General Zelda Open Top Dungeons

[Justac00lguy]

One thing I love about this series are the Dungeons they offer, they combine multiple aspects of the game and compact them within a set area which push the player to the limit in terms of challenge in a Zelda game.

Dungeon design and layout are just as key as content and one thing that I would love to see more of is unique dungeon designs. The typical dungeon is a very much an inner structure, creating that claustrophobic feel, that's all well and good, but I would love to see more open Dungeons. Sometimes it's nice to explore the outer edges of a Dungeon. It gives it that sense of scale and it can really open up opportunities for more unique ways of navigation and puzzle solving.

Two of my favourite examples would be the City in the Sky from Twilight Princess and Dragon Roost Cavern from The Wind Waker. These Dungeons differed from the average Dungeon, as we got to traverse on the outer reaches of the structure as well as the inside. Truth be told I would love to see more of this and I think we could have fully open Dungeons in the future.

So what do you guys think about open top Dungeons? Would you like to see more of these unique designs in the future?

 

[Spirit]

i've been wanting more open top dungeons for a very long time in Zelda. I dont much like going through dungeons in Zelda, they depress and sometimes bore me, i much prefer being out in the overworld and my favourite dungeons are traditionally those with no ceilings. Aside form being opene topped though there isn't much that they do different from the more traditional enclosed dungeons so i think it'd be cool to see open topped dungeons become a mainstay and actually have a different puzzle style, essentially breaking dungeons into two separate versions.

For example the weather conditions could play a big part of open topped dungeons, this kind of happened in CiTS with the high winds, but we could also flood certain areas of say a water dungeon by causing it to rain, thus perhaps solving numerous puzzles, an electricity dungeon could be cool too in which we'd have to utilise lightning in some way, perhaps to make the dungeon operational again if it were a technologically advanced one.

I think it'd be a good move on Zelda's part to make open topped dungeons something new which alters puzzles and gameplay and distinguishes them from the more traditional dungeons.

 

[Salem]

We had dungeons like that since at least alttp, the skull woods for example.

Quick question though, what difference will it have in gameplay?

 

[Randomlink7]

I love the open top dungeons. I think they are really cool. There needs to be a lot more of these types of dungeons in later Zelda games.

 

[ihateghirahim]

I also recall the Forest Temple in OoT is partially outdoors.

Anyway, it will add great effects and atmospheres in the 3D realm. There's also weather and wind effects that can play a bigger role, so I think open-top should return.

 

[Egregious]

The Forest Temple was weird in that it was open top in two rooms, but it was always daytime, even if you entered at night. I don't know if they fixed that for the 3DS version, though. I"ll defer to whomever has that version and knows.

Anyway, I like these kind of dungeons because they integrate better with their environment. Obviously it doesn't make sense for every level (for example, an open-top underground temple would defeat the purpose of it being underground...), but it does make perfect sense for a forest or sky-themed temple!

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I love open top dungeons. The ones mentioned are great examples. It really adds to the overall atmosphere and design of the dungeon, in an excellent way. I find completely indoor borings to be rather dungeon in terms of design, because there is no versatility. The dungeons retains one theme throughout. It seems like you are walking in one large room throughout the entire structure. Underground dungeons, like mentioned in an above post, such as the ones in the Wind Waker, make sense to have no outdoor sections. Dungeons like the Ancient Cistern, for example, could have worked really well with some outdoor sections. I loved how Dragon Roost Cavern implemented it, and I thought it was pretty much perfect. I would love to see it in future dungeons, for sure.

 

[CynicalSquid]

The Forest Temple was weird in that it was open top in two rooms, but it was always daytime, even if you entered at night. I don't know if they fixed that for the 3DS version, though. I"ll defer to whomever has that version and knows.

I think they fixed that in the 3DS version because one time I looked up in one of those rooms and it was night. I knew something didn't feel right.

I think that open top dungeons only work in the right environment. For example, in the Forest Temple in OoT, when you go into those two rooms with no roof, they feel sort of like a garden area. So, it makes sense that there is no roof.