When the new Zelda was announced at E3 it was hardly a surprise. What was surprising was how the game looked, and what Eiji Aonuma had to say about the game. It would be more open, it would hark back to the non-guided difficulty of the original. It got my imagination sparking. What do you want to see in the new Zelda?
Here’s something crazy: I still want to see dungeons. I like dungeons. I like the tight, design of the dungeons. I want to see dungeons of the quality seen in a Link Between Worlds, which was probably the best Zelda game of the last 10 years.
I want to see an increase in difficulty. For all its strengths, I died once in A Link Between Worlds. I realise I’m a Zelda veteran, but that’s too much. I should be dying at least once in boss battles. At least once. There should be a couple that frustrate me, particularly in the latter stages.
I want that promise of an open world to mean something. I don’t want a game that plays like Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption, I just want to explore a video game world that feels like a real place. Wind Waker had that feel, Skyward Sword didn’t even come close.
What do you guys want from the next Zelda?
Comments
86 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: What Do You Want From The Next Zelda?”
An end to the series?
You’re not allowed to dis nintendo here.
Ohh, #rekt
C’mon that was funny +1
Something to incentivise me to play it.
I don’t get the appeal.
+1….infact anything Nintendo.
Horses for courses.
I’m not saying don’t play it, and I respect the craftsmanship, but I’ve never felt the series is For Me.
That’s what I thought until I decided to actually try it instead of whine about it. Now it’s one of my favourite series.
I’ve tried it, just left me cold.
Again, I’m not begrudging anyone else playing or enjoying it, but the one thing I’d love is some hook to pull me in. I don’t know what that hook is.
Maybe it’s just not for you. There are plenty of fish in the sea and Zelda can’t appeal to everyone.
Absolutely, and I acknowledge and respect that.
Just out of curiosity, which ones have you played? And how close to their original release dates? A lot of Zelda fans forget that part of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask is the time the climate they were released in. Like how Mario 64 is an ok, sort of shallow game with terrible camera controls today, but it was a god damn revolution when it was released, Ocarina of Time didn’t exactly have much competition. We were starved for a 3D AAA action-RPG built on solid hardware and we didn’t even know it until Zelda came out.
Played and finished Links Awakening on Gameboy. Played bits and pieces of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s mask, watched others play bits of newer ones.
Elaborated on it a bit more here last year : http://www.pixel-otaku.com/zelda-week-red-rupee-rants-i-dont-get-it/
Interesting read. I’ll admit I’ve always found Link’s Awakening to sit on the edge of the series. It had almost a Mario Bros 2 vibe to it. I loved it but it’s not the game I’d recommend if you said you were happy to power through one to see if playing start-to-finish would get you more excited about the series. It’s hard to nail down to anything specific but it’s different. I think a big part of it is that not much of Zelda had been established at that point, so it was heavily influenced by the manuals from the NES games and things they were experimenting with for Link to the Past.
By the sound of it you’re trying to engage with it in more of a story level. Zelda fans like the story, love it even, but even if they don’t realise it it’s sort of just one part of a stew. The story keeps things moving but it’s not a super serious story. Hyrule is a lot like the Republic in Star Wars. It’s deep if you know it but Hoth isn’t really anymore than an ice planet.
The mechanics are usually fun to just hit things with your sword and they advance/expand with your progress. That was particularly valuable when the main competition was FMV heavy JRPGs on the PS2 with turn based battle systems that had a few mechanical upgrades over the course of 90 hours, say sockets and summons, but played almost identically from start-to-finish.
Then finally there’s the puzzler element. Link’s Awakening over did simple fetch/trading stuff if I remember correctly (I don’t hate that sort of gameplay unless it’s very over done/pointless, so it doesn’t stand out in my mind). The dungeons are meant to be more like a puzzle. Again it’s not something that stands out too much on it’s own, they’re not fenced off puzzles laid out on a game board. They’re more like environmental obstacles that require spacial awareness to navigate. Personally it really appeals to me in that I’m not a fan of riddle style puzzles but I love pushing things around and rearranging components to achieve a goal style puzzles.
I think that specific balance of action game play, story driven but not centric and puzzles you don’t have to Google is what sets it apart in my mind from the others. Most games people compare don’t go for that configuration at all. You can usually find something that will do one of those things better, one of them the same and completely neglect the third.
Lastly I think Ocarina of Time isn’t the way to go. Maybe A Link Between Worlds. It’s a bit difficult to suggest one because like Metroid and Metroid Prime the difference between 2D and 3D is huge and tiny at the same time. No one Zelda game perfectly captures the series because even though at face value they’re too similar they’re actually all quite different. Majora’s Mask is almost just a fan mod for Ocarina of Time it’s so similar, but it’s so different.
Honestly though I think maybe you’ve missed your chance. It’s a bit like trying to get someone into Final Fantasy VII as an adult. Without that infinite free time that lets teenagers vanish into a game for a two weeks it can be hard to meet those conditions where you sync up with the game. For those that already have jumping into another Zelda is easy. You just turn that mindset on. For you there may just be too much pressure on everything.
I would love to see some dungeons again, they are great.
Also, carry on the Skyward Sword role of Zelda – non princess.
But most of all, I want the over sexualised fairies from Ocarina of Time to return 😛
Mmm. Those pyramid shaped chest mountains of beauty … Excuse my while I wipe the drool off my face…
They return in Hyrule Warriors.
They always looked like drag queens to me.
A story arc that completely destroys the timeline vortex the Zelda team have found themselves trapped in.
If a complex plot of time convolution has trapped them-0 a complex of plot of time convolution can free them.
Then we can enjoy the franchise as it was supposed to be without freaking out about where things are supposed to be on a timeline.
Availability on PC, since I’m not gonna buy a stillborn console for one game I’m interested in.
Keep dreaming 😛
Wait until Wii U dolphin emulator.
Emulators ftw
Only ever finished Zelda 1, and Link To The Past. Played Ocarina Of Time, but somehow never got around to finishing it, played a little bit of Majoras Mask and Twilight Princess. Also got Skyward Sword and Wind Waker sitting here, and haven’t touched either of them yet.
What’s my point? I don’t really know, but to answer the question, I’d really like to see them put the map and item screen on the Gamepad so you don’t have to pause it all the time.
Since that’s the approach they took in the Wind Waker re-release (and it was fantastic), I think this is the one thing you can absolutely expect to see carried over and even expanded upon.
In addition to doing this in Wind Waker, as Stu said, Skyward Sword had a series-best system for inventory also, with weapons/tools available via a radial menu (hold B and move the Wiimote in the desired direction to select an item – worked very nicely).
Voice acting, atleast for the NPCs.
No
Yes.
NO!
But why? It could be done well, if given the right direction/casting!
The leap from Baldur’s Gate to Knights of the Old Republic was one worth taking on the voice front.
Then again, I’m really not a fan of the bleeps that accompany dialogue in JRPGs. 😛
Or, you make up a language so that it feels more natural and genuine.
I’d love to see a Legend of Zelda where all the dialogue was all spoken in a made up Hyrulian language, similar to the way they handled things in games like Ico, or panzer Dragoon Saga. You still have to read everything, but it adds a lot to the atmosphere.
Personally I find the character noises incredibly charming. You play Wind Waker and the fish pop up and go “keeeeeeee!”, you walk into a store and beedle goes ” hooooahhh!”. It just wouldn’t have the same appeal if they said “hi Link, wanna buy something?”
YES!
He’s a madman!
God I hope they ditch the motion controls for the sword play! Use it for aim adjustment with the bow and arrow first person aiming by all means but please god just let me use buttons to swing the sword!! Hell, even have it as an option to use a WiiMotion Plus remote if people want the Skyward Sword style of sword combat, but for me, I’m perfectly happy just using buttons 🙂
This so much.
I thought the motion control swordplay was great; even if it did mean perpetually needing to recalibrate the Wiimote, the extra complexity it brought to fights and puzzles was worth it.
Agreed. It was fantastic. What joy is there in smashing a button multiple times, when I can swing the sword in different directions myself.
I’d like to be able to hack stuff and drive cars. No wait wrong game.
A God of War style sexual quicktime event. But played from the point of view of the woman, just for shits and giggles.
I can’t design a Zelda game as well as they can, so I want to see whatever it is they decide will be best for the series. I want to turn a corner and see something unexpected, something which uses the game’s mechanics in unexpected ways, something which makes me go “wow, I wasn’t expecting that, but it makes total sense for it to work that way”.
In short, I want to be surprised.
This is pretty much how I feel. Except the motion controls. No more motion controls! Please!
Not as the predominant control input a la Skyward Sword, but to have them implemented for things like fine-tuning your aim, etc, I’m all for them. I didn’t think any of the motion controls in Wind Waker HD were shoe-horned in – they were there if you wanted them, but if the gyroscope in your Gamepad were to break, it wouldn’t affect your ability to play the game.
I want to see that second screen being used in conjunction with motion controls for puzzles, etc – some navigation, perhaps, and other peripheral mechanics which aren’t necessarily critical but add to the games flavour. But as for the combat system? Give me an exact replica of WW HD’s mechanics and I’ll be happy. No shoving enemies by pushing the Pad forward, no drawing arrows by waving it around… none of that. It’s unnecessary and will never equate to a tighter experience.
No motion control functions and no gimmicks that you HAVE to use the gamepad.
You will probably have the option of using the gamepad to aim the hookshot etc. i didn’t mind that in WW HD.
Proper controls. No mandatory motion gimmicks at all, and no faffing about with the gamepad touch screen. Just let me plug in a pro controller or whatever and use that.
Given Wind Waker HD’s use of the gamepad and the Wii U console not requiring sensor bars it seems unlikely or at least optional for motion controls.
I loved the cel shaded graphics and “open world” of Wind Waker (despite its limitations there was still lots to explore and discover), it is my favourite Zelda game and it looks like Nintendo have taken that and cranked it up to 11.
I hope that the new Zelda is the Gamecube’s Wind Waker for the WiiU (as opposed to the actual Wind Waker on the WiiU)
I’ll add that I’d like there to be voice acting for everyone except Link who should remain silent apart from the usual grunts.
I’d like random smaller dungeons to be discovered in the world. They sort of had it in OOT and Wind Waker where you’d find a hole in the ground underneath a rock but I’d like those areas to have a bit more exploration to them like those random areas you’d find in Oblivion.
I also hope that the open world they describe is truly open. I don’t want fadeouts and loading between sections (the field sections of Twilight Princess were such a disappointment in that regard), I want the world to feel huge and connected like Dark Souls where you can run from one end of the map to another all in one seamless travel experience.
Whatever they give me.
I want to feel like I’m playing a real current-gen, cutting edge Zelda for the first time since the Wind Waker.
It absolutely must look like it’s up-to-date and it absolutely must be out in 2015.
More fun controls? The ones on twilight princess were heaps fun. The Zelda games are usually very good, so as long as they keep it up and have good controls it would be cool. I haven’t played skyward sword or whatever it’s called, the latest one. Any good? It’s on Wii u isn’t it?
Skyward Sword is on the Wii, but will play on the WiiU in Wii Mode as long as you have a remote/nunchuk. If you liked the motion controls then Skyward Sword has more complex and accurate motion controls but I found them irritating personally.
Wind Waker HD is on the WiiU but it just uses regular controls on the gamepad which I prefer and hope that the new Zelda does the same thing.
Maybe they should have both control inputs. I remember at first getting frustrated at the fishing part and then again with different motions for different fishing part. Overall; combat while on the move as well as stationary was pretty solid for me and I remember haveing heaps of fun during combat and riding on the horse and shooting things. Fishing sucked though.
It’s on Wii. It gets a lot of flack for being bad, but I think 99% of the criticism comes from the Wii remote controls irritating players the whole way through the game. The same way two movies can have the same problems, but one is great and the other stinks because one is engaging enough to get viewers to gloss over any flaws and the other isn’t. If you reverse the release order of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword then Skyward Sword would probably be considered good and Twilight Princess bad.
Yeah, either way they should have improved them if they had major negative feedback. People probably didn’t complain that much because it was new and the game itself wasn’t that long.
I suspect with Skyward Sword they were getting a lot of positive feedback from people who hadn’t had their hands on it for more than five minutes and people who had enjoyed bow training. One of the big things to get people excited about the Wii was the idea of 1:1 sword fighting, but people didn’t realise that 1:1 sword fighting requires more than just accurate sensing it requires actual feedback.
Without that it’s shadow boxing. Shadow boxing is fun but it’s a letdown if you’re expecting more. It’s also not something you want to keep up for an entire night of playing.
I would expect Nintendo to understand that, their reputation for knowing what works and what doesn’t ahead of the trends is well earned, but I guess nobody is right all the time.
A quicker start. Its been the same formula for ages, I don’t need a three hour walk-through tutorial to tell me what to do. Or at least make it optional.
Give me the amazing ideas of (most) skyward sword dungeons, but don’t restrict the overworld again.
Open world, lots of exploration, good dungeons, new and interesting characters
Oh, a wish list, what fun!
2 versions of the world, one light, one dark. Many Zelda’s have had it, but I think it would be extra special in a large open world Zelda.
Optional extra dungeons, or accessible areas in normal dungeons that are extra difficult – harder enemies, harder puzzles – complex multi-stage puzzles that involve multiple items. Ending with a sweet item reward at the end (weapon upgrade, heart container, anything other than a gold rupee).
Bosses that are so large you can walk on them.
4 player online co-op ala Four Swords. Completely optional and extra, but with areas of the world that are specifically designed for multiple players (harder enemies, puzzles requiring 2+ people).
um yeah. all that stuff.
i really liked the environmental puzzles of skyward sword but i hated the repetition and the fact that there really was no world to explore.
id really like a central town that has a Majoras mask level of detail in terms of events and side quests.
also make me need to use potions and other such things.
i cant remember the last time a Zelda game actually made owning bottles important oh wait yes i do. it was ocarina.
i want a general increase in difficulty but counter the frustration a bit by allowing me to restart boss fights without needing to retread a dungeon or go on another supply trip before i try again
oh and as for the 4 swords suggestion.
how about don’t include that in this big Zelda but release it as a standalone or downloadable game ASAP.
i loved the Zelda portion of Nintendo land. something in between than and 4 swords could be great
3Ds version… Oh 🙁
I’ve learned over the years that even though I love thinking/talking about Zelda design and potential ideas for the games what I want is sort of irrelevant. All I want from a Zelda game is for the people in charge to have a moment of inspiration. The series cops a lot for being the same thing over and over again and playing it safe, but the reality is they do what they want and they do it well. If they want a tribute to Link to the Past they made one and it’s fantastic. If they want to turn it on their head they turn it on it’s head and it’s fantastic.
I want Dark Souls.
A release date already! 😀
We already have a release date, its coming out exactly on the 2015.
Bring back the magic meter. I think it was used in Link Between Worlds but I’m pretty sure it was missing from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.
Also a version of the Lens of Truth used in Ocarina, except it shows the normal view on the TV and the “Truth” view on the gamepad.
how about if you pre order zelda they release some wii u games this year?
No motion controls. Other than that, I’m not fussed as long as the game’s good.
Terraforming – changes in the world over time, or due to weather or events happening. Like when it floods in Faron Woods, Skyward Sword
Subtlety – Cracks in the rock are too obvious now, make puzzles and exploration based off of subtle and unique details.
Unique and random events – a staple of the open world genre.
Memorable and oddball characters – this is pretty much a given for Zelda.
An option for no motion controls would be nice, and a shitload more dungeons per title. Size limitations of the media shouldn’t be as much of a concern any more, so I don’t see why they can’t bump up the content. Fuck off the fetch quests and give us more dungeon action!
Here’s a crazy off the wall idea….a Zelda dungeon randomiser. *drooooooooooooool*
optional motion controls for sure , skyward sword is the only zelda i have never finished and it was for that 1 reason alone
Magic meter, stamina, voice-acting for NPC’s and a captivating story.
Keep accommodating player imagination. No player dialogue. No voice acting.
Flesh out the combat, especially against bosses. Go beyond flailing about for a boss’ weakness, finding said weakness, then spamming that one, currently effective attack pattern, till defeat or behaviour change, please. There’s currently little (mechanical) incentive to replay a boss battle given that structure.
Add some deception to enemies. Have enemies feint attacks and feign weaknesses instead of just repeating them whether effective or not. Conversely, have them disguise attacks and reduce actual telegraphing.
Employ cancels (OoT had them), countering, parries (Third Strike 4 lyfe). Something.
Even if enemy behaviours/states were just divided into smaller temporal steps, things would improve by lessening adaptation time.
tl;dr? Make Zelda such that the developers would find enemies challenging to beat, and the mechanics hard to put down (you know, due to fun, not cramps).
Make Zelda… like a boss… Edition? Mode? Quest? Difficulty?
Groose.
The Zelder Scrolls : Hyrim
Or at least something with similarities