⚠ Retrospectively "controversial" might not be the best term. I am thinking of a new way to word the title! ⚠ What do you think of the Great Plateau in this regard? 🤔 ● Keep up to date here! - twitter.com/Hyrule_101 ● Join our Discord Server! (13+) - discord.gg/VmAQnRC ● Also keep up to date here! - instagram.com/hyrule_gamer_/ ● Watch MORE Zelda videos here! - th-cam.com/play/PLqvEvJ3sebV0ekqlYsjHmfSlD9hnKdQ17K.html
I honestly just think it's like a regular tutorial area; Like, in other modern games... (Also, it's Nintendo's first open world Zelda; Well, that's if you count the original Zelda as open world...) Maybe "tutorial" isn't the right word; Maybe saying it's "survival experience" is better?
I agree with your critiques, mostly, in theory, although personally, I tended to complete everything in each areas before moving on, so there wasn't much reason to go back anywhere. So, I really wish that there were reasons to go back to every area, that you couldn't necessarily do initially. But still, yeah, it was a shame that there was no way to leave the plateau without completing everything there, and no great reason for most players to ever come back. However, to me, the biggest flaw is the fog. Some time into the game, I really thought that the plateau was just a normal area, that you couldn't safely get down from, due to lack of stamina and no glider - true to the consistent, open world concept. But I started to wonder, now with more gameplay under my belt, could I get down? So I went back and, yeah, I found a path that wasn't even hard to get down from the plateau, using only the single stamina ring you start from, and without using the glider. I was pretty excited about that! Wow, you really could just skip the plateau, even, if you really tried! Well, no. When I went back in Master Mode, I wanted to try doing it for real, and... Oops, as most people probably already know, there's ridiculous, unexplained fog, like in the Korok forest, and if you get anywhere close to leaving the plateau, it just puts you safely back in your crib - sorry, wittle baby. The funny thing is that I don't even care all that much about the open world. I love the contiguous world, where you can go anywhere on a huge single map, with no weirdly limited passageways been regions, but I also really, really miss progression. I long for past Zelda games where you could win a new item and open up whole areas you didn't know how to get to, do didn't know you could get to, or didn't even know existed. I want that back, and live in hope that Tears will reintroduce progression, in an eventually-open contiguous world, just like Adventure of Link and Link to the Past did originally. But if they were going to do this, how hard would it have been to stick to it, for this one thing? How big of a disaster would it be if some determined players managed to get off the plateau before getting all the runes and the glider? I feel the same way about some areas on the edge of the map that you should be able to get to, but cannot, for no apparent reason, but nothing in the game compares to the Great Plateau for this failing. It's still a great region, though. What I remember most about The Great Plateau is being in it, and seeing that much larger area of potential map that was still blank, and thinking "this place is huge! How big is this game!"
your criticism is more because its a miss opportunity to have something else there. which is right. that could be because the game already has a lot of content and dev time was kinda short for adding stuff to it before the DLC you mention.
I liked going back to the big Goddess Statue in the Temple of Time to upgrade my health/stamina. I know you can go to ANY goddess statue to do it, but going back to the big one made it feel special.
As much as I love the Great Plateau, I do sort of agree. I think it's like 99% perfect but I do wish there was some in-game reason to return there (apart from the dlc). Like maybe after you've freed all the divine beasts, Impa tells you to return there to grab something that was hidden there when Link was put in the Shrine of Resurrection. And it's been left in a hidden room in the temple of time. Something like that to give the plateau and the temple some more late game significance.
I actually spent a LOT of time on the Great Plateau. I had the house in Hateno, of course, but I was always more comfortable in the woodcutter's cabin. After completing a quest or at the end of my "game day," for example, I'd usually go back to the great plateau, change into the warm doublet, and just live there at the cabin. Cook some meals, sleep for the night, or just crouch/sit by the fire. Most of the time, I didn't even go fight the bokos down the hill or out in the field. They didn't bother me, so I didn't bother them. It was nice to just have a place where you would be alone, in-game and IRL. The other spot where I frequently did this was on the extreme far end of the beach east of Lurelin, out where the "mirror of twilight" was at. Strip to your spandex, build a fire, and just spend the night on the beach. Those two spots were where I spent more time than anywhere else in the game, and among my fondest memories of this version of Hyrule.
Yeah, the Hateno house feels kind of unfinished. The weapon, bow and shield plaques are cool but there are only 3 and that’s not that much in the grand scheme of things when you keep in mind that potential gear you might want to store include the Hylian Shield, all the Champion gear, Kite Shield, etc. However, I never returned to the cabin until recently. There are actually three (or at least two, I’m not sure) old cabins across Hyrule, including the Woodcutter’s Cabin, that are the same as the Old Man’s. One of them is unmarked on the map
I agree 100% about the Temple of Time! As someone who started playing Zelda games through BOTW, I didn’t know the temple was a reference to previous games, so I thought that I would have to comeback for sure at some point to do something there, but that never happened. I do think they should have done at least 1 or 2 side quests that would get you back on that region, but at least the tutorial is still pretty awesome :)
I have to agree. I went back just for historical reference purposes and noticed that if you line up the temple of time and the fountain with the map from oot, you can see where old Hyrule Castle used to be, at the Eastern Abby. I mean the bridge, the path (there is a giant skull bokoblin camp where the tree with the golden skultula used to be...) it is all still there. For it to not be utilized a little more does seem like a bit of a loss. Either way, the references are still amazing.
@@HyruleGamer of course my dewd. You bring up a good point too, honestly hadn’t thought about the lack of reason to revisit the place. Even the most linear games, like SS have you revisit their early sections, like skyloft. Maybe TOTK will have some more story significance for this iconic location.
I love the great plateau never knew it was controversial. edit: wow never had this had this much likes before. Ok for people that wanna fight stfu please
Its one of the most praised sections of the game with lots of people calling it the most memorable part of BotW, a "perfect tutorial", and things like that. Literally everyone I know irl, and people on other videos, posts, and comments I've seen online love the great plateau so the title has to be clickbait
I agree that more needed to be done to revisit the Great Plateau, after all, that would, technically be part of the "tutorial" to learn about going back to places. Maybe, when we do Pura's side quest or meet Robbie, they could mention Pura thinking she left a tool behind when Link was placed there or Kass's master leaving something behind after placing Link in there, an old song/poem, maybe? Link could need to retrieve it in the Shrine of Resurrection. Still, I think it serves its purpose adequately.
I agree 100%! I was actually disappointed when there was no quest (especially in the DLC) to "re-establish access to the great plateau". There's a collapsed tunnel that would have been perfect to "dig out" in the late/end game...which would allow access back up to the temple of time. Missed opportunity, IMO. Awesome vid!!!!
This area has easy cheap weapons you can recollect, as well as an easy rock monster for easy gems. I also used it many times as a starting point to travel in a different direction.
@@Sconey-dj6ju I don't see the point. Wouldn't make sense to have any quests or NPCs for that region, since the majority wouldn't even know what's on that land area, since they can't reach it. If anyone was going to give you something to do, it would of been the king of hyrule. Also that area has lots of koroks to find in such a small area. Lastly, plenty of good way to farm stamina shrooms, hot peppers, and other things every time there's a blood moon.
@@GUKingOfHeart I understand your point but they could’ve made it a terry town where you rebuild it and make it accessible or something. Or the temple of time could transport you to a special dungeon
Before I got the DLC, heavily agree with the amount of "traceback" the Plateau has. Also think The Forgotten Temple suffers from a similar problem. My main wish is that those two locations have more to play in Tears of the Kingdom
One thing I liked to do on my playthrough was always return to the temple of time to use it's statue for upgrades instead of just finding the nearest one when I had enough spirit orbs. I think giving it a reason to come back to it (I think ToT has the largest Hylia statue that's not the forgotten temple one?) could be a fun thing to add - it never felt tedious because the journey was easy to make (teleport to the shrine of ressurection and glide over)
There should be a quest chain to retake the Great Plateau. It would make a ton more sense than the Tarrey Town quest chain about a bunch of non-combatants, several of whom are retirees, opening up a frontier town in the middle of allegedly deadly Wildlands, with no real resources of note to justify the trip. It would also have been a good opportunity to explore the religion of current and former Hyrule, if there was a subquest to restore the Temple of Time and its giant statue of the Goddess Hylia.
I couldn't agree more. I love the Akkala region but it's a literal death trap even if you stick to the paths. The citadel has to be one of the most hostile areas of active guardians, machines, and malice and it's right above that town. It makes no sense why to make a settlement there instead of the Great Plateau or any place else to the West.
I see. I think I can understand what your saying, take ocorina of time for example you start out at kokiri forest I. Which you will have to return to numerous times, the great plateau didn't really have that type of involvement
*Ocarina / I don't think you really "return" numerous times to the Kokiri Forest... (I'm basically saying that if you count Young Link and Adult Link as two different times returning to the Kokiri Forest or that someone that is a completionist to get all of the Gold Skulltulas...) Like, initially playing a young Link and running through the Lost Woods and getting Saria's Song; Then, after going 7 years into the future as Adult Link, that you have to traverse back through the Lost Woods to get to the Forest Temple...
@@Tazerboy_10 your basically just restating what Im saying here. the fact is, is that it played a bigger part in the story than breath of the wilds did.
Totally agreed about the wasted potential. When I saw the temple of time, I got excited about how those ruins would be restored or developed somehow during the game, only to be disappointed. And then I found Dark Souls' incredible architecture...
I kept coming back throughout my first playthrough since I didn't find a town or other goddess statue until after I finished 30 or so shrines. It was the only way to trade in spirit orbs for a while for me. I'd take advantage of the freestanding weapons such as hammers, axes, and korok leaves too. But after I found a town I guess I didn't return until the DLC was released.
I agree with your opinion. Every time that I go back or start a new playthrough, it feels like a fun little think that you do for the first opening moments and then leave it. Even with the DLC, you go back, do the quest and immediately leave to continue the rest of the DLC. And when you go back for the last time to finish it, you teleport there, do your thing and leave it once more. I feel nostalgia every time I visit the Great Platoleau in a playthrough but immediately afterwards I can't wait for the moment I'll go back to the rest of the Hyrule. Probably if there was a way to casually walk there as you messing around in the general area and don't have to climb a huge wall, find a high place to glide for or teleport, it would be way better. Imagine if somehow the entrance was available again through a side or even main quest. Just imagine going up those grand stairs.
I agree that there could've been a lot more done with it! I think if they had just had one sidequest where you go and take a picture of the Temple of Time for someone or collect something, it would've felt more included. Then add in the DLC and it would've been perfect for having multiple reasons to come back.
Honestly this is a very valid point I think and I feel like the best way to say it is, it's wasted potential or rather a missed opportunity and it really does act as a tutorial rather than a story piece that would have any meaning to come back to. There's nothing to unlock after beating a certain amount of enemies or there's no hidden vendor who sells you secret items you have to unlock after getting enough hearts or stamina or a certain armor set or any more missions at all that goes back to the great plateau. I've never thought about it, but it is something that probably skipped over the developers heads because it's certainly something so small, but when I saw this video it made me realize how much this really impacts this specific part of the game!! It doesn't take away the fact of how well designed the great plateau is and how fun and enjoyable it is, but this realization shows that something so small and seemingly insignificant and if changed and implemented, can have such a massive and more comprehensive and whole experience in the end!!
From how the topside promenade is broken up and flooded, to the cave-in blocking the bottom of the entrance to the area, its possible it was intentionally sabotaged to seal the plateau by Robbie and Purah to prevent any further access by Ganon’s armies to where Link was being kept in the Shrine of Resurrection. The entrance passageway could have also collapsed due to collateral damage from 3-4 armored platoons of Guardian Stalkers that were converging around the temple complex and in the abbey. Lots of firepower being thrown around there. I would love it there was a quest to restore easier access to the plateau, as it’s clear that it was the center of religious activity in the kingdom, with the Temple of Time, the three smaller temples dedicated to the Golden Goddesses and the Abbey that likely housed the priests and priestesses who served in the temples. It’s likely that people from all over came to the plateau to seek divine guidance or protection in their lives. Scholars probably came to study and learn from ancient manuscripts and artifacts relevant to the goddesses that were stored and watched over by the clergy there. Who knows what secret catacombs and reliquaries remain hidden in underground passages under the plateau.
When we were given the opportunity to build a town in Breath of the Wild, I figured that could mean additional towns thru out and presumably the Plateau being the next location to build. That said would have been more than ok with something as simple as setting up an archaeology camp. That could mean the possibility of side quests that garner loot as the group exploring discovers hidden caches and such.
I grew up playing older Zelda games which were linear and while encouraged thinking were nothing like BOTW. When I first played I spent probably 4-5 hours on the Plateau just wandering. It took me forever to realize there were no hearts in the grass and that spicy peppers only work when cooked. Once I left however it turned into nothing more than a warp point from which I could warp to and then glide to certain areas nearby. I feel this is a flaw in all aspects of BOTW. When i first played it was true exploration. I still was learning the world and that there were no quest items. For heavens sake it took me 200 hours to kill ganon and collect the champions tunic. I never hunted the shrines I just came across them, never went out of my way to do anything I just lived in that world. When I played for the second time it never felt the same because I knew that shrines and certain weapons were important and that certain things were easy if you did them a certain way. BOTW's biggest short coming is its lack of replayability as no matter what I always felt that something was off. Nothing ever grabbed that sense of wonder that it did the first time. Compared to Ocarina of time, which has never given me this feeling due to the story being the focus so I get to relive every moment and still play things with some level of blindness. Thanks for reading have a good one
Nintendo has masterful tutorials. Another example is Super Mario Bros. 1-1. Within a single screen pan, you are taught: how to jump, how to kill an enemy, how to obtain power ups and what they do.
I can see where you’re coming from. My latest playthrough has a self-imposed rule: For all heart/stamina upgrades, Link can only receive them from the Hylia statue at the Temple of Time. It makes for a convenient excuse to return or stop by during my travels. 😅
i went back to get revenge on the stone talus, and before, i get supplies since i felt if they respawn why not farm it for supplies? granted i played hard stealth during the first 75% of my first play through lol
What would've been cool is when you come back, someone is found sitting on the edge or somewhere like "hey I was exploring and got stuck up here. Anyway while I'm here, wanna play a game?" Like you get after completing Eventide, or climbing up certain towers.
I don’t think the Great Plateau has any problems that all game intros/tutorials don’t have, and within that it’s a pretty damn great tutorial section. I suppose it would be cool if you had to return to the Temple of Time for some reason later in the game, but I definitely don’t mind repeating the Great Plateau upon replaying the game.
i feel like the great plateau could've easily been used as a sort of hub area. lots of stuff in game alludes to the fact that the main danger from the calamity had receded toward the castle and central area, since all forms of civilization any closer than kakariko and hateno were wiped out already. it would've been a great idea to have the plateau be restored incrementally as you progress through the game, with each race you help contributing to a sort of staging area for the battle with the calamity. could've been a cool way to get people who skipped the side content there to go back, for example, after you help the gorons, they could try to start mining there and end up asking for help dealing with the stone talus, if you hadn't beaten it already. either way, great video, keep it up!
Something that could have been done is a side quest to find a way to clear what was once the entrance to the Plateau of its rubble. That could have opened up possibilities of other side quests and possibly the construction of a new stable. OH! That could lead to helping with finding supplies to build the stable! Once that quest is done, the screen flashes white and voila! A brand new stable! I think that would be pretty sick.
I do agree but it was kinda designed to be revisited with the DLC. I do wish you could go back and converse with the King for some special dialogue after you completed game quests.
I love the great plateau! It’s not only a great tutorial and where Link receives his quest, but it also encompasses the whole atmosphere in the game in a nutshell. I love exploring maps, so after, when I had better stats and weapons, I took another look at it, hoping to get to more places. Sadly, there isn’t much, so I agree in that regard. I wish there were more content for it!
I had never really thought about it, but you are totally right, the Great Plateau is such an iconic area but is critically underused. At least we got to fight through it in Age of Calamity.
Thanks for this video, HG. I agree that I would have loved to see some more incorporation of the Great Plateau and the Faron region in the base game. DLC did help the former and the sequel will help the latter I hope. As an idea based upon some of the findings from the new ToTK game footage that we've seen would be to explore some of the underground area in the Great Plateau or perhaps it became a sky island (which we cannot tell either way in the most recent trailer footage). In any case, I cannot wait to see what we get in less than four months from this post!!
I can see your argument and can agree with it. I do enjoy the Great Plateau and think it should have had more of a reason to exist outside of its tutorial sequences, but I can think of two points to counter this. First and foremost, it is mainly a tutorial, like you said. It's more to prepare you for the rest of the game and the huge land of Hyrule that you can explore at your leisure. With that reasoning, perhaps it's not meant to be a place to go back to again and again like other locations. Not to mention, it doesn't have a whole lot of secrets to uncover that will prove valuable on your quest. It's mainly just a stepping stone, a way to get you used to the game mechanics and then allow you to become free to choose your next path. Secondly, while the idea of going back to the Great Plateau for a couple of sidequests or other reasons (excluding DLC) would be cool, it's understandable why you don't need to do so. This is mainly due to how the Great Plateau is inaccessible to the general public, thanks to the towering walls surrounding it and how the main entrance is blocked off by rubble and the steps leading up to the plateau are submerged under water. While Link can easily make it up there by warping to the Sheikah Tower or one of the few shrines scattered across the area, the same cannot be said regarding the general populace. Besides, even though the general threat of Calamity Ganon has died down and there are traders and explorers who have built up the courage to roam across the once prosperous kingdom, it's entirely plausible that the Great Plateau may have been all but forgotten by the remaining population, hence why nobody in the game even mentions the area by name.
After doing my recent replay through I agree 100%!!! And it's not just because the Great Plateau is underused(it served it's purpose for gameplay and is perfect as one piece) but the people of Hyrule lost a great chunk of their heritage after the Calamity and the current residents are none the wiser. Unlike the players that have played previous Zelda titles the NPCs don't realize the significance of the Temple of Time or even all the statues of Hylia that are littered around the kingdom. The Great Plateau is the heart of the kingdom and was obviously an important pilgrimage site for Hylians that had been preserved for centuries, if not thousands of years. And after the Calamity it's been reduced to just rumors and tall tales. No NPC is seriously determined to explore it. Maybe it's just me but that's heartbreaking. And there needs to be more permanent settlements other than Hateno, Kakoriko, and Tarrey Town. Most Hylians now are nomadic or live at the stables scattered around Hyrule. If there was a major side quest of helping an NPC or even a large group to rediscover and resettle on the Great Plateau(image the Tarrey Town side quest but bigger) it would have high lighted such an vital area. Players spend majority of the game discovering Hyrule, helping NPCs rediscover the Great Plateau would have made the game experience come full circle.
I kind of agree with this. The reason I'd never go back or travel around it was because you never unlock or get a way to get back there without fast traveling or slogging your way back up by climbing, which takes a while.
That's a very interesting point and I totally agree, it's a bummer that there isn't more lore here. But I never thought that deeply about it cause , and here comes the mind blow, in the German version it's the FORGOTTEN plateau and therefore it made total sense that you never really get back there and actually forget it.
I’ve been playing horizon forbidden west for the first time, and couldn’t help but draw comparison in their intro tutorials. One difference is that in horizon, you don’t stop getting those hints after your first encounter, like in Zelda, you keep hearing Aloy mention it, and it’s as annoying as Navi. I agreed with your take, and I think the developers also agreed since the dlc fixed that problem.
You can even find the koroks before you leave the Great Plateau for the first time. And the Stone Talus for Kilton's quest. You actually can have multiple save files on only 1 Switch account, not on Master Mode because there is only 1 manual save and 1 auto save but on normal difficulty there are about 12 save slots. You'd just have to make sure not to save too many times and go back to your other file in between your play sessions on your second/third playthrough.
Yeah, I agree. When I saw the Temple of Time on the Plateau, I thought we would have some mission involving it and I wish there was something more to it than just being a landmark.
Deltarune did a thing where if you're playing Chapter 1 for the second time or more, you can get back into Kris' bed to skip to the Dark World; thought that was worth a mention.
I definitely agree, especially about the Temple of Time and the Great Plateau having literally nothing to offer after the tutorial, but homestly ‘controversial’ is an unnecessarily clickbaity word to use here. It connotes actual controversy but you specifically indicate it is merely personal opinion.
Maybe the lack of ceremony/attention to the Temple of Time and other historical bits on the Great Plateau is a symbol of how beaten back the spirits of the Hylians are at this point in the story?
I can totally see that. Even the great fairies fountains are reduced to dull bulbs due to the lack of offerings. One is literally uphill from the untouched Kakoriko village and the residents don't visit her. Now that I think of it I don't recall any NPC mention the three golden goddesses at all and only a few ever talk about Hylia or her statues that a literally all over Hyrule. It's like a complete cultural disconnect after the Calamity happened. But even Zelda was having trouble understanding what her powers were and how to use them so it could have happened over few good centuries before Hyrule fell.
@@tdl487 oh absolutely! And they even highlight in the story how much Zelda wasn't able to Learn from her mother before her passing, who's to say how much cultural and spiritual knowledge was lost and unable to be passed on to the people Just by that one death?
Valid points, I agree (to a degree). That said I actually think the area has one even more glaring issue that I’ve only started considering after watching a decent amount of let’s plays on this platform: the bomb trial is flawed. I feel that the Ja Baij shrine (and to a lesser extent the areas immediately surrounding it) is flawed in that it focuses solely on puzzle solving techniques and never asks you to use them offensively. Certain types of players (like myself) might not need this concept to be illustrated by the game but time and time again within the first 10-15 hours of people playing this game they basically forget they have bombs. As a result they exhaust their weapons too quickly in combat or resource collection, and get slightly frustrated. Bombs are such a crucial resource and integral piece(tool) of the game’s combat puzzle. While they may not do that much damage on their own they can distract, disarm, separate groups, stun, send in to water or off high ledges, and trigger incendiary elements AND YOU ALWAYS HAVE THEM. If there’s one thing I would rethink about the plateau, it’s the bomb trial.
In every play through I end up returning to the Great Plateau at least once every blood moon. To practice my perfect guard against the decayed guardians, killing bokoblin archers for arrows, killing the stone talus for ores, and gathering resources. I mean that it wasn’t till I did a thorough search of the great plateau that I found that there are at least one or two silent shrooms in the forest of spirits.
This comment might seem out of place but please bear with it! My point will be at the end of it. When the old man said The Great Plateau is the birth place of Hyrule, I took that to mean "This is the original Hyrule Field!" not the whole Ocarina of Time map, but the central travel point to reach the other places. I.E. Kakariko village, death mountain, Zora's domain, Lake Hylia, and Gerudo Valley. Parts on the edge of it are missing but most of it is there. Kakariko village is under the the flooded River of the dead, which flows out from the original Zora's Domain (the entrance of which, lies behind the waterfall) And I believe Mount Hylia is the old Death Mountain. I'm saying all this wondering if these former places will be rediscovered in Tears of the Kingdom, thus giving the Great Plateau more love and a huge role in the sequel!
I went back to it loads of times. It's a really quick way to collect monster parts (upgrades, kilton) and I went to the temple of time for pretty much all my upgrades. (I was WELL into the post-game before I realized you could go to any goddess statue. It just never occurred to me to try.)
I do totally agree with you. I do occasionally visit the Great Plateau, but it is solely for the purpose of visiting the Temple of Time and paying my respects at the Goddess Statue
I thought I was the only who felt this way about the plateau I’ve never liked how it is pointless after the tutorial. They should’ve added main quest where you go under the plateau and have a classic style dungeon. Or something like a secret forest under the plateau with a secret village. They could’ve gone a lot of ways with this but it could have been an amazing transforming area like terry town where you rebuild it. Shame.
I think the great platue was really fun to go through and learn how to play the game, though like he said, there's not really a reason to go back, the only reason I ever go there any more is to gather resources
I used the Great Plateau as a place to farm arrows and unwind after long gaming sessions. It’s a perfect place to get a guaranteed couple hundred arrows and to practice your more advanced skills that you learn over the course of the game. The part of the game I visited least west the northern snowy mountains. I feel like that had the most wasted potential
"It's fun and interactive learning, something schools should do more of by the way." 💘I couldn't agree more on that! Very interesting video and point of view on the Great Plateau; I happened to share this thought while playing the game - and remembering this area actually existed. It's a great (non looking like) tutorial but it's a pity we don't need to go back there, it feels a bit like an unexplored potential. But it's all those little "flaws" (dare I say) that make this game so perfect and enjoyable after all 😍
I love the great plateau. Both as a tutorial and as a place to go back and relax. When I need to do some hunting or foraging I find it a nice place to do so
I was bored and went back to the plateau late game. I found a bunch of hidden chests including the one with the warm doublet I was very late game, master sword, fully upgraded champions tunic, meals for days, and found a bunch of chests with bundles of arrows and travelers swords. Really made me regret not coming back earlier
My 2 favorite options to have the great plateau more involved are to have Link's house there, there wasn't huge motive to go back to hateno aside from the shops but I liked going home and spent a lot of time there. Second option is to have another construction side quest to repair the area. Fix up ruins around the map and have the temple of time be one of them. Although I think that fits more for a sequel than the endgame because stopping the calamity should come before repairing the world. It didn't bother me that you don't really return to the plateau but I agree that it has some missed opportunities
I spent hours on the plateau the first time. I also kept returning to collect resources because I knew where they were. And as a jump off point for the Gerudo side.
I do like the Great Plateau but I can say I never returned until I was at least 500 hours in, I even got the 19 koroks before leaving the Plateau for the first time so until I was able to afford the DLC later there really was no reason for me to go back. I can agree for sure that it would've been cool if they had additional side quests related to the Great Plateau where that would be our reason for returning, not fetch quests of course since we already have way too many of those but it would have been a great opportunity to add some quests that for example to test how our combat has improved since leaving the Plateau, not like how the DLC does but make it feel more like when we first started there, you know kind of make it nostalgic so that we really look forward to returning, or what if the Old Man ran a mini game on the Great Plateau, or like the idea HG put out there about quests that might tell you more about the Great Plateau's mysterious lost history, I thought that was a really good idea too since the Temple of Time itself is underwhelming when it comes to exploring in & around it so giving it some cannon history would make it way more interesting.
The GP was a decent tutorial section the first time around. In my experience consecutive play throughs became tedious. I think the save file idea you gave would work great if they changed the system a bit. Omg YES! The Temple of Time was a huge let down in BotW. One or two side quests including it would’ve been dope. They could’ve included it in finding the MS or something. Anyhow loved the video dude! Fantastic as always.
I think it would've been cool if NPC's moved into the great plateau after a while, it would've been very interesting to see people there and do quests for them
I think the Plateau is an overworld "smaller area" with tons of things to learn and to do. When you fall down to Hyrule Field, things tend to be too much far away and with lots os empty spaces. I think this will be the same in Tears Of The Kingdom, but I hope they make it better.
For me, it’s fifty-fifty. While a big part of me wishes there was at least like one quest involving the plateau, I kind of agree with what I assume is the developer’s reasons to not do it. If you have too much focus on the beginning area, why would you WANT to leave? And if you keep coming back, did it serve its purpose or not? I don’t want a game that basically reinvents Minecraft, where you get your little base area of operations and occasionally venture from there. They wanted people to get a taste for the world beyond and not have the need to come back. Exploration as a concept is branching into the unknown, not hiding where things are familiar. Otherwise, everyone would just be too attached to the plateau, and there is so much more to see.
my guess is that they wanted fast travelling to be optional because you would have to climb the high walls every time you found a sidequest that sends you there. which was propebly not fun to the devs
Agreed and also tears is said to start on rails linear so it will it's self have a fixed opening section it's own great plat, wonder how they will do it
I agree with you that unless you have the DLC the plateau area just sits there doing nothing the whole game. The should have made a shrine quest or something around the Temple of Time, and made other quests for that area.
Awesome video! I think the plateau its fine as it is tbh, most people wont play the game more than once or twice at best. A bit unrelated, but I dont think its necessary to color grade the footage, it looks overly saturated and kinda hard to see. The original colors are just fine and pleasant.
I've played it through twice - the first time I don't think I came back to the Plateau again after I left! The second time, I was more comfortable with the game and wanted to explore places, so I came back and had a hunt around. It's a shame that once you fly down from the Plateau that you can't clear the rubble and thus make it more of a part of the game!
I think a way to make it more...relevent maybe...would be restoring and recolonising the main plateau. Creating a main base of operations for the player, quests, shops, and, and yes, the temple of time restored and maybe in use by the npcs who take up residence their, maybe the new hub of the kingdom.
Reasons I returned to the Great Plateau: 1. It has a statue of the Goddess that I can easily find and use to buy hearts and stamina. 2. The Champions Ballad.
I generally agree with your comments. I actually have forced myself to go back just to explore. I know there isnt anything there, but it just seems a waste to not go visit it from time to time.
I get what you're saying. I never thought of that. I'm sure we'll be able to in Tears of the Kingdom. I myself return to kill the Talus, gather the hot pepper and grab another torch if I lost my previous one. I also use the tower for the BLSS glitch to either soar towards twin peaks, Hyrule Castle or Lake Hylia. I also go back to kill the white Bokoblins (or the gold ones if I'm in Master Mode) for rubies or sapphires. I usually don't. That's what the Talus are for. Thumbs up.
Could be a subtle message to tell u the way u remember Zelda forget it, it's a whole new game rendering the timeline almost irrelevant. So it's a metaphor for the old being left behind no need to return and welcome to the new hyrule
I think I can understand why people weren’t keen on the Great Plateau, but I love it so much. I loved the feeling of running around surviving in this little micro-environment which felt so full and learning new things as I went. I never really enjoy tutorials which feel super forced and Breath of the Wild was the first game tutorial which didn’t feel that way and that’s why I love it so much. Wasn’t keen on how it straight up becomes empty and depressing the second you complete it and the Old Man disappears. Was sad that in the base game they didn’t treat it like a modern Metroidvania where they have something major change about the opening area and give you a reason to revisit and to make it more difficult to explore that area. I’d love to see something like the Plateau in Tears of the Kingdom. I’d be unbelievably happy with a similar situation but it’s on a floating island instead… but if they make the new tutorial area the Great Plateau risen up into the air that will be very strange and disappointing unless they make major changes to the area to make it feel very new. Finding the plateau as not a tutorial area, but still risen up as a new sky island would have very interesting lore implications and make it feel like the area has had a redemption!
I think it just fits with this version of hyrule, the great plateu is a historical site that was forgotten for the most of his inhabitants. I think that it's ruining from longer then one hundred years, a old piece of hyrule that lives in the minds and the hearts of players and old sages of hyrule.
Lore wise the great plateau was empty of npc's cause no one outside of the plateau, can reach its plains cause of the entrance have been buried in by dirt and rubble and also the cliffs surrounding it.
i guess the lack of reason to return to the great plateau is what kind of betrays its tutorial-nature. i feel like the devs might have thought that having you return to the great plateau would have felt too much like going back to square one when they want you to focus on the expansive world beyond. i mean, in the dlc, it is literally framed like that, like you're returning to where the journey began and engaging in another set of challenges/shrines that doesn't feel altogether too different from the quest of the rune shrines.
The plateau kinda represents how much of the land in the game is underutilized. I remember you said it was good for botw w/ the post-apocalyptic setting. But for Totk it should be much more populated & lively. It's like how Aonuma said he wanted to do more with that world
I agree that there was some missed potential on the plateau. Also I can swap between Master mode and regular mode with one problem,i actually saved my file in another location in case it overwrote my original
I guess it's cool because it teaches you stuff about Nintendo's first open world Zelda game... (It kind of feels like an RPG game, where you have to have armor, weapons, sound meter (stealth) and temperature to deal with!)
Unless it acts as a tutorial area again in TOTK, then they'll have to fix this problem in that game which will be very interesting to see, maybe there'll be npcs and more this time
I think a cool gameplay thing that they could do in the sequel would be to explore the ruins of structures from previous games and uncover the history behind the legends that have made it to modern day and learn about previous heroes to preserve things for posterity
Humorously enough I never thought about it, I've restarted several times now. When you said about burning through it you're most definitely right. I don't start paying attention to the game fully until I get the glider. Though to cause a blood moon I do tend to go bokoblin homicidal around here to get into the one shrine, and just when I want to mess around I spend time just tooling around up there cause it has almost all the biomes.
I will say as everyone else I loved the GP, that being said I saw a need to return there more in earlier game for resources and to use the old man's cabin for a place to sleep. Would love more action there in the vanilla game but don't necessarily feel it was "under" utilized
Some really interesting points about the Great Plateau, I haven't quite thought about it like that before! I think another thing to consider is how this might affect how dungeons will be made (if they are) in Tears of the Kingdom. Considering the sequel is going to be open world also, it's gonna be interesting if they will give us replicability for the dungeons like side quests at that location, or more story details.
Honestly, I agree with a bunch of what you said, but it's so click baity to make it seems that it is ''VERY controversial'' when it's not really. People love the region and agree that there should've been more to do after tutorial. It's not a controversial place, you can like something and point its flawed lol
It's my opinion that it's very controversial and I am sharing that. Not too sure how that's clickbaity. I do understand what you mean though, but don't feel it is as I talk about exactly what the title says.
@@HyruleGamer for something to be controversial it needs to be controversial, like an opinion so divided that it creates controversy. You can’t say something is controversial based on only one’s opinion, that’s not how it works.
![Demise’s Return in Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom! [ft. @TriforceTrends] (RYTM #8)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7ILwqfVbD-o/mqdefault.jpg)
![Demise’s Return in Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom! [ft. @TriforceTrends] (RYTM #8)](/img/tr.png)
⚠ Retrospectively "controversial" might not be the best term. I am thinking of a new way to word the title! ⚠
What do you think of the Great Plateau in this regard? 🤔
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I honestly just think it's like a regular tutorial area; Like, in other modern games...
(Also, it's Nintendo's first open world Zelda; Well, that's if you count the original Zelda as open world...)
Maybe "tutorial" isn't the right word; Maybe saying it's "survival experience" is better?
comments, yes.
I agree, they didn't make much justice to the temple of time
I agree with your critiques, mostly, in theory, although personally, I tended to complete everything in each areas before moving on, so there wasn't much reason to go back anywhere. So, I really wish that there were reasons to go back to every area, that you couldn't necessarily do initially. But still, yeah, it was a shame that there was no way to leave the plateau without completing everything there, and no great reason for most players to ever come back.
However, to me, the biggest flaw is the fog. Some time into the game, I really thought that the plateau was just a normal area, that you couldn't safely get down from, due to lack of stamina and no glider - true to the consistent, open world concept. But I started to wonder, now with more gameplay under my belt, could I get down? So I went back and, yeah, I found a path that wasn't even hard to get down from the plateau, using only the single stamina ring you start from, and without using the glider. I was pretty excited about that! Wow, you really could just skip the plateau, even, if you really tried!
Well, no. When I went back in Master Mode, I wanted to try doing it for real, and... Oops, as most people probably already know, there's ridiculous, unexplained fog, like in the Korok forest, and if you get anywhere close to leaving the plateau, it just puts you safely back in your crib - sorry, wittle baby.
The funny thing is that I don't even care all that much about the open world. I love the contiguous world, where you can go anywhere on a huge single map, with no weirdly limited passageways been regions, but I also really, really miss progression. I long for past Zelda games where you could win a new item and open up whole areas you didn't know how to get to, do didn't know you could get to, or didn't even know existed. I want that back, and live in hope that Tears will reintroduce progression, in an eventually-open contiguous world, just like Adventure of Link and Link to the Past did originally.
But if they were going to do this, how hard would it have been to stick to it, for this one thing? How big of a disaster would it be if some determined players managed to get off the plateau before getting all the runes and the glider?
I feel the same way about some areas on the edge of the map that you should be able to get to, but cannot, for no apparent reason, but nothing in the game compares to the Great Plateau for this failing.
It's still a great region, though.
What I remember most about The Great Plateau is being in it, and seeing that much larger area of potential map that was still blank, and thinking "this place is huge! How big is this game!"
your criticism is more because its a miss opportunity to have something else there. which is right. that could be because the game already has a lot of content and dev time was kinda short for adding stuff to it before the DLC you mention.
I liked going back to the big Goddess Statue in the Temple of Time to upgrade my health/stamina. I know you can go to ANY goddess statue to do it, but going back to the big one made it feel special.
That is not the only place in the game with a big goddess statue though. (not saying more in case you haven’t found them)
I go to the one at the forgotten shrine, in that ravine near rito village just because its almost as tall as the temple itself.
I did the same. It's not even the only big statue, but the temple of time felt like the right place to do that
@@Sqk. that's not the point. The point is it feels more symbolic to go to the one in the Temple of Time.
Yeah the only other ones with large statues were the springs
As much as I love the Great Plateau, I do sort of agree. I think it's like 99% perfect but I do wish there was some in-game reason to return there (apart from the dlc). Like maybe after you've freed all the divine beasts, Impa tells you to return there to grab something that was hidden there when Link was put in the Shrine of Resurrection. And it's been left in a hidden room in the temple of time. Something like that to give the plateau and the temple some more late game significance.
I actually spent a LOT of time on the Great Plateau. I had the house in Hateno, of course, but I was always more comfortable in the woodcutter's cabin. After completing a quest or at the end of my "game day," for example, I'd usually go back to the great plateau, change into the warm doublet, and just live there at the cabin. Cook some meals, sleep for the night, or just crouch/sit by the fire. Most of the time, I didn't even go fight the bokos down the hill or out in the field. They didn't bother me, so I didn't bother them. It was nice to just have a place where you would be alone, in-game and IRL. The other spot where I frequently did this was on the extreme far end of the beach east of Lurelin, out where the "mirror of twilight" was at. Strip to your spandex, build a fire, and just spend the night on the beach. Those two spots were where I spent more time than anywhere else in the game, and among my fondest memories of this version of Hyrule.
Yeah, the Hateno house feels kind of unfinished. The weapon, bow and shield plaques are cool but there are only 3 and that’s not that much in the grand scheme of things when you keep in mind that potential gear you might want to store include the Hylian Shield, all the Champion gear, Kite Shield, etc.
However, I never returned to the cabin until recently. There are actually three (or at least two, I’m not sure) old cabins across Hyrule, including the Woodcutter’s Cabin, that are the same as the Old Man’s. One of them is unmarked on the map
I agree 100% about the Temple of Time! As someone who started playing Zelda games through BOTW, I didn’t know the temple was a reference to previous games, so I thought that I would have to comeback for sure at some point to do something there, but that never happened. I do think they should have done at least 1 or 2 side quests that would get you back on that region, but at least the tutorial is still pretty awesome :)
The DLCs take you back there a lot
Moonchi Now that you mention it it is a lil surprising it doesn't serve a greater purpose considering it's one of the largest intact ruins
@@sackthebastard I know, I have the DLC! But like Hyrule Gamer said, it's surprising how the base game doesn't take you back there at all
I have to agree. I went back just for historical reference purposes and noticed that if you line up the temple of time and the fountain with the map from oot, you can see where old Hyrule Castle used to be, at the Eastern Abby. I mean the bridge, the path (there is a giant skull bokoblin camp where the tree with the golden skultula used to be...) it is all still there. For it to not be utilized a little more does seem like a bit of a loss. Either way, the references are still amazing.
Still my favourite game tutorial section in any game tbh
Great video HG!
Definitely agree with that part!
and thx
@@HyruleGamer of course my dewd. You bring up a good point too, honestly hadn’t thought about the lack of reason to revisit the place. Even the most linear games, like SS have you revisit their early sections, like skyloft.
Maybe TOTK will have some more story significance for this iconic location.
@@CaptBurgerson Returning here in TOTK would he very cool!
Always liked the theory the Plateau and Lost Woods swapped places some how
I love the great plateau never knew it was controversial.
edit: wow never had this had this much likes before. Ok for people that wanna fight stfu please
Same
It's not. He's just making up nonsense
Ikr this is the very first time I’m hearing this and all I watch is Zelda content
Same
Its one of the most praised sections of the game with lots of people calling it the most memorable part of BotW, a "perfect tutorial", and things like that. Literally everyone I know irl, and people on other videos, posts, and comments I've seen online love the great plateau so the title has to be clickbait
I agree that more needed to be done to revisit the Great Plateau, after all, that would, technically be part of the "tutorial" to learn about going back to places. Maybe, when we do Pura's side quest or meet Robbie, they could mention Pura thinking she left a tool behind when Link was placed there or Kass's master leaving something behind after placing Link in there, an old song/poem, maybe? Link could need to retrieve it in the Shrine of Resurrection. Still, I think it serves its purpose adequately.
Link: gets killed within eyesight.
Old man: "Look at this fire!"
I agree 100%! I was actually disappointed when there was no quest (especially in the DLC) to "re-establish access to the great plateau". There's a collapsed tunnel that would have been perfect to "dig out" in the late/end game...which would allow access back up to the temple of time. Missed opportunity, IMO. Awesome vid!!!!
This area has easy cheap weapons you can recollect, as well as an easy rock monster for easy gems. I also used it many times as a starting point to travel in a different direction.
But it could’ve been so much more on top of that
@@Sconey-dj6ju I don't see the point. Wouldn't make sense to have any quests or NPCs for that region, since the majority wouldn't even know what's on that land area, since they can't reach it. If anyone was going to give you something to do, it would of been the king of hyrule. Also that area has lots of koroks to find in such a small area. Lastly, plenty of good way to farm stamina shrooms, hot peppers, and other things every time there's a blood moon.
anyone who ignored the great plateu after leaving it, lost out on a lot of useful items you can keep obtaining easily.
@@GUKingOfHeart I understand your point but they could’ve made it a terry town where you rebuild it and make it accessible or something. Or the temple of time could transport you to a special dungeon
@@Sconey-dj6ju There's a special dungeon on the plateau if you get the DLC, so not sure what you're talking about there.
Before I got the DLC, heavily agree with the amount of "traceback" the Plateau has. Also think The Forgotten Temple suffers from a similar problem. My main wish is that those two locations have more to play in Tears of the Kingdom
Traceback? Do you mean backtracking?
@@Tazerboy_10 Yes, that was the word I was looking for. Me dum
One thing I liked to do on my playthrough was always return to the temple of time to use it's statue for upgrades instead of just finding the nearest one when I had enough spirit orbs. I think giving it a reason to come back to it (I think ToT has the largest Hylia statue that's not the forgotten temple one?) could be a fun thing to add - it never felt tedious because the journey was easy to make (teleport to the shrine of ressurection and glide over)
The Great Plateau is definitely one of my favorite tutorials in a video game.
Mine too!
There should be a quest chain to retake the Great Plateau.
It would make a ton more sense than the Tarrey Town quest chain about a bunch of non-combatants, several of whom are retirees, opening up a frontier town in the middle of allegedly deadly Wildlands, with no real resources of note to justify the trip.
It would also have been a good opportunity to explore the religion of current and former Hyrule, if there was a subquest to restore the Temple of Time and its giant statue of the Goddess Hylia.
I couldn't agree more. I love the Akkala region but it's a literal death trap even if you stick to the paths. The citadel has to be one of the most hostile areas of active guardians, machines, and malice and it's right above that town. It makes no sense why to make a settlement there instead of the Great Plateau or any place else to the West.
Would’ve been cool if the Temple of Time or even the 3 goddess symbols were used in some way lore wise.
I see. I think I can understand what your saying, take ocorina of time for example you start out at kokiri forest I. Which you will have to return to numerous times, the great plateau didn't really have that type of involvement
*Ocarina / I don't think you really "return" numerous times to the Kokiri Forest...
(I'm basically saying that if you count Young Link and Adult Link as two different times returning to the Kokiri Forest or that someone that is a completionist to get all of the Gold Skulltulas...)
Like, initially playing a young Link and running through the Lost Woods and getting Saria's Song; Then, after going 7 years into the future as Adult Link, that you have to traverse back through the Lost Woods to get to the Forest Temple...
@@Tazerboy_10 your basically just restating what Im saying here. the fact is, is that it played a bigger part in the story than breath of the wilds did.
Totally agreed about the wasted potential. When I saw the temple of time, I got excited about how those ruins would be restored or developed somehow during the game, only to be disappointed. And then I found Dark Souls' incredible architecture...
I went back a lot during the building of the town. I like a bit of peace and quiet when I'm farming supplies.
I kept coming back throughout my first playthrough since I didn't find a town or other goddess statue until after I finished 30 or so shrines. It was the only way to trade in spirit orbs for a while for me. I'd take advantage of the freestanding weapons such as hammers, axes, and korok leaves too. But after I found a town I guess I didn't return until the DLC was released.
I agree with your opinion. Every time that I go back or start a new playthrough, it feels like a fun little think that you do for the first opening moments and then leave it. Even with the DLC, you go back, do the quest and immediately leave to continue the rest of the DLC. And when you go back for the last time to finish it, you teleport there, do your thing and leave it once more.
I feel nostalgia every time I visit the Great Platoleau in a playthrough but immediately afterwards I can't wait for the moment I'll go back to the rest of the Hyrule.
Probably if there was a way to casually walk there as you messing around in the general area and don't have to climb a huge wall, find a high place to glide for or teleport, it would be way better. Imagine if somehow the entrance was available again through a side or even main quest. Just imagine going up those grand stairs.
I agree that there could've been a lot more done with it! I think if they had just had one sidequest where you go and take a picture of the Temple of Time for someone or collect something, it would've felt more included. Then add in the DLC and it would've been perfect for having multiple reasons to come back.
Honestly this is a very valid point I think and I feel like the best way to say it is, it's wasted potential or rather a missed opportunity and it really does act as a tutorial rather than a story piece that would have any meaning to come back to. There's nothing to unlock after beating a certain amount of enemies or there's no hidden vendor who sells you secret items you have to unlock after getting enough hearts or stamina or a certain armor set or any more missions at all that goes back to the great plateau. I've never thought about it, but it is something that probably skipped over the developers heads because it's certainly something so small, but when I saw this video it made me realize how much this really impacts this specific part of the game!! It doesn't take away the fact of how well designed the great plateau is and how fun and enjoyable it is, but this realization shows that something so small and seemingly insignificant and if changed and implemented, can have such a massive and more comprehensive and whole experience in the end!!
From how the topside promenade is broken up and flooded, to the cave-in blocking the bottom of the entrance to the area, its possible it was intentionally sabotaged to seal the plateau by Robbie and Purah to prevent any further access by Ganon’s armies to where Link was being kept in the Shrine of Resurrection. The entrance passageway could have also collapsed due to collateral damage from 3-4 armored platoons of Guardian Stalkers that were converging around the temple complex and in the abbey. Lots of firepower being thrown around there.
I would love it there was a quest to restore easier access to the plateau, as it’s clear that it was the center of religious activity in the kingdom, with the Temple of Time, the three smaller temples dedicated to the Golden Goddesses and the Abbey that likely housed the priests and priestesses who served in the temples. It’s likely that people from all over came to the plateau to seek divine guidance or protection in their lives. Scholars probably came to study and learn from ancient manuscripts and artifacts relevant to the goddesses that were stored and watched over by the clergy there. Who knows what secret catacombs and reliquaries remain hidden in underground passages under the plateau.
When we were given the opportunity to build a town in Breath of the Wild, I figured that could mean additional towns thru out and presumably the Plateau being the next location to build.
That said would have been more than ok with something as simple as setting up an archaeology camp. That could mean the possibility of side quests that garner loot as the group exploring discovers hidden caches and such.
I've only ever heard praise about the Great Plateau. If its almost unanimously regarded as a great tutorial, then its not controversial by definition.
I grew up playing older Zelda games which were linear and while encouraged thinking were nothing like BOTW. When I first played I spent probably 4-5 hours on the Plateau just wandering. It took me forever to realize there were no hearts in the grass and that spicy peppers only work when cooked. Once I left however it turned into nothing more than a warp point from which I could warp to and then glide to certain areas nearby. I feel this is a flaw in all aspects of BOTW. When i first played it was true exploration. I still was learning the world and that there were no quest items. For heavens sake it took me 200 hours to kill ganon and collect the champions tunic. I never hunted the shrines I just came across them, never went out of my way to do anything I just lived in that world. When I played for the second time it never felt the same because I knew that shrines and certain weapons were important and that certain things were easy if you did them a certain way. BOTW's biggest short coming is its lack of replayability as no matter what I always felt that something was off. Nothing ever grabbed that sense of wonder that it did the first time. Compared to Ocarina of time, which has never given me this feeling due to the story being the focus so I get to relive every moment and still play things with some level of blindness. Thanks for reading have a good one
Nintendo has masterful tutorials. Another example is Super Mario Bros. 1-1. Within a single screen pan, you are taught: how to jump, how to kill an enemy, how to obtain power ups and what they do.
I can see where you’re coming from. My latest playthrough has a self-imposed rule:
For all heart/stamina upgrades, Link can only receive them from the Hylia statue at the Temple of Time. It makes for a convenient excuse to return or stop by during my travels. 😅
i went back to get revenge on the stone talus, and before, i get supplies since i felt if they respawn why not farm it for supplies? granted i played hard stealth during the first 75% of my first play through lol
What would've been cool is when you come back, someone is found sitting on the edge or somewhere like "hey I was exploring and got stuck up here. Anyway while I'm here, wanna play a game?" Like you get after completing Eventide, or climbing up certain towers.
I don’t think the Great Plateau has any problems that all game intros/tutorials don’t have, and within that it’s a pretty damn great tutorial section. I suppose it would be cool if you had to return to the Temple of Time for some reason later in the game, but I definitely don’t mind repeating the Great Plateau upon replaying the game.
i feel like the great plateau could've easily been used as a sort of hub area. lots of stuff in game alludes to the fact that the main danger from the calamity had receded toward the castle and central area, since all forms of civilization any closer than kakariko and hateno were wiped out already. it would've been a great idea to have the plateau be restored incrementally as you progress through the game, with each race you help contributing to a sort of staging area for the battle with the calamity. could've been a cool way to get people who skipped the side content there to go back, for example, after you help the gorons, they could try to start mining there and end up asking for help dealing with the stone talus, if you hadn't beaten it already. either way, great video, keep it up!
Something that could have been done is a side quest to find a way to clear what was once the entrance to the Plateau of its rubble. That could have opened up possibilities of other side quests and possibly the construction of a new stable. OH! That could lead to helping with finding supplies to build the stable! Once that quest is done, the screen flashes white and voila! A brand new stable! I think that would be pretty sick.
Shoutout to the Discord Family ✨
💜
I do agree but it was kinda designed to be revisited with the DLC. I do wish you could go back and converse with the King for some special dialogue after you completed game quests.
I love the great plateau! It’s not only a great tutorial and where Link receives his quest, but it also encompasses the whole atmosphere in the game in a nutshell. I love exploring maps, so after, when I had better stats and weapons, I took another look at it, hoping to get to more places. Sadly, there isn’t much, so I agree in that regard. I wish there were more content for it!
I had never really thought about it, but you are totally right, the Great Plateau is such an iconic area but is critically underused. At least we got to fight through it in Age of Calamity.
Thanks for this video, HG. I agree that I would have loved to see some more incorporation of the Great Plateau and the Faron region in the base game. DLC did help the former and the sequel will help the latter I hope.
As an idea based upon some of the findings from the new ToTK game footage that we've seen would be to explore some of the underground area in the Great Plateau or perhaps it became a sky island (which we cannot tell either way in the most recent trailer footage).
In any case, I cannot wait to see what we get in less than four months from this post!!
I can see your argument and can agree with it. I do enjoy the Great Plateau and think it should have had more of a reason to exist outside of its tutorial sequences, but I can think of two points to counter this.
First and foremost, it is mainly a tutorial, like you said. It's more to prepare you for the rest of the game and the huge land of Hyrule that you can explore at your leisure. With that reasoning, perhaps it's not meant to be a place to go back to again and again like other locations. Not to mention, it doesn't have a whole lot of secrets to uncover that will prove valuable on your quest. It's mainly just a stepping stone, a way to get you used to the game mechanics and then allow you to become free to choose your next path.
Secondly, while the idea of going back to the Great Plateau for a couple of sidequests or other reasons (excluding DLC) would be cool, it's understandable why you don't need to do so. This is mainly due to how the Great Plateau is inaccessible to the general public, thanks to the towering walls surrounding it and how the main entrance is blocked off by rubble and the steps leading up to the plateau are submerged under water. While Link can easily make it up there by warping to the Sheikah Tower or one of the few shrines scattered across the area, the same cannot be said regarding the general populace. Besides, even though the general threat of Calamity Ganon has died down and there are traders and explorers who have built up the courage to roam across the once prosperous kingdom, it's entirely plausible that the Great Plateau may have been all but forgotten by the remaining population, hence why nobody in the game even mentions the area by name.
After doing my recent replay through I agree 100%!!! And it's not just because the Great Plateau is underused(it served it's purpose for gameplay and is perfect as one piece) but the people of Hyrule lost a great chunk of their heritage after the Calamity and the current residents are none the wiser. Unlike the players that have played previous Zelda titles the NPCs don't realize the significance of the Temple of Time or even all the statues of Hylia that are littered around the kingdom. The Great Plateau is the heart of the kingdom and was obviously an important pilgrimage site for Hylians that had been preserved for centuries, if not thousands of years. And after the Calamity it's been reduced to just rumors and tall tales. No NPC is seriously determined to explore it. Maybe it's just me but that's heartbreaking.
And there needs to be more permanent settlements other than Hateno, Kakoriko, and Tarrey Town. Most Hylians now are nomadic or live at the stables scattered around Hyrule. If there was a major side quest of helping an NPC or even a large group to rediscover and resettle on the Great Plateau(image the Tarrey Town side quest but bigger) it would have high lighted such an vital area. Players spend majority of the game discovering Hyrule, helping NPCs rediscover the Great Plateau would have made the game experience come full circle.
I kind of agree with this. The reason I'd never go back or travel around it was because you never unlock or get a way to get back there without fast traveling or slogging your way back up by climbing, which takes a while.
That's a very interesting point and I totally agree, it's a bummer that there isn't more lore here. But I never thought that deeply about it cause , and here comes the mind blow, in the German version it's the FORGOTTEN plateau and therefore it made total sense that you never really get back there and actually forget it.
I’ve been playing horizon forbidden west for the first time, and couldn’t help but draw comparison in their intro tutorials. One difference is that in horizon, you don’t stop getting those hints after your first encounter, like in Zelda, you keep hearing Aloy mention it, and it’s as annoying as Navi. I agreed with your take, and I think the developers also agreed since the dlc fixed that problem.
You can even find the koroks before you leave the Great Plateau for the first time. And the Stone Talus for Kilton's quest.
You actually can have multiple save files on only 1 Switch account, not on Master Mode because there is only 1 manual save and 1 auto save but on normal difficulty there are about 12 save slots. You'd just have to make sure not to save too many times and go back to your other file in between your play sessions on your second/third playthrough.
Yeah, I agree. When I saw the Temple of Time on the Plateau, I thought we would have some mission involving it and I wish there was something more to it than just being a landmark.
You: It makes sense not to go backwards
Skyward sword speedrunners: I disagree
Deltarune did a thing where if you're playing Chapter 1 for the second time or more, you can get back into Kris' bed to skip to the Dark World; thought that was worth a mention.
I definitely agree, especially about the Temple of Time and the Great Plateau having literally nothing to offer after the tutorial, but homestly ‘controversial’ is an unnecessarily clickbaity word to use here. It connotes actual controversy but you specifically indicate it is merely personal opinion.
Maybe the lack of ceremony/attention to the Temple of Time and other historical bits on the Great Plateau is a symbol of how beaten back the spirits of the Hylians are at this point in the story?
I can totally see that. Even the great fairies fountains are reduced to dull bulbs due to the lack of offerings. One is literally uphill from the untouched Kakoriko village and the residents don't visit her. Now that I think of it I don't recall any NPC mention the three golden goddesses at all and only a few ever talk about Hylia or her statues that a literally all over Hyrule. It's like a complete cultural disconnect after the Calamity happened. But even Zelda was having trouble understanding what her powers were and how to use them so it could have happened over few good centuries before Hyrule fell.
@@tdl487 oh absolutely! And they even highlight in the story how much Zelda wasn't able to Learn from her mother before her passing, who's to say how much cultural and spiritual knowledge was lost and unable to be passed on to the people Just by that one death?
Valid points, I agree (to a degree). That said I actually think the area has one even more glaring issue that I’ve only started considering after watching a decent amount of let’s plays on this platform: the bomb trial is flawed. I feel that the Ja Baij shrine (and to a lesser extent the areas immediately surrounding it) is flawed in that it focuses solely on puzzle solving techniques and never asks you to use them offensively. Certain types of players (like myself) might not need this concept to be illustrated by the game but time and time again within the first 10-15 hours of people playing this game they basically forget they have bombs. As a result they exhaust their weapons too quickly in combat or resource collection, and get slightly frustrated.
Bombs are such a crucial resource and integral piece(tool) of the game’s combat puzzle. While they may not do that much damage on their own they can distract, disarm, separate groups, stun, send in to water or off high ledges, and trigger incendiary elements AND YOU ALWAYS HAVE THEM.
If there’s one thing I would rethink about the plateau, it’s the bomb trial.
The Great Plateau is a place to collect arrows since it is one of the few places where arrows drop regardless of the amount in inventory.
In every play through I end up returning to the Great Plateau at least once every blood moon. To practice my perfect guard against the decayed guardians, killing bokoblin archers for arrows, killing the stone talus for ores, and gathering resources. I mean that it wasn’t till I did a thorough search of the great plateau that I found that there are at least one or two silent shrooms in the forest of spirits.
This comment might seem out of place but please bear with it! My point will be at the end of it.
When the old man said The Great Plateau is the birth place of Hyrule, I took that to mean "This is the original Hyrule Field!" not the whole Ocarina of Time map, but the central travel point to reach the other places. I.E. Kakariko village, death mountain, Zora's domain, Lake Hylia, and Gerudo Valley.
Parts on the edge of it are missing but most of it is there. Kakariko village is under the the flooded River of the dead, which flows out from the original Zora's Domain (the entrance of which, lies behind the waterfall) And I believe Mount Hylia is the old Death Mountain.
I'm saying all this wondering if these former places will be rediscovered in Tears of the Kingdom, thus giving the Great Plateau more love and a huge role in the sequel!
I went back to it loads of times. It's a really quick way to collect monster parts (upgrades, kilton) and I went to the temple of time for pretty much all my upgrades. (I was WELL into the post-game before I realized you could go to any goddess statue. It just never occurred to me to try.)
I do totally agree with you. I do occasionally visit the Great Plateau, but it is solely for the purpose of visiting the Temple of Time and paying my respects at the Goddess Statue
I thought I was the only who felt this way about the plateau I’ve never liked how it is pointless after the tutorial. They should’ve added main quest where you go under the plateau and have a classic style dungeon. Or something like a secret forest under the plateau with a secret village. They could’ve gone a lot of ways with this but it could have been an amazing transforming area like terry town where you rebuild it. Shame.
I think the great platue was really fun to go through and learn how to play the game, though like he said, there's not really a reason to go back, the only reason I ever go there any more is to gather resources
I always go back back to the plateau because it’s the only prayer site I can remember the location of for sure
I used the Great Plateau as a place to farm arrows and unwind after long gaming sessions. It’s a perfect place to get a guaranteed couple hundred arrows and to practice your more advanced skills that you learn over the course of the game. The part of the game I visited least west the northern snowy mountains. I feel like that had the most wasted potential
"It's fun and interactive learning, something schools should do more of by the way." 💘I couldn't agree more on that! Very interesting video and point of view on the Great Plateau; I happened to share this thought while playing the game - and remembering this area actually existed. It's a great (non looking like) tutorial but it's a pity we don't need to go back there, it feels a bit like an unexplored potential. But it's all those little "flaws" (dare I say) that make this game so perfect and enjoyable after all 😍
I love the great plateau. Both as a tutorial and as a place to go back and relax. When I need to do some hunting or foraging I find it a nice place to do so
I was bored and went back to the plateau late game. I found a bunch of hidden chests including the one with the warm doublet
I was very late game, master sword, fully upgraded champions tunic, meals for days, and found a bunch of chests with bundles of arrows and travelers swords. Really made me regret not coming back earlier
My 2 favorite options to have the great plateau more involved are to have Link's house there, there wasn't huge motive to go back to hateno aside from the shops but I liked going home and spent a lot of time there. Second option is to have another construction side quest to repair the area. Fix up ruins around the map and have the temple of time be one of them. Although I think that fits more for a sequel than the endgame because stopping the calamity should come before repairing the world.
It didn't bother me that you don't really return to the plateau but I agree that it has some missed opportunities
I spent hours on the plateau the first time. I also kept returning to collect resources because I knew where they were. And as a jump off point for the Gerudo side.
I do like the Great Plateau but I can say I never returned until I was at least 500 hours in, I even got the 19 koroks before leaving the Plateau for the first time so until I was able to afford the DLC later there really was no reason for me to go back.
I can agree for sure that it would've been cool if they had additional side quests related to the Great Plateau where that would be our reason for returning, not fetch quests of course since we already have way too many of those but it would have been a great opportunity to add some quests that for example to test how our combat has improved since leaving the Plateau, not like how the DLC does but make it feel more like when we first started there, you know kind of make it nostalgic so that we really look forward to returning, or what if the Old Man ran a mini game on the Great Plateau, or like the idea HG put out there about quests that might tell you more about the Great Plateau's mysterious lost history, I thought that was a really good idea too since the Temple of Time itself is underwhelming when it comes to exploring in & around it so giving it some cannon history would make it way more interesting.
The GP was a decent tutorial section the first time around. In my experience consecutive play throughs became tedious. I think the save file idea you gave would work great if they changed the system a bit. Omg YES! The Temple of Time was a huge let down in BotW. One or two side quests including it would’ve been dope. They could’ve included it in finding the MS or something. Anyhow loved the video dude! Fantastic as always.
Thanks man!
I think it would've been cool if NPC's moved into the great plateau after a while, it would've been very interesting to see people there and do quests for them
I think the Plateau is an overworld "smaller area" with tons of things to learn and to do. When you fall down to Hyrule Field, things tend to be too much far away and with lots os empty spaces. I think this will be the same in Tears Of The Kingdom, but I hope they make it better.
For me, it’s fifty-fifty. While a big part of me wishes there was at least like one quest involving the plateau, I kind of agree with what I assume is the developer’s reasons to not do it.
If you have too much focus on the beginning area, why would you WANT to leave? And if you keep coming back, did it serve its purpose or not? I don’t want a game that basically reinvents Minecraft, where you get your little base area of operations and occasionally venture from there. They wanted people to get a taste for the world beyond and not have the need to come back. Exploration as a concept is branching into the unknown, not hiding where things are familiar. Otherwise, everyone would just be too attached to the plateau, and there is so much more to see.
my guess is that they wanted fast travelling to be optional
because you would have to climb the high walls every time you found a sidequest that sends you there. which was propebly not fun to the devs
I agree. I went back there quite a bit in hopes that it would trigger a memory cutscene or something.
I have a feeling the plateau will be much more used in Tears of the Kingdom
Agreed and also tears is said to start on rails linear so it will it's self have a fixed opening section it's own great plat, wonder how they will do it
I agree with you that unless you have the DLC the plateau area just sits there doing nothing the whole game. The should have made a shrine quest or something around the Temple of Time, and made other quests for that area.
Awesome video! I think the plateau its fine as it is tbh, most people wont play the game more than once or twice at best.
A bit unrelated, but I dont think its necessary to color grade the footage, it looks overly saturated and kinda hard to see. The original colors are just fine and pleasant.
I've played it through twice - the first time I don't think I came back to the Plateau again after I left! The second time, I was more comfortable with the game and wanted to explore places, so I came back and had a hunt around.
It's a shame that once you fly down from the Plateau that you can't clear the rubble and thus make it more of a part of the game!
I think a way to make it more...relevent maybe...would be restoring and recolonising the main plateau. Creating a main base of operations for the player, quests, shops, and, and yes, the temple of time restored and maybe in use by the npcs who take up residence their, maybe the new hub of the kingdom.
Reasons I returned to the Great Plateau:
1. It has a statue of the Goddess that I can easily find and use to buy hearts and stamina.
2. The Champions Ballad.
I generally agree with your comments. I actually have forced myself to go back just to explore. I know there isnt anything there, but it just seems a waste to not go visit it from time to time.
I get what you're saying. I never thought of that. I'm sure we'll be able to in Tears of the Kingdom.
I myself return to kill the Talus, gather the hot pepper and grab another torch if I lost my previous one. I also use the tower for the BLSS glitch to either soar towards twin peaks, Hyrule Castle or Lake Hylia. I also go back to kill the white Bokoblins (or the gold ones if I'm in Master Mode) for rubies or sapphires. I usually don't. That's what the Talus are for.
Thumbs up.
Could be a subtle message to tell u the way u remember Zelda forget it, it's a whole new game rendering the timeline almost irrelevant. So it's a metaphor for the old being left behind no need to return and welcome to the new hyrule
Ruined Lon Lon ranch has lore & history, and there's no reason to go to it other then a korok seed.
You just summarized Breath of the Wild
"Imperfectly perfect"
I think I can understand why people weren’t keen on the Great Plateau, but I love it so much.
I loved the feeling of running around surviving in this little micro-environment which felt so full and learning new things as I went.
I never really enjoy tutorials which feel super forced and Breath of the Wild was the first game tutorial which didn’t feel that way and that’s why I love it so much.
Wasn’t keen on how it straight up becomes empty and depressing the second you complete it and the Old Man disappears. Was sad that in the base game they didn’t treat it like a modern Metroidvania where they have something major change about the opening area and give you a reason to revisit and to make it more difficult to explore that area.
I’d love to see something like the Plateau in Tears of the Kingdom. I’d be unbelievably happy with a similar situation but it’s on a floating island instead… but if they make the new tutorial area the Great Plateau risen up into the air that will be very strange and disappointing unless they make major changes to the area to make it feel very new. Finding the plateau as not a tutorial area, but still risen up as a new sky island would have very interesting lore implications and make it feel like the area has had a redemption!
I think it just fits with this version of hyrule, the great plateu is a historical site that was forgotten for the most of his inhabitants. I think that it's ruining from longer then one hundred years, a old piece of hyrule that lives in the minds and the hearts of players and old sages of hyrule.
Lore wise the great plateau was empty of npc's cause no one outside of the plateau, can reach its plains cause of the entrance have been buried in by dirt and rubble and also the cliffs surrounding it.
i guess the lack of reason to return to the great plateau is what kind of betrays its tutorial-nature. i feel like the devs might have thought that having you return to the great plateau would have felt too much like going back to square one when they want you to focus on the expansive world beyond. i mean, in the dlc, it is literally framed like that, like you're returning to where the journey began and engaging in another set of challenges/shrines that doesn't feel altogether too different from the quest of the rune shrines.
The plateau kinda represents how much of the land in the game is underutilized. I remember you said it was good for botw w/ the post-apocalyptic setting. But for Totk it should be much more populated & lively. It's like how Aonuma said he wanted to do more with that world
I agree that there was some missed potential on the plateau. Also I can swap between Master mode and regular mode with one problem,i actually saved my file in another location in case it overwrote my original
I guess it's cool because it teaches you stuff about Nintendo's first open world Zelda game...
(It kind of feels like an RPG game, where you have to have armor, weapons, sound meter (stealth) and temperature to deal with!)
i enjoy it. and my favorite part is of course the cool tower cutscene. but most of all. the old man. i enjoy his presence. and am sad to see him go.
Unless it acts as a tutorial area again in TOTK, then they'll have to fix this problem in that game which will be very interesting to see, maybe there'll be npcs and more this time
I think a cool gameplay thing that they could do in the sequel would be to explore the ruins of structures from previous games and uncover the history behind the legends that have made it to modern day and learn about previous heroes to preserve things for posterity
Humorously enough I never thought about it, I've restarted several times now. When you said about burning through it you're most definitely right. I don't start paying attention to the game fully until I get the glider. Though to cause a blood moon I do tend to go bokoblin homicidal around here to get into the one shrine, and just when I want to mess around I spend time just tooling around up there cause it has almost all the biomes.
I will say as everyone else I loved the GP, that being said I saw a need to return there more in earlier game for resources and to use the old man's cabin for a place to sleep. Would love more action there in the vanilla game but don't necessarily feel it was "under" utilized
How would everyone like to have seen the temple of time restore as you progress through the Botw … even ToTK too?
Some really interesting points about the Great Plateau, I haven't quite thought about it like that before! I think another thing to consider is how this might affect how dungeons will be made (if they are) in Tears of the Kingdom. Considering the sequel is going to be open world also, it's gonna be interesting if they will give us replicability for the dungeons like side quests at that location, or more story details.
Honestly, I agree with a bunch of what you said, but it's so click baity to make it seems that it is ''VERY controversial'' when it's not really. People love the region and agree that there should've been more to do after tutorial. It's not a controversial place, you can like something and point its flawed lol
It's my opinion that it's very controversial and I am sharing that. Not too sure how that's clickbaity. I do understand what you mean though, but don't feel it is as I talk about exactly what the title says.
@@HyruleGamer for something to be controversial it needs to be controversial, like an opinion so divided that it creates controversy. You can’t say something is controversial based on only one’s opinion, that’s not how it works.