Adventurers are nothing without a place to explore, and in the Zelda series that usually means Hyrule – while it isn’t the setting for every game in the series, it is the central setting that is most frequently revisited and the one that most players could name. It is just as much a part of the series iconography as Link, Zelda, Ganon, the Triforce or the Master Sword.
Despite the consistency games, Hyrule itself is anything but consistent. With the games taking place in multiple timelines and centuries apart, it’s no surprise that it would undergo more changes than some other famous videogame locations. However, that’s not the only way to explain the variance. “Personally, I still like the idea of [the games] being a legend – I would love it if one day we actually get to meet the storyteller of all of these legends,” says Jeremy Harvey of the podcast. “You have bits and pieces that connect, but like in your own imagination, where you try to remember how things were places are further or closer than they actually were.” One benefit of this approach to the setting is that it allows Nintendo to be flexible not only with the stories it tells, but the game design that accompanies them. “It’s actually really interesting the way that they try to do that. When you take something like the original as well as , where they give you just the biggest room to run around in with the sole purpose of allowing you to explore, while something like intentionally funnels you into places and feels tight, it’s all for a purpose,” says Jeremy. “I don’t necessarily look at either one as not accomplishing something, they are going about it differently and trying to make you feel something different.”
