Zelda Topic

[MegasonicZX]

I would actually prefer a less realistic tone in all honesty if anything just because of the fact that the darker tones scare me a bit much (main reason why skyward sword interested me since everything  didn't look too creepy just for the sake of it and hit a pretty nice balance, same with wind waker) so in my case its somewhat of a deal breaker since im a bit of a scaredy cat.

[JezMM]

I actually felt like Skyward Sword's style was very much a case of function before form.  The style did well to hide the limitations of the Wii while rendering environments not much larger than TP's but certainly more populated.

 

 

We're not held back anymore so I'd really like the next one to be lushly detailed with stylised geometry and characters but rendered realistically... not too different from Sonic Unleashed maybe in that aspect, y'know?  I'd certainly like a more early teenage Link again for the next one though - older than the typical Young Links but Younger than the typical Adult Links.  Like, age 14-ish as oppose to 11 or 12.

[VO.SUPER]

I dug that Majora's Mask style was the kind of dark we haven't seen in a Zelda game before; the kind that is both dark and strange. The world of Termina is very outlandish compared to the conventional fantasy world of Hyrule and is filled to the brim with a strange variety of colors and designs you don't see in Hyrule. It was a lot like Alice in Wonderland, where it was a step into a bold and odd world that was very foreign but relateable at the same time. Using old character models to give us new conflicts and depth, and having new models that look comepletely outlandish compared to the old ones really helped to set in the strange and familiar. The color design also helped with this, because despite the game being so bright; it was a very sick looking bright at times, sort of like saying, "this world was beautiful once upon a time but now suffers", which really works well with the theme of the game. 

 

Twilight Princess on the other hand, had a very muted color scheme, even during times of peace. It was down to earth and not as bright compared to something like Ocarina, or even Majora. So when the Twilight invaded, it didn't feel that different, because all the Twilight was, was a mass of black, brown, and dark gold. There was no oppressive atmosphere in the invasion. And the strange character models of the humans in Twilight Princess didn't help make the effects of the Twilight more oppressive. 

 

Skyward sword actually looks better in the 2D art, than the actual models. The 2D art looks like a completely radical art style that is purely artistic and watercolor like, but the art in game feels like it is parodying this art in an attempt to appeal to the Twilight Princess style art, and just mutes the whole thing. 

 

 

I'd like a Zelda game to be radical with it's art again; do something extreme and really wow me. 

[Sami]

A Link Between Worlds bothered me in that regard too, Visionary. One of these things is a lot less appealing than the other:

 

 

[PSI Wind]

If we had a Zelda that looked like the artwork from ALBTW or OoT3D, that'd be great. The difficult part is turning something 2D into 3D with models while still looking very close.

[VO.SUPER]

There are plenty of filters that could make something like that slightly possible. It just takes work and effort. It'd be a stylistic masterpiece in the end, and worth that effort. 

 

 

If we had a Zelda that looked like the artwork from ALBTW or OoT3D, that'd be great. The difficult part is turning something 2D into 3D with models while still looking very close.

 

 

I honestly thought OOT3D matched it's own art very well. It wasn't an overly complex texture style, or as amateurish as the original OOT artwork's textures. 

 

 

Though I do wish the colors of the shadow temple and well were muted. 

[Salamander]

Yoshi's New Island, of all things, manages to pull off a style where the models appear to be painted or pencilled, if you look closely.  ...Really, really closely.  Varying art style is something which has increasingly become one of the defining features of the Zelda series, and I just hope that, whatever they do next, they really commit to it with no half-measures.  (Without having had to play it, I quite like some of the uncompromising ugliness and strangeness of Twilight Princess's characters.)

[Indigo Rush]

There are plenty of filters that could make something like that slightly possible. It just takes work and effort. It'd be a stylistic masterpiece in the end, and worth that effort. 

 

After all, Wind Waker managed to pull it off back in the early 2000s. 

 

I know there are a lot of variables that go into that sort of thing, but if there's one thing I want more than a deep and saturated fantasy world, it's a playable watercolor artistic masterpiece. Seriously. Given better technology and execution, Skyward Sword could have been even more amazing.

[VO.SUPER]

I just wish Twilight Princess went further with it. The strangeness of the characters didn't fit with how, "standard fantasy" the whole thing felt. The enemies were very creative looking, but the environments were never really fitting to them either. It just felt like the artists were trying to imitate realism when they obviously didn't want to do it.

 

It's sort of like how I hate the Wind Waker style in every game that isn't Wind Waker. In all the handheld Zeldas before ALBW and after Four Swords, it felt like the Wind Waker style was being used because it was an easy to imitate style and didn't use a whole lot of textures. It never had the soul of the original game. 

[azoo]

Discoid's post about the thematic usage of art in Zelda is right on the money.

 

And honestly, it's made me realize how different Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are from the Zelda games before it, and makes me understand why I didn't like either too terribly much. 

 

Zelda's games (specifically OoT, MM and WW) are very much like Studio Ghibli's films, and other animated Japanese movies. They feature the same 'spirit', if you will; that feeling of adventure and fantasy that is somehow grounded by a sense of realism, a sense of immersiveness that at it's core makes it feel like you're able to just sit down in that world and enjoy yourself.

 

It's that kind of odd feeling I've realized many Japanese animated films feature (or at least the best and most artistic of them), and I realize the Zelda series shares those elements, or at least has shared that before more than a few times. I know it may come off as vague, but I hope anyone reading this is somewhat getting on my wavelength about that. 

 

It's part of why I want to see that kind of art style explored again. Ocarina and Majora's mystical art styles gave enough room for beauty, adventure and wonder and yet also fear, anguish and melancholy; and it was fantastic enough to feel exciting or bold, and yet grounded enough to feel real.

 

And I thought Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword severely lacked that! So I'm hoping on anything we see something like OoT's art style realized again.

[Mauro Fonseca]

... I want a return of the Oracles art style ;_;

 

Or if we go more darker stuff, I'd love to see something Moebius-inspired like some of the artwork for the first four games.

[VO.SUPER]

Ocarina's art is only skin deep similar to Majora's. Though they have similarly drawn characters, the way they approach lighting, color, clothing, and textures is very different. 

 

Let's compare our main character. While his model hasn't been changed in this game, you can see the different approach they took to using him in both games. 

 

In Ocarina, he was more of a blank slate. The wide eyed adventurer who's just been thrown into the fray just to be there. He has no real character of his own and just does what he does. However, in Majora's Mask, he has been given an air of arrogance and aggresion to him this time, he is portrayed with heavier shades in his own art, used to intensify his face. And his battle postures has been given a more aggressive presence to it.

You can see already with this where they were trying to go with those two games in direction. You can see how Majora was trying to basically flip the world of Ocarina upside down, by even giving it's protagonist a bit of personality. 

 

 

Remember that scene in the beginning of Majora's mask, when you are chasing Skull Kid? You have to jump across some mushrooms to get into the tree where Skull Kid went. By doing this, the game shows you new jumping animation for Link. In Ocarina, he just has one jump where he would take a sensible leap. But in Majora, Link is doing tricks and showboating even though he is in a rush to save Epona. And even before then, when Link came to from being knocked out by Skull Kid, he immediately frowns like as if he was annoyed more than shocked that Skull Kid stole his Ocarina, and attempts to tackle him quickly. 

 

You already see big differences between the two games, just in how the main character has changed between them. He's less of the wide eyed innocent from OOT and more of a veteran in a child's boy who's become more aggressive and arrogant in ways. 

 

And there's more to boot. Take the cutscenes for instance. In Ocarina of Time, the game focused heavily on showing off the power of the new 3D technology, and many of it's cutscenes use sweeping cameras to show off these new models and world. The lighting was very neutral and didn't really factor too heavily into these things. It was basically trying to show you the magic of this world even existing, even though it was a fairly standard fantasy adventure. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O60GygEZP14

 

In Majora however, the cutscenes took a drastic turn. The camera didn't swing around as often as it did in Ocarina, but instead, there was a heavier focus on strange lights and weird effects to really capture the oddity of Termina. 

 

(4:06)

 

 

In the end, I'd say the connection is only skin deep.

[Blitz 'n Burst]

If Ganond/dorf returns in this game, I'd love to see more of the characterization that was hinted at in Wind Waker. Less of the generic evil supervillain from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess and more of the cynical king of the Gerudos who envies Hyrule and its people, please. Even just giving him a more prominent role in the story instead of just mentioning him occasionally throughout the game and giving him a few lines of dialogue and an endgame fight would go a long way

[SuperLink]

If Ganond/dorf returns in this game, I'd love to see more of the characterization that was hinted at in Wind Waker. Less of the generic evil supervillain from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess and more of the cynical king of the Gerudos who envies Hyrule and its people, please. Even just giving him a more prominent role in the story instead of just mentioning him occasionally throughout the game and giving him a few lines of dialogue and an endgame fight would go a long way

Agreed totally. He's been absent (as far as hands-on roles go) for a fair while now so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him again, but

 

he has so much potential as a villain as OoT (duh) and especially Wind Waker showed, to see him as he was in TP had him drop a few dozen points on peoples' "best villain ever" lists probably.

 

Also, I think with Skyward Sword Nintendo showed they can still make a good Zelda story practically from scratch, so I'm not super worried. I don't think Zelda U will be in the proverbial shadow of a previous game nearly as much as TP was, so I think Nintendo will have an easier time giving it its own identity.

[Marcello]

I wouldn't mind a role reversal for the characters. Maybe Link could be the somewhat cowardly but intelligent prince of Hyrule, Zelda is a powerful knight of Hyrule and Ganondorf is a brave "freedom fighter" of the Gerudo.

[Gabz Girl]

Twilight Princess' art style didn't work for me because they tried too hard to be dark OoT style but had those REALLY ugly NPC designs that would look much better in a game like Wind Waker! Then there's Skyward Sword which looked pretty but the colours were washed out for the most part, though to be fair it was a Wii game and I'm sure it would have looked tons better on the Wii U. And FYI, that art style is not meant to be watercolour, it's oil. Miyamoto was inspired by Impressionist art like Paul Cezanne and Claude Monet for Skyward Sword, which was an art movement rarely done in watercolour. Sorry, that's my art critic speaking here. =P

Anyways, whatever art style they use this time around I hope it looks better than TP and SS and I hope it looks consistent and cool. Something like OoT 3D but HD would look really amazing!

[Blitz 'n Burst]

I wouldn't mind a role reversal for the characters. Maybe Link could be the somewhat cowardly but intelligent prince of Hyrule, Zelda is a powerful knight of Hyrule and Ganondorf is a brave "freedom fighter" of the Gerudo.

I've always liked the idea of a scenario like in Wind Waker, where you're not actually the Chosen One, but just a young village boy aspiring to be a knight, while the actual Legendary Hero is riding off of his fame as the saviour of Hyrule. Throughout the game he acts like an arrogant asshole, using his reputation to get away with whatever he wants and pushing the player characters around. But he does still have the talent to back it up, fending off bandits and criminals and whatnot when he actually feels like it and teaching Link and the other knights how to fight, and there are occasional hints at hidden depths to his personality. Then when the big bad threat of the game gains the power to take over Hyrule Castle, the hero charges off to fight him. As you go through the castle after him you find all the traps and puzzles already deactivated and the enemies already defeated, until eventually you walk into a room and find the Hero lying on the ground defeated. As he dies the Triforce of Courage fades from his hand, and reappears on Link's hand instead.

 

It's unlikely something like that would ever happen but hey, it'd be cool.

[Marcello]

Oh, we're going into detail.

 

Same background as before. Mine would be something like, Hyrule and the Gerudo are at war. Zelda is thought to be the chosen one. Stuff happens and Link and Zelda head off to find a magical doohickey that only the chose one can use and will help Zelda save Hyrule. More stuff happens and they get split up. Link eventually meets Ganondorf, who tricks Link into working for him, by talking about wanting peace and equality for his people. Link decides to help him achieve that, but he ends up making things worse than before. Once he finds Zelda they go back to trying to get the magical item, but it truns out Zelda can't use it, because, get this, it's really shocking, Link is the chosen one.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Oh, we're going into detail.

 

Same background as before. Mine would be something like, Hyrule and the Gerudo are at war. Zelda is thought to be the chosen one. Stuff happens and Link and Zelda head off to find a magical doohickey that only the chose one can use and will help Zelda save Hyrule. More stuff happens and they get split up. Link eventually meets Ganondorf, who tricks Link into working for him, by talking about wanting peace and equality for his people. Link decides to help him achieve that, but he ends up making things worse than before. Once he finds Zelda they go back to trying to get the magical item, but it truns out Zelda can't use it, because, get this, it's really shocking, Link is the chosen one.

and what if Ganondorf appeared to be the chosen one as well, I always wanted to see a storyline where Ganondorf is a good guy at the beginning of the game, and actualy works and Link and helps train him throughout the beginning arc of the game, but something happens, and he is tricked by the villain, becoming more and more evil until  the third act of the game where he takes over the true villian

[Blitz 'n Burst]

I also like the idea of the Goddesses deciding after centuries of war that the Triforce shouldn't be left in human hands and taking it back to the heavens, and Hyrule starts "dying" as a result. The game would see Link and Zelda trying to reach the sacred realm to return the Triforce back to Hyrule. It would expand on the relationship between Hyrule and the Gerudos, and there would be a lot of focus on the parallels between Zelda and Ganondorf as she grows more desperate to save her kingdom, with a far more human Ganondorf who's more of a neutral force than a hero or an antagonist, though he'd probably still try and take the Triforce for himself at the end. Maybe a twist after the fight where Zelda herself goes over the deep end and becomes the real final boss of the game.

 

As long as the characters are well-written and the plot is more than "stop the bad guy from doing bad things because destiny," though, I think I'm probably going to be pretty happy with whatever the new game turns out to be.

[SuperLink]

I also like the idea of the Goddesses deciding after centuries of war that the Triforce shouldn't be left in human hands and taking it back to the heavens, and Hyrule starts "dying" as a result.

You mean exactly what happened to Lorule? I do admit I'd love to see how that kind of thing would unfold.

 

Maybe somewhere down the line the goddesses will give Hyrule the same fate they gave Lorule..

 

As for my two cents on the trio dynamic, I think Zelda should remain within the royal family, but mostly because I really want Zelda to be in a playable role and be a monarch at the same time. Witnessing her side of things from inside the royal walls would be hella fresh for the series, rather than giving playability to the country bumpkin each and every time.

 

As for Ganondorf, I wouldn't mind seeing him as an anti-hero but I can't imagine how they'd do it considering Demise's curse has been so freshly established in canon.. maybe another male gerudo would be a major supporting character?

[G-Force]

You mean exactly what happened to Lorule? I do admit I'd love to see how that kind of thing would unfold.

 

Maybe somewhere down the line the goddesses will give Hyrule the same fate they gave Lorule..

The Goddesses didn't do anything to Lorule.  The people of Lorule destroyed their own Triforce, and they had no idea that they were dooming themselves.

[Vic Boss]

Would love to see a Zelda game with visuals based on the artwork for Majora's Mask. Very dark and harsh tones yet vibrant mixed with cel shading would be interesting. Heck anything that isn't bleak like TP or washed out like SS will do.

[Gabz Girl]

I remember a couple of years ago there was this fake rumour of a steampunk style Legend of Zelda. I still wish it was a real thing because that sounds amazing! Not only because it would be unlike any Zelda game out there, but the visual style would be really cool and they can let their imagination run wild with character designs and stuff.

[VO.SUPER]

What I feel Zelda should emphasize if it steps into the steampunk is just making the most inane designs possible, and attempting something colorful with that style of game, just to put it's own creative spin on the idea. So many steampunk games go for this sepia toned style, which I really don't want to see for a steampunk Zelda. I think we got enough of that with Twilight Princess. 

 

In fact, I'd find it interesting if Aonuma really went all out with turning heads on what to expect in a steampunk like game and bring something new to the table in style.