From the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Image from Nintendo Switch version taken by C. Wassenaar and via Nintendo.
6. Place Names Matter
As with the musical references, it’s far easier to focus on just a few specific examples that typify the level of thought that went into naming locations in Breath of the Wild. Since we’ve focused a lot on the big games like Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and The Wind Waker, I wanted to take a moment to point out some of the locations named after characters or places from other games.
For example, in the photo above, you can see Mikau Lake as well as Lulu Lake. To the left, you’ll see part of Zora’s Domain. Mikau and Lulu are characters from Majora’s Mask. In fact, Mikau’s spirit is what gives you the Zora Mask, and that Link uses it to aid Lulu by finding and retrieving her eggs from Gerudo pirates.
The references don’t stop there, however. To keep things in Lanayru, you’ll find the Lodrum Headland and Brynna Plain to the east, around Lanayru Bay. Those two refer to the Oracle games. Oracle of Seasons sees a Link travel to the land of Holodrum; in Oracle of Ages, he’ll go to Labrynna instead. (He even rescues Nayru in Ages, to go one level deeper. For Seasons, you’re trying to help the oracle Din instead.)
Finally, Tal Tal Peak, also in Lanayru, refers to the Tal Tal Heights of Link’s Awakening.