What's the coolest Zelda setting that WASN'T Hyrule?

You've gotta be kidding me, there's a land called Tolemac?! That is just Camelot spelled backwards!!! Whoever made a game with the name Tolemac should be throw into prison for the rest of their lives....

BTW, I picked Termina.

You know, it's hard to pick. Each one has it's charms. I loved LA and Koholint, but it's really not that diverse. I loved the visual style of WW's oceans, but again they weren't that varied. So I'm going to have to say Termina, although the people made the whole thing more fun. I really wish they'd pick up that idea in the next game.

Rijuhn wrote:You've gotta be kidding me, there's a land called Tolemac?! That is just Camelot spelled backwards!!! Whoever made a game with the name Tolemac should be throw into prison for the rest of their lives....

Rijuhn wrote:You've gotta be kidding me, there's a land called Tolemac?! That is just Camelot spelled backwards!!! Whoever made a game with the name Tolemac should be throw into prison for the rest of their lives....

BTW, I picked Termina.

lol, I never caught onto that. Wow, that only further cheapens the CD-i Zeldas 😃

BTW, what is Koridai? I don't recall that from anywhere.

I picked Wind Waker's oceans followed by in a close second, Termina and Koholint Island at third. :kitty:

Warlock wrote:lol, I never caught onto that. Wow, that only further cheapens the CD-i Zeldas 😃

BTW, what is Koridai? I don't recall that from anywhere.

Koridai = Link: The Faces of Evil
Gamelon = Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Tolemac = Zelda's Adventure

So much for subtely slipping them in XD

One thing I neglected to mention about Holodrum: it includes Subrosia, which was kinda neat. Sorta.

But definitely still Koholint by a long ways, for me.

Definitely Termina for me. I love how fully diverse Majora's Mask is, and I love all the nooks and crannies that exist in it. I like rolling around Termina Field, going through the forest part, the snowy part, the beach part, and the stony part, all in a minute. Definitely the coolest setting.

(TP=1, MM=2, btw.)

I went for Wind Waker's various islands. I really enjoy the variety you get and there's a sense of peace when traveling between them that you don't really get in any of the other games. It's just... nice.

I too voted for wind waker, even though I thought the game itself was weak and has about as much replay value as toilet paper........*(pause for laughter)*......which I think is being used as a coaster for my coffee table right now. Well it was a great setting for a zelda game, had smooth gameplay, and graphics, even though it was way too easy, and the sailing...uggh, the SAILING. My god, there was so much sailing even I got seasick.
...well you didn't ask what the best Zelda game was. ;P

I voted for Termina. It is by far the most interesting overworld.

The swamp was very believable. It was lush, and had a genuine feeling of depth.

When you were up in the mountains, you could see the Stone Tower off in the distance.

The Gerudo Fortress was hidden very nicely. I didn't see the place or know it existed until I was told to go there.

The world felt very alive as well. Interesting things were going on everywhere, and the fact that the game rested on a timeline played a large part in this.

All in all, it was a very absorbing experience to be in Termina.

For me, it's really a toss up between TP Hyrule, and Termina. Termina is the smallest 3D overworld, but it is very interesting, and fun to explore. The diversity of places, and the elemental them was pretty cool. I think my vote will go for Termina. I really hope the new Zelda for Wii will take place in a place like Termina, or better yet, be a full MM sequel.

As for the TP Hyrule, that is my favorite iteration of Hyrule. It is vast and includes all the classic stops. It is kinda like a 3D version of AlttP's Hyrule with the way it is connected, and the way the areas flow together.

I voted Koholint incidentally. I was tempted to go Termina but really, that was because I liked the *game* more than the setting, so it wouldn't have been right. As a game, Majora's Mask is pretty brilliant (and I am still waiting for them to repeat the success with something along these lines.. the 3 dqay system was pretty awesome and I'd like to see something equally as revolutionally in the future). But Termina itself is not particularly special. I mean, you've got a town, a snow mountain, a swamp, a non-snow mountain, and an ocean/beach. That's about it. Now the swamp was cool (and I still say Zelda needs more swamps! Always my favorite Zelda locations but IIRC they are only present in 4 games, unless I'm forgetting one in the rather forgettable GBC titles :P - though Majora's was clearly the coolest one) but otherwise it's nothing special, other than a few areas were semi-unusual for Zelda (at the time anyways).

But Koholint just seemed like the better setting to me. It was interesting. It's one I've always wanted to see them go back to, especially since they left Link's Awakening as somewhat of a mystery in the franchise. I actually remember a long time back, there was a rumor back on the old ZHQ about a GBC sequel. There were some mockup pictures on there and they always got me excited about the possibility. But it never happened obviously.

Why can't I vote on the poll. It says that i may not vote on this poll.😞

I don't think you have enough posts.

I liked Termia. That was my second gaming memory. ANd thus it stuck. I also set my first speed record there.

your mom

How many posts do you haft to have to vote on a poll?

100 posts, I think. Yeah, it's completely ridiculous. Why it's set up that way, and whether it's a Jelsoft thing or specific to this forum, I don't know.

By the way, 3 of the votes for Wind Waker have sounded off, and I think I know who the 4th one was. (It wasn't me, I voted for Koholint Island.)

I'm pretty sure I remember the minimum posts to vote in a poll as being something that can be altered in the control panel.

Only reason for that sort of thing that I can think of is the off chance that you want to keep someone from registering many accounts to vote on something multiple times, and thus skew the accuracy of the results. I personally don't see that as being in order around this place at all.

Sam Atoms wrote:100 posts, I think. Yeah, it's completely ridiculous. Why it's set up that way, and whether it's a Jelsoft thing or specific to this forum, I don't know.

broken_soul wrote:your mom

Tangent time!

I will now proceed to list my favorite Zelda games in descending order; a shared line means they're tied.

Great games:
Link to the Past / Link's Awakening
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Oracle of Seasons / The Legend of Zelda
Oracle of Ages / Ocarina of Time

Fairly good games with particular unsettling flaws
Wind Waker (way, way, way too short. It felt like they'd only finished about 40% of the overworld and rushed it to release. Why were there so few dungeons? Why did you have to hunt up the triforce with stupidly expensive tingle maps and the ship's magic metal detector? Because, my theory is, [I]they didn't finish the freakin' game, unless they just had absolutely no imgination/willpower to actually make a full game and this is what they intended to do. Similarly, the item selection is extremely limited, and so many other elements of the game just feel cut off that I have to think they didn't finish what they originally had in mind. It would also explain why TP was delayed for sooooo long, so it wouldn't happen again)[/I]
The Minish Cap (way too linear, embarassingly shorter and simpler than LTTP, which was really rubbed in my nose by it directly following the GBA LTTP release; it was like saying, "Hey, here's a cool game. And here's a halfass one just like it!" The shrinking was a lame gimmick that added very little to the gameplay and not nearly as much as advertised/implied, the item selection was small for no real reason, and there were only 6 dungeons which weren't particularly bigger than LTTP's freakin 11 dungeons. This game is easily half what LTTP is, and that's depressing for something made so much later. The Oracles games had much more depth than this, as did Link's Awakening.)

Games I hated:
Majora's Mask (okay, fancy world, etc. etc. etc., complicated storyline, etc. etc., involved feel, etc. etc. Why do I hate this game? Let me give it it's own bullet point list.

• Time limit. Who's brilliant idea was it to put a time limit on exploring and puzzle solving? It's anathema and it boggles my mind that some people actually liked this shit. They go "oh, but the song of double time makes it okay". NO IT DOESN'T! You're still on a time limit, it's still short, and you still die like a bitch if you couldn't think or move fast enough or if you wanted to dawdle around and play with things and GASP, EXPLORE! OMG GOD FORBID I TRY TO EXPLORE! And if you don't finish a dungeon in time, your two options are either to die and lose all your progress, or start over and lose most of your progress. What a load of crap.
• OH MY GOD SADISTIC HARD SHIT. That goron rolling over tiny bridges and making jumps shit was pure unadulterated hard stupid uberduperaction crap that is sorely out of place in a Zelda game, and it's sadistic that they force you to attempt it over and over and over and over again in more than one location. Screw that. And this all combines really nicely with the time limit; "Let's force them to make a deliciate, super hard, super fast roll over this tiny stupid bridge and have to roll off and make the leap at just the right angle, and if they fall off at any point as they doubtlessly will many times, they get to climb up three floors wasting away their time limit." Yeah, that's great fun, I love that, gee, I wonder why I gave up on playing this [strike]piece of crap[/strike] wonderful game after 6 seperate attempts?
• Okay, the people events sequence would be neat... except that they make you do really long, intricate trading sequences ON A TIMELINE. Got to step 11 and missed seeing the guy in the right place at the right time? You're screwed, start over. How "fun".
• Stupid annoying shit. The kids that run around at the beginning with their "passwords" that you have to catch. Tingle. Constant harrasment and stupid errands.
• I have to say I didn't even like the game's supposed main premise, the transformations. For one thing it was just... weird feeling, not enticing and interesting as transformations should be. For another it was crippling, limiting Link to only being able to do a couple things while transformed yet making him do ti for prolonged amounts of time.
• I hate the aesthetics. It's half-digested, puked up Ocarina of Time and it's very, very obvious. It doesn't add to the feel, it makes it look lazy. For the record, I dislike the look of OoT and TP, also. Ugly, weird shit that's creepy looking even when it shouldn't be, such as with ordinary people or "cute" characters.

I'm reserving judgment on TP until I get further in the game. So far I've just reached dungeon #2 and I've got to say that the stuff I've played so far fits in my second category. I hope it gets better later in the game.

Basically, to me, in my Zelda games, I like exploring, puzzles, finding lots and lots of cool, useful items, getting incrementally more abilities as the game continues, exploring lots of dungeons, and a motivating feel. So far the only games that REALLY completely did it for feel for me are the first four, although I like Ocarina and the Oracles games to a point (as I said, I hate the aesthetic sense of Ocarina, and the Oracles games feel... hoary. Graphically they're regurgitated LA, too, just like MM is to OoT, but somehow LA looks nicer than this because almost all the new sprites suck. Look at those people! Look at Zelda having flip issues because she's asymmetrical! Look at Ralph's hat flip back and forth when only the bottom half of the sprite should be flipping!). Storyline wise, Link's Awakening has by far the most intriguing and interesting to me, and to this day it holds a certain mystique for me.

What I don't like is pressure (TIMELIMITTIMELIMITTIMELIMIT), stupid trinket quests (skulltaulas, kinstone pieces, 9000 rings out of which 5 are actually useful, gasha seeds that you plant and then give you stupid crap like a fairy or money), shitty mini-games you're actually forced to play (every Zelda since OoT), ugly/creepy graphics/aesthetics (Wind Waker is weird looking where it should be cute, and the Ocarina style is just fugly), or unrewarding experiences (Minish Cap, Wind Waker). Oh yeah, and Tingle and other shitty character designs that they seem to have decided are classic and integral to the series. For someone who liked Marin and even Tarin so much, I have to say I don't even like Malon and Talon. Maybe Romani... if she were drawn/rendered a little better... so fanart basically XD

I'm not saying the series is over or dead or anything. I'm saying there are major flaws in some of these particular games that are turnoffs to me.

The "time limit" in majora's mask becomes a lot less daunting when you use the Reverse Song of Time. One game hour becomes what seems to be 3 real world minutes Giving you plenty of time to explore. I never found MM to be hard either, until the 3rd dungeon/temple/whatever. But like OoT, the water temple/dungeon is the hardest of them all. Though, without the Great Deity's Mask, the battle against Majora is pretty insane. My only gripe about MM is that many of the events were a one shot/ 3 days event. If you miss an event even by an hour on let's say, the first day. You pretty much have to either wait until the end of the 3 days or just use the Song of Time. Pretty annoying if you're trying to re-unite Anju and her 12 year old fiancee(what? He looks like he's 12!).

By the way mitsu, TP is boring and it sucks. Sorry, but I hate using the wiimote to swing my sword. It's generic and is delayed by far too much. I can't tell you how many times I've died because, instead of just swinging his sword from his sheath, he pulls it out and waits another second or so to actually swing it, all the while I'm waving the wiimote around like an asshat.

Fucking stupid. Is it like this in the Gamecube version as well? Having to press whatever button initiates an attack twice? (once to unsheath, a second time to actually swing) I can only pray that the next Wii zelda game is much better and actually takes advantage of the system. Not just stapling that shit on there at the last minute.

Anyways, I choose Koholint. Not quite sure why. There's just something about this island that appeals to me.

I was so very, very close to voting for Termina, but I have to say, the world of Wind Waker was so incredibly soaked in this epic drama ... ... I just couldn't pass it up. Wherever I went, It just SCREAMED "Ancient World" ..

Glenn the Great wrote:I voted for Termina. It is by far the most interesting overworld.

The swamp was very believable. It was lush, and had a genuine feeling of depth.

When you were up in the mountains, you could see the Stone Tower off in the distance.

The Gerudo Fortress was hidden very nicely. I didn't see the place or know it existed until I was told to go there.

The world felt very alive as well. Interesting things were going on everywhere, and the fact that the game rested on a timeline played a large part in this.

All in all, it was a very absorbing experience to be in Termina.

Very, very, very, very well said.

[hr]1[/hr]

Dark Knight wrote:Is it like this in the Gamecube version as well? Having to press whatever button initiates an attack twice? (once to unsheath, a second time to actually swing) I can only pray that the next Wii zelda game is much better and actually takes advantage of the system. Not just stapling that crap on there at the last minute.

The GCN TP works nearly the same as Wind Waker, and I think you press the button once to attack... maybe. It doesn't make a difference to me either way, so I don't notice it.

And to all you TP h8rs, come on. Appreciate the game. Roam around Hyrule Field and kill some Kargoroks and Bulblins. Watch the sunset, see the extremely excellent lighting effects on the mountains and surroundings.

I would vote both Holodrum because of Subrosia, which I love, but I figured that didn't really count, so I said Termina.

Bah, I'm not interested in lighting effects. I'm interested in fun games, something that TP isn't. Sure, some of you seem to have had fun playing this "game", but I did not. All TP did for me was give me a "Been there, done that...many times...on many consoles" feeling. Sure, other Zelda games had that, but those games also had a certain charm. TP is just annoying to the point that I can't even bring myself to actually go through the boss door of the first dungeon. It's not that I haven't TRIED to have fun with the game, cause I have. The fun, at least for me, is just not there.

Anyways, enough of that. WW's world came in as a close second for me. Sure, the gameplay itself was annoying, but the setting was just...wow.

Oooh. Water. Everywhere. Just... water.

TP gives many people many mixed feelings. I happen to believe it pwns all other games, period. But I can't/won't try to change your opinion.

My earlier post was very ranty and bitchy, so let me reiterate (yay!).

The Oracles games are very fun and I love them, but their minigames are annoying and there are certain unfulfilling aspects. The plot sucks and I get the strong feeling they weren't really trying when they drew many of the new sprites because the designers were thinking "eh, it's a GBC game, it's gonna look like crap anyway". It's the same thing I feel when I look at the bloated sprites in the Dragon Quest GBC games and Mario Tennis and such. But the games were great fun, and feel (and look, which isn't a bad thing in a certain way.... but they could've done so much better in certain ways) like lost sequels to Link's Awakening... just with a crappy generic plot instead of something cool and mysterious like LA.

Majora's Mask... I just hate it. I just do. I'm terrible at it and I never had fun with it. It's stressful. It's about as fun as cashiering at Walmart was.

Wind Waker... I WANTED to like it. It had some cool potential. The concept was interesting. The gameplay, however, was like drinking a flat warm coke when you expected a cold freshly-opened one. The ending did not amuse me, either, and the end credits scroll made me feel like I'd just watched a Sing-a-long Songs tape. I really very strongly suspect the game was hurried to "completion" for an earlier release.

Minish Cap, you suck. You had a perfect opportunity to make a great LTTP style game as the Oracles games did with their ticket to an improved LA engine, but instead you just screwed around. Poor show.

Twilight Princess... yikes. Errands everywhere (finding stupid little thingies to revive the four spirit dudes to de-twilight an area... what a load of bull), generally getting abused/irritated by the people and surroundings, very linear, an enclosed overworld made up of tiny segmented bubbles with nothing in them and heart containers hidden in stupid places such as obscure trees, pointless trinket quests (yay for.... hunting... bugs) a stupid transformation that cripples Link and lacks the intended "coolness" in every way but concept- and a concept that doesn't really do it for me, "yay Link's a werewolf?"- and then the first dungeon was irritating, a pain in the ass, and those monkeys were irritating as hell. Then the stupid sumo wrestling thing. The mountain area was irritating. I'm seeing a lack of creative ideas besides the twilight, wolf change, and Midna- who is full of stock irritating dialogue just like Navi, but is interesting to look at and has a little bit of flair when she's not giving stupid generic "Advice". The characters and designs generally look like Ocarina of Time, but this is worse than Ocarina of Time because they aren't generic and colorful like a N64 game, but are instead very detailed and thus 100x creepier/uglier. The twilight hues suck and make my eyes glaze over and the game hard to see.

And all these aesthetic points are rubbed in my face by first seeing this game right after finishing what I feel to be the prettiest game I've ever seen, Dragon Quest VIII. Beautiful, cool-looking cell-shaded anime style characters, bright but balanced and rich colors, everything is very defined, and I like it.

Like I said, I'm holding judgement because I've only just started, but.... yikes. At least there's no time limit.

Whoops, still ranty and bitchy. Sorry.

I agree with a lot of your points Jennifer, but disagree with others.

Oracles: Yet to play. So, y'know, no comment.

Majora's Mask: A lot of good points, but I feel that if you remove the time limit from the equation, the game does become fairly enjoyable. It also helps to have a strategy guide. 😉

Wind Waker: Clearly unfinished. It's obvious they cut out an entire dungeon (the giant fish round the back of Outset Island) and the laziness of repeating bosses just doesn't hold weight, but what there is is still fun.

Minish Cap: Ouch! Little harsh, aren't you? I admit it's not a perfect game, but it's still perfectly enjoyable. Maybe you just went into it with too-high expectations? There' an awful lot to play around with if you know where to look.

Twilight Princess: ...it's not a bad game, it's just all gotten a bit samey at this point. There's very little difference between it and the games that came before it. Maybe it's different with the Wii version, I don't know, but I played through to the Gerudo Desert and just... I realized that I wasn't really enjoying it all that much. Like I'd done it all before.

But then I get that feeling with most games these days, so meh. I'm just getting old, methinks.

Sounds like you don't like the later games in the Zelda series, Jennifer. Feel free to switch to a different series. 😉