Castle
Ch!ld0fV!si0n
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2012
- Location
- Crisis? What Crisis?
- Gender
- Pan-decepticon-transdeliberate-selfidentifying-sodiumbased-extraexistential-temporal anomaly
Yo YO! What's up? It's your ol' buddy Castle here asking you the important questions. Let's talk about video games and.... castles. The highs. The lows. The fantasy and realistic. The ruined and the fabulous! The dark and the pristine. What are the coolest castles in video games? (other than yours truly, of course 
)
1.) Skyhold - Dragon Age: Inquisition
When I first started hitting the ground on the Inquisitor's stronghold at Skyhold it darn near blew my mind. This fortress goes on for-ev-er!!!
IT'S NUTS!! 
And it's gorgeous. Rendered in mindboggling detail and this was among my first impressions of next gen gaming so it kinda made a solid one. Skyhold starts out as a dingy ruin and through the course of the game it grows not just into the Inquisition's headquarters but a home. There are so many far corners to this place it's easy to get lost. Much of it is pointless in terms of gameplay but the design of Skyhold makes the fortress feel like a vast complex. I just wish there was a bit more to discover about it.
2.) Kaer Morhen - The Witcher 3
The Witcher fortress of Kaer Morhen is the age old headquarters of the Witcher School of the Wolf. One of the oldest castles in the colonized world, Kaer Morhen has been around longer than the Witchers themselves. It has a dark history of death, torture, riots and murder. And as it has aged and fallen into a decrepit ruin so have its occupants. Now both fortress and Witcher are in a sad state of disrepair, on the verge of crumbling into dust. Sadly, while the castle is a vast complex, much of it is inaccessible. And there isn't much to discover in the halls and corridors of the vast fortress. But every inch is rendered in brilliant detail! More than the keep itself are the grounds and lands surrounding it- Everything abandoned and on the verge of collapse if not outright ruin. And... what's up with all the bears?
3.) Hyrule Castle - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
FINALLY!! We can freely explore Hyrule Castle in a 3D Zelda!! Well... not as much as I would like but still. Sure, Ocarina of Time had us traipsing through the gardens. But this time we get to explore the halls, courtyards and ramparts of Hyrule Castle. I'm not overly fond of the depiction of the castle on Link's first visit because the layout and environment makes no logical sense at all. But in the end the dingy dungeons and tepid sewers and stark ramparts give way to the stately halls and elegant courtyards of the castle proper. It's more of a palace, really. As always, it would have been nice to be able to explore more of it.
RUNNERS UP!
Forest Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
OoT's Forest Temple is my all time uncontested favorite place in all of Zeldadom!! But it's kinda hard to say if it's a castle, per se. I mean. It is, sure. That much is clear just by looking at it. But it's also a "temple" ... whatever that means. And it's so enigmatic it's difficult to ascertain what its intended purpose was. What point could there possibly be to build a castle in the Lost Woods? And moreover.... how do you even??? Indeed there is evidence to suggest that large portions of the dungeon is leftover work from development on Hyrule Castle before they scraped plans for it in favor of the stealthy garden run. The Forest Temple is dark and mysterious and confounding and haunting and eerie and lovely and I'm getting tingly just thinking about it! :tingle:
Ganon's Castle: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
You gotta admire The Dorf's attitude. I mean THIS is how you conquer a kingdom.You don't just open the town gates to monsters and send the women and children screaming for the hills. You erect your dark lord's tower on a craggy rock magically floating above the crater of lava where once sat your displaced predecessor's stately home! Forget walls, that's how to make sure everyone knows who's king around here now. Plus the lower floors are reserved exclusively for elaborate home defense. The top floor is the ornate penthouse complete with sinister pipe organ, opulent lighting, 360 degree panoramic views of the recently conquered countryside, and plush carpeting where The King of Evil can kick back, chill and reign supreme.
)1.) Skyhold - Dragon Age: Inquisition
When I first started hitting the ground on the Inquisitor's stronghold at Skyhold it darn near blew my mind. This fortress goes on for-ev-er!!!
IT'S NUTS!! And it's gorgeous. Rendered in mindboggling detail and this was among my first impressions of next gen gaming so it kinda made a solid one. Skyhold starts out as a dingy ruin and through the course of the game it grows not just into the Inquisition's headquarters but a home. There are so many far corners to this place it's easy to get lost. Much of it is pointless in terms of gameplay but the design of Skyhold makes the fortress feel like a vast complex. I just wish there was a bit more to discover about it.2.) Kaer Morhen - The Witcher 3
The Witcher fortress of Kaer Morhen is the age old headquarters of the Witcher School of the Wolf. One of the oldest castles in the colonized world, Kaer Morhen has been around longer than the Witchers themselves. It has a dark history of death, torture, riots and murder. And as it has aged and fallen into a decrepit ruin so have its occupants. Now both fortress and Witcher are in a sad state of disrepair, on the verge of crumbling into dust. Sadly, while the castle is a vast complex, much of it is inaccessible. And there isn't much to discover in the halls and corridors of the vast fortress. But every inch is rendered in brilliant detail! More than the keep itself are the grounds and lands surrounding it- Everything abandoned and on the verge of collapse if not outright ruin. And... what's up with all the bears?
3.) Hyrule Castle - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
FINALLY!! We can freely explore Hyrule Castle in a 3D Zelda!! Well... not as much as I would like but still. Sure, Ocarina of Time had us traipsing through the gardens. But this time we get to explore the halls, courtyards and ramparts of Hyrule Castle. I'm not overly fond of the depiction of the castle on Link's first visit because the layout and environment makes no logical sense at all. But in the end the dingy dungeons and tepid sewers and stark ramparts give way to the stately halls and elegant courtyards of the castle proper. It's more of a palace, really. As always, it would have been nice to be able to explore more of it.
RUNNERS UP!
Forest Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
OoT's Forest Temple is my all time uncontested favorite place in all of Zeldadom!! But it's kinda hard to say if it's a castle, per se. I mean. It is, sure. That much is clear just by looking at it. But it's also a "temple" ... whatever that means. And it's so enigmatic it's difficult to ascertain what its intended purpose was. What point could there possibly be to build a castle in the Lost Woods? And moreover.... how do you even??? Indeed there is evidence to suggest that large portions of the dungeon is leftover work from development on Hyrule Castle before they scraped plans for it in favor of the stealthy garden run. The Forest Temple is dark and mysterious and confounding and haunting and eerie and lovely and I'm getting tingly just thinking about it! :tingle:
Ganon's Castle: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
You gotta admire The Dorf's attitude. I mean THIS is how you conquer a kingdom.You don't just open the town gates to monsters and send the women and children screaming for the hills. You erect your dark lord's tower on a craggy rock magically floating above the crater of lava where once sat your displaced predecessor's stately home! Forget walls, that's how to make sure everyone knows who's king around here now. Plus the lower floors are reserved exclusively for elaborate home defense. The top floor is the ornate penthouse complete with sinister pipe organ, opulent lighting, 360 degree panoramic views of the recently conquered countryside, and plush carpeting where The King of Evil can kick back, chill and reign supreme.
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