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General Zelda War In the Overworld

BoxTar

i got bored and posted something
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Location
Pacific Northwest
I wanted to share a little idea I had that would make the Overworld a bit more...exciting.

Now, before I get into the idea, I just wanna say that I do like Zelda Overwolds. This big, expansive land where you can roam around, find hidden places, spot holes in the ground with treasures, and just the sheer size and landscape can be breathtaking, like in TP. TP by far has one of my favorite Overworlds, with one of the biggest, most expansive ones in the entire franchise, in terms of console titles. There was one flaw with this though...

At times, the Overworld could feel a bit...empty. With all this space to explore, sure, finding secrets was fun, but really, all the time in between running or horseback riding can get a bit tedious. So here was my general idea for a Zelda plot:

The setting takes place when Hyrule is in the middle of a great war (doesn't necessarily have to be Ganon related). During this war, Link is one of the most reliable knights that the royal family has, and he is sent out to find the (insert amount here) pieces of the (insert magical item here). These pieces are hidden in dungeons, of course. Now, when Link goes out into the Overworld, all heck is breaking loose. War is being waged on both sides. enemies are all over the Overworld, and they'll all attack you. There will also be others fighting who are on your side as well, and may defend you if need be. He has to actually FIGHT his way up to the next dungeon.

A way to make this have a bit more depth is adding the traditional land puzzles, possibly make a random generator when the battles settle for a bit and Link can explore freely without getting swarmed a bunch. Heck, make it so it fluctuates through the day, in random parts of the day, in random areas! Give it a whole menagerie of enemies, of all shapes, sizes and species, and make them all have different weaknesses (but nothing that involves certain items until said item is found). Throw in some mid bosses, too. Some epic boss fights would really spice up the place. Finally, make some kind of difficulty system. Easy, Normal, and Hardcore, to satisfy both noobs and veterans alike.

So, tell me what you guys think. Flaws, other ideas, additional aspects to the Overworld, all kinds. I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this, but I'd really like to see a discussion on how the Overworld can be improved in future titles. I checked all up over the forums and didn't see this anywhere, so I hope this isn't a duplicate.:sweat:
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
We did have to fight our way to dungeons, but I get what you are saying.

A civil war in Hyrule would be great! Of course, just having squads of soldiers roaming battlefields over armies fighting against armies seems less satisfying IMO.
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Location
Inside the Moon
Idk. It would have to be well integrated into the story. We can't mindless war. That would take away the magic of Zelda and our concern for what is happening. It could work, but we also need to keep in mind that these battles can't make the game a tedious battle-zone. They'll also need to give you rewards for your participation. Again, we'll need to care about these battle to avoid going a path to mindless violence. Tread carefully and this idea can flourish. Despite all I've said, I have dreamed of Link charging into huge battles Lord of the Rings style. (Just envisioned Link battling an Uruk-hai; OMG!)
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Idk. It would have to be well integrated into the story. We can't mindless war. That would take away the magic of Zelda and our concern for what is happening. It could work, but we also need to keep in mind that these battles can't make the game a tedious battle-zone. They'll also need to give you rewards for your participation. Again, we'll need to care about these battle to avoid going a path to mindless violence. Tread carefully and this idea can flourish. Despite all I've said, I have dreamed of Link charging into huge battles Lord of the Rings style. (Just envisioned Link battling an Uruk-hai; OMG!)

What this fine gentlemen said.

Also, please PLEASE do not make Link command soldiers in a battle. That was one of the biggest mistakes Assassin's Creed III made (among others).
 

Castle

Ch!ld0fV!si0n
Joined
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Location
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Gender
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Wow that's a great idea! Zelda overworlds can certainly stand to be more dynamic and this is certainly one way to make Zelda overworlds more dynamic! :lol:

It would be neat to traverse the overworld and encounter randomly generated skirmishes between opposing forces and then let players engage in them, or ignore them as they see fit. Perhaps then Link's notoriety would grow, and the Hylian people would become more and more grateful and offer up rewards for taking part in battles or special discounts in stores in towns or occasional free supplies or cash rewards.

Maybe after Link participates in enough battles, Zelda would make him a commander or general of sorts. Perhaps just in name only, but in certain places it might allow players to command groups of Hylian forces against enemy combatants on the battlefield or make decisions on where and how Hylian forces should engage enemy forces throughout Hyrule. This could factor into multiple endings perhaps or maybe just offer tangible rewards for deploying troops effectively.

Link has often had to clear regions of Hyrule of enemy forces on his own, this could be a way of having whole armies battle it out to liberate regions of Hyrule that have become occupied by enemy armies.

Or at the very least, just offer up something interesting to see and do while exploring the overworld.
 

BoxTar

i got bored and posted something
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Location
Pacific Northwest
Idk. It would have to be well integrated into the story. We can't have mindless war.

Agreed. I never meant for it to be pointless, maybe just a challenge to get to the next dungeon, or for a reward of some kind. Get through a battle, get a heart piece. Or something. Also, it IS story driven (hypothetically). The war is not pointless, its a good vs evil trying to get control, know what I'm saying? One of those epic battles for the land type deals, and Link has to assist in any way he can.

Again, we'll need to care about these battle to avoid going a path to mindless violence. Tread carefully and this idea can flourish. Despite all I've said, I have dreamed of Link charging into huge battles Lord of the Rings style. (Just envisioned Link battling an Uruk-hai; OMG!)

Going on horseback, holding up the sword and charging in face to face against a monster on all fours...if implemented correctly, this would be most epic. It is a thin line, though. I believe Zelda can experiment around with various genres and styles and still be the same game we love, with dungeons, bosses, cool items and interesting character development. To employ such things would be tricky, but I feel like Nintendo can do it no problem. They've given us some revolutionary hardware, now they need to focus on experimenting with the software.
 

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