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Aonuma Talks Zelda's Past, Nintendo DS Zelda Plans
Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma on the Zelda franchise, as the EAD deputy manager reveals he wasn't a fan of early Zelda efforts ("I could not stand the original Zelda. When I first played it, I did not know what I was doing. I was overwhelmed by enemies and I got killed right away"), questions the infamous CD-I Zelda titles ("I must admit, they were a strange characterization of the Zelda games"), and mentions future franchise plans, including a previously unconfirmed Nintendo DS Zelda title: "We have a Game Boy Advance Zelda [Minish Cap], a DS Zelda, and this [realistic] GameCube one."
Ordinarilly, I would agree with you. But I very much enjoyed Wind Waker. I think that the man successfully encaptured the SPIRIT of the original game while improving the quality of the franchise greatly.
I would still very much like to know who the director of the new GameCube Zelda is though.
I think Zelda is by far the greatest commodity Nintendo has (ok, maybe Mario is greater, but it's just my opinion). They need to make sure they treat it with respect. I don't think they did that with Wind Waker.
My favorite Zelda game still has to be "A Link to the Past" on the SNES. The graphics were alright (for the SNES), but it was the gameplay that drew me in. The puzzles were good, the monsters were a little more bad-a$$ (except in dark world, where pumpkins and cucumbers roamed the earth). It was just an overall fun experience that a 7-year-old or a 20-year-old can enjoy.
Personally, I LOVE cel shading, so it wasn't the art that made me dislike "Wind Waker." I think cel shading is a better approach to some games; stop going for pure realism (because it's hard to do, and would sort of suck), and go for a cartoon look (like anime). Though "Robotech: Battle Cry" was a poor game, it was AWESOME to jump into action and have it act like the cartoon.
What I didn't like about Wind Waker was it just didn't feel like Zelda. You travelled via boat, and all of the enemies acted like they were in a kiddie cartoon. The game was alright, it just didn't appeal to me as much. Guys running-in-place in mid-air, kiddy enemies, talking boats, playing hide-and-seek, etc just didn't appeal to me.
In short, I hope they maintain the dignity that the Zelda franchise deserves. If they have kick-ass graphics, then good. But they better have a good story and great gameplay. Otherwise we may have to wait years (and console-generations) for another title. Until then, I remain skeptical.
"It would appear that the developers behind DEII really didn't like the original Deus Ex. Hence the unified ammo, lack of skills, no depth, poor voice-acting, etc. With such a rock-solid gameplan, what could go wrong ?!?"
Arrggghhh!!!
Don't mention that game, EVER!
As far as I'm concerned, there is no such game. Its existence should be stricken from all record books, and all copies melted into something more useful, like shoe horns or something.
DX:IW game was a DISGRACE to the original. They really sold out with that game. The general "universe" was the same, and some elements were there, but they took away a lot that made DX a great game, and turned it into a run-of-the-mill console shooter. I'm not talking about unified ammo, but "hacking into consoles" was gone, looking for keycodes was gone, A LOT was removed.
Thief III, on the other hand, was quite well done. IMHO, they followed the original formula quite nicely, and thus a good product was formed.
The difference is that Warren Spector admitted in interviews that he was against the changes but the team overruled him. Miyamoto apparently has some form of veto right (in his GDC presentation Aonuma called this "upending the tea table") if the game deviates too heavily from his ideas. That means there's no chance you're going to steal horses and pick up hookers in the new Zelda.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
However i really wasn't that impressed with Ocarina of Time. I got maybe halfway through before quiting in boredom. I wasn't interested in playing Celda, but unlike most people who complain about the game i had no issue with the graphics, but instead was put off by gameplay that seemed similar to OoT and MM.
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Before I start... this post is intended as an honest query, not as a troll.
But perhaps somebody could explain what exactly the pull of Zelda is? I've only been exposed to the franchise fairly recently; I bought a Gamecube just before Christmas, largely because I'd had Wind Walker recommended to me by so many people and websites. I'd basically been told it was an RPG, and I'm generally a huge fan of this genre. I'd consider my tastes within RPGs to be pretty wide, ranging from the more hardcore PC titles such as Eye of the Beholder, Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights through to the console offerings such as the Final Fantasy games and KOTOR and even action RPGs such as Kingdom Hearts.
However, when I played the game, I struggled to find any RPG elements to it at all. I've played through the first few islands (most recently the one with the big dragon at the top) and, from what I've experienced so far, it just seems to be a platform game with shoddy controls and shallow combat.
Now, I'm the first to admit that I probably went into this game expecting it to be something that it clearly isn't. I'd be very grateful if anybody could explain to me what it actually *is*, as I'd love to be able to get into the right frame of mind for it and I feel a bit guilty that my Gamecube is just gathering dust.
Exactly!
I had the exact opposite reaction. I remember, the freedom of the NES game was incredible (and a first, mind you). I learned later that Miyamoto tried to recreate the feeling he had as a kid wandering through the forest, which he imagined full of fantasy creatures, without directions or points of reference, and he was dead on. This was exactly what I felt like as a kid playing that game!
So when I bought Link to the Past I was expecting more (better) of the same. If you've ever played that game you still remember how it opens. The story of the Triforce, and princess Zelda talking to you in your dreams via telepathy. I was positively in awe. Then when I could play, I left the house under the rain and started going every which way. And you remember, at the start of the game every road except the road to the castle is blocked by indestructible soldiers in armor (after you save the princess they vanish, never to return). What the fuck? was my only thought (yes, I was a naughty boy). I almost cried (insert nerd joke here).
Don't get me wrong, after I got over my surprise and indignation I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic game, but this Action/RPG type game wasn't the Zelda I knew and loved. It gave up the freedom which made the original unique for guided gameplay and a good story (part of the charm of the original is you only discovered who you were and what you were doing at the end).
I don't care about realistic vs. cel shaded Zelda (actually I do but that's an other point for an other time), what I want is a Zelda game with the same idea as the original, and with all of the improvements a modern console can give. In the original you woke up in the middle of the map, amnesiac, and you had to figure out who you were, where you were, and what you had to do all by yourself. I don't care about that The One-reincarnation crap we were fed during Wind Waker (which was a fantastic game, but you could've just called it The Wind Waker, 'The Legend of Zelda :' was superfluous).
Imagine how cool it would be if a game opened just like that, with your character in the middle of this huge, beautiful, enthralling 3D world, with all of the explanations left for you to figure out! But nobody, and especially not Aonuma-san, has got the balls to try that.