Posted June 12, 2016 Some of you are already familiar with Game Maker's Toolkit, a video series by Mark Brown that analyses different games, themes, concepts etc. He's started a new series analysing each major Zelda game (starting with ALTTP due to it being the first one that really sets up the core Zelda mechanics) in terms of their dungeon designs. He says it will take a few months as he'll play through each game before the video, but worth checking out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 12, 2016 I remember playing A Link To The Past a few years back and thinking about the dungeon design, including how labyrinthine certain dungeons felt. I'm glad that this video touched on this. There's something incredible charming about the game and I think a large part of that is the 2D perspective. The Eastern Palace, for example, looks fantastic because of the overlapping sections. Really tempted to play through A Link To The Past again in the summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 12, 2016 Another great video, looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. The way ALTTP played with 3D in the tower of Hera was brilliant, so clever at the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 Just watched this now. While a good video, I found it far too short. It was just getting good and then it ended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 Yeah I do wish his videos were a tad longer sometimes, but 8 minutes per Zelda game isn't so bad when you add it all together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 Just watched this now. While a good video, I found it far too short. It was just getting good and then it ended. Yeah, it does feel like a tease for a full length video (which I suppose makes sense, considering that this is actually all buildup for a longer video going over all the games). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 If you want something similar but with an Irish twang, Matthew Matosis has done a series of longform reviews of the 3D Zelda titles (much as he did for the 3D Mario ones) starting with OOT. He also did a comparison video at the end of all the games. They can be found on his channel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 Yeah, I've watched them all before and love his work. He recently released a 3 hour Devil May Cry analysis that I need to watch at some point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 13, 2016 Yeah, I've watched them all before and love his work. He recently released a 3 hour Devil May Cry analysis that I need to watch at some point. Oh snap! New Matthew Matosis video? Thanks for letting me know. Don't even care about Devil May Cry and yet I'm still super interested in a video he's done of it. Which I guess says a lot about how good he is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 29, 2016 Somehow missed the ones about Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time being available: And yes, the Water Temple is discussed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 29, 2016 Glad to see Link's Awakening getting some love. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 31, 2016 Only just got round to watching this, thanks for highlighting the recent one @Ashley. Really great vids, nice and succinct and very interesting. Got me super jonesing for Zelda again - thinking I might get back my copy of OoT 3D and finally try to actually complete Master Quest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 1, 2016 Really great vids, nice and succinct and very interesting. Got me super jonesing for Zelda again - thinking I might get back my copy of OoT 3D and finally try to actually complete Master Quest! I only watched the OoT one but I also got the urge to replay it after watching the video. It was great to see/hear the analysis of the Water Temple. I've never really had an issue with it and always felt it lost something in the remake. The guy in the video was right in saying that it was a challenging dungeon but there was a great amount of satisfaction from finishing it. The 3DS remake, with its pointers and coloured lines to follow, kind of lost that sense of achievement upon completing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 1, 2016 I think it's good to watch them all, as he almost back references earlier vids in later ones - but it's also building on the 'complexity' of each in some ways due to the games changing/getting more complex(somewhat). I did get OoT and started MQ yesterday, my fucking R button is ONCE AGAIN FUCKING BROKEN(been 'fixed' 3 times) but I've managed to get up to halfway through Dodongo's Cavern so far and have a weird fix that makes it sort of work a little bit for like 5 minutes. Gonna borrow Marcamillian's 3DS to finish this off though I think - gonna need that shield later on, and have died a few times from not having it entirely on demand. Can't believe how much I neglected to use it when I was younger, now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 2, 2016 Ok, finally gave it a watch (as well as binging every other video in his channel). I'm very pleased with what I saw, the man's got plenty of good points. I'm only slightly disappointed that he didn't bring up the nature of Deku Tree as a tutorial dungeon (thus making it quite different from others), but maybe that's a theme for another discussion. I'm looking forward to him reaching the Oracles and the DS games. Those tend to be ignored in discussions about the series as a whole, it'll be nice to see them have a bit of spotlight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 24, 2016 Next episode is up. Watching it now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 Not sure I enjoyed that as much as the previous but I think it's maybe just because MM's design just doesn't quite mesh with the series' focus as well. The wealth of its content is really outside of dungeons and dungeon design, and there's mini-dungeons as mentioned which aren't delved into. The well would have been an interesting focus in its nature of paying the Gibdo's for passage between doors as an alternative form of keys, whilst also recognising that much of the items required for said passage are actually very interestingly available within said mini-dungeon too. There are some barriers there admittedly but in my repeated playthroughs I think I recall thinking that I could find stuff if I had paid attention. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 It did get me thinking though - what would people think if after BotW Nintendo did another "Majora's Mask". And by that I mean a quick turnaround smaller Zelda game that used mostly the same assets but tried a different approach? They've run out of remakes after all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 It did get me thinking though - what would people think if after BotW Nintendo did another "Majora's Mask". And by that I mean a quick turnaround smaller Zelda game that used mostly the same assets but tried a different approach? They've run out of remakes after all It's something they should have done a hell of a lot more!! The time difference between Ocarina and Majora's showed that they can make a quality zelda title within a short time. Instead for some reason they decided that they had to reinvent the wheel with every new game and completely change the look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 Not forgetting the portable titles as well, both Oracle titles were essentially based off the same mechanics as Link's Awakening DX, what's more each title turned out very nicely indeed. It was even meant to be a Triforce Trilogy at one point... http://www.zeldainformer.com/articles/nintendos-forgotten-legend-of-zelda-mystical-seed-of-courage1 There's still plenty of scope for the series yet. What if... Breath of the Wild only turns out to be part of a larger map? In similar fashion to that of the Elder Scrolls series... Fans have already created various takes on what it might look like, perhaps similar to this... I suppose it doesn't all really need to fit together but it's just a thought. : peace: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 It's something they should have done a hell of a lot more!! The time difference between Ocarina and Majora's showed that they can make a quality zelda title within a short time. Instead for some reason they decided that they had to reinvent the wheel with every new game and completely change the look. I'd rather the Zelda franchise didn't go down the annual COD, FIFA, Creed formula thanks. It's why the series is still so well thought of, 16 games later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 I'd rather the Zelda franchise didn't go down the annual COD, FIFA, Creed formula thanks. It's why the series is still so well thought of, 16 games later. At no point did I mention making it annual, but the two years between Ocarina and Majora's shows that they can keep up quality. I think they should get back to two main games during a consoles lifespan. Hopefully if the NX is a hybrid and they use the BotW engine again they can achieve this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 Not forgetting the portable titles as well, both Oracle titles were essentially based off the same mechanics as Link's Awakening DX, what's more each title turned out very nicely indeed. It was even meant to be a Triforce Trilogy at one point... The Oracles also started as a Zelda 1 remake and there's still a lot of references in Seasons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 (edited) I'd rather the Zelda franchise didn't go down the annual COD, FIFA, Creed formula thanks. It's why the series is still so well thought of, 16 games later. Yeah because that's totally what Majora's Mask came across as. Not like the best Zelda game or anything. Reusing the engine/assets probably let them very easily carry over what worked while having a lot more time to work on the details and environments. Edited August 28, 2016 by Sheikah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 28, 2016 Oh yeah I wasn't suggesting bring out a new one every year, just more a) was MM a good experiment and b) should Nintendo try something similar again? It's looking more and more like we're going to be getting Zelda games as the console is on its way out so a midway point game that is smaller but more unique (although BotW clearly is itself unique) might be a good way to keep things ticking over. Maybe even have a different team working on it akin to what happens with COD (yes yes you hate Call of Duty). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
