Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Echoes of Wisdom ~ Dungeon Time

Suthorn Ruins

In the Still World presentation we get a better look at what's most likely the first major dungeon of the game: the "Suthorn Ruins". We know that there is a Suthorn Village and Beach in the southern part of the map, where that area will likely lead to a rift that leads to the Suthorn Ruins.

I like how the name also gets written in Hylian and the new morse-code-like language, which you can also find on the walls or the Travel Waypoints, where the dungeon offers one right at the entrance, conveniently. It adds a greater sense of lore and it will be interesting to see it all decoded by fans.

It's visually also the same location where Link rescues Zelda from Ganon in the beginning of the game and likely the same place. So, we've seen this particular dungeon a couple of times now, where its stone golem boss was already featured in the second trailer.

So, the Suthorn Ruins are located somewhere south of Lake Hylia, but get swallowed by a rift right after Zelda escaped. And from what we know this is what happened to all the dungeons in the game, so you have to find them in the Still World first.

What's interesting is the camera angle, where it doesn't show you the southernmost wall. This is different from A Link Between Worlds and the Link's Awakening remake, which gave you much more of a top-down perspective. It's similar to Tri Force Heroes, but there you didn't have the traditional doorways between rooms, so it wasn't as noticeable. 

side scrolling section with multiple ladders and a burning bush echo lighting up a torch

The side-scrolling tunnels appear to be as flat as they were in Link's Awakening, however, but the rest looks a lot more layered and three-dimensional.

We don't really know much about progression, but this should also be the dungeon where you first learn Bind. In the footage, Zelda does have Tri on the X button already at the entrance, though, but they may have taken this at a later point. Curiously, Zelda always has five hearts throughout all footage, so this may not mean anything, because it's simply for demo purposes.

boss key chest in a desert dungeon

There are also some glimpses at a fire, water, and desert dungeon. In the latter there is a boss key chest, looking similar to the ones from the Nintendo 64 games, enclosed by some puzzle contraption with spinning parts. So, in the very least that's part of your traditional dungeon progression, which is already more than what Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom had with their Divine Beasts and temples.

For fans of classic Zelda dungeons this may look quite promising. And it's been 11 years since we saw new top-down dungeons, so that's already exciting in itself.

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