So there was an interesting leak about
Zelda U on Zelda Europe the other week. And no matter if you believe
it or not, it got me thinking. What do I expect from a next gen Zelda
game?
Well if you want to get up to date on
the leak then you can read it here in german:
also did an excellent English
translation.
Everything in this leak sound good, and
more important, believable. Even though a Q4 2016 release sucks, it
makes sense. This way Zelda U will be a last swan song for the
unappreciated Wii-U and an port for the NX (if the system launches in
that time frame) is also possible.
But this leak also got me thinking. It
seems that they are still facing the empty world problem from
Twilight Princess and (to a degree) Wind Waker and I truly hope the
can fix it. A believable open world it something I'm still missing
from many games. And I hope they leave some loneliness. I think I
said it once in an earlier post. The Gerudo Desert in Twilight
Princess is perfect the way it its. The loneliness creates a great
sense of immersion for me. The Problem is just that the rest of the
world feels the same. But this empty world syndrome is a problem,
which can't be really discussed. Either they solve it or they don't.
I want to focus on something different.
Earlier this year I read an interesting ''leak'' for Zelda U. It was
obviously fake, but it had some nice ideas, which I thought would have
some potential, if expanded upon.
The leak was mostly talking about the
story. In this iteration Link would be an adventurer and tinkerer
that explores a mostly uncharted Hyrule. There wouldn't be a kingdom,
only some small self contained village communities. Zelda would
appear as leader of a gang of Gerudo mercenaries with Ganondorf as
her second in command. The game should revolve around the theme of
destiny and what we can do to change it. It was a nice read, but only
posted on an anonymous image board and all in all not very
believable.
However the part about Link got me
intrigued. I'm a huge fan of the item System in a Link between
Worlds, and this tinkerer approach could help recreate this in Zelda
U. Aonuma said that the intend to start the puzzle solving with the
decision of your next objective. How do you get there? How do you
solve the challenges the destination confronts you with?
An item system like in a Link between
Worlds could immensely help with that. But how would the integrate
it? Just another Shop like Ravios?
Well that is when the tinkerer idea
comes into play. Link builds his weapons himself this time. Each
weapon needs different materials to craft. So in this case you'd have
to choose if you build the Hammer, which needs a forge, steel and so
on, or the Hookshot, which also needs steel, but also oil and other
components. By having some items need the same materials, you'd force
the player to choose. This way you couldn't craft all weapons at the
beginning, but really had to decide which one fits your playstyle the
most. Gathering these materials creates an incentive to venture out
int the world and explore.
Upgrading could also be done in a
similar way. Across the world, in dungeons, towns and caves Link
could find blueprints, which allow him to upgrade the weapons,
creating another layer of individuality. Do you want to upgrade your
Bow or craft the Boomerang.
I tremendously enjoyed the freedom in a
Link between Worlds, but it also was to easy to get all items early.
There should have been a little more difficulty to it, thus creating the
need to choose your items carefully.
This is what I hope getting from Zelda
U.
Apart from that everything the leak
from Zelda Europe sounds believable. Zelda U as kind of a best of
makes sense, and I hope they utilize the longer development time and
create a great open world.
What are your thoughts about the leak
or Zelda U in general?
And as always
thanks for reading
source of both pictures: Nintendo
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