The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[speedfreak]

I though TP had some of the best dungeons in a 3D Zelda. : / It was kind of easy but WW is by far the easiest 3D Zelda. As far as difficulty goes I'd say MM > OOT = TP > WW.

It just goes to show that everyone thinks someting different. We all have our preferences but I'd like to think that we all enjoy the hell out of each new Zelda game no matter what direction Nintendo decides to take the series in. I know I do anyway.

I guess my ideal Zelda would use cell shading but with TP (or Oracles Link) character designs, it would have a big epic story that heavily involves Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, it would have lots of character developement, and would have the side quest amount and structure of MM. Oh and M+!

[Remy]

Topic trimmed. You're on notice Shadi.

Slightly off topic: The Cel Shading used for characters in Tales of Vesperia is excellent. Even if it means waiting until next gen, I'd definitely like to see an anime looking Zelda title if not an arty one, which is probably more likely. Besides, if an anime Zelda was revealed it would instantly put off the hordes of gamers who hate anime for no real reason.

Just wanted to reply to this- Anime is all fine and dandy for Tales, a series built on being inspired by anime (the writing, character designs all kind of reek of B-grade anime, haha) but I don't see why Zelda should take that path.

The style used in Windwaker, although somewhat restricted by hardware is fantastic, unique, and easily recognizable, yes it can be a bit simple, but that's it's charm. The designs are rock solid, and much more appealing then a lot of the stuff seen in TP.

Wind Waker's problem is that it was rushed. Every complaint about the game, is one that could've been fixed with a little more dev time, in my opinion. It's a shame they seem to have abandoned that style for mainline Zeldas.

[Solid SOAP]

Topic trimmed. You're on notice Shadi.

Those were such good posts though. ;(

The style used in Windwaker, although somewhat restricted by hardware is fantastic, unique, and easily recognizable, yes it can be a bit simple, but that's it's charm. The designs are rock solid, and much more appealing then a lot of the stuff seen in TP.

I felt that TP looked a lot more appealing and focused in the earlier trailers, as it felt they had a set style for the game (Pretty much Zelda only much more realistic and detailed), but I felt that the final game tried to give the game more of a "childish" vibe than the original trailers did in the character designs. The first 3 trailers showcased extremely detailed and gritty looking boars and moblins with clubs and maces and such, which still appear in the final game. They were boldly colored with darker colors and lots of detail like I expected. However, the NPCs for the most part might as well of showed up in Wind Waker, and greatly contrasted Link's realistic look and the look of the rest of the world, and there were lots of brightly colored and super cartoony enemies that I really didn't expect to make into the final cut.

[Remy]

TP's designs felt all over the place to me. Most of the human characters (link included) look pretty hideous, whilst on the other hand I think the Twilight Realm/more fantastical/enemy designs are really, really good. It kind of feels like they didn't know wtf they were doing

[Solid SOAP]

That's how I felt, bar Link and some characters. I thought Link's design was perfect pretty much, his friend Ilia and the usual crew (Zelda and Ganon, pretty much) were spot-on, but a lot of NPCs were fuck-ugly.

[SuperLink]

Just wanted to reply to this- Anime is all fine and dandy for Tales, a series built on being inspired by anime (the writing, character designs all kind of reek of B-grade anime, haha) but I don't see why Zelda should take that path.

I get that, but I firmly believe that any style could work for Zelda. I like the style of the FF Tactics cutscenes too, they're a bit like a very arty anime, even though they're actualy 3D. And yeah, the character design in Tales games is always very cliche.... you can tell from a single look "hey, he/she's from a Tales game!" simply because there's little design differentiation....

And the only characters I liked in TP were Link, Zelda, Midna and Ganondorf.... all the others (except the Gorons and Zoras which looked great) were pretty crap. I didn't like Ilia, nor any of the other Ordon characters (except Malo). Probably the only other characters I liked were Yeto, Shad and Ashei. All the WW characters were a bit more memorable I think. There were more sidequests involving all the people on Windfall Island too, and I don't remember much of the sort in TP, so I had no way of getting attatched to anyone!

[Patticus]

Not every style of visuals is going to work for Zelda, and frankly I'm not sure Zelda really needs an anime look. Given that it only has the most tenuous links to anime, I see no reason to go there when there are styles attached more firmly to existing Zelda visual themes (the painted style of the revealed art, Wind Waker's concept art style etc) that would do as well, if not better, for the next few games at least.

[SuperLink]

There are a lot of generic looking anime, but some really have their own style to boast of. If the Zelda series could successfully pull off such a "cartoon/chibi" look like in the Wind Waker, I honestly believe that had they wanted to make it more anime styled they could pull it off, easy.

[PSI Wind]

We don't want animated cutscenes or Voice Acting though *shudder*.

[Patticus]

I think Metroid: Other M is going to be interesting in regards to Zelda Wii because it will be the first game in the series with actual factual Voice Acting (beyond the occasional cries in Prime1/2/3). If it can be pulled off in Metroid, I do believe that there's room for it also to be employed in Zelda beyond Link's cries. However, when you implement it, you suddenly have to consider what would be the right voice for each region, and also you have a larger script and you need to ensure that the writing is of a high grade. In the end it may be worth just keeping Link silent so there's no risk of mucking everything up with complex dialogue.

[PSI Wind]

I have no problem with Metroid as the VA is fine(In MP3 as well) but Zelda......VA makes people shudder due to the CD-i.

[SuperLink]

I believe Nintendo are incredibly anal about things like this. I'm confident that a voice acted Zelda wouldn't have the quality usually seen in localised JRPGs, but rather be pretty much perfect. Nintendo gave Samus a voice in SSBB, and I think it suited her pretty well for the most part.

Another point is that TP just felt way too silent and traditional being surrounded by so many other similar games with near full voice acting. Link doesn't even need to say anything, silent protagonists still work well in games like Persona 4.

[speedfreak]

I agree, Zelda could really use voice acting. As a few of you have said Link can remain silent but other character should have a voice actor. It was so off putting in TP to see mouths moving but not hear any voice acting. Plus scenes that are supposed to feel very emotional or epic fall kinda flat when all they do is enlarge the text to show drama. This is all assuming they hire some quality voice actors, but I'm 100% positive Nintendo could pull that off if they wanted to.

They want to shake things up, change Zelda a bit right? Well adding voice acting would be a big step in the right direction IMO.

[Patticus]

I've seen some very touching scenes in Zelda games:

-

Link leaving the village in OOT, Saria waiting for him to say goodbye and give him an ocarina.

-

Link sitting on the beach after being shipwrecked and being consoled by Malon in Link's Awakening

I'm sure voice acting would have added nothing to those scenes. Au contraire.

[SuperLink]

-

Link sitting on the beach after being shipwrecked and being consoled by Malon in Link's Awakening

It's Marin. And personally I didn't find either of those particularly touching. Aside from being a crap ending (IMO), WW's ending was quite touching, aswell as OoT's ending.

Voice Acting may not have helped those scenes, but as a modern series, Zelda feels too traditional, too clung to its roots. With little more than words appearing at the bottom of the screen, TP felt strangely empty. Surely I can't be the only one who felt it was lacking something big when it came to character interaction and speaking?

[Patticus]

More chances to break the illusion only mean the illusion is easier to break.

[SuperLink]

More chances to break the illusion only mean the illusion is easier to break.

Risks have to be taken for progress to be made.

I can't say I'd be happy with the Zelda series remaining mostly silent and text based. It's far too traditional. If they want to do that they're going to have to make the plots far better if they actually expect the text to have any real effect on people.

[PSI Wind]

At least Deaf People can play Zelda .

Edited June 8, 2009 by PSI Electric FTW!

[SuperLink]

At least Deaf People can play Zelda .

Games that forget to put in a subtitle option usually aren't worth playing for one reason or another. If you can't take your time seeing what needs to be done incase you misheard something (voice acting in games is far less clear than on TV/Film for whatever reason) then you're kinda stuck, aren't you?

I remember when I first played Jak & Daxter there were no subtitles which really annoyed me because there were times I just couldn't hear what to do next. if there was a subtitle option then I didn't know about it, but still, that's what I mean xD

[Solid SOAP]

We don't want animated cutscenes or Voice Acting though *shudder*.

Animated cutscenes, no, but voice acting could really make the experience so much better if they get decent voice actors. I think it's about time they tried to get a decent set of voice actors for at least the main characters of the games, so long as they sound good. I don't think Nintendo would hire voice actors if they did a shoddy job in a franchise as prestigious as Zelda.

[Patticus]

If Nintendo bring back all the Starfox 64 voice cast, I think everybody will be happy.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink

Use the boost to get through

Gee I've been saved by Link how swell

I guess I should be thankful

It could work!

[PSI Wind]

^ You forgot one.

"DO A SPIN ATTACK!" *shot*

[lounge]

Don't Anime cutscenes actually take longer to produce than CGI? I'd really like to see CG in the new zelda. Unless the ingame graphics are impressive enough.

[Solid SOAP]

The in-game graphics looked fine within the past few games, don't know why they wouldn't know, especially if they're supposed to be better.

[Gabz Girl]

I don't mind either art style, though I have to admit Wind Waker's was far more memorable, charming and..eh, cute. Maybe they should just mix both styles? Imagine Toon adult Link! X3

Twilight Princess took an opposite extreme. Huge overworld, nothing to do in it. Plenty of dungeons, but they were all boring and easily figured out. Lots of tense dark atmosphere, nothing more uplifting (Well, that succeeded anyway.)

I'm either crap at Zelda games or something, but I still can't get past Snowpeak Ruins' dungeon. =/ And it's NOT easy! Wind Waker's dungeons are far, faaar easier. I can do those off the back of my hand.

That's how I felt, bar Link and some characters. I thought Link's design was perfect pretty much, his friend Ilia and the usual crew (Zelda and Ganon, pretty much) were spot-on, but a lot of NPCs were fuck-ugly.

Eh, I've seen worse. Check out OoT. Impa and those damn Fairies. URGH.