"So far, the basic flow of the Zelda games is you're exploring a field, you go to a dungeon, you conquer it and return to the field.  We're looking at altering that traditional flow. That's all I can share, and I can't say more until E3 next year."

Yes! Yes! Thank you, Nintendo!

Let's make the dungeons and the surrounding wilderness indistinguishable in terms of general combat/effort, like the first game!

NEW Legend of Zelda!

4 player 2D co-op!

I'd like to see a New Zelda II, personally.

Yeah I never liked the Hyrule Field part of the Zelda design.  It seemed to go against the general design of the 2D games.  Majora's Mask bucked the trend really well though by putting a big city in the middle.

Majora's Mask is a departure and it's a contender for the best Zelda game.  But Phantom Hourglass is also a departure and I would consider it outright CRAP.  So while I'm very interested to find out what they've got cooking I'm not completely confident in that I'll like it.  There's some big extremes here.

Though once you say "we hope the gameplay can be more accessible to people" I groan.  If anything ruins this game it will be THAT.  The way to ruin Zelda is to alter it for people who don't like Zelda.

It still reminds me of the Survey Nintendo sent to me.  I had answered so many surveys, they sent me a special one that made it sound like they were looking into making a game or porting a game like Oblivion to their systems.  The survey seemed to ask a lot of questions on whether or not people are looking to play games that are more hevily drenched in the RPG fare and it did sound like they were using Oblivion as a model.  I would definatly like integration like oblivion in the zelda series.  I am a bit tired of the load an area up while you are on part of a map.  Monster Hunters 3 also does it like Zelda, a departure from this would be my friend.

I just want the next Zelda to be written by Yoshiaki Koizumi.

And that will never happen. =(

This is exciting news. I hope they get rid of the dungeons and just let me wander around the fields. That's my favorite part.

My favorite dungeon in TP was the old west town.

This news on them overhauling the general flow of Zelda is very welcome, indeed.  I just wonder what they're going to replace it with, as exploration and dungeon-crawling are usually the two strongest elements of any Zelda title.

lol gives a company a bigger reason to make an oldschool zelda clone

They did...it's called 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Want.

WANT.

In before "omg play as zelda"

To be honest, I don't think exploration would be hampered; it seems like they'd have a chance to make it more focused, in fact. That was what Majora's Mask accomplished above other Zeldas: rather than the central field being a huge, empty space that acted as a medium of travel (much like the sea), it was riddled with interesting elements and secrets. Much like the original Legend of Zelda on the NES, come to think of it...

I definitely noticed TP changed things up, especially the Ice "Temple," and the snowboarding and bird riding were different too (although they were bordering on Star-Fox-Adventures-meh). I think they'll go in that direction but not completely overhaul the formula. Something with more interactive townsfolk would be just fine, I do declare.

I just don't know anymore.

Good point.  A lot of Zeldas tend to fall into a rut at some point in the game where you just go dungeon, dungeon, dungeon with not much else in between.  LttP and OoT both do that.  They start off with a clear balance of dungeons and other stuff but after a certain point all the player has left to do is clear several dungeons in a row.  Majora's Mask only has four dungeons but so much stuff in between that it doesn't feel short or unfulfilling.  Link's Awakening is even better, having a full set of dungeons but usually having extra stuff to do in between.

Having a world to explore is, in my mind, the most key element of Zelda.  Otherwise you might as well make it like Four Swords where it's just sequential levels.  Now I like Four Swords but I sure as hell wouldn't want it to be the new blueprint for Zelda games.  And when a Zelda game gets to a point where you just beat a dungeon, walk to the next dungeon, beat it, etc then it might as well just be levels.

All very true. But even if it was more like MM with a bit more to do in the - non dungeon mean time - that is obviously not enough. New settings would shake things up, much like space did for Mario, but still wouldn't be enough. What is it that they could possibly do that would not only be new and interesting for Zelda games, but all games? No way Nintendo is thinking, "hey these guys did this well, lets use that!".  I'm just waiting for something almost epically different.

I don't think the second half of any Zelda game where the game gets into a dungeon-dungeon-dungeon rhythm is the problem.  That's usually where I have the most fun in any Zelda game.  The biggest problem I've had with Zelda of late is that the game only pretends that there's exploration.  At any one point in the game, you can wander around and do some things, but only specific things that have been very carefully placed so you know them the minute you see them and know exactly how to deal with them.  Ditto for your weapons/tools, which are never used to their full potential.  There's rarely a reason to experiment and investigate, as everything is used for one particular purpose and is thereafter forgotten. 

This is especially a problem in the dungeons.  Remember when Zelda games used to build upon their challenges from dungeon to dungeon?  You'd start out just pushing blocks and stepping on switches until you got the bow & arrow in a dungeon, and then in every dungeon thereafter you'd see arrow-based puzzles.  Then in the next dungeon, you'd get bombs and they would start being involved in puzzles from that point on.  But in the last few Zelda puzzles, you get a tool in one dungeon; it's used in that dungeon; and then...it's forgotten.  Every dungeon feels like the game is starting over so you rarely feel like you're actually being tested on what you've learned over the course of the game.

I'd also be fine with the Zelda flow as it is if we didn't constantly have this pattern: Start of game -> extremely slow opening as you acquire 3 objects to get the master sword -> extremely fast close as you acquire a number of other objects to open the final dungeon -> final dungeon -> Gannon/Gannondorf.  There's also the problem of some pretty lame dungeons these past few games.

they should just have Link get shipwrecked on another island (a real one) thats not too massive in size, but not too small either.

the whole thing should be like one big ass dungeon where you get to explore the entire island (which has no central town/village, but does have NPC's scattered across out in the open or in remote locales), using the weapons you acquire to traverse the terrain. You can have the traditional dungeon themes but mix them up a bit; work them not only into the environment (the island around you) but the other dungeons themselves;

do a side-quest favor for an islander that results in a dam being built in the nearby river, opening up a portion of an underground dungeon. You don't have the right equipment yet so you move on to another dungeon. something occurs which breaks the damn, but that dungeon isn't blocked off, its still accessable from another part of the island, however its now become flooded (creating new puzzles), etc.

Basically this new zelda should bring back the awesome challenging puzzles of old, as introduce some more metroid-like exploration. to be honest, i'm surprised it hasn't happened before.

ps the island setting is just an excuse to get link to take his shirt off again, yum!

3D Zelda that's more challenging with Motion+ swordfighting but with the structure of and an overworld set up like Metroid? Where can I pre-order?

Motion+... almost forgot about that!

another crazy idea for my Survivor Man: Legend of Zelda;

all that 1st person zelda talk can come to fruition in motion+ based puzzles or activities where you control links hands to traverse or otherwise manipulate the terrain, even if its slightly mini game-ish. picture having to scale a cliff with modified (WW styled) hook-shot...

Use the wiimotes IR pointer to (in 1st person mode of course) launch the hookshot to an appropriate part of the cliff, where you automatically pull yourself off part of the way, but then have to use motion+ to move links hand to grab a hold, and the nunchuck to pull himself up with his left hand..?

All I can say is, this game had better have a left-handed control option complete with a left-handed Link.

Girl Link or Malon as the main character anyone? :faust:


I agree that the Zelda formula needs to be expanded and more detail needs to placed in the game so the puzzle and secrets aren't so obvious.  I miss LttP jammed pack world where even after years of playing it, I can still find new secrets in the game not to mention the dungeon can be completed in varying order. Most of the recent games started to have a way to simply pattern to each of the dungeons. Walk in to a room > see two doors > take the one on the left > see something in a room that not in another > Use it as the key to solving a puzzle > get item > Use said item to solve all remaining puzzles> Pwn boss by spamming the item > heart piece > Use item on everything you see till you get to the next dungeon/item.

I think this is only a problem for people like us who tend to do all the side quests the instant they're available.  If you're not the type of gamer who searches out everything you can do between each dungeon you're not going to find a lot of that stuff until later in the game.  Therefore, you're not going to get to a point where there's nothing to do but 3 dungeons in a row.

I hate Zelda's that have areas locked for the sake of saving them till later. This does not include not being able to access an area because you don't have the proper item. It's literally a figurative wall and it pisses me off.

You know, we NWR staffers did a wonderful article not long ago about where we'd like to see the Metroid series go. I wonder if it's time for the same discussion regarding Zelda...

The inclusion of Motion+ has me thinking the game will be in first-person, which isn't unheard of. Link's Crossbow Training may well have been a test of that concept. Hell, Metroid Prime was a test, too. It would be interesting to play as a different character, too, maybe somebody whose journey parallels Link's, and you see Link from afar in cinematics or battle scenes.

The gameplay could be similar, but I like the idea of seeing the struggle from afar, but at the same time being a part of it.

This video is pretty funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbUqEPUZ-ds

If nintendo watches this video, they will learn how to change zelda to be more fresh

LOL

That video is awesome.

Nintendo tried first person didn't they? and then they didn't like it if I recall correctly. Though now they do have motion pluss so things would be better. But there is no way the series will go first person to the extent of Metroid.

Yeah, they showed a demo of it at GDC a couple years ago.  It would probably be better if they don't revisit the experiment.

I could see going into first-person for Z-targeting, and maybe then activating the 1:1 sword control.

But honestly I think a healthy injection of Elder Scrolls could do Zelda some good. A big open continent for exploration scattered with towns and various points of interest.