The Legend of Zelda is known for its exploration and environmental storytelling, and Breath of the Wild’s enormous open world map draws players into the biggest iteration of Hyrule in the franchise so far. Each Zelda game introduces a new map of Hyrule or a neighboring region, inviting players to explore a different version of the land as its legendary heroes are reborn throughout the eras. There are dozens of maps that serve as settings for Link’s adventures, many of which felt bigger and more beautiful than the last at the time of each game’s release.
Estimating in-game map sizes isn’t an exact science, but many players and fans use common factors to calculate distance. The height of Link’s character models, the player’s movement speed, and the relative height or length of measurable landmarks often produce relatively accurate estimates, though the final calculated results of each map’s size tend to vary. Nintendo hasn’t released any official numbers, but BOTW’s map is the series’ largest by an undeniably wide margin.
BOTW’s Hyrule spans a calculated area of approximately 23 square miles, or around 60 square kilometers, according to Mashable. That’s about the same size as Manhattan, which gives Link plenty of ground to cover on his quest to defeat Calamity Ganon. BOTW’s map is forty times larger than Ocarina of Time’s version of Hyrule, which is only slightly larger than BOTW’s Great Plateau. After BOTW, the games with the largest maps in the Zelda series are Twilight Princess, The Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword.
Twilight Princess Has One Of Zelda’s Biggest Maps
Twilight Princess is about 14 times smaller than BOTW. Still, the game received well-earned praise for its map size when it was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii in 2006. With a vast Hyrule Field spanning a distance nearly as large as Ocarina of Time’s entire overworld, Twilight Princess’ 1.7 square miles map drew players into an expansive world that introduced the names of Hyrule’s major provinces. Link’s adventure takes him back and forth between the Twilight Realm in this game, altering the scenery and challenges players face in each area as they progress.
The Wind Waker’s Great Sea Is A Huge Flooded Zelda Map
Link sets sail across the Great Sea in Wind Waker, exploring its many memorable islands created by Hyrule's flooded remains on his quest to recover the Triforce. Since Link’s height and walking speed are often key factors in map size calculation, the Hero of Winds’ unique mode of transportation makes it more difficult to calculate the map’s actual area. Fan estimates tend to range between 1 and 8 square kilometers, which would place the size of Wind Waker’s map anywhere between that of Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild.
Skyward Sword’s Sky And Surface Make A Massive Map
In Skyward Sword, Link soars above the clouds with his Loftwing and drops into each area of the Surface below rather than exploring Hyrule on foot. Between the map’s three large Surface provinces and a wide open Sky world, Skyward Sword offers one of the biggest explorable areas in the Zelda franchise. Since the Surface is split into loosely connected areas, however, it’s difficult to determine the actual size of Hyrule based on the game’s map. Regardless, the reintroduction of Hyrule’s sky area in Tears of the Kingdom may expand BOTW’s massive map even more, which would make the upcoming game’s map the biggest in The Legend of Zelda so far.
Source: Mashable