlement one discovered was like reaching a travelers sanctuary, safe from the rigors of surviving the outback.
This, of course, all played into Breath of the Wild’s emphasis on… the wild. But as brilliant a masterstroke as these design choices were, we would still have loved to have seen a more populated township or two thrown into the mix. Hatano and Kakariko villages make sense as being small settlements in the context of their role within the narrative, but they still feel a little devoid of hustle and bustle for our liking. Gerudo Town is about as close as the game gets to a large-scale town, but it’s still tiny in comparison to the municipalities we’re used to seeing in other open-world games.
For the next Zelda title, it would be fantastic to have a central city to explore as well as rural and wilderness areas. Something akin to Beauclair from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, perhaps: a bustling medieval renaissance-inspired city with a spiraling fantasy castle at its crescendo. Quite apart from its visual spectacle, completing quests in an urban environment just isn’t something we’ve ever seen in a Zelda game before, and it would make a wonderful change of pace. We wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to Nintendo abandoning medieval themes, either. A more steampunk-aesthetic to this city could be an interesting change from the series’ standard conventions.
