One of the common comments I am seeing about Notch’s free game (in the below post) is that, “It is like Zelda!” (meaning Aonuma Zelda of where you get an item to solve a puzzle).
But these commentators do not take their thoughts to the ultimate conclusion. Notch’s game took only two days to make and isn’t that good (because the development time was two days). Imagine if the game had a year. It would be much better.
So if Notch’s (two day to make) game reminds you of Zelda, doesn’t this reveal how incredibly basic and simple Aonuma Zelda’s gameplay skeleton is?
Instead of viewing it as, “This free game is like Zelda. Notch is a genius!”, I believe the appropriate conclusion is, “Aonuma Zelda gameplay skeleton must be the laziest gameplay skeleton Nintendo can use if Notch can make a similar gameplay skeleton within two days.”
The Ocarina cultists lack the history of playing early computer games which were dominated by this type of gameplay skeleton. They were commonly PC adventure games. Think of NES Shadowgate as an example. They are very basic. This is because only a few people made games back then, and there were no ‘kits’. You had to program it all from scratch. So this basic gameplay skeleton was used by many early game makers.
Classic Zelda’s gameplay skeleton is far more complicated than the Aonuma skeleton. It is like comparing an automobile to a tricycle. Aonuma Zelda is nothing but the easiest and most basic of gameplay skeletons in a Zelda costume. The gameplay skeleton is intentionally so primitive so the team can focus on being ‘creative’ which means ‘art styles’, ‘crappy NPCs and bad dialogue’, and ‘silly puzzles’. Why does Link even carry a sword anymore if he isn’t a swordsman but a puzzle-man? Aonuma even tried to take away the sword (and does so in parts of various Zelda games like Wind Waker).
When someone sees ‘Aonuma Zelda gameplay design’, I see ‘primitive PC adventure gameplay design’. The reason why someone could not see ‘primitive PC adventure gameplay design’ is only if they were young when they first played an Aonuma Zelda.
When I look at Zelda today, I see an extremely lazy team behind it. Why would any game take five years to make? Especially when you are using a primitive PC adventure gameplay skeleton? When I compare Zelda today to what it was, it feels like the customers are getting ripped off.
I know the Aonuma fans hate me, but perhaps they won’t let their hate of me get in a way of a simple question.
Which game is more like Aonuma Zelda?
Legend of Zelda (NES)?
.
Or Shadowgate (NES)?
In terms of gameplay skeleton, the only honest answer is Shadowgate is more like Aonuma Zelda than Legend of Zelda is. All you do in Shadowgate is enter rooms, look around for clues, pick up items, and solve puzzles. But in the original Legend of Zelda, you did not do this. You were in an arcade combat with the monsters and in an RPG in getting money to buy items like better weapons and armor.
Notch’s little game has virtually no atmosphere at all. That is fine since the game took only two days to make (and is free). But when a game takes years to make and costs you $50 or more, you expect more.
While it pains me that Aonuma Zelda is nothing more than a bastardized PC adventure in the Zelda universe, what also pains me is how Aonuma has no talent for fantasy storytelling. I loved Shadowgate back in the day, and I like the game today. Shadowgate uses classic fantasy and does it very well. The game is very haunting and puts on the right mood. Aonuma Zelda looks like it came from an anime kid show. There is no fantasy in Aonuma Zelda that does not feel ‘forced’. It’s like Aonuma has never read a fantasy book before.
My point is that Notch’s free game “is like Zelda” should reveal what a mediocrity Aonuma is. Why should a free game, that took two days to make, remind you of Zelda? It proves that Aonuma gameplay skeleton is the easiest video game skeleton to exist. All Notch has to do is add in some wacky art style and crappy NPCs while dressing the hero up in a green tunic. Then, shazam, you got Zelda!
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