General Zelda Exploration: Collection Vs. Discovery

[OmenBlite]

I've recently, through analysis, come to a conclusion concerning exploration: Collection, the gain of fascinating or rich materials as reward for exploring, vs discovery, the concept of literally exploring and finding fascinating or rich places.
I'd argue that Zelda 1 combined the two very well, but since the release of the classic, one often takes prominence over the other, depending on the game.
An excellent example of collection would be Majora's Mask-- you collect a great many things (masks, rupees, items, heart pieces) throughout the overworld. The collection is, by principle, satisfying. However, the materials collected are often out in the open, unnotable places you could already go, and locations you often pass by/through.
I do think it would be fair to say that Twilight Princess is a prime example of discovery. The fields alone are packed with hidden grottos, winding tunnels, secret passages, large caves, and out of reach alcoves. However, the reward for the finding/reaching of these areas is often small and not really worthwhile; some rupees, perhaps the occasional piece of heart. There's not much reason to explore, other than experiencing the moment as it is.

So, discovery vs. collection, which do you prefer? I, for one, am a fan of discovery over collection, but that's just me. I'm interested to here what you have to say!

 

[Ventus]

Well...you can only discover something once, however your collection can go on and on and on. For me, I much prefer discovery in my Zelda games. Yes, it's a one time thing, but it's much more rewarding in my opinion. The idea of finding a new land and charting it for yourself is just too good of an idea to pass up!

 

[JuicieJ]

 

[Mangachick14]

Stole the words right out of my mouth, good sir.

 

[LinkontheRink]

I'm lazy, so finding a piece of heart sitting right there in front of me is more satisfying than traversing some cave that is either tough, but moreso annoying and tedious, and then not getting a good reward

This would piss me off sometime in TP, get through some annoying stretch to find 20 rupees in a chest. Whoopie! There was also that cave at Lake Hylia where you needed your lantern. I remember that being annoying, even though the reward was really good, a piece of heart, areas like that piss me off lol.

 

[Night Owl]

I Like discovering new things, more so if I get rewarded for it.

Skyward sword had the collection aspect of exploring but lacked the discovery aspect.
I left each area feeling been there done that, rather than feeling maybe I missed something.
A lot of it was because the collection stuff was left out in the open and wasn't tucked away in a hidden grotto or cave system.
For a land that hadn't been seen by the skyloftians in years, it felt pretty empty and picked clean.

 

[Salem]

I think it has to focus on the satisfaction of the journey as well as the reward. Meaning, it has to be FUN to go through that hidden cave again, even if discovery happens only once.

Collection on the other hand, either, give me a HUGE wallet, like 5000 or stop giving me rupees, that's all.

 

[OmenBlite]

Well, while I agree completely, this is a matter of preference; I'm asking which you'd prefer, not what you'd like to be done directly.

 

[Salem]

Well, while I agree completely, this is a matter of preference; I'm asking which you'd prefer, not what you'd like to be done directly.

It depends on wether or not this is the first play through. First time playing I love to discover things, later playthrough, I want to get the collectables.

 

[Rocky]

Both. On my first play through, I go out and try to discover all of Hyrule. I enjoy the landscapes and just screw around, tinkering with my surrounding and finding many secrets. Doing so, I tend to find the majority of the collectibles in the process since I'm covering almost every ground in each area of the map.

 

[Snow Queen]

I'm a really greedy mother, but even more so am I an adventurer. I love discovering, exploring, finding and getting small rewards frequently. The Last of us combined both collection and discovery very well. Out of context but just saiyan.

 

[Awesomehylian]

Hmm. Interesting question. I'm not sure which I would prefer. On the one hand, Zelda being made for collection means that the developers took the time to fit the items you collect into the story, and have a stronger presence in the game, both for the player and for the 100% completion story. However, the excitement of discovery is always great, though, as you said, often marred with disappointment. I personally loved collecting masks in MM, and I would argue there was some discovery, as you weren't told who had what mask in most cases. But, like you said, discovery is eclipsed in favor of collection. I guess I could use my recent time in TP to make my decision. I found a cave (don't remember exactly where now, but it was while I was getting ready for the Lakebed Temple) that had many different kinds of enemies, obstacles, and really TOO many treasure chests. By the time I got near the bottom I was closing the chests back up again on really big rupees because I'd filled up my wallet on chump change on the way down. At the very end, after almost 2 whole things of oil, I found a heart piece and a light shaft to magically transport me to the entrance. TP seems to have spread the heart pieces thin, so of course I was glad to find another one, but it took a heck of a long time to go through that whole thing!

So, I guess I prefer the collection of story-related items over the discovery of random treasure. When discovery fits in to finding story-related items, it's the best.

 

[Burning Beast]

Hmm... well, both are good, but if I had to choose between one I'd pick discovery.

Collections are cool I like collecting things but in Zelda it tends to be a tad inconvenient for me since I really like going through the main quest and don't usually focus much on the side quest so collecting stuff tends to be tedious to me. I enjoy it when I feel like doing it, but more often then not meh...

Exploring stuff appeals to me far more. I like finding new places and exploring areas. It's always been something I've really enjoyed! I love looking at the architecture and stuff of different places it's really fun to me. Exploring towns and stuff, anything really it's just really fun to me. A good example of a place I love exploring and looking at would be Clock Town in Majora's Mask, the style of the buildings and stuff is fairly unique in Zelda, haven't seen much like it in other games. So yeah I prefer exploring. Savage Labyrinth good example of a fun side material place to explore.

 

[JuicieJ]

Well, while I agree completely, this is a matter of preference; I'm asking which you'd prefer, not what you'd like to be done directly.

I think you missed the point of my response. I don't prefer either over the other.

 

[OmenBlite]

I think you missed the point of my response. I don't prefer either over the other.

Well, that's a bit of a shady way of going about it, but alright.