Throughout the realm of Zelda, we've had many kinds of secrets. Easter eggs, hidden rooms, treasure chests, et cetera times three. But at the same time, those "secrets" grew increasingly less secretive as the Zelda installments started to pile up. We even got the Dowsing feature in Skyward Sword to help us out. So instead of this being "I wonder what's behind this rock", the situation for most Zelda games has become "let me move this rock out of the way so I can get this item". I personally don't think that's what a secret is, and just so I can double check, I'll list some defintions of the word:
-done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others: secret negotiations.
-kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged: a secret password.
-secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn: a secret hiding place.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secret)
All of those definitions fall in line with what I consider a secret: something you don't know about. However, every Zelda game even the original LoZ makes some, most or even all of these 'secrets' terribly known, abhorrently noticeable. If we know about it, it isn't a secret. It's merely an object temporarily out of reach; a goal we're striving towards. Anytime we get a cutscene within a game that points at a treasure chest, or a bombable wall is visibly cracked, there is no secret about that location. Perhaps about what lies behind it, but not the location itself.
So I've been thinking: shouldn't the secrets in Zelda be more secretive? What do you think on the matter?
-done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others: secret negotiations.
-kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged: a secret password.
-secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn: a secret hiding place.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secret)
All of those definitions fall in line with what I consider a secret: something you don't know about. However, every Zelda game even the original LoZ makes some, most or even all of these 'secrets' terribly known, abhorrently noticeable. If we know about it, it isn't a secret. It's merely an object temporarily out of reach; a goal we're striving towards. Anytime we get a cutscene within a game that points at a treasure chest, or a bombable wall is visibly cracked, there is no secret about that location. Perhaps about what lies behind it, but not the location itself.
So I've been thinking: shouldn't the secrets in Zelda be more secretive? What do you think on the matter?