The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Wii U / Switch

[Retro_Link]

Yeah I'd like that Skyward Sword sequel too.

 

With nice bright cel-shaded/cartoony visuals like Skyward Sword, or the Sonic DLC.

 

Perhaps as a story you are going round Hyrule vanquishing the remaining evil and as such you could have a variety of transport. You start off with a horse for the more immediate areas, then a boat/something water based to travel to neighboring land, and finally a loftwing so you can get around the now large overworld much quicker... but an overworld you can actually take off from, fly over and land on in real time.

[Ronnie]

Something a bit risky and different would be good, the Zelda series is getting a bit stale, safe, play by numbers and repetitive. The on-rails disconnected overworld of the two DS games and Skyward Sword were huge turn offs. Open world EXPLORATION please.

 

Oh and bring the magic back, an actual return for the magic metre would help in that regard.

 

No robots.

[dazzybee]

Don't think we'll see munch on Zelda personally, a brief teaser trailer to get it all started... I guess Zelda is the one franchise I'd like to see much more epic and cinematic actually. I think it's time for a darker Zelda too, after skyward, wind waker remake and 3ds game it'd be nice to go dark again!

[Retro_Link]

Dark Zelda sucks.

[Ronnie]

Majora's Mask disagrees with you!

 

Don't think we'll see munch on Zelda personally

 

I think we'll see quite a lot to be honest. They could have shown something last year apparently but that would have been overkill with all the other announcements they made. This year's E3 could be quite a damp squib compared to last year, so the Zelda reveal needs to be big.

[dazzybee]

Dark Zelda sucks.

 

You weren't impressed with the Wii u Zelda demo?

[Ronnie]

You weren't impressed with the Wii u Zelda demo?

 

That's a visual style though, what about actual gameplay, you know the most important part! Zelda must be the game series were fans obsess over the visual style more than any other. Personally I don't care if it's cartoony, cel-shaded, a world made of yarn, or dark and gritty, just give me a really good Zelda GAME underneath all that.

[dazzybee]

Majora's Mask disagrees with you!

 

 

 

I think we'll see quite a lot to be honest. They could have shown something last year apparently but that would have been overkill with all the other announcements they made. This year's E3 could be quite a damp squib compared to last year, so the Zelda reveal needs to be big.

 

I just thought with Hyrule warriors and Zelda last year we'd have a break... Would love a bug Zelda splash and for it to come this year!

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Yeah I'd like that Skyward Sword sequel too.

 

With nice bright cel-shaded/cartoony visuals like Skyward Sword, or the Sonic DLC.

 

Perhaps as a story you are going round Hyrule vanquishing the remaining evil and as such you could have a variety of transport. You start off with a horse for the more immediate areas, then a boat/something water based to travel to neighboring land, and finally a loftwing so you can get around the now large overworld much quicker... but an overworld you can actually take off from, fly over and land on in real time.

 

That sounds great but tbh, but undoubtedly one of those modes of transport will be lacking or under-developed.

 

Though I loved how expansive Lanayru Sand Sea was... With the beautiful music, and the ship (IIRC) was pretty much like the King of Red Lions.

Edited March 26, 2014 by King_V

[Retro_Link]

You weren't impressed with the Wii u Zelda demo?

Yeah I was visually, but it basically looked like Twilight Princess HD, and that's my least favorite Zelda.

 

Personally I'd prefer a more light hearted cartoony style, along the lines of OOT/WW/SS. I want to enjoy running through and exploring a big open world landscape, I don't want an oppressive tone hanging over the game.

 

I'm excited to see what visual style they come up with though given each Zelda does tend to go for something different more often than not, the next step up from Wind Waker would be incredible!

[Hero-of-Time]

I just thought with Hyrule warriors and Zelda last year we'd have a break... Would love a bug Zelda splash and for it to come this year!

 

There's also Majoras Mask 3DS coming this year.....Believe!!

[dazzybee]

That's a visual style though, what about actual gameplay, you know the most important part! Zelda must be the game series were fans obsess over the visual style more than any other. Personally I don't care if it's cartoony, cel-shaded, a world made of yarn, or dark and gritty, just give me a really good Zelda GAME underneath all that.

 

The gameplay is always amazing. That goes without saying, I would like a new approach and a new take but I don't want it to lose what makes Zelda Zelda. What would excite me more is the presentation of it (probably the only series actually) - cinematic, an epic world filled with life, looks and sounds beautiful etc.

[Retro_Link]

Majora's Mask disagrees with you!

Possibly my second least favorite Zelda :p

[dazzybee]

There's also Majoras Mask 3DS coming this year.....Believe!!

 

I actually agree with this. I think there will be this too. I don't want loads of Zelda games, having the awful nsmb2 just before mario u ruined it a bit for me! Imagine if Hyrule warriors, major as mask and Wii u Zelda all got released this Christmas.... Too much!

 

Majoras mask and Hyrule warriors, Zelda 2015. Perfect! They'll have Metroid prime for this Christmas

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Ive always wanted a Zelda that shows Ganondorf as a kid, maybe even a good, untainted person - almost an ally to Link at times.

 

With his end speech in WW, its almost as if he had a good cause to take Hyrule. (Though of course seven years of reign in OOT showed he didnt give a F).

 

Something a bit risky and different would be good, the Zelda series is getting a bit stale, safe, play by numbers and repetitive. The on-rails disconnected overworld of the two DS games and Skyward Sword were huge turn offs. Open world EXPLORATION please.

 

Oh and bring the magic back, an actual return for the magic metre would help in that regard.

 

No robots.

 

Tbh, being on a HD console for the first time ever, Im not looking so much for innovation and new ways to etc. I want to see beautiful locales, hear deep music, encased in a well crafted story.

 

Get the basics up, then go crazy on the sequel. (That seems the fashion anyway).

 

On a side note, do you think the type of Link we get in Smash is telling of the graphical style of Zelda U? Sakurai has never made a 'generic' Link for Smash before. (as in unrelated to the Zelda of that generation).

Edited March 26, 2014 by King_V
Automerged Doublepost

[Grazza]

I still think a Zelda similar to Twilight Princess could prove how great that style could be. Part of the problem with TP was that the GC (and the Wii) just couldn't really pull off the game to its full potential. From the 2004 trailer it looked unbelievably good but the finished product looked a bit muddy and low-res. But hey, that was the technology at the time. We have HD now! The 2011 demo, in its own way, was almost as good as the 2004 TP trailer.

 

Besides, I like the Wind Waker style just as much. The point about graphical styles is that improved technology makes new ones possible. In the days of the GameCube/Dreamcast/PS2, for instance, cel-shading was emerging as a way to make games cartoony. I loved it! But I was also very impressed with the cutscenes in Fire Emblem: Awakening last year:

 

 

As others have said, it's the game that counts, but graphical style is important as well. Purely on this subject, the important thing is that they're trying to make the best one they can, rather than avoiding being too much in one style or another.

 

Onto the game itself...

 

It's funny, last time this thread was active, I had no idea how good The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was going to be. There wasn't a dull moment, in my opinion, and the way you found items and upgrades (particularly for the shield and clothing) was very refreshing.

 

What I'd like to see from Zelda Wii U is a crisp, smooth graphics engine where you run around a cohesive game world. I want to be able to run across fields, explore caves and get the feeling I've found things that maybe other players haven't yet. Imagine it: we come on here and say "I found the Mirror Shield in some ruins to the east", and someone else says "Did you know you can upgrade your arrows to Ice Arrows?" I suppose this happens already, but the way I'm imagining it, it's accentuated by the size and scale of the game world.

 

I've said before, but I really want to play and explore, with loads of totally optional things. I loved how you could ride on a boar in Twilight Princess, and I'd like that extended to all sorts of dragons and creatures. Or how you could pick up enemies' weapons in WW. As well as double-handed swords, it'd be good if you could climb into and operate all sorts of battle stations.

 

Anyway, it's all pie in the sky. I'm more optimistic now that they're on the right track, but you never really know what the next Zelda's going to be like.

[Ronnie]

I would like a new approach and a new take but I don't want it to lose what makes Zelda Zelda.

 

In Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks and arguably Skyward Sword we've already lost it: openworld exploration.

 

What would excite me more is the presentation of it (probably the only series actually) - cinematic, an epic world filled with life, looks and sounds beautiful etc.

 

There are plenty of games on PS4 and XBone that would cater for that kind of thing. High fidelity visuals are a given. The issue with Zelda in the last few iterations hasn't been its presentation, it's been its gameplay.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Ronnie

[david.dakota]

I don't think a grittier look immediately excludes great artistic design. I'd love to see a more 'realistic' take but with some bonkers design, really go to town on the art. I'd hate Zelda to suddenly become all generic, but right now Nintendo need to show they can do grittier stuff.

 

And let Link sink his sword into Ganondorfs brain again!

 

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I'd hate Zelda to suddenly become all generic.

 

Amen to that.

 

Skyward sword, with all its features - was (IMO) boarderline generic. Would an open-overworld really have made it any better?

 

Its all about story and pacing. MM was sweet in this case. The game could be as long or as short as you wanted it to be. One of the reasons why a remake would probably do the whole series a benefit by revisiting and remembering why that game was near perfection in its execution.

 

OOT too - whereas TP and SS felt 'long' in a forced way. Such as enduring the three or so days in Ordon Village and that seek and find feature in SS to just waste time.

 

It felt almost desperate.

[Retro_Link]

What felt generic about Skyward Sword??

 

For me it was the freshest/most different Zelda has felt in a long time, whether you were a fan of it or not.

 

To me, Twilight Princess is the definition of a generic Zelda. It doesn't really do anything different to the likes of OOT, MM, WW before it, arguably taking a step back from WW, and even the core wolf mechanic was done far better elsewhere in Okami.

[Ronnie]

I agree Twilight Princess is generic Zelda, probably a safe way for them to get the fanboys back onside after The Wind Waker's controversy. Skyward Sword had a few new ideas but I'm not sure how successful they were. The world, above and below the clouds, felt dead to me and the way everything was disconnected was a huge problem IMO. Both great games but the quality of OOT, MM and WW mean we judge them by far higher standards than usual.

 

Also if the soundtrack to Skyward Sword was the best they could do I'd be more than happy to see them ditch orchestrated music for Zelda U. Apart from a couple of tracks it was mostly terrible, especially compared with the tracks of the previous four console games.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

What felt generic about Skyward Sword??

 

For me it was the freshest/most different Zelda has felt in a long time, whether you were a fan of it or not.

 

To me, Twilight Princess is the definition of a generic Zelda. It doesn't really do anything different to the likes of OOT, MM, WW before it, arguably taking a step back from WW, and even the core wolf mechanic was done far better elsewhere in Okami.

 

Partly the structure ie get three pieces, come to place, and get a few more.

And partly the lack of a 'soul'... the geographical regions, the races, Demise... I just didn`t care for most of it.

 

The repetitive parts of the game, including back-tracking, just killed the joy of the game.

 

Perhaps generic isn't the correct term. Perhaps boring is.

Edited March 27, 2014 by King_V

[Retro_Link]

I agree Twilight Princess is generic Zelda, probably a safe way for them to get the fanboys back onside after The Wind Waker's controversy. Skyward Sword had a few new ideas but I'm not sure how successful they were. The world, above and below the clouds, felt dead to me and the way everything was disconnected was a huge problem IMO. Both great games but the quality of OOT, MM and WW mean we judge them by far higher standards than usual.

 

Also if the soundtrack to Skyward Sword was the best they could do I'd be more than happy to see them ditch orchestrated music for Zelda U. Apart from a couple of tracks it was mostly terrible, especially compared with the tracks of the previous four console games.

We don't know the developers intentions, but you do have to think that Skyward Sword was limited by the hardware. The original vision must surely have been to have the Sky and Land connected, so you could take off from and land at certain landing zones on the map?

 

I would like them to revisit flight again in a Skyward Sword sequel at some point, and make it as seamless as the boat was in Wind Waker... being able to jump out and dock absolutely anywhere, same as they managed with horse riding on the N64. The overworld they manage to create in Zelda Wii U is going to be very telling of what the console is truly capable of. Hopefully there's nothing to hold them back this time.

 

And yeah, bar an instant classic or two, Skyward Swords soundtrack needs improving upon.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I agree Twilight Princess is generic Zelda, probably a safe way for them to get the fanboys back onside after The Wind Waker's controversy. Skyward Sword had a few new ideas but I'm not sure how successful they were. The world, above and below the clouds, felt dead to me and the way everything was disconnected was a huge problem IMO. Both great games but the quality of OOT, MM and WW mean we judge them by far higher standards than usual.

 

Also if the soundtrack to Skyward Sword was the best they could do I'd be more than happy to see them ditch orchestrated music for Zelda U. Apart from a couple of tracks it was mostly terrible, especially compared with the tracks of the previous four console games.

 

As generic as TP might be, it was a mostly beautiful game with pleasant music. Had an acceptable storyline with nice throwbacks to the past. I played it, accepted it and moved on...

 

But SS, after facing that Imprisoned for the third time, I just gave up... As well as having to go through those repetitive trials.

[Cube]

One thing I'd love to see in the next Zelda is better NPCs, and ones with voice acting. Non-player characters have improved dramatically in recent years, and have become much more fleshed out and interesting, which leads to emotional connections to them.

 

It was also one of the reasons why Majora's Mask was so good. Even though the majority of the characters were copied models from Ocarina of Time, the characters were much more fleshed out and we wanted to help them out because of it.

 

Better NPCs will make you want to explore the world for them, and to make you want to complete side quests instead of completing them for the sake of completion. On top of that, a silent world just feels dated now, which is why voice acting is needed.