Zelda Topic

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Okay you need to see this Zelda drawing someone made on Art Academy: Sketchpad.

https://d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/zlCfzSHsqlIOnFtFn_

The guy's name is Ethan. He's got all sorts of awesome drawings, but that one was really cool. Here's his Miiverse page.

Also, a TP HD would be pretty fun. I don't see why they couldn't do that. Also, I still haven't beaten the Cave of Ordeals. I died on the last 3 Darknuts. ;-;

[JezMM]

Also, while I love Majora's Mask, its got a somewhat lengthy start as you gotta be stuck being a shrub for an hour or 2. I think Wind Waker's got the best start, a nice relaxing pace at Link's hometown and then immediately danger with the arrival of the Helmeroc King carrying Tetra to start the game off. Having Link's sister being kidnapped, although cliche, was necessary motivation for Link to leave the island and "attempt" the hero's quest.

 

Honestly I don't see "being stuck as a shrub for an hour or two" being a negative thing considering it sort of throws a curveball at OoT players by throwing them almost straight into the new stuff, after recapturing interest via the surreal short scene as regular Link.

 

I thought Wind Waker's was pretty bad by having such an awkward stealth section so early on.  Forsaken Fortress is intentionally confusingly designed, and there's literally no purpose to the ground floor, yet it's the slowest area to navigate due to the Moblins down there.  In addition, two of the searchlights are entirely pointless and just serve as misdirection and filler.  Everything up to the Forsaken Fortress was paced great though, and should be the example of time spent in the peaceful opening village if they insist on continuing that opener for every single game.

 

 

 

I thought TP's was... okay.  Not as bad as SS's in terms of length.  The most offensive part of TP's opening for me was the stupid cat puzzle.  Not only does the cat follow you when you have the fishing rod out, suggesting you can lead it to the cat flap, but the correct solution (just catch a fish nearby where you find it) has to be done twice to yield results, making it very easy for a player to assume that's not the answer either.  Completely unintuitive... in fact I'd go further and call it anti-intuitive, design.

[Sami]

Honestly I don't see "being stuck as a shrub for an hour or two" being a negative thing considering it sort of throws a curveball at OoT players by throwing them almost straight into the new stuff, after recapturing interest via the surreal short scene as regular Link.

 

I wish more of the games went out of their way to do new things in the interest of strengthening the tones and themes of the overall experience like Majora does. Would really do wonders to give each game a stronger sense of identity.

[Wraith]

Wind Waker's intro immediately loses points from me by throwing you into an awkward stealth section that doesn't really represent the main gameplay much instead of giving you a proper dungeon to start with.

 

I think OOT's intro is the best. It lets the player learn the basics on their own by exploring the village at their own pace and then quickly sends them into their first dungeon. Majora's is effective from a story standpoint but drags a bit on replays. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword's tutorials are just bad for the most part, Twilight Princess being the worst just because the characters you have to screw around with there aren't nearly as likable as the ones in Skyward Sword.

[JezMM]

For some reason the first cycle on MM never bothers me on replays.  MM is a game you don't just play, you absorb yourself in it.  Usually the first cycle will be my first experience of the game for quite a few months or even years, so re-immersing myself in Clock Town is always enjoyable enough for me to just let it all flow over me.  In the event I don't feel like that, well, I just save a few things to do and use the scarecrow to skip to the final evening (and then spend the 6 hours before the tower opens doing those few things).

[VO.SUPER]

I just use the scarecrow when I have nothing to do in Majora's mask replays when I am a Deku. I just get my info for the clock tower section; do the scrub minigame; use the scarecrow. Less than an hour. 

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Majora's Mask is pretty amazing. I used to sort of dislike it, but then I finally finished the first dungeon and enjoyed it quite a bit. I'd like it if it got some sort of remake, but I'd be fine with a Wii U Virtual Console release. I love doing the Fierce Deity Glitch too. He's so broken outside of boss rooms. XP I liked the Gilded Sword, but I think you lose it if you reset time. Been a while since I've played though, so I could be wrong.

 

Also it was so embarrassing in The Moon section where you play as a Goron. You're supposed to just hit the chest and you'll turn on the spot, without losing speed.

 

I tried to avoid them all. And ended up falling off the edge a hundred times. And of course I'd already beaten it once I found out that you were supposed to hit the chests. ;-;

[Gabz Girl]

...Am I the only one here who doesn't mind Forsaken Fortress? Even on my first play through I had no problems getting through. Yeah, certainly not as frustrating as getting the cat to chase the fish in Ordon Village!

Omg that was the WORST. It took me ages to figure out what to do with that bloody cat and I didn't like Ordon Village itself much either. The people are weird, the kids are weirder and it's just...blah.

As for Majora's Mask, I have only ever tried playing the game once on an emulator (where Clock Town was a black hole and Totl and Tatl were floating wings) and I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was because of the emulator glitches but even when I managed to get outside, I didn't have a clue what to do next. Now here's a good example of a where-the-fuck-do-I-go Zelda game. Did I miss something? It was quite a long time ago since I played the ROM, but I don't remember any hints on how to turn back into human form. Makes me wish I could replay the game again so I can see what all the fuss is about. 8(

[JayRaR]

Honestly I don't see "being stuck as a shrub for an hour or two" being a negative thing considering it sort of throws a curveball at OoT players by throwing them almost straight into the new stuff, after recapturing interest via the surreal short scene as regular Link.

 

I thought Wind Waker's was pretty bad by having such an awkward stealth section so early on.  Forsaken Fortress is intentionally confusingly designed, and there's literally no purpose to the ground floor, yet it's the slowest area to navigate due to the Moblins down there.  In addition, two of the searchlights are entirely pointless and just serve as misdirection and filler.  Everything up to the Forsaken Fortress was paced great though, and should be the example of time spent in the peaceful opening village if they insist on continuing that opener for every single game.

 

To first time players, it was horrible being a Deku Scrub and being restricted on being in Clock Town at all times. The kids in town don't think highly of you I think and dogs hate your guts. The guards think you're a kid with no way to protect yourself (utterly stupid since when you do revert back to Hylian form the guard gives you the A-OK since you have sword, disregarding the fact you're still a kid) and block you from venturing out of town cause its "too dangerous" for me. Bleh. I guess I'll give the game credit for instilling this feeling since I do feel Link's pain of being in an alien body in an alien world. After you first set foot in Clock Town, its unclear what to do with the player. The game encourages you to explore the town and find a way to get back to the top of the Clock Tower by doing several things in a specific order. To first timers it would take more than an hour to get used to Deku Link, exploring the town, and eventually find a way to take Majora's Mask from Skull Kid (or just getting back the Ocarina). I particularly don't mind exploring on finding what to do on my own but I imagine there are other people out there who would rather get to the action (ie fighting shit with a sword) ASAP instead of doing mundane tasks like playing hide and seek with kids. Granted once you know what to do and abuse the scarecrow you can get over this quickly but of course its different for the first time. 

 

And I guess Forsaken Fortress wasn't the best first dungeon after you explore the world. I guess I'll give the edge of opening-to-first dungeon sequence to OoT for that but I still think WW has the best start.

[VO.SUPER]

That's why Majora is never recommended as a first timer's Zelda. It is a game that expects that you've played OOT and promptly intends to switch your world upside down.

[JezMM]

Yeah, I'm gonna be honest but I think it would've honestly been damaging to Majora's Mask to have had a prolonged period of basically playing like "more Ocarina of Time" for the opening hour just for the sake of going easy on potential first time players.

 

The only thing I'd critique really is that catching the bombers is intensely fiddly due to the sporadic way they run around, and might be overwhelmingly annoying to a new player.

 

I remember as a kid though, my brother had no trouble completing the first cycle on the day we got the game without failing.  If you know what to do, you can complete everything necessary before the night of the 1st day, so I think the full cycle is ample time for a new player (remember Tatl pops up with hints on what to do next during every single objective in the sequence).

[JayRaR]

That's why Majora is never recommended as a first timer's Zelda. It is a game that expects that you've played OOT and promptly intends to switch your world upside down.

 

I meant if you're playing MM for the first time ever, even if you've played other Zeldas before. I would never recommend Majora's Mask to introduce someone to the Zelda series.

[Candescence]

It'll be interesting to see how they start off Zelda U, as Aonuma has said that he wants to avoid repeating the drag that was Skyward Sword's introduction, especially since he cites the original NES Zelda as the main inspiration for the design focus. I doubt they'll just throw you into the world just like that, but they need to provide a less intrusive method of teaching new players the ropes while actually teaching them stuff, and that's not an easy task for an open-world game - for example, Skyrim was even more of a drag than Skyward Sword despite having a shorter intro (granted, Skyrim in general is a huge drag), and the Souls games aren't terribly good at teaching the player the mechanics (it took me until the fucking Gutter until I figured out how to light the fucking torches in DkS2).

[Soniman]

A little late for the Majora's Mask shilling (which im more then willing to join) but one thing I REALLY loved about the game that didnt occur to me until today is that Link isnt the center of the universe.

 

He's not a hero with a predestined fate decreed by the gods or whatever, he's just a good guy who's willing to help those in need. He probably won't get any recognition whatsoever for his feats (probably because he hides his identity behind all the masks most of the time) other then probably being a passing memory of the Clock townsfolk as "that kid that helped me out that one time", and that's fine for him, since after his job is done he goes on his merry way to get back to his own personal journey. It's quite refreshing

[Kuzu]

In other news, A link between Worlds is pretty amazing, especially having not played a link to the past.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Solkia]

A little late for the Majora's Mask shilling (which im more then willing to join) but one thing I REALLY loved about the game that didnt occur to me until today is that Link isnt the center of the universe.

 

He's not a hero with a predestined fate decreed by the gods or whatever, he's just a good guy who's willing to help those in need. He probably won't get any recognition whatsoever for his feats (probably because he hides his identity behind all the masks most of the time) other then probably being a passing memory of the Clock townsfolk as "that kid that helped me out that one time", and that's fine for him, since after his job is done he goes on his merry way to get back to his own personal journey. It's quite refreshing

 

I thought MM Link was the same as the OoT Link.

[Gabz Girl]

I thought MM Link was the same as the OoT Link.

I thought so too...wasn't this the same Link who went chasing after Navi when she flew off at the end of OoT?

[Komodin]

I thought so too...wasn't this the same Link who went chasing after Navi when she flew off at the end of OoT?

 

Yes. It was that very search for Navi that's how he first ran into the Skull Kid and his fairies in the Lost Woods.

[Solkia]

Then he's still the hero of time, he just already fulfilled his destiny.

[Blue Blood]

Then he's still the hero of time, he just already fulfilled his destiny.

 

I think that's what Soniman is saying. By the time of MM, Link wasn't fulfilling some crazy destiny, he was just being a straight up decent guy.

[Sami]

Then he's still the hero of time, he just already fulfilled his destiny.

 

True, but I think he's more so referring to the actual plot. In the context of MM he's not the legendary Hero of Moon or whatever, which is cool.

[Solkia]

That wasn't how I interpreted it but ok

[JezMM]

In other news, A link between Worlds is pretty amazing, especially having not played a link to the past.

 

I actually finally got to playing this recently myself so might as well share my thoughts.

 

I'ma be lazy and just copy paste my tumblr posts I made during my playthrough since my opinions haven't really changed from finishing it:

 

Beaten two dungeons so far on Zelda.  Still enjoying it so far, and wow the music is really great in this game.  It’s one of the best uses of 3D on the system too (though I also was impressed by the little visual tricks they do to increase clarity even in 2D… presumably, I’ve kept the 3D on the whole time as I usually do lol).

 

Interested to see how the rental thing goes though.  I was a little surprised that I was just able to rent every single item available to me in one go as soon as the shop was open.  I mean obviously the game is designed so you’d never get into an impossible position regardless of what items you have, so owning all of them is technically pointless other than saving me a trip back to the shop next time I need one I haven’t used yet.

 

I like how streamlined everything is though.  Really feels like a very pure Zelda experience, for example I love that you just get a map for both the overworld and dungeons, no need to unlock it or anything.  I’ve never felt lost once which is the main problem I had with old 2D Zeldas.  Having the map on the touch screen at all times helps in this regard too.

Also having such an overt and quickly accessible hint system is just great.  The hint movies in OoT 3D and SS are kinda dumb coz you need to go to a specific place, so I like that I can just access them instantly here if I decide to throw in the towel on a puzzle (9 times out of 10 I’ve simply just overlooked a spot where I can go along the wall and feel dumb afterwards because I’ve been wall merging like a slut the whole way through).

 

Just, yeah, high praise to the Zelda team for really making a game that cuts out all of the little things that have just gotten in the way of the fun in some previous Zeldas.  And yet despite this streamlining it’s one of the most open feeling Zeldas they’ve made, it pretty much never holds your hand on puzzles.  The game flows so nicely from moment to moment and yet still manages to make me feel clever and like I’m doing things at my own pace and in the order I choose - knowing I could easily go try something else first if I wanted to - even in dungeons.

 

I mean I’m still super early on I’m sure but so far I’m inclined to believe the hype.  Both my first and second play sessions have ended with me reluctantly quitting because I know it’s time to rest my mind and eyes, not because I’m worn out from play.

 

-

 

I just wanna say the minigame music is amazing in ALBW.  I mean all the music is amazing but the minigame music in particular.  Also I cannot believe there’s a baseball minigame (that also has awesome music).

 

I’ve done 5 dungeons now and currently wandering around trying to find my way into another one.  I thought the lack of hand-holding and free-roamingness would put me off but no they really designed this game masterfully.

 

The only thing I cannot figure out for the life of me is where the hell this guy is by the Tower of Hera that I’m meant to be giving milk to but don’t tell me I wanna try and figure it all out myself lol.  [Retrospective Addition: I did find him in the end.]

 

-

 

So I finished A Link Between Worlds!  Thoroughly enjoyed, my first 2D Zelda beaten without needing a guide too (though I did need a bit of help from the Hint Ghosts, especially on the Dark Palace/Temple - not that they helped since my confusion was due to not realising the beams of the light on the top floor were the same ones going down through all the floors).

 

Music was great, and all the dungeons were great fun, even if a handful of smaller single room puzzles felt a bit too obvious at times.  I also only died once the entire game so I basically had no worries about my inventory being emptied, as such the rental system sort of fell flat but I guess that’s more of an issue for kids/casual players and maybe I could’ve handled Hero Mode better than I thought I would.  Exploration was always really great too, there was never a point where I was like “eh I’ll explore that thing I noticed later, I just wanna go to the dungeon”, it was all equally as fun as each other and very rewarding.

 

Also now that I’ve learned the layout of the game world I’m a little tempted to try and play A Link to the Past again.  Maybe.

 

My only disappointment was a severe lack of story for the last 60% of the game.  As soon as Lorule opens up and lets you go anywhere, it’s pretty much 100% gameplay until the end cut-scene.  I’m kind of not surprised I didn’t get any spoilers before playing this through no effort of my own because there’s not much to spoil unless someone really wanted to be a dick and make a gifset of the end cut-scene lol.  Some people might like less story but… yeah I personally like a good story in Zelda games.  What little was there was excellent though, I do wonder if too much story really would have infringed on the free roaming gameplay.

 

Going into spoiler territory just for this last paragraph regarding the above:

 

I also found it a little hard to care about Lorule since, while going into Kakariko Village and finding a town full of thieves did an awesome job of setting the mood for Lorule being more intimidating than Hyrule, it also made up 95% of Lorule’s population.  I wish there had been a few more scattered pockets of civilisation around the map from people who were genuinely scared and sad to be living in this world etc.  I did adore the twist with Ravio though.  Like, that really made me smile.

 

[Another retrospective addition: Since typing this post I discovered the optional Sanctuary area in Lorule which I can't believe I overlooked during my main playthrough.  While only being this one small place with two NPCs, it did somewhat fulfill that thing I wanted more of from Lorule with upset/scared citizens as oppose to crazy/rough n' tough ones).

 

 

 

TL;DR:

 

• Impressed me even though I've disliked 2D Zelda in the past.
• Managed to be wide open yet never confusing.
• New gimmicks were awesome.
• Amazing soundtrack.
• However, didn't like how the story just stopped for the main bulk of the game when all the dungeons opened up to be done in any order, and how limited NPC interaction was once you were in Lorule.

If you haven't played this gem of level design and gameflow because you normally dislike 2D Zelda, I'd say go right ahead and believe the hype.

[Junko]

Eiji Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda, has a message to share. Please take a look at this video.

 

Should work even if you don't have Facebook, but just to make sure.

Hello, Zelda fans! I am Eiji Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda.

I'd like to share with you an update on our development progress on The Legend of Zelda for Wii U.

Since I declared at The Game Awards in December that the game would launch in 2015, the director and many members of the development team have been working hard developing the game to make it the best it can be.

In these last three months, as the team has experienced firsthand the freedom of exploration that hasn't existed in any Zelda game to date, we have discovered several new possibilities for this game.

As we have worked to turn these possibilities into reality, new ideas have continued to spring forth, and it now feels like we have the potential to create something that exceeds even my own expectations.

As I have watched our development progress, I have come to think that rather than work with meeting a specific schedule as our main objective, and releasing a game that reflects only what we can create within that scheduled time, I feel strongly that our focus should be to bring all these ideas to life in a way that will make The Legend of Zelda on Wii U the best game it can possibly be.

So, I must apologize to you all that were expecting the game by year's end, but we are no longer making a 2015 release our number one priority.

Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game.

I hope to use the added time to make The Legend of Zelda for Wii U into a game that will reward for your patience, so thank you for your continued support.

Delayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

[Gabz Girl]

And they're not showing anything at E3 either. God at least a trailer would've been nice, or the title of the game. It's gonna be a looooong wait.. =[