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How would you feel about a Zelda game taking place in our world?

Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Location
Leeds, England.
First of all, I'd just like to say in advance that this rather crazy idea doesn't belong to me, it belongs to a friend of mine (who isn't a massive fan of the franchise (he's only played Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess)). He brought it up to me the other day and I'm finally starting to warm to it (my initial reaction was calling him crazy). What if, at some point in the future, Nintendo finally decided to end the series? How would they end it? Would it be just a standard entry, or would it have some resolution? I really have no idea, but my friend thinks that the final Zelda game should be set in our world and our time.

My friend believes that Hyrule (and all other lands/dimensions (Termina/Lorule, etc)) exists on Earth, the series taking place in our own world...just hundreds of thousands of years ago in the past. So, if that were the case...a Zelda game could (theoretically) take place in the present. If this happened, how would it effect the game? Could the classic formula still work, or would it have to be ditched? Link couldn't really have a sword and shield in the 21st century, could he? He'd have to get himself a gun and some ammo, lol. I know it sounds crazy (it did to me, at first), but if you think about it...it could actually work, if it was done right. I think it would be fun to go globe trotting, visiting well known locations (New York, London, Paris, Moscow, etc, etc). Travelling through the Amazon rain forest, climbing Mount Everest. Link could get tangled up in all sorts of trouble, having to face off against terrorists, mafia men, etc... Of course, an ancient evil would have to raise its head.

Ganondorf would be reborn as a normal, everyday human, and everything would be okay for him, at first. But then, as always, his inherent evil would rise up, seeing him delve into criminal activities (stealing, raping, murdering). He would eventually become the head of a large criminal organisation.. Finally, Ganondorf would become aware of his ancient beginnings, regaining his memories from his past lives, and discovering that he is the physical embodiment of the hatred of a being who is now referred to as Satan (Demise). This would drive him mad, leading to him becoming bent on attaining the long lost/sleeping power of the Gods (the Triforce). As usual, Link would have to discover the resting place of the Master Sword in order to defeat him. The ending battle between Link and Ganon could take place on top of a skyscraper, with lightning raining down from above..... And breath. Phew.

Honestly, I think it would be interesting to see the series take such a bold leap. I know it looks on the surface as though this would destroy the franchise, but I really believe that my friend could be on to something here. I think it would be particularly fascinating to see how our world and media would react to all this, lol. It would get kinda crazy, haha... So, could this ever, ever work? If Nintendo decided to do something like this, how would you react? Discuss.
 
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Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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If it were to happen I would prefer a Hyrule Warriors style situation where portals are opened into different realities and the Zelda characters come through into our own world rather than them being part of it originally.

I don't subscribe to the idea that Hyrule is in our world in the past. We see star constellations from our world appearing in Zelda and they would have looked different if Zelda had happened so long ago that no artifacts from the era could be found.
If Hyrule were to be set in our world I think it would have to be in the post apocalyptic future.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Location
Leeds, England.
If it were to happen I would prefer a Hyrule Warriors style situation where portals are opened into different realities and the Zelda characters come through into our own world rather than them being part of it originally.

I don't subscribe to the idea that Hyrule is in our world in the past. We see star constellations from our world appearing in Zelda and they would have looked different if Zelda had happened so long ago that no artifacts from the era could be found.
If Hyrule were to be set in our world I think it would have to be in the post apocalyptic future.

I remember noticing the star constellations in Wind Waker and wondering if Nintendo were trying to tell us that the Great Sea and Hyrule were connected to our world somehow. Whether or not the series is taking place in the past or future is up for debate, I'll admit. For all we know it could even be set in our present, in a parallel dimension to our world. That would certainly explain why we've never uncovered a link to the Zelda world past (excuse the terrible pun), or why those in the Zelda series have never found a link to ours... Interesting.
 
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We see star constellations from our world appearing in Zelda
This does not indicate the future or the past as the stars are billions of years old. Unless Hyrule is a version of Earth billions of years old, the constellations in the sky would be roughly the same.

I believe Hyrule is just on a planet in a galaxy far far away. Zero connection to Earth.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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This does not indicate the future or the past as the stars are billions of years old. Unless Hyrule is a version of Earth billions of years old, the constellations in the sky would be roughly the same.

I believe Hyrule is just on a planet in a galaxy far far away. Zero connection to Earth.

The stars might be billions of years old but the constellations change over time. Not over billions of years but thousands.

This shows the transformation of the big dipper. How it would have looked 50,000 years ago, today and how it will look in 50,000 years time. If Hyrule is on earth it is less than 50,000 years in the past and future or else the big dipper would look more different than it does in the games.

bigdipper.gif


The star constellations also look different depending on where you view them from. There is no earthlike planet nearby in our galaxy from where the constellations would look even similar from.
 
Joined
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There is no earthlike planet nearby in our galaxy from where the constellations would look even similar from.
This is very true due to your point of reference. Even on the same planet (but distances apart) this exists too. That's how you can navigate by the stars.
 

Lozjam

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Bro.

If the whole Zelda universe was in our own, it would be in the far distant future, not our past.

Hylians had created an extremely advanced civilization, far more advanced then our own. The problem was, much like our own world, the Hylians got greedy, and started mining deeper and deeper for timeshift stones(this is actually why Lanayru turned into a desert). In digging deeper, demise was unearthed, Hylia made skyloft to protect the humans, yada yada yada. Much of the technology there was lost in the war, and when the Hylians returned from the sky, it was almost completely lost besides some relics here and there. Minish Cap had lots of returning technology because they weren't that far off. They had made a society that was so much better and they were getting more technically advanced. However, after that, the Hylian Civil War took place. Of which, the technology was lost yet again.

Of which, yeah. Things started over which made it seem like Hyrule was in the past, because the Hylians had to start over after that point. This however, explains things such as the Magnet in Minish Cap, beamos, ect.
 
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Thread's kinda old, but I just gotta do this;

Ganondorf is the CEO of Demise Inc.
The darkness he spreads to the world is pollution
Vaati is a corrupt FBI agent who's covering up Ganondorf's secrets
Link is homeless, his only friend being a sentient smartphone named Navi
The Triforce fragments are now portable drives that can access the super computer that controls the world
The dungeons include a sawmill, a sewer complex under modern Kakariko, an indoor water park, a nuclear power plant, etc.
Link eventually gets a vehicle that says EPONA on the license plate
 
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Eh I never even saw it remotely being set on our Earth, I always saw it as something like Planet Mira that took a magic based turn which influenced the fauna and created intelligent monsters like Wizzrobes
 

Dan

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Sep 19, 2011
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V2 White Male
If we had a Zelda game based in modern times Link wouldn't be out there fighting physical entities but rather racism, gender rights and where people can go to the toilet. Zelda would be a white privileged girl, Ganon an oppressed black man with ginger hair and Link would be caught in the middle of this social dilemma.

Players will have to make hard choices and ultimately decided where specific genders of people can go to the bathroom.
 
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Location
Australia
Legend of Zelda: Link Attourney

This would be a battle where Link, the new rookie lawyer on the defence is up against Ganondorf the QC (or some US equivelant) on the side of the plantiff or the crown.
 

Aku

Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Well, I'm not so keen on the idea of playing in a 'modern' Hyrule, that would be really far out of what I'd take Zelda gaming to be. The only times I've ever liked the idea of modern Hyrule is when I like to daydream that my town is it, with the main 'clues' only being that you see some small Tri-Force emblems in odd places (like on standard man hole covers 'Hyrule Township Water Department' and police cars) but that's it. No pointy ears (that race died out thousands of years ago) and Ganon is just some mythical boogyman (or boogy-pig demon in this case) that may or may not have existed with a mythical Link and a mythical princess. And that is being mighty nerdy of me.

And in my main thought of it (primarily using the old cartoon as a base) Hyrule no longer exists, and was simply a small kingdom somewhere in Europe that had a lot of heavily exaggerated legends about it. What's left is a few ruins, old tombs, and some ghosts. The last pointy-eared person (and they mainly existed in that small area too) died about around the 13th century. What's left is regular ordinary normal people.

It sounds like of boring, but to me 'Hyrule' belongs mainly to the past. Otherwise 'modern Hyrule' makes me think of 'Spirit Tracks' all over again.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Location
Leeds, England.
Well, I'm not so keen on the idea of playing in a 'modern' Hyrule, that would be really far out of what I'd take Zelda gaming to be. The only times I've ever liked the idea of modern Hyrule is when I like to daydream that my town is it, with the main 'clues' only being that you see some small Tri-Force emblems in odd places (like on standard man hole covers 'Hyrule Township Water Department' and police cars) but that's it. No pointy ears (that race died out thousands of years ago) and Ganon is just some mythical boogyman (or boogy-pig demon in this case) that may or may not have existed with a mythical Link and a mythical princess. And that is being mighty nerdy of me.

And in my main thought of it (primarily using the old cartoon as a base) Hyrule no longer exists, and was simply a small kingdom somewhere in Europe that had a lot of heavily exaggerated legends about it. What's left is a few ruins, old tombs, and some ghosts. The last pointy-eared person (and they mainly existed in that small area too) died about around the 13th century. What's left is regular ordinary normal people.

It sounds like of boring, but to me 'Hyrule' belongs mainly to the past. Otherwise 'modern Hyrule' makes me think of 'Spirit Tracks' all over again.

I understand where you're coming from, but I think you're missing what I'm actually suggesting here. The whole point of this (theoretical) game would be to make the player feel...well, uncomfortable, I suppose, lol. In time, of course, as the game progressed, we would come to realise that this was still a Zelda game at heart...just a modernized version of 'Hyrule', that's all. Your thoughts on the matter are superb (last pointy-eared person dying in 13th century, Hyrule been a small kingdom somewhere in Europe, etc), and I don't see how they conflict with my idea. Just because everything and everyone connected to Hyrule is dead doesn't make a difference.

Don't you see what I'm getting at here? The whole point of Skyward Sword, the whole point of Demise's speech before he died was to show the player WHY this keeps happening again and again and again to Link and Zelda. Because of his curse they will constantly be reborn 'in a cycle without end'. The whole point of that particular line was to express to the player that there is no real ending to this tale. Hundreds and thousands of years will pass and the curse will still live on. Just because we don't have pointy-ears anymore doesn't mean to say that we are not connected to Hylians of old.

If the Zelda series is taking place in our past then it's possible/probable that Link, Zelda and Ganondorf would be reborn in this era... Basically, what I'm saying is that my suggestion may be out there, but...it does actually make a great deal of sense.
 

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