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Nintendo definitely seems to be heading back to its roots more and more overall. In the Iwata Asks video for Zelda Wii (Skyward Sword), Eiji Aonuma even mentions “back to basics” about looking at old core gameplay from the original titles. This new block system with Link and the enemies excites me, and it makes me think of Zelda 2 in 3D for some reason combat-wise. Also, they brought back the sword beam in a properly balanced way for a 3D game.
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Now, I remember you saying a while back (I’ve been reading your articles for quite some time now) that Zelda Wii will be infested with tons of Motion+ gimmicks to kind of make up for the lack of game titles that use the Motion+. They seem to be doing that a bit, but aside from that flying beetle thing, none of it looks too..bad. We don’t really know how the full overworld is going to be, and I don’t know how puzzle-infested it might be (although none of the gameplay shown looked overly puzzle-orientated, from my point of view), but I do have a somewhat positive feeling that this game will be better than all the other 3D Zelda titles, at the least. If nothing else, it is nice to hear that Miyamoto and Aonuma have the words “back to basics” stirring in their minds. Perhaps that is a good sign.
Now, I remember you saying a while back (I’ve been reading your articles for quite some time now) that Zelda Wii will be infested with tons of Motion+ gimmicks to kind of make up for the lack of game titles that use the Motion+. They seem to be doing that a bit, but aside from that flying beetle thing, none of it looks too..bad. We don’t really know how the full overworld is going to be, and I don’t know how puzzle-infested it might be (although none of the gameplay shown looked overly puzzle-orientated, from my point of view), but I do have a somewhat positive feeling that this game will be better than all the other 3D Zelda titles, at the least. If nothing else, it is nice to hear that Miyamoto and Aonuma have the words “back to basics” stirring in their minds. Perhaps that is a good sign.
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Now, up until this point, I haven’t even asked you a question yet, but I first wanted to relay my impressions of the game to you before I started. I suppose my overall question is: What do you think of what we have seen so far from the new Zelda title, and do you think there are any good signs that Zelda may be returning to its roots in the future? Is it too early to tell?
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Now, up until this point, I haven’t even asked you a question yet, but I first wanted to relay my impressions of the game to you before I started. I suppose my overall question is: What do you think of what we have seen so far from the new Zelda title, and do you think there are any good signs that Zelda may be returning to its roots in the future? Is it too early to tell?
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I also have one more question that comes a bit out of nowhere, but how would you feel about Retro Studios working on a Zelda game?
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As you can tell, reader, most of my emails so far have been about Zelda. And last I looked at my email, it looks like more emails are going to be responding to my responses on Zelda emails! With all the 3DS excitement and all going on, interesting how people want to talk to me about Zelda.
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About Retro, I think they were at one point making a Zelda game or showing Nintendo a prototype. Apparently, it didn’t go over too well.
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About Zelda… well you are the second person emailing in happy they are saying ‘getting Zelda back to its roots’. I suppose we are missing too much information. Showing off the motion plus items and all is the ‘micro’ part of the game. But what about the Big Picture? The ‘Big Picture’ of later Zeldas are very different from early Zeldas.
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In early Zeldas, the overworld was vast, rich, interesting, but very, very dangerous. I believe one important element to entertainment is to have an interesting villain, and in order to feel like a hero one must make the world feel dangerous and even feel a little evil. The reason why Mario 5 climaxed so beautifully was that World 8 felt very dangerous, even evil, and Bowser was very dangerous at the end of the game. When I think back as to why our original experiences in the old school games like Metroid and Zelda and other games were so memorable was because the games felt dangerous.
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If you play an early Zelda, you will die if you just stand around. The world is not a friendly place. And it felt very empowering for Link to grow stronger and to overcome the ‘evil world’. Link growing stronger did not just mean Link getting heart containers and getting better armor, sword, and items. Link growing stronger also meant the player mastering the arcade gameplay. Some people are so good they can beat Legend of Zelda with just three hearts. A game like Mario 5 doesn’t have any ‘puzzle gameplay’ but it is very addictive because you know ‘just one more try’ and you will eventually beat the level. You feel your own skills increasing.
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This is probably why I think the ‘puzzle gameplay’ in modern Zeldas doesn’t create the empowering feeling. I can just look up the answer online and whooo, the door opens. Big deal. But with the older Zelda games, even if you had the map and hundreds of strategy guides, none of that was enough. You had to acquire some skill. I mean, there is no way to beat a game like Zelda 1, 2, LTTP without really mastering Link’s combat skills.
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What I fear is a Zelda that has the same structure as say Twilight Princess with motion plus controls used to ‘make new puzzles’. In metaphor, my fear is that Motion Plus Controls will be like new food inserted into an old dirty dish. I swear, if I have to talk to Grandma in this Zelda… and raise chickens because some NPC needs some eggs… That isn’t what Zelda is about. I don’t care about Grandma.
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I don’t want to see Link kick ass. I want to see me kick ass. So I get my sword and go out into a dangerous world. If the world is not dangerous or evil, how can I feel like a hero?
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In previous Zelda games, it was fun to die and come back. I believe with Ocarina of Time, it was never fun to die. Maybe it took too long to get back where you were. But the old Zelda games were hard and they were fun to keep coming back.
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With Wind Waker, Nintendo made Zelda so easy that the game ceased to feel dangerous (so you ceased to feel like a hero). And Zelda games have been ridiculously easy since.
.
We just need more info about Zelda. We haven’t seen enough to say whether or not they are truly going back to the roots.
.
As you can tell, reader, most of my emails so far have been about Zelda. And last I looked at my email, it looks like more emails are going to be responding to my responses on Zelda emails! With all the 3DS excitement and all going on, interesting how people want to talk to me about Zelda.
.
About Retro, I think they were at one point making a Zelda game or showing Nintendo a prototype. Apparently, it didn’t go over too well.
.
About Zelda… well you are the second person emailing in happy they are saying ‘getting Zelda back to its roots’. I suppose we are missing too much information. Showing off the motion plus items and all is the ‘micro’ part of the game. But what about the Big Picture? The ‘Big Picture’ of later Zeldas are very different from early Zeldas.
.
In early Zeldas, the overworld was vast, rich, interesting, but very, very dangerous. I believe one important element to entertainment is to have an interesting villain, and in order to feel like a hero one must make the world feel dangerous and even feel a little evil. The reason why Mario 5 climaxed so beautifully was that World 8 felt very dangerous, even evil, and Bowser was very dangerous at the end of the game. When I think back as to why our original experiences in the old school games like Metroid and Zelda and other games were so memorable was because the games felt dangerous.
.
If you play an early Zelda, you will die if you just stand around. The world is not a friendly place. And it felt very empowering for Link to grow stronger and to overcome the ‘evil world’. Link growing stronger did not just mean Link getting heart containers and getting better armor, sword, and items. Link growing stronger also meant the player mastering the arcade gameplay. Some people are so good they can beat Legend of Zelda with just three hearts. A game like Mario 5 doesn’t have any ‘puzzle gameplay’ but it is very addictive because you know ‘just one more try’ and you will eventually beat the level. You feel your own skills increasing.
.
This is probably why I think the ‘puzzle gameplay’ in modern Zeldas doesn’t create the empowering feeling. I can just look up the answer online and whooo, the door opens. Big deal. But with the older Zelda games, even if you had the map and hundreds of strategy guides, none of that was enough. You had to acquire some skill. I mean, there is no way to beat a game like Zelda 1, 2, LTTP without really mastering Link’s combat skills.
.
What I fear is a Zelda that has the same structure as say Twilight Princess with motion plus controls used to ‘make new puzzles’. In metaphor, my fear is that Motion Plus Controls will be like new food inserted into an old dirty dish. I swear, if I have to talk to Grandma in this Zelda… and raise chickens because some NPC needs some eggs… That isn’t what Zelda is about. I don’t care about Grandma.
.
I don’t want to see Link kick ass. I want to see me kick ass. So I get my sword and go out into a dangerous world. If the world is not dangerous or evil, how can I feel like a hero?
.
In previous Zelda games, it was fun to die and come back. I believe with Ocarina of Time, it was never fun to die. Maybe it took too long to get back where you were. But the old Zelda games were hard and they were fun to keep coming back.
.
With Wind Waker, Nintendo made Zelda so easy that the game ceased to feel dangerous (so you ceased to feel like a hero). And Zelda games have been ridiculously easy since.
.
We just need more info about Zelda. We haven’t seen enough to say whether or not they are truly going back to the roots.
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