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Next Zelda Game Examined
From the pages of Gamecube.IGN comes a look at the upcoming Zelda title for the Gamecube. Their examination includes both established facts: "Looking at the official screens and trailers, it's apparent Link will once again mount a mighty steed and battle on horseback", and some wishful thinking: "Will Link transform into a wolf in his latest adventure? Undoubtedly, it's the most talked about rumor."
I hear Link starts out as a one-celled organism, and gradually moves on to designing cryptic old men who dispense badly translated advice.
Eventually Link is ruler of the universe on a quest to save the GameCube from becoming completely irrelevant.
Oh yeah, and he can totally turn into a wolf, but the wolf has a really funny hat which is actually a petrie dish.
Slices, dices, eats your lunch.
As far as the rumors about transforming into the wolf...
I personally think it would be a cool thing. It could open up special abilities, like tracking/ finding secrets by scent, a "berserker" mode, super jumps, super strength, etc. Or, maybe since Night and Day pass differently, you transform into the wolf at night, and that unlocks a different world to explore. Even if it's not true, I can't wait for this game!
Link's turned into a Goron, Zora, and Deku in the past. (Majora's Mask)
In Link To the Past, he turned into a bunny thing when you went to the dark world without the peral thingy.
In Ocarina of Time, he could change form by growing older or younger.
As long as they don't just say "You can change into a wolf!", it wouldn't be anything new. If they worked the wolf (maybe a new wolf species?) into the storyline for this game, it would be as if he had turned into a Deku or Goron.
Come to think of it, the Zelda series already has a wolf character, but as a common enemy: Wolfos. The article discusses him commanding nature (I believe the cats following him was just a rehash of the OoT sidequest to get the lady's dog in the town, though,) so if he could do more than command, but become 'nature', it would easily work out.
I'm just kind of worried that they'll stick with the music kick, which has been a core part of the last three console games. I don't hate it, but I want something new now. The nature thing would be a nice change of pace.
(Yes, there was an Ocarina in LttP, but it's functionality wasn't nearly as core to the game.)
Examined? How?
This is just a list of things two writers at IGN would like to see in the game. The list include innovative ideas like "good storyline" and "voice acting."
As for the Wolf rumor, all they say is, "we hope it's true."
This read more like someone's blog entry, not any kind of news what-so-ever. The subheading was: "We examine fact and take a took at the possibilities." That translates to: "We took what everyone already knows and guess."
I hate to sound typical, but I'm afraid this is going to be Nintendo's "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within". Ubisoft listened to the fans, and came up with crap. And, it shows. The game didn't get NEARLY the amount of attention that Sands of Time did. The loudest fans got what they wanted, and everyone else groaned as a good game with its own style and character got ground into "Hack and Slash in ruins # 35".
And that's what's happening with Nintendo.
Sure, Link's an older teen, so undoubtedly Nintendo will play up his strength and acrobatics. And the enemies are "darker". Whatever. The environments look bland, Link's face lacks any expression, and the combat seems hum-drum. Basically, the speculation puts all its money on "creative boss fighting".
And frankly, from the screenshots, it looks like Nintendo is going back to the unelegant solution of tying off a world with a treeline texture. Sorry guys, but the world barriers in Ocarina of Time stunk. I welcomed the Wind Waker's open sea tactic, it was a fresh solution to making a big world finite. I'll take cel-shading and cartoon lighting over bland faces and run-of-the-mill enemies anyday.
Sloooooooooooooow news day I guess...
I was checking on the pictures of the new Zelda on that IGN link and I can't believe how real the game looks!! I mean, is this crazy or what? It looks photo-realistic...although I'm not sure if link is supposed to be Asian or not.
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http://media.cube.ign.com/media/572/572738/img_21
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
I noticed that several theatrical elements from Harry Potter and mainly The Lord of the Rings are adopted to Zelda. Link=Frodo. Ghost city. Giant spider. Large razorbacks. It all seems so familiar. But cat herding? That's new for a video game. The only thing I don't like about the trailer is the reduced color palatte.
If you have to read every rumor just goto Gametab
No sig for you!!
So Link is a furry now?
That is definately becoming more and more of a plague on our society. Furries are bad, mmkay?
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Jeez, there haven't been two Zelda games on the same Nintendo console since the NES.
(Majora's Mask doesn't count.)
I guess none of you here remember the N64 shots originally shown. Link fighting a 'shiny' 3d knight..etc. The final game, as we all know, was extremely polished. As with all Zelda games, I expect perfection, and they all delivered so far. These screens are next-gen pre-fab shots. There is no way this game is releasing this year. Look at this info as drool/direction value only. All it confirms is adult link, darker more serious world and good graphics.
A lot of that really doesn't sound too great to me.
I don't want Link to speak, and I don't just mean voice acting.
I don't want to have to fish.
I don't want hugely complex tables of what combines to make what.
I don't want to have to pick a horse as if it were some sort of racing sim.
I don't want a hugely complex storyline.
Resoning?
Zelda games are iconic. Link is an iconic character. It's good versus evil, right versus wrong. Link fights for the same reason we do, and that's whatever we choose to be fighting for, but it's invariably a good thing. As soon as we get told what Link's motivation is, that goes. If he speaks, we can't help making assumptions which may go completely against our ideas. That will ruin the experience. Games like that have their place - I loved Tales of Symphonia, for instance. But it's not Zelda.
Fishing was fun. But it's not the sort of thing I'd want to be forced into doing. I'd waste time on it, sure, but I wouldn't want to be doing it for any other reason. Perhaps because it could be incredibly frustrating, as well. That would only increase with the introduction of several different kinds of rod, bait, etc. Upgrading, sure, but not mix and match. And again, Link as an angler would make him less malleable.
Complexity is not a good thing in an iconic game. It ruins the effect. It brings you out of a fantasy. You don't want to have to remember too much. Being able to combine equipment will make you have to remember things. You'd have to try loads of different combinations.
Owning a stable would just be ugh. It would require active maintenance and draw you away from th game itesf. The only way it would work is if you owned it in name only, like the Cabana in Wind Waker. But then what would be the point? Being able to choose between several horses might not be so bad, as long as it's a simple comparison, like the swords in OoT. And as long as you don't ever get more than one at a time, or within a short span. Not being able to try them out properly would spoil it.
I think that explains all of them, at least in a roundabout way. I never was very good at expressing myself.
I don't think flying, becoming a wolf or having animals fight for you would work, either. I'm not entirely sure why, though.
Whtever Nintendo makes, I'm sure it will be great. I just don't think IGN's ideas are the same as Ninty's.