The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[speedfreak]

Except for, y'know, the story actually being fantastic and almost every single character feeling alive and important?

Maybe in gameplay, but if this ends up like Phantom Hourglass (fun controls, nice graphics and shit everything else) then said departure doesn't mean anything at all.

if they're trying to get the reaction they got at E3 '04, it's impossible, they've already shown the artstyle to be exactly the same as TP's (how boring for something supposed to be "new" huh?), and we pretty much know the sword is a girl. That's all the game's surpises gone already.

When I talk about the game being different I'm talking specifically from a gameplay/game structure standpoint. I don't really factor story into the equation to be honest. However, even with the things you noted MM wasn't THAT different then your run of the mill Zelda. It was still very familiar. As I said it was a bit different but in no way a huge departure that some people seem to act like it was.

As for the art style for this new Zelda being the same as TP, well it's a HUGE plus in my book. You'll have a hard time convincing me that it's a bad thing. Anyway the art style is the same but that doesn't mean the game will look exactly like TP. Remember TP was really a GCN game. I'm sure this one built especially for the Wii will differentiate itself from TP. Miyamoto even makes a comment about it in the new Nintendo power (if you'd like I'll type up what he says about it). Besides what's wrong with the new Zelda looking a bit similar to TP? MM looked almost exactly like OOT and here you are defending it to the death.

Also any hope of getting the E304 response went out the window when they decided to announce the game with a little dinky piece of art and next to no info instead of a gloriously epic trailer right at the end of their press conference. Trust me, if this thing was shown in trailer form right at the end of Nintendo's show people would have went nuts. It might not have received the same fangasms as the TP trailer but the reaction would have still been huge. This is Zelda we're talking about after all.

Edit: Also everything Ashurbanipal said.

Edited July 5, 2009 by speedfreak

[SuperLink]

I'm just very disappointed at the fact the style is the same for a completely different era (Miyamoto already said it's not set in the TP era, and if it did then that would mean Link suddenly became right handed after TP). I miss the days where every different Link had a different look, but now it's either Toon Link or TP Link, and no mature styled Young Link T-T

This game needs:

- An exciting or interesting story.

- To be hard or have a hard mode.

- For the dungeons to have a reason other than elemental based collectathons.

I don't even care about the graphics, although it'll probably look nice, hopefully a bit weirder and less dull/empty (not sure how to describe it) than TP though.

EDIT: With the same style as TP it definitely wouldn't have had the shocker value that TP or WW originally had even if it was shown at E3...

I don't see how you think story doesn't enter the equation. TP's story was tired and predictable. One of the reasons I love MM is because it was so unique, and while TP tried to be dark and sinister it just wasn't in comparison, things could have easily been much more interesting than they were.

MM looking the same as OoT was fine because it was on the same console and they had the same Link, plus MM itself was so unique and weird. This is two different Links on two different consoles from two different eras, and they look exactly the same!

Edited July 5, 2009 by SuperLink

[speedfreak]

People were so hyped for a new Zelda to be shown at E3 that they would have flipped no matter what. No of course it wouldn't have been as big as TP reveal. That was only as big as it was because the style of the game went from one extreme to the other. Most were expecting WW 2. As for WW, while most people are cool with the look of WW now, the reveal was met with almost universal negative feedback.

Yep MM had a unique story but the fundamentals of how a Zelda game plays out were not very different then your basic Zelda. I will admit that the side quests in MM were much better then past Zelda adventures however. How many times do I have to say MM was different but not some drastic departure from the norm some make it out to be. Incidentally why don't you complain about WW's story? It was just as "tired and predictable" as TP, if not more so.

Well I know TP was originally built for the GCN but it is on Wii also. It even came out on Wii first. Even if you dismiss that, it's not like Wii is leaps and bounds over the GCN. Also even if it isn't the same Link, this style/portrayal of Link deserves a second game. Every Link has had TWO games devoted to them. It seems as if TP Link is being shunned by only getting one. The least they can do is another game that uses the same style/portrayal of TP Link IMO.

[SuperLink]

So far Toon Link has had 6 games devoted to him. =_=

I see what you mean, but after seeing what they've done with Toon Link can you blame me for reacting this way? We've only had 2 or 3 new Links in the past decade, I wouldn't be surprised if we only have TP Link and Toon Link from here on out.

I don't really complain about WW because it was so different to OoT and TP in terms of feel, but also because it was really also quite soon after the N64 games.

I'm not trying to suggest that MM was a drastic departure in gameplay, but definitely structure and story. There has been no other Zelda like it. Every dungeon was wholly interwined with the people's problems, and weren't just some collectathon.

And to be honest that's all I really care about. Story and presentation have really affected the way I feel about Zelda titles. I don't care about graphics, and although it looks like we'll have a whole new gameplay system anyway, I'd be perfectly happy with the same gameplay. I just want a Zelda game full of surprises and intruige, the likes of which we haven't had since MM.

[speedfreak]

Well I'd say a living Master Sword is a good start then. You may get your wish, we still know very little.

[Solid SOAP]

I'm going to wait for a trailer and screens before I make any assumptions or opinions about this game. So far, all I'm excited for is a new Zelda game that makes use of the Wii's motion plus control enhancer, and potentially better graphics than Twilight Princess. I'm hoping that they can make this game look as good as Super Mario Galaxy, which, even if it's a Wii game, was one of the most visually stunning games I've played this generation.

[Gabz Girl]

I have been thinking about this, and will be going with what Solid SOAP said. I'll just wait for more screenshots and stuff before making any further assumptions. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be another TP, I want something unique~

Oh yeah, and I definitely hope for the same kind of graphics as SMG! The enviroments would look amazing.

[Solid SOAP]

Yes, if Nintendo were able to make Mario look amazing on the Wii, why not Zelda this time? I'll settle for anything better looking than TP, honestly. But I'm really hoping for something that somehow manages to rival what a 360/PS3 game looks like, like Mario Galaxy did.

[DarkDefeater]

I guess I have a rather unique perspective considering TP was my first Zelda game. So I have none of the above mentioned problems with things going stale or predictable.

If this next game is similar to TP, I will not mind. But I am sure I'm one of the very few who feel this way.

Edited July 6, 2009 by DarkDefeater

[Patticus]

So far Toon Link has had 6 games devoted to him. =_=

Only one of those is a home console title, and it just so happens that that game's visuals have only aged slightly, whereas Twilight Princess looks incredibly dated today. So, three years after release, realistic Zelda looks like ass, while six years after its release, Celda still competes well with the best new games. Hmmm...

I think we just need a better balance of realistic and cel-shaded on both sides of the console arena really, I'm sure a new realistic Zelda on the DS woulds go down a treat with fans.

[Phos]

I like WW style, but I think WW Link is pretty ugly.

[speedfreak]

I like WW style, but I think WW Link is pretty ugly.

Yup, toon shading is great. The WW character designs I hated though. Give me TP character designs + toon shading and I'm happy.

[Patticus]

I didn't at all mind the character designs in WW, they added in a way to the charm and magic of the game. If a new character design style could be fitted in and not seem weird though, I'd be up for that too.

[speedfreak]

I get that some people like toon Link. I just didn't dig the huge head, cat eyes, super long arms, and tiny legs. The world of WW is beautiful, there's no denying that. I'm just not a fan of deformed or chibi (whatever you'd call it) character designs.

[Joseppi]

I think Spirit Tracks is going to be pretty sweet. I loved Phantom Hourglass. Everytime I think I'm going to be disappointed by a Zelda game, I end up loving it but being disappointed about other aspects of the games instead.

When I first saw Wind Waker's graphics, I was pissed. But when I played the game, I forgot all about that. The gameplay was awesome and the story helped put some pieces together in the Zelda very broken Zelda storyline. My main complaint about that game was that there weren't enough dungeons. And worst of all, SEARCHING FOR THE TRIFORCE PIECES!

Twilight Princess was great too, but my major complaint about it was the story. Wind Waker filled in some of the holes in the Zelda storyline while Twilight Princess made more. The Temple of Time being in the southeast (southwest for Wii) of the map instead of the northwest like in Ocarina of Time made things confusing for me. I know it shouldn't matter, but being a huge Zelda fan, I like some consistency.

I want to see a Zelda game where the story connects the other games a little bit. It would add a bit of a nostalgia feeling to and it would answer a lot of questions I have. Let's face it, Nintendo may be great at making fun games, but they're terrible at story writing. But that's how it goes with games that came from the 80's and early 90's. Even Sonic games suffer from a broken and confusing storyline.

Every time I first play a new Zelda game, I hope to God it will answer some of my questions about the storyline. I really hope in Spirit Tracks, Link and Tetra discover a new place to rebuild Hyrule, like they set off to do in Wind Waker.

I am really happy to find out that Morton Koopa Jr. is going to be in NSMBWii. I loved the original 7 Koopa kids but I hate Bowser Jr. I'm still not to anxious about NSMBWii yet though. I think it will be something like Zelda: Four Swords Adventure. Where it will only be fun on multiplayer.

The new Metroid does look pretty damn awesome though. And an even more adult Link in the new Wii Zelda has me really excited. I love me some mature Zelda.

[Agent York]

Something about Miyamoto's quote can be easily manipulated.

What does he consider radically different? Was Majora's Mask radically different to him? Was Wind Waker radically different to him? What basis of difference is he getting at? It's not like they are trying to make Ocarina 2.0 again, so what does he plan to make, and how different it'll be, is up for anyone's definition.

[Remy]

Radically different is a pretty vague thing to say, honestly.

[SuperLink]

I'll still enjoy it like hell I'm sure, regardless of how they do it (unless the story and music is as bad as PH's) I mean I loved Twilight Princess even though so many people thought it was aged and boring, but I can see the criticisms for it...

But whenever I play Majora's Mask I can't help but notice how alive and sinister it is compared to most Zeldas. I want that feeling back, or something that similarly involves the player on an emotional level.

[Solly]

But whenever I play Majora's Mask I can't help but notice how alive and sinister it is compared to most Zeldas. I want that feeling back, or something that similarly involves the player on an emotional level.

I loved MM's eerie charm. I agree fully.

And yeah, even if this game is mostly the same, I'm sure I'll still really like it . Regardless, it's too early to judge, but it would do the game a world of good to make it stand out.

Edited July 6, 2009 by Venom

[speedfreak]

I just really hope we get a trailer at the Oct. conference. It's torture to have seen that picture but not the actual game in motion. I love the fact that a new Wii Zelda is on the way but if they weren't going to show a trailer they should have just kept quite about it. An epic trailer is a much better reveal then a piece of art, no matter how cool the art is.

[SuperLink]

To be honest I kinda wish they didn't show anything at all too. We already knew it was coming, but how about tidbits on something confirmed like Pikmin 3? At this rate the flow on info on Zelda will be slow and steady, but still more than anything on the game we've known about for the longest. Weird. :S

[Patticus]

To be honest I kinda wish they didn't show anything at all too. We already knew it was coming, but how about tidbits on something confirmed like Pikmin 3? At this rate the flow on info on Zelda will be slow and steady, but still more than anything on the game we've known about for the longest. Weird. :S

Pikmin 3 almost certainly hadn't begun development of any real sort when Iwata "announced" it, as all that was said was that he was happy that Mr. Miyamoto had signed on to the new Pikmin. It smacks now, just as it did then, of a game being announced before anything else regarding it had been done, much like Smash Bros. Brawl was, to placate the more seriously-minded 'journalists' present.

Pikmin 3 I wouldn't be surprised to see absent from industry events for at least another couple of years yet.

[Detective Shadzter]

I just really hope we get a trailer at the Oct. conference. It's torture to have seen that picture but not the actual game in motion. I love the fact that a new Wii Zelda is on the way but if they weren't going to show a trailer they should have just kept quite about it. An epic trailer is a much better reveal then a piece of art, no matter how cool the art is.

I think its a very unique way of revealing a game, the cool and mysterious art has got everyone buzzing as to what it means and what we can expect in the game which gives it some widespread attention which can only be good. Don't forget at first the art was to only be shown to the press on the quiet until somebody took a quick blurred pic of it when they weren't supposed to which resulted in Nintendo unveiling the art in the end anyway. I reckon if all that didn't happen they probably would have unveiled the game later in the year with a trailer. Nintendo had already let on that the game was in development at last years E3 anyway.

[Patticus]

Whilst I would love to see the game trailed later in the year, what Miyamoto said at E3 makes me think we'll be lucky to see it at E3 '10, and that a safe "last good time to show it" bet would be 2010's October event. He said that they could have built a trailer up for the event (E3) this year (indicating that they've got assets they now consider presentable), but they wanted to spend the time instead focused on actually developing the game. We might get to see it next year according to him. Not a word was spoken about this October though, so I wouldn't get your hopes up (which will make the surprise even greater if by some miracle it does get shown).

[speedfreak]

Yeah, that's why I hope we see it at the Oct. show. I just want to see the game in motion, then they can keep hush until release for all I care. Too much hyped kills even the greatest of games.

Edit: See I thought he meant he hoped the game would be ready for release by late next year but more likely Q1-Q2 2011. I thought I remember reading that he said the game was pretty far along and the art was for proof of that. Also he said something about waiting to see how WSR and M+ does before revealing how the next Zelda plays. I'm sure WRS and M+ will be a hit right away so Oct. doesn't seem too unrealistic for Zelda's proper reveal.............I hope. : (

Edited July 7, 2009 by speedfreak