The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild introduced multiple new and inventive ideas to the series, one of those being Ancient Shrines. Scattered across the land of Hyrule, Shrines offer you a plethora of small challenges and puzzles to overcome, while rewarding you with Spirit Orbs that can be exchanged for Heart Pieces or Stamina Vessels. Shrines not only help to provide BOTW with a constant sense of progression, but they often serve as a nice reprieve from the constant threats and dangerous encounters that could be found across the overworld.

For the longest time, I was under the assumption that BOTW was the first title where such an idea was made. However, I recently discovered that an older Zelda game was close to including a very similar concept before being scrapped. While this particular Zelda game turned out to be fantastic, it left me wondering about the potential that this idea had to elevate the title and make effective use of its central mechanic.

A Link Between Worlds Could Have Had Many Smaller Dungeons

The Idea Is Very Similar To BOTW's Shrines

Before BOTW released, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds almost adopted a similar idea to Shrines. This was revealed in an Iwata Asks interview that was ed onto Nintendo's website in 2013, where the game's assistant director, Kentaro Tominaga, discusses ideas he made surrounding the title's signature wall-merging ability. Tominaga mentioned how he designed "a few small dungeons" around the mechanic, and presented them to Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto, with the intention of "making 50 more of these" for the final game.

The idea of creating multiple smaller dungeons in A Link Between Worlds bears a striking resemblance to the concept of Shrines in BOTW. The latter game's Shrines essentially serve as miniature dungeons, with each one containing a puzzle or enemy encounter to overcome. Moreover, rather than having each Shrine surround an obtainable item that was common in other Zelda games, BOTW has you rely on the Sheikah Slate abilities that you collect on the Great Plateau in order to clear the rest, which seemed to be the intention with the smaller dungeons and wall-merging mechanic in A Link Between Worlds.

Despite their similarities, there's no confirmation that the smaller dungeons planned for A Link Between Worlds directly influenced the inclusion of Shrines in Breath of the Wild.

While I was surprised to learn that A Link Between Worlds had a similar concept to the Shrines in BOTW, it wouldn't be the first time the two games were connected in such a way. For example, A Link Between Worlds toyed with the idea of allowing you to complete its major dungeons in any given order, which served as a major stepping stone towards BOTW's emphasis on non-linearity and player freedom. Yet, I kept thinking about this scrapped concept in particular and its similarity to BOTW, as I soon realized just how incredible this idea could have been.

Smaller Dungeons Could Have Made Great Use Of The Wall Mechanic

The Dungeons Would Test Players' Familiarity With The Ability

I think the idea of smaller dungeons in A Link Between Worlds would have been a great way to test your use of the game's central wall-merging mechanic. What I've always adored about BOTW's Shrines is how they consistently test my familiarity with the Sheikah Slate abilities. Whether it's creating a path forward or finding a hidden treasure chest, you're constantly made to consider the different ways each ability can be used in order to find a solution, resulting in a multitude of engaging and challenging puzzles.

It's that test of your expertise that would have made smaller dungeons such a great inclusion in A Link Between Worlds. The addition of areas centered around the wall-merging mechanic would have forced you to become far more observant of the surrounding environment in order to find the way forward. Moreover, the puzzles that these smaller dungeons presented would have made you consider more carefully when and how you make use of wall-merging, allowing A Link Between Worlds to take full advantage of its central mechanic.

Moreover, the inclusion of smaller dungeons in A Link Between Worlds also could have allowed for more creativity and freedom in how you approach each challenge. Another reason why BOTW's Shrines are so fun to explore is how they offer multiple different solutions to their puzzles, giving you the freedom to experiment with the tools at your disposal. That experimentation would have fit perfectly for A Link Between Worlds, allowing you to use the wall-merging mechanic and other items as you see fit to complete a dungeon, while providing a greater sense of accomplishment in the process.

The Idea For A Link Between Worlds Was Ultimately Rejected

The Game Still Makes Great Use Of Its Wall-Merging Mechanic

Unfortunately, despite the huge amount of potential that the idea possessed, the inclusion of multiple smaller dungeons never came to be. As Tominaga explains, Miyamoto was not a fan of the concept, claiming, "He tore it up!" Miyamoto later suggested that the game be turned into a sequel to the SNES classic A Link To The Past, resulting in A Link Between Worlds's more familiar structure and setting.

That's not to say the final version of A Link Between Worlds failed to make effective use of the wall-merging mechanic. The inclusion of dual worlds with Hyrule and Lorule makes great use of the ability by forcing you to observe the layout of both kingdoms and the differences between them. In doing so, you can begin to strategize the ideal path forward in order to obtain items and rewards that would otherwise be unattainable, showing how A Link Between Worlds effectively tests your familiarity with the game's central mechanic.

However, I can't help but feel that the inclusion of smaller dungeons could have pushed the wall-merging ability even further. Just like Breath of the Wild achieved with its Shrines, the smaller dungeons in A Link Between Worlds could have provided that element of creativity and experimentation to make its puzzles even more fun to solve. As much as I adore A Link Between Worlds, I'm a little disappointed that the concept of smaller dungeons never came to be.

Source: Nintendo