Summary
Lookout Landing inTears of the Kingdommight feel familiar to longtimeZeldafans. While the name of the location is brand new to the franchise, the purpose of the area is one that has been served in previous games by Castle Town, the capital town of Hyrule that sits near Hyrule Castle.Tears of the Kingdomuses Lookout Landing as a hub for the player, just like Castle Town has been in the past.
Castle Town is a recurring location throughout the franchise, often serving as a hub location for the player during their quest. The most notable appearances come fromOcarina of TimeandTwilight Princess,but the central seat of Hyrule has a storied history, appearing in a majority of the games in some shape or form, making it one ofZelda’s best hub locations. The setting forTears of the Kingdomdoesn’t allow for a proper town as players would expect due to the post-apocalypse feeling the game is intended to have. However,Tears of the Kingdomdoes have a hub in the form of Lookout Landing. Though smaller than the hubs of other games, Lookout Landing scratches the itch that some players had for a version of Castle Town, but its size is ultimately a reminder of the need for a proper town in the nextZeldagame.
Is Lookout Landing the New Castle Town?
Previous games in theZeldaseries have taken a hub-and-spoke direction in gameplay and story, giving the player a central area to return to before undertaking the next main questline in the game. Castle Town served as this hub in most of the games that needed one, while also serving as an in-universe hub of commerce and central location in the kingdom. It was an area full of shops for the player to stock up on arrows and potions, NPSc to talk to and receive quests from, secrets to discover, and so much more. WhenBreath of the Wildpresented players with a version of Hyrule destroyed by war and calamity, it made sense that this town wouldn’t exist. WithTears of the Kingdombeing a direct sequel, developers decided to make somechanges to Hyrulein order to show rebuilding in progress, leading to the location of Lookout Landing.
Games that include a notible version of Castle Town Include
Lookout Landing is a very small area compared toTears of the Kingdom’s overworld map, but does still offer most of the activities that Castle Town has become known for. It is the location where the player receives their main quest, and a place they return to frequently for updates on it. The budding town also grows throughout the game. Each time the player completes one of the main quests, some inhabitants of the region they saved will show up around Lookout Landing. That region’s armor sets and specialties will also appear in the small shop in the area. This gives players a real feeling that they are helping Hyrule in the process of rebuilding the world that they saved in the last game.
A Return to Form Should Include Castle Town
Looking at the series moving forward, it appears that it may keep the open world style that so many players love aboutTears of the Kingdom. The next game in the series will probablymove away from the post-apocalyptic ruins of Hyrulethat have been present lately. With a more thriving setting, a true version of Castle Town would be the perfect hub location for the next open worldZeldagame. Lookout Landing gives a taste of what that town might look like, but imagining the growing area being the size of a town rather than a small encampment brings exciting ideas to mind.
While Lookout Landing is far from a full-fledged Castle Town, it shows that the developers still wanted to include some version of that central hub inTears of the Kingdom. This is a good sign for the next game. Because of the ruined setting,Tears of the Kingdomdidn’t have room for a large settlement, but afuture open-worldZeldagamecould. This could help the next open worldZeldatitle feel like a return to form for the series while still keeping some of the lessons the developers learned about open-world gameplay. The future of theZeldaseries is bright, but it shouldn’t be taken as a given that the next game will be as good as the last. Adding Castle Town is just the improvement the series needs to appeal to old school fans while still moving forward.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
