The last couple of Zelda games have taken place in Hyrule, however, given we have spent 8 years exploring these lands in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, is it time to go somewhere new? Today I want to take a look at where the next Legend of Zelda game should take place.

While Hyrule is the main location for the Zelda series, sometimes Nintendo have veered off into different lands including Termina with Majora’s Mask, and Koholint Island for Link’s Awakening. However, these new lands and locations are few and far between with Hyrule being the main setting for The Legend of Zelda (NES), Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild. In some cases the same version of Hyrule has been used multiple times including A Link To The Past, Echoes of Wisdom and A Link Between Worlds.

Let’s have a look at some of the options when it comes to new locations, and then I want to dive into some community ideas regarding locations and where we could go.

Termina

Fans have been calling to go back to Termina for years, given the popularity of Majora’s Mask. It’s amazing that the Zelda team created this world in only 12 months. Yes, many of the assets were reused from Ocarina of Time, but it’s the story, the setting, the characters that all of us fell in love with when it comes to Termina. I wpould love to go back and explore, I think the world could work well in an open-air setting. Imagine for a second, Breath of the Wild crossed with Majora’s Mask.

Dark World

A Link To The Past is my favourite Zelda game, and in that version of Zelda we have regular Hyrule and then a Dark World version, where the place is darker, scarier and the enemies are much tougher. Tears of the Kingdom did have it’s own version of a Dark World down in The Depths below Hyrule, however, I would love to revisit the Dark World, especially in full 3D open-world style. We could do the reverse of A Link To The Past and have the main game set in the Dark World, with occasional visits to the Light version of Hyrule.

Personally I would love to see a darker version of Zelda. Twilight Princess had more realistic graphics and a grittier, darker storyline. I think it would be really interesting for Zelda to go down a similar path to Elden Ring and create a really dark and scary version of Hyrule. Given the power of the Switch 2 the Zelda team could create a gothic, scary, dangerous version of Hyrule that’s oppressive to exist in. Whether Nintendo would ever go down this route remains to be seen, but this is what I want most from the next Zelda game – follow the path set by Elden Ring and create one of the most memorable Zelda experiences ever.

An altered Hyrule

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom shared the same version of Hyrule, even though Tears of the Kingdom expanded Hyrule with the Sky Islands, Caves and The Depths. Given we have spent so so much time in the “wild era” version of Hyrule, I would imagine Nintendo want to switch things up. Rather than go to a new land they could alter Hyrule, even more so than Tears of the Kingdom. We’ve seen this done before with Wind Waker with Hyrule at the bottom of the ocean.

Labrynna and Holodrum

Labrynna is the location in Oracle of Ages, and this is Hyrule’s neighbour. It’s got plenty of history too given it once had a royal family, but they since got rid of them and became a republic. Perhaps the Royal Family of Hyrule are looking over at Labrynna a little worried their politics could spread to Hyrule. Labrynna could be a good location for the next Zelda game. We’ve seen the 2D representation of Labrynna on the Gameboy, but it would be interesting to see it in 3D, and an open-world. Oracle of Ages was developed by Capcom back in the day (which is an incredible collaboration if you think about it).

Holodrum is the twin of Labrynna, and could easily feature in the next Zelda game too. Oracle of Ages allowed for traveling through time, Oracle of Seasons allowed for controlling the seasons. There was the rumoured third game, perhaps the Zelda team could revive that and complete the trilogy? Time travel has been done in recent Zelda games, but controlling seasons hasn’t, and that could translate well to the open-world formula.

Koholint Island

Returning to the location of Link’s Awakening would be fun, but it wouldn’t really make sense from a story perspective. Link’s Awakening had this strange, Twin Peaks feel to it with all the weird and wonderful NPCs found throughout Koholint Island. Link’s Awakening does wrap up quite nicely in the end, so returning to Koholint Island would be strange from a story perspective. A new Zelda game could take inspiration from Koholint Island, and perhaps have some of the same characters from that game – but I doubt we’ll see another Zelda game take place on the same island. If you don’t know what I am talking about, Link’s Awakening is available via Gameboy on Nintendo Switch Online, plus the 2019 Switch remake… If you haven’t played it then you definitely should.

A previous Hyrule

Talking about Wind Waker, an ancient Hyrule before the The Godess submerged it could be a good location for the next Zelda game. One of Wind Waker’s main mechanics is the ability to travel via the seas, however, the Zelda team could remove the water and allow us to explore that version of Hyrule as a prequel to Wind Waker itself. This is a good time to shout out my fellow Zelda creator called Wind Waker Unflooded, and you should check out that project if you haven’t already.

Beyond the seas

Traveling to new continents outside of Hyrule would be a nice way to explore in the next Zelda game. The boat mechanic in Wind Waker is devisive, but it does open up some good options for traveling to new lands. It would be great to experience new people, new Royal families and sail the seas in a really big open world. The current iteration of Breath of the Wild was big, but imagine sailing the sea and discovering a new continent, or maybe more. The different races and their parts of Hyrule provide different environments and locales, however I want to experience something really different.

Somewhere brand new

Many of the locations on this list talk about going back to previous locations, but ultimately it would be great to go somewhere brand new. I would like the Legend of Zelda to stick with the fantasy style, I know some folk have brought up the Science Fiction angle before. I don’t think I want to see Link flying a spaceship or shooting a laser. I prefer the sword, shield and horse mechanics myself.

After Breath of the Wild we need to leave Hyrule and it should be somewhere different. Given we have spent so much time in the “Wild Era” games, a new location would be best especially as we move into the next generation of Zelda games. My own personal preference for this new location would be something darker, tougher and more difficult for Link. Something along the lines of Elden Ring, but with that Zelda spin on it. I’d still like to see Zelda there with Link, but perhaps we could move away from Ganondorf given his return in Tears of the Kingdom.

Community Comments

Where do you want to see the next Zelda game set? Hyrule, Termina, Koholint Island, Labrynna or somewhere brand new? Let me know what you think and I’ll include your comment in an upcoming video

@mrwho995
Somewhere brand new for sure. Hyrule has got very stale, and I just don’t see a compelling reason to reuse a map instead of creating a new one. My perfect Zelda would reintroduce dungeon items into an open world setting, with smart world and story design naturally locking off areas of the map without it feeling artificial. An obvious example would be starting off on a large island, with the ability to sail unlocked later. I want the next Zelda to be built from the ground up on the concept of merging open world gameplay with smartly designed, segmented content that you gain access to throughout the game.

@a.jthomas6132
If using the a similar artstyle as BOTW and TOTK, I would like to see a new take on Labrynna and Holodrum. Plus, another country with different races, monarchs, religions, architectures, cultures, and kingdom since Sidon’s wife Yona comes from a different Zora Domain. Also, bringing back open vast ocean exploration as seen in The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker.

@Brendanowl
Space

@ancientsheikahgamer1819
Since the game is gonna be open air and probably 3D, I think it should be somewhere completely new to avoid it from feeling och too much like botw and totk, considering a lot of mechanics probably will carry over. A new location would give completely new enemies, items, and collectables, which I think would be very nice.

@MartKart8
A brand new Link is traveling the lands and stumbles on a Kingdom starting a war, with another Kingdom Link gets involved stopping this war, and it turns out the one starting to this war, is being mind controlled by a dangerous new monster.

@pinaseraphina
New Land, New Villain, Smaller Scale, Green Hatted Link, Items, multiple Open Areas with 2 or 3 Dungeons to tackle at a time

It is possible to create an non linear Zelda without giving the player 4 OP Tools at the Start of the Game

@remcotycho
Hyrule AND something new. It would be nice to go further over the world. Maybe travel to different continents, different cultures. And somehow have different stories and things happening that are interconnected eventually. Am I thinking too big?

@josephramirez5577
Hyrule again will be fine if we can get a truly modernized and highly realistic OOT/ TP adaptation of it, otherwise something entirely brand new!!

@TheRealPSKilla502
The next game should feature Hyrule, but also some other surrounding kingdoms. I don’t want to see Termina or Koholint again though, those were very unique to their respective games, and I think it would be weird to go back there.

@joel7041
How cool would it be if we got the back story of fierce diety and it was like a fallen link. Like we start in hyrule and then go to termina where link falls and turns evil and is later redeemed.

@dylanvscomics8138
Tears of the Kingdom was sort of like the Zelda team’s second attempt at a “Sky World”, so I think it would be interesting if the next 3D Zelda game was the Zelda team’s next attempt at an “Ocean World”, where it features multiple kingdoms that you can sail between (Or maybe they want to differentiate it from Wind Waker, so Link doesn’t sail but instead rides a fish or serpent or something like that?). Termina and Kohlint seem unlikely, but I think Labyrnna and Holodrum could be cool for this concept (Since they actually exist). Maybe add a third kingdom in the mix as well. I’d imagine each kingdom would be about the size of a couple provinces of BotW’s Hyrule. I’d hope that each kingdom has its own unique enemies, or at least drastically different versions of enemies, but the track record for enemy variety of the open air Zelda games makes me want to temper my expectations when it comes to that. And if they wanna be ambitious, maybe you can explore under the sea. Could be the equivalent of the Depths/Sky World of this game.

Either way, I just want it to be anywhere that isn’t Hyrule. Unless its a Hyrule that is wildly different, like, say, an alien invasion or something else crazy like that, I don’t want Hyrule again.

@Romulus879
I would like to see something new. Maybe a brand new world, where you have to use brand new mechanics. But no clue, what that could be.

@GamingReinvented
Someone new hopefully. Always nice to see a brand new kingdom or country or world with its own history and culture rather than a retread of somewhere we’ve already visited in the series.

@ggbetz
I’m ready to go to a new or previously visited non hyrule, with a non Ganon big bad. Ideally with a variety of heroes

@imagomonkei
Somewhere new, however I would LOVE a proper steampunk Zelda game set after Spirit Tracks in New Hyrule. Make it open world, but really lean into the train aesthetic.

Let me know in the comments what you think.