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Gameinformer's Zelda Wii Wishlist

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Gameinformer put out their wishlist for Zelda Wii, and It invokes some thoughts...

More Interesting Characters

Hyrule has always presented gamers with a unique and often beautiful world full of character in and of itself. Too bad that personality is so lacking in the individuals inhabiting that world. If Nintendo really wants to draw us into the fantasy it should work on creating some fascinating citizens for Link to talk to, interact with, and run quests for. I’m not talking about some lame item-trading mini-game. I mean a family ripped apart by Ganon’s latest attempt to rule the kingdom or an old friend of Link’s showing up to beg a favor from the Master Sword-wielding warrior. And, hey, while we’re talking about the game’s NPCs…

Voice Acting

I get it. Nintendo wants to keep Link as the silent protagonist.That’s totally fine. But plenty of games have had a mute main characterwhile providing a fully-voiced supporting cast, including Fallout 3,Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the Half-Life series, and more. The simpletruth is that Nintendo has no hope of creating more interesting,fleshed-out characters if they’re trying to keep the number of textboxes you need to click through to a minimum. Instead, why not give thecharacters voices and help make this game the true fantasy epic that itdeserves to be?

No Vehicle-Based Gimmickry

The boat in Wind Waker was a unique idea, but it quickly ended up annoying a lot of gamers. It was even less worthwhile in Phantom Hourglass, where a lot of the control was taken away. And don’t even get me started on the uselessness and boring nature of the train in Spirit Tracks.Even the whole wolf transformation thing in Twilight Princess, while not technically a vehicle, was kind of unnecessary. Ocarina of Time did just fine with Link traversing the overworld on a horse. We don’t need our already-awesome hero to have some elaborate means of getting around the world unless Nintendo is planning on making the world a whole lot bigger.

Motivation For Link

Game Informer executive editor Andrew Reiner called for this one specifically, but I completely agree with him. We’ve been playing as Link in a ton of different games since the ‘80s, but how much do we actually know about him? How many times has he had a reason for stepping up and becoming a legendary hero? In A Link to the Past,Link’s uncle dies is seriously wounded and passes on his sword, granting the protagonist both something to fight for and the weapon to fight with. Likewise, in Wind Waker, Link’s sister Aryll is kidnapped early on, providingmomentum for the first half of the game. In general, though, the Zeldagames tend to just push Link toward Hyrule Castle until he meetsPrincess Zelda and discovers that she is in distress and must berescued. This step goes hand-in-hand with making more interestingcharacters, but if Nintendo can craft some compelling reasons for Linkto set out on his journey, it will matter more to us playing through itin the end.

A Changing World

Stuffing a game full of binary good versus evil choices has become a cliché, and let’s face it: Nobody wants a grim-and-gritty, heartless version of Link. That’s not what I’m suggesting here at all. But how about if instead of just saving the world, Link’s actions actually change Hyrule as the game progresses? Perhaps completing certain sidequests for specific characters could open up new shops, move characters around, or even unlock bonus areas. Or maybe there could be a couple different factions in Hyrule with differing ideas on how to defeat Ganon that would have unique results on the world overall.

Better Combat

Darksiders borrowed plenty of elements from Zelda; now it’s time for Zelda to borrow back. While I don’t think Link needs to learn swordplayas complex or intense as the God of War or Devil May Cryseries, it would be great if we could get beyond the three-hit swordcombos of most 3D Zelda games. What if the Master Sword split into three separate legendary weapons, each with their own strengths andweaknesses? And if we’re going to be forced to dig up the boomerang and hookshot as dungeon tools yet again – and we will – let us toss them out in the middle of a combo chain to inflict even more damage onto our enemies.

A Master Quest

This is a pretty massive request and not terribly likely to happen,but remember the whispers of anticipation around the schoolyard when kids first started realizing that the original Legend of Zelda had a complete second quest packed into the game after you completed it? Ocarina of Time also had a Master Quest, although it ended up not being released until it was offered as a preorder bonus for Wind Waker.But if Nintendo really wants to blow us away, they should offer up a second quest that makes the dungeon puzzles, bosses, and enemies more difficult. Maybe it’s unlocked after beating the game, or maybe itcould even be sold as DLC a few months after release. Whatever the case, there’s nothing that could keep us in Hyrule longer.

No Relation To Majora’s Mask

I understand that some people really love Majora’s Mask, and even as someone who couldn’t really get into it, I respect what it was trying to do. That said, the idea of the new Zelda being a sequel to this N64 spin-off is dumb. Majora’s Mask is nearly 10 years old now, and it’s probably the least approachable Zelda game ever. If Nintendo wants their first Zelda game made from the ground-up for their uber-popular console to sell anything coming close to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit numbers, avoiding weighing it down as a sequel is essential.

So I disagree with many of their points. Zelda has had many interesting characters in the past. Voice acting, while nice, is not a requirement for interesting characters. Also, the vehicles in Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks did not hinder the game in any way in my opinion, and in fact did a good job mixing things up with this aging franchise. Link already has had plenty of motivation in the past Zelda games, with Tetra being kidnapped in Phantom Hourglass, Illia in Twilight Princess, Zelda's body in Spirit Tracks... I don't think it'd be like a Zelda game at all to have a choice-based system... But they can make the world change as you progress in the storyline and that would be pretty fantastic. Also, I don't see how it being a Majora's Mask sequel could hinder it's sales at all. It was one of the most fantastically refreshing entries into the series.

I do agree with some points though... I think Nintendo has enough money to hire some good voice actors, and it's be awesome to give NPCs voices during cutscenes. I wouldn't mind text in the normal flow of gameplay, but I do think Nintendo has to catch up to the times. The change to the combat system has been more or less confirmed. And I agree wholeheartedly in the need for a Master Quest, or a New Game+ or at least a hard mode...

Anyhow, how do all of you feel about this? Have a particular wishlist of your own you want to share?

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Posted

I think what is inevitably going to happen (and what the comment about using a Hookshot mid-combo brings to mind) is a Metroid: Other M take on Zelda. Which tbh is probably long overdue as it is.

The reason the game shouldn't be a sequel, as they said, is because it won't sell to the same crowd that likes NSMB Wii. Majora's Mask is not friendly to those players, not one bit, and despite how good of a game it is, they aren't going to want to play it, and they're certainly not going to want to get bogged down in two games worth of prior plot to catch up with the new game.

That said, I think the rumour about it being an MM sequel is a misquote if anything, and that the idea might be more to the tune of another Link being called Hero of Time. The line about Link having a "hometown", for example, points away from this being OoT Link.

The rest of their ideas seem fine. Notice how all the games you named that had motivations for Link were games where a girl gets captured, killed or otherwise. It's all variations on a theme, and the article is talking about changing that. The games where Link had different motivations than that (Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask) are widely considered to be a cut above the rest.

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Oh I don't think it should be a /direct/ sequel to Majora's Mask, just a chronological sequel...

And to tell you the truth, all of Zelda's stories have been this same(or a variation of the) "girl gets kidnapped" storyline (with the notable exceptions being Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening.) In a way, that simple structure is part of the series and I don't think complicating it past that makes the game any better. Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask are both considered a cut above the rest for different reasons, but certainly not because of their stories, I think.

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I do agree with some points though... I think Nintendo has enough money to hire some good voice actors, and it's be awesome to give NPCs voices during cutscenes. I wouldn't mind text in the normal flow of gameplay, but I do think Nintendo has to catch up to the times. The change to the combat system has been more or less confirmed. And I agree wholeheartedly in the need for a Master Quest, or a New Game+ or at least a hard mode...

I guess it's 'cause I've been watching too much anime, but I can't take english dubs anymore in anything that originated from Japan. Maybe it's just the terrible english voice acting I've seen in other Jgames that has biased me. I won't quite hazard to call the Symphonia games' voice acting bad, but I just couldn't stand them. The only time my concrete decision against voice acting has faltered is when I heard the voice acting in the Tetra's Trackers minigame in the Japanese version of Four Swords.

However, you pretty much took the words out of my mouth when you said voice acting an interesting character does not make. What would voice acting change? The only thing that would change is that our imaginations aren't tested and the character ends up being more bland in the process. I would much rather have a giggling, mysterious Midna than a giggling, out-loud verbally abusing and therefore less interesting version of Midna. The silence is iconic in this series, and it doesn't need to change, and amongst games without voice acting, Link is still the silent protagonist. A silent protagonist of a silent film. A silent protagonist amongst silent protagonists. He never speaks, even in text form, not counting the menu options. His face relates every emotion you need to gather what he's thinking and you fill in the blanks. If you want to imagine his voice, he laughs, makes happy sounds, grunts, yells, and meows, occasionally.

More Interesting Characters

I agree you need to unbland them up a little. Everything seems to go down the drain during Zelda games and no one seems to be that affected at all.

Voice Acting

I explained myself.

No Vehicle-Based Gimmickry

This was more driven by the plot. I can't believe they would call this out. :/ That's how the plot goes. Hyrule is a gigantic ocean and you don't know why until you progress through the game. Then it all makes sense as to why you're in a boat. I don't count being in a boat a gimmick, because it's much less convenient to travel an ocean in a boat rather than being on a horse on land. The aspect of discovery is a bit higher than usual, though.

Motivation For Link

Link is the hero, man. What else would he do? If someone handed you the tools needed to save the world, are you going to just chill out and eat octoroks all day, or are you going to suit up and go bomb some dodongos? That's motivation enough. You know. The whole world turning to crap and him being the hero who can make it right.

That's the motivation for a lot of characters in stories, though. It'd be cool if he had some motive, but I don't think anyone really needs to have one.

A Changing World

I agree with this. When TP was first in development, Eiji Aonuma said he would create music that changed in lightheartedness as Link progressed through his mission, because that's what happens. Everything looks brighter when you're close to victory. Then they gave us just a really silent, slow, almost depressing night theme and a more upbeat but still not that interesting day field theme.Since much of the game is getting from one place to another through the field, you think they would focus on making it a bit more visibly, you know. In need of help until you help it and make stuff better. Like, if you do this quest, NPCs appear here and here and this landmark appears here.

Better Combat

I don't really think this is so much as a necessity, but it would be nice. Switching between the sword and weapons has always been a static, unrelated event. You hit them with the bow and they hurt. You hit them with a sword and they hurt. The sword is the only thing that really has a combo to it. I think it'd be cool if you could whip enemies with your bow, or pin them and use an item on them. Bombs have always been clunky ways to dispose of enemies, in any game. Bomb arrows help, but the bomb is pretty much only useful for blowing up rocks and certain, specific, most-of-the-time boss enemies.

Also, "Master Sword splitting into three different swords with their own abilities".

Lame.

Better reserved for Power Rangers or the Hero of Time movie.

Don't even mention the Four Sword. It doesn't split into four swords, it splits the carrier into four people with four swords, which is much less lame than the above idea, which would pretty much ruin the Master Sword for me.

A Master Quest

Fo sho. OoX's 'Master Quest' amped up the replay value like twenty fold for me, especially with the inclusion of partners like Dimitri, Ricky, and Moosh. It would also be nice to get more of a challenge. Though it must be stated that Nintendo has let you choose your difficulty from the beginning. (Heart Containers) Though that's kind of unfair, since I'm pretty sure a bunch of people are like me and get obsessive compulsive when it comes to picking them up. Why would you leave it there. ): It's so pretty.

No Relation To Majora’s Mask

Why? And least approachable? Maybe. But that's because it was so awesome that only a mature audience could understand it. A bunch of people were just turned off by the time limit aspect, which I thought was actually pretty unique and faceted. It still had some of the best plot in any of the Zelda games and making a sequel to a game with one of the best plots in a Zelda game is bound to be awesome.

Also yes, I would much prefer a chronological sequel.

Those are my opinions.

Sahaqiel

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Posted

I don't think it'd be like a Zelda game at all to have a choice-based system... But they can make the world change as you progress in the storyline and that would be pretty fantastic.

I thought that was their point. Maybe I didn't read it right. But way, I agree completely

Also, I don't see how it being a Majora's Mask sequel could hinder it's sales at all. It was one of the most fantastically refreshing entries into the series.

I think it's more that it'd be hard to make a good sequel to it. How would they explain how Link returns to Termina without it being too cheesy or just a repeat? Maybe he could go somewhere else, but I think that Link has had enough of traveling if you ask me. Then, what about the masks? Thy used tons of masks already, so it'd be way hard to create a decent amount of new masks, and reusing old ones would all but make it the same game. If they made it, yeah it'd sell, but fans would be disappointed. I would be, anyways.

Anyways, I think I agree with all of their points.

Also, please note, I only read the topic post, so yeah. Sorry If I'm saying the same things.

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Nintendo is also rich enough to have an actual live orchestra perform the music.

TP's music was nice, kinda nostalgic-with-a-dark-twist, but it wasn't top quality.

There better be some damn good music.

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Orchestrated music isn't on my wishlist, more like on my "will probably be there" and "if it's not there nintendo will get a lot of angry mail" list.

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Voice Acting

Nah I don't think that this game need VA's. I mean some games are good with them, but Zelda wouldn't be nearly as good with voices.

No Vehicle-Based Gimmickry

I agree with this part actually.

Motivation For Link

He's saving the world and a hot princess. What other motivation does he need?

A Changing World

This is a some what good idea. I mean they could have something like in MM where after you beat Ghot the snow goes away, but instead of going back in time where it becomes frozen again it could just stay that way.

Better Combat

Not much I can say on this. I like how Link learns complicated moves.

A Master Quest

A bit early to be thinking of that don't you think? I mean I know OoT MQ was good, but OoT was a great game. So of course a harder version was good, but who knows about this game right?

No Relation To Majora’s Mask

I could live with it having something to do with MM. I mean Majora was never actually destroyed. I think it wasn't anyway. I can't remember it's been too long, but still it's a good possibility.

I myself would love to see return of the changing masks. I wish for a non linear Zelda game. Like after you beat the bad guy you can continue and see how you made a difference in the world after the game instead of taking to before the final battle.

Also I wonder what Zelda would be like if you could choose between good and evil. Maybe they should try that sometime. It would be interesting if it only happened once though. Just to see how it turns out.

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I suggested the "A changing world" game mechanic in more detail a while ago to sahaqiel and tried to discuss it with him, but he didn't like the Idea at all. I think if I ever make a game I'll definitely put that mechanic into it.

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I think we were discussing different things, pheonix. ):

I'm all for the changing world. You were talking about branching off with different choices that led to the same result.

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you know how he mentioned different factions of hyrule with different ideas on how to beat ganon, so you beat ganon in a different way with each play through? thats the mechanic idea I was trying to explain to you. In the story you would still be killing ganon, but the final fight would be much different. So storywise, the result is still link beating ganon, but you did it much differently than you would have if you made other choices.

I think it would be really interesting. Off the top of my head, for a zelda game you could play through regularly but in favor of the Gorons, in Favor or the Zoras, or in favor of the sheikah or kokiris or hylians or what have you.

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I think it should have a different path in some ways, like at the end of Spirit Tracks when

Zelda asks you what you wanna be after everything is over, and it affects the ending.

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yeah, but thats a really minuscule change that has nothing to do with anything, really.

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It still gives you a reason to go through the final boss fight again

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Well, actually at the beginning of the game, it would make it different, encouraging you to play as many times as there are options to choose from.

I would also like things to do after the credits, like the Mirror Shield in Minish Cap.

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