Topic: The Legend of Zelda Wii U

[Adrock]

Can we talk about how awesome that was?

[BranDonk Kong]

Looks incredible.

[Adrock]

I'm digging the art direction (though Link's design was kind of weird from the brief glimpse of it). Looks like it's keeping pretty close to the color palette of the Wii U demo (which I hoped for). The open world is something I've always wanted in the Zelda series though I hope the world isn't as empty as Hyrule Field was in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. I love that you can now go anywhere. It suits the series' exploration and sense of adventure.

Also, I hate that this is a 2015 release. This game is probably a year an a half away. Still not a fan of early teasers despite how amazing this looked.

[Ian Sane]

Going with an open world concept is exactly the sort of creative shot-in-the-arm the series has been lacking lately.  Zelda should be epic and over the last while it's come across as pretty small in comparison to other titles going for an epic feel, including Nintendo's own Xenoblade.  So I'm thrilled to hear this.  In theory the HD visuals of the Wii U should help them achieve that but even then we're still going to be hitting last gen levels of what was considered "epic".  Until Nintendo uses comtemporary hardware again, Zelda is limited to being cutting edge merely by Nintendo standards.  The days of Ocarina of Time setting a high watermark for an epic adventure for videogames PERIOD are gone.

Open world also suggests a LESS accessible Zelda which I think is a good thing.  It holds back the fear of Nintendo "casualizing" Zelda.  Zelda is supposed to be grand and ambitious so make it for the gamer that wants some depth.  That's the Zelda fanbase in the first place.  With every Nintendo series I'm afraid of a trailer showing it infested with Miis and we didn't get that with Zelda on both the Wii and Wii U so we're probably safe.  Nintendo gets that this isn't the same audience.

[Adrock]

Three replies in and you already pull the "contemporary hardware" card. Please stop.

The teaser looks amazing and it's only going to look better when it finally releases next year. Why can't that be enough?

[BlackNMild2k1]

where's the pics, vids, links?

you guys are failing me right now.
I guess I'll just go look it up elsewhere and come back later.

[Adrock]

where's the pics, vids, links?

you guys are failing me right now.
I guess I'll just go look it up elsewhere and come back later.

Fine, but only because of your years of making my life easier by posting all those rumors.

The New Zelda Is Open World, Looks Absolutely Incredible

[Ian Sane]

I prefrerred the look of that teaser footage from a few years ago.  This is more cartoony.  Still looks good though.  It's the Skyward Sword kind of cartoony, which I'm fine with.

[Adrock]

The look seems close to the E3 2012 demo. It's a bit hard to compare because the new footage is outdoors (the field particularly bathed in sunlight) while the old footage was in a dungeon. I'd place the art direction between Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Personally, I felt the former was too dark while the latter was too bright. Like the E3 2012 demo, the teaser is right in the middle.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

Welp, thats it! Looks like the CG for Skyward Sword. I am in complete awe and utter content with the style and scale of this game.


It's looks better than I expected and that's not based on the WII U SPECS, it just looks flat out INCREDIBLE!


SweetLord!

[MagicCow64]

****, that looks incredible. I'm loving the art-style, somewhere between the animated look of Wind Waker and the painted look of Skyward Sword. I'm extremely pleased they didn't swing back toward dark/realism. I think this looks substantially better than the previous demo from an art design perspective.

[Adrock]

Now that I've had a better look at it, the art style skews closer to Skyward Sword, just not entirely as there's far more detail than the Impressionist-inspired design of Skyward Sword. While I prefer the E3 2012 style (I really liked the color palette, dark but not too dark), this is like a brighter, cartoony version of that which still works for a Zelda game.

[Mop it up]

I think it sounds good so far, but I need more information before I can get excited about it. I want to know a couple of things about the world and structure, such as whether it will be full of interesting things to do or just mostly empty, and if it will still have an intended order of things like Zelda 1 and you can just choose to break from that if you wish. A Link Between Worlds was way too easy because all the dungeons were essentially the same difficulty, so it just got easier and easier as you gained more hearts and items. I don't want that again.

So yeah, good for a start, but I'm taking a "wait and see" approach.

[Soren]

[Ian Sane]

Link's face and hair are the only parts in those shots that look a little too "solid-color", for lack of a word.  It's like they lack detail.  Otherwise I really like it.  The zoomed out shot of the field looks great!

[BranDonk Kong]

2nd pic is my desktop background now.

[EasyCure]

So... no one is going to discuss the laser/beam arrow that Link is about to snuff him with?

[Stogi]

haha I was just thinking that!

It's funny how no matter how odd something is, it fits in the Zelda world. The only thing that would look odd would be something normal, like a car.

The bow makes me hope they provide Wiimote support. Seriously, it was the best item to use in Skyward Sword. It felt perfect.

And as fucked up as this sounds, I think I may buy a Wii U now. hahaha Probably a used one because they are going for cheap. When this game comes out, I doubt they'll be cheap anymore.

[Stratos]

I wish we had a trailer without someone sitting in front of the screen and some dubbed over voice. Looks like it could be very exciting.

[Sarail]

So... no one is going to discuss the laser/beam arrow that Link is about to snuff him with?

I paused the frame on "Link" and his horse, and I noticed a few things...

First, he has no sword. His bow and circular shield are strapped on to his horse. Maybe the horse plays more of a pivotal role this time around - obviously in traversing the large landscape. But maybe as in an equipment manager...somehow?

Second, his arrow quiver looks to be a primary part of his overall attire/tunic. If the bow and arrow is indeed his primary weapon this time, I'm completely satisfied with that. It was my favourite weapon to wield in Skyward Sword for taking out baddies, anyhow.

The crazy-looking laser/short staff thing was also being held on the side of his horse. After shooting off two bomb arrows (yay for combo'ing weapons again - loved that in L'sA and SS), he then reached down quickly to grab that laser/staff thing...to which the horse then gave him a boosted jump to fire it off. Colour me intrigued...very intrigued.

So, yeah. Zelda for Wii U. Obviously in the beginning development stages. But good heavens, does it look mind-blowing and brilliant. There were so many small, intricate other things going on during that field scene before the monster attacked. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

[BranDonk Kong]

I wish we had a trailer without someone sitting in front of the screen and some dubbed over voice. Looks like it could be very exciting.

There's this site called YouTube...

[broodwars]

Well, if this game is truly as "open world" as Aonuma is hyping it, I really hope they not only pull it off with style, but pull it off with the typical Nintendo standard of game-breaking bugs kept to a minimum. With the increase in scope and environment, that's really my biggest concern right now, considering this is looking to be on the scale of Skyrim.  We all know how well Bethesda bug-tested that game, so I hope Nintendo can put them in their place with a relatively bug-free release.

From a design standpoint, I'm not fond of Open Worlds of late due to several other games I've played recently (Skyrim, Infamous SS, Saints Row 4, Assassin's Creed 4, Watch Dogs, etc.).  Traditionally, they tend to be vast wastelands of nothing dotted with quest markers and collectables. I get hooked for a few hours, and then burn out hard by the end. I'm very wary of this change, but it is a change the Zelda franchise needed to keep evolving.  I just hope that Aonuma and his crew are working on avoiding the usual Open World pitfalls of boredom and copy & paste design.  I also hope they don't fall into the trap A Link Between Worlds did, where being able to go anywhere after a certain point meant that the dungeons all had to be designed to be completable with the least experience and skill possible.  It resulted in particularly bland dungeons and lame bosses, so I hope the experience taught Aonuma to find a middle ground with the Wii U Zelda.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic.  They seem to have the right idea. I just hope they can nail the execution.

[Adrock]

I'm a bit concerned with the execution as well. Every open area in previous Zelda games has been mostly empty. Adventuring and exploration have always been major components of Zelda games, but they need to give players something to do. There are a lot of opportunities here, optional quests and dungeons being the most obvious ones.

Additionally, such a drastic change to the overworld must be accompanied by changes to the dungeons. If players can explore the world on a whim and gather any number of items at any point in the game, the dungeons can't be linear anymore. The enemies have to become smarter and stronger as well. The go-anywhere mentality still has to be coupled with a sense of progression. Players should never feel like the opposition isn't a threat anymore. As much as I enjoyed A Link Between Worlds, it didn't take into account how overpowered you could get fairly early in the game. I'm replaying it now and after collecting only three paintings, I already have all my items bought and only three not upgraded (Ice Rod, Sand Rod, and Lantern). I'm not even farming for Rupees.

There are ways they can avoid this though they'll have to strike a balance somehow. They can focus more on puzzles that don't require certain items, but that can get old and it stifles creativity. They can group available dungeons and items through storyline checkpoints though this kind of betrays the spirit of an open-world.botMs difficult to tell how they plan to approach this, but I'm willing to keep an open mind. I'm sure Aonuma and his team has received plenty of feedback regarding Skyward Sword's and A Link Between World's shortcomings.

[Sarail]

I think one of the major questions to be asked is...

Are we going to see the return of Nunchuk & Remote+, or is the game going to heavily use the GamePad for controls? I could definitely see using the GamePad touchscreen for bow/arrow firing - easily allows for pinpoint accuracy, but part of me wants that sweet, sweet pointer control to return for firing off those thin and pointy death sticks.

I don't know. *shrug*

[broodwars]

I think one of the major questions to be asked is...

Are we going to see the return of Nunchuk & Remote+, or is the game going to heavily use the GamePad for controls? I could definitely see using the GamePad touchscreen for bow/arrow firing - easily allows for pinpoint accuracy, but part of me wants that sweet, sweet pointer control to return for firing off those thin and pointy death sticks.

I don't know. *shrug*

Hard to say, though I think it's worth noting that whatever the character in the demo was using that extended out into a glowing rod looked curiously like something developed for a pointing device.