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Zelda games discussion

Favorite Zelda game


  • Total voters
    797

Steampunk

One Truth Prevails
In telling you! Anouma announced that a Zelda 3DS title would be released in 2013-14, but his only hint was:
"It will be a game where 3D really matters"
Zelda 3DS is in the works.... But like his games, Anouma likes to allow us to ponder for awhile....
he said nothing about the dates, but he did say that they were making a game.

Symphony of the Goddesses Tour to visit London in May.

I have strongly mixed feelings. I'm ecstatic that we Brits are able to get another chance to experience the incredible music at the Apollo for the second year running, but I'm totally skint and tickets go on sale on Monday. Typical.
if it ever comes to michigan then i'm all ears.
 

hawkeye721

なんと素敵な歌!!!!!!!!

Fabulous Ampharos

Pokemon Breeder :3
I am doing Master Quest 3D (with 3 hearts..I know, I am crazy) since I already beat OoT twice already.
That and a 3 heart run of the original game...along with Twilight Princess.
Twilight Princess suffered from being WAY to easy of a Zelda game.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
Almost all my favourite pieces come from Majora's Mask, that game was unsurpassed in the series tbqh, especially on the music front. I mean sure there are some gems in every game, but they are generally few, Majora's Mask is consistently evocative and appropriate with its soundtrack, really well thought out and woven into the game.

One of my favourites (can't really choose a definite one) would be Calling the Four Giants, which happens to be the first Majora's Mask piece I recorded on piano. XD
 

Hydrohs

安らかに眠ります、岩田さん。
Staff member
Super Mod
Almost all my favourite pieces come from Majora's Mask, that game was unsurpassed in the series tbqh, especially on the music front. I mean sure there are some gems in every game, but they are generally few, Majora's Mask is consistently evocative and appropriate with its soundtrack, really well thought out and woven into the game.

One of my favourites (can't really choose a definite one) would be Calling the Four Giants, which happens to be the first Majora's Mask piece I recorded on piano. XD

I prefer the music of the Wind Waker series of games myself. They employ more interesting instruments, in my opinion.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
Wind Waker's music was excellent as well, although it's weird because WW's mood was the polar opposite of MM's. Definitely a display of the magic that Nintendo had, they're getting a little too keen on catering to the people who just think of Ocarina of Time as a Zelda benchmark.

Well not just a little too keen. :/
 

Hydrohs

安らかに眠ります、岩田さん。
Staff member
Super Mod
Wind Waker's music was excellent as well, although it's weird because WW's mood was the polar opposite of MM's. Definitely a display of the magic that Nintendo had, they're getting a little too keen on catering to the people who just think of Ocarina of Time as a Zelda benchmark.

Well not just a little too keen. :/

I dunno, I think Skyward Sword was a fair bit different from OoT. We'll have to wait and see what the next new game is like, but I don't think they've got caught up in it.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
Well it recycled the "get 3 of something to unlock Master Sword then do like 4 more things and fight bad guy and it was Ganon all along." Sorry I mean Demise.

I mean you may say that's the point of Zelda, but they hardly did much to compel me into not being "oh this again". Lanayru was really the only stellar part of the game, and well the rest was a mixed bag at best.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Skyward Sword added considerably more to do between dungeons, particularly in the latter half.

If you're going to fault them for structuring the game as "three dungeons > quest shift > 4-5 dungeons > endgame" despite that significantly different material, not only would I ask how you might differently structure what is a dungeon-heavy action/RPG, but I would suggest you might keep in mind that the structure started with A Link to the Past rather than Ocarina.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
If my considerably more you mean dowsing for about 100 years then sure.

Also the structure did start with ALttP yes, but doing somethign for the first time exempts it from pattern repetition criticism. Also bear in mind that the reason I also mentioned Ocarina is because that is the game that is always ranted and raved about, people don't call ALttP the quintessential Zelda experience, even though I would say it is.

Also what Skyward Sword also does is relentlessly hold your hand the entire way, and doesn't let you opt out of just skipping exceptionally long tutorial segments. Some things perhaps need some help to get into, but God man what happened to just having the player work the basics out themselves? Guess it's because we don't have instruction manuals anymore, I miss those, because it meant that by the time you fired up the game, you were expected to know the basics. Of course nobody read them but hey, that way it didn't spend 2 hours going "hey Link, this is how you run, now run around in circles five times to progress. Oh sorry Link you ran 4 times, try again!"

I sound like I really hate the game which I don't, I did enjoy it, but I really think they're rehashing emptily and pandering rather than taking risks and producing truly memorable experiences.

OoT: Memorable
MM: Memorable
WW: Memorable
TP: =/
SS: Meh
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
If my considerably more you mean dowsing for about 100 years then sure.

Or I mean things like the dragon's quests and boss battles outside of dungeons and other such elements. But if you'd prefer to (partially inaccurately) distill the material down that way, that's your prerogative.

Also what Skyward Sword also does is relentlessly hold your hand the entire way, and doesn't let you opt out of just skipping exceptionally long tutorial segments. Some things perhaps need some help to get into, but God man what happened to just having the player work the basics out themselves? Guess it's because we don't have instruction manuals anymore, I miss those, because it meant that by the time you fired up the game, you were expected to know the basics. Of course nobody read them but hey, that way it didn't spend 2 hours going "hey Link, this is how you run, now run around in circles five times to progress. Oh sorry Link you ran 4 times, try again!"

That's exaggerated. The tutorials weren't anywhere near that binding.

Furthermore, you call Wind Waker memorable despite it using a nearly identical structure. I realize the game's aesthetics and atmosphere account for a significant portion of that, but still.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
Yes because Wind Waker, rather than harping about your DESTINY and overtly latching onto the OoT structure, it creates an entirely new setting, new mood, new art style (that's actually chosen for artistic purpose unlike SS where I don't get why they used the impressionist style apart from wanting to make something pretty on the Wii's limited hardware), with strong characterisation all round and a different spin on the hero thing.

See Zelda's general theme is that of the destined hero, whereas Link of WW has to go fight through arduous tasks to become a hero. He isn't supposed to be the hero, he earns that through his grit and determination, as well as his overall good nature. The end too, where the King tells the children that it's time to stop the shadows of the past holding the future back was very poignant, and imo metaphorical for the direction the Zelda series should have taken.

Again like I said it's not the formula per se that bothers me, everything has a core structure, but you really should do something outstanding to draw you away.

I mean which characters do you really grow attached to in SS? I mean the general Skyloft folk you don't interact with all that much, and not at any deep level. Zelda you never bloody see so I mean, what sort of rapport can you really build with someone you're chasing the entire time? Groose was the best done character in the game, and even his development felt exceptionally forced.

The Dragon quest was quite good, but that falls under Lanayru which I already mentioned as being particularly stellar. Again though you say stuff like the boss rush or what, exactly? I mean the boss rush just gave you a chance to fight the bosses again, somethign we saw in Majora's Mask anyway, and that's not really especially going to make me care more.

What else? Was mostly just a case of fetch quests, and although I'm not the sort of person who wants dungeondungeondungeon (I mean Majora's Mask is my favourite and it only has 4 main temples), but what I want is some variety and significance to all the material that fleshes the game out. You can get through SS's stuff without too much complaint, but I mean how much of all that extra stuff was making you just really really care? Can't say tadtones were particularly enthralling.

When you're judging a Zelda game, you're judging at the highest possible standards. While a game from another franchise that was exactly like SS I would probably laud for its efforts and say is a great game with some things it could work on, Zelda games have to fight against the fact their experience should stop them from making unambitious and questionable design choices.

I liked SS, but sorry, I don't see myself playing it again, and the more I think about it the more I'm just underwhelmed. Nothing about it apart from Lanayru really struck me as fantastic, and honestly if it weren't for Lanayru I'd be far more disappointed with the experience.

EDIT: With regards to the tutorial stuff, pretty sure it was worked out that there's about 1h of opening tutorial material that you are bound to.

Pretty sure that's a lot.
 
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BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Zelda you never bloody see so I mean, what sort of rapport can you really build with someone you're chasing the entire time?

They did a pretty decent job establishing Link and Zelda's relationship despite their limited time on screen together.

The Dragon quest was quite good, but that falls under Lanayru which I already mentioned as being particularly stellar.

Why would all of that fall under one province of the game? You have quests to do in all three regions, all of them different, and again that doesn't count things like the Levias battle.

but what I want is some variety and significance to all the material that fleshes the game out.

Three completely different quests between later dungeons with three completely different types of gameplay.

I liked SS, but sorry, I don't see myself playing it again, and the more I think about it the more I'm just underwhelmed. Nothing about it apart from Lanayru really struck me as fantastic, and honestly if it weren't for Lanayru I'd be far more disappointed with the experience.

I don't really care what you do or don't do with the game. It just seems to me like somewhere along the way you resolved to view the game with as cynical an eye as possible and went from there, is all.

With regards to the tutorial stuff, pretty sure it was worked out that there's about 1h of opening tutorial material that you are bound to.

Pretty sure that's a lot.

One hour of what is a 15-20 hour main quest? Percentage-wise, that's not really a lot, no.
 

Zibdas

not bad
Yes because Wind Waker, rather than harping about your DESTINY and overtly latching onto the OoT structure, it creates an entirely new setting, new mood, new art style (that's actually chosen for artistic purpose unlike SS where I don't get why they used the impressionist style apart from wanting to make something pretty on the Wii's limited hardware), with strong characterisation all round and a different spin on the hero thing.

They used the art style they did for two reasons:
1) It makes it easier to see enemies' attacks and act accordingly
2) A bit more subliminal, but WW's art style, where the world went to crap and was flooded, is cel-shaded. Twilight Princess, where everything went to be normal after OoT, is a bit more moody. OoT, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword, they all come before either of these two timelines and had none of either. Skyward Sword, being released after Wind Waker and TP, is a combination. People speculated that the styles split up accordingly with the timelines.
 

kingmassa

Justice Is Served
They did a pretty decent job establishing Link and Zelda's relationship despite their limited time on screen together.

They established Link and Zelda are close early on, but giving you no reason to actually care. Where they separated you from Aryll who you don't necessarily build a rapport with, you have characters like Tetra and the pirates introduced to build a relationship with, and as your adventure progresses these extended relationships become important.

Again what you're failing to respond with his how much did you actually connect and care? How much immersion was there as opposed to just "oh I'm here playing this vidjagam". No really consider that.


Why would all of that fall under one province of the game? You have quests to do in all three regions, all of them different, and again that doesn't count things like the Levias battle.

Let me try and recall these quests. Okay. God the fact that I'm having to think about this is really sort of a serious problem.

Faron: Dowse and dowse some more. When you're done dowsing, get to the temple. Round 2, douse then some tadtones and stuff cool time for temple.


Eldin: Go through some caves and dowse. Get item. Go to Volcano.
R2: Lose all your items, get them back, get to temple.

I mean again I'm not opposed to more playtime but really it's just like oh more of this and no engagement whatsoever. It's all just thrown in in a way that obviously just demands you to spend more time, rather than to purposely add any sense of gravity, context or genuine care for the adventure, mission, and the world in it.

This is something which older Zeldas often managed.

Three completely different quests between later dungeons with three completely different types of gameplay.

And can you please spell these out for me because I have a feeling I might just have forgotten because I really don't remember all the much exciting variety.

I don't really care what you do or don't do with the game. It just seems to me like somewhere along the way you resolved to view the game with as cynical an eye as possible and went from there, is all.

Actually quite the opposite, I was really excited and gave it ample opportunities to impress me. How is it that I can call some parts of the game stellar and just gripe about other stuff? I can because it's true. Trust me, the intense cynicism and scathing is reserved for Twilight Princess.

One hour of what is a 15-20 hour main quest? Percentage-wise, that's not really a lot, no.

Words cannot express how much is wrong with this sentiment. One hour of forced, unnecessary, boring, borderline frustrating game time is not an issue? ONLY 5-7% of total time? I mean this isn't counting all the times Fi butts in to say "hey Link *the bloody obvious goes here*". Again if all of this could be skipped then we're all cool here, but no, it's imposed, and a minimum of 5% total gameplay time being imposed tutorial sequences is unacceptable.

They used the art style they did for two reasons:
1) It makes it easier to see enemies' attacks and act accordingly
2) A bit more subliminal, but WW's art style, where the world went to crap and was flooded, is cel-shaded. Twilight Princess, where everything went to be normal after OoT, is a bit more moody. OoT, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword, they all come before either of these two timelines and had none of either. Skyward Sword, being released after Wind Waker and TP, is a combination. People speculated that the styles split up accordingly with the timelines.

1) It does? Is it something to do with the colour contrast or something?

2) Pretty sure that's not really what it is. I'm sorry but the whole timeline hoo hah wasn't actually bothered about until fanboys starting their relentless crusade on the concept with the advent of the internet. Obviously they had the structure of some kind, but timeline stuff really wasn't the cornerstone until it started becoming the thing fans obsessed over (literally the worst thing to obsess over because the ambiguity allowed for freshness). But I mean, if the art style was specifically chosen to facilitate the advanced combat, then that answers my question I guess, since that actually does make sense.
 
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BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Again what you're failing to respond with his how much did you actually connect and care? How much immersion was there as opposed to just "oh I'm here playing this vidjagam". No really consider that.

I'm failing to respond with it because it's item number "haha no" on the list of things I'm worried about when I'm playing a video game. How much I am "connecting and caring" doesn't have a whole lot of effect on whether I'm doing my best to properly press buttons and move the controller. Clearly you and I simply have different standards as to what interactive game software really "needs" in order to be "good".

God the fact that I'm having to think about this is really sort of a serious problem.

No it isn't.

It's all just thrown in in a way that obviously just demands you to spend more time, rather than to purposely add any sense of gravity, context or genuine care for the adventure, mission, and the world in it.

The distinction between "it demands you to spend more time" and "add any sense of gravity, context or genuine care for the adventure, mission, and the world in it" seems to be defined by whether it met with your approval or not.

And can you please spell these out for me because I have a feeling I might just have forgotten because I really don't remember all the much exciting variety.

Flooded forest. Weaponless stealth on the volcano. Defending the moving Timeshift Stone in the desert. All different goals than simply getting from point A to point B while defeating anything that gets in your way.

I can because it's true.

It's true to you.

Words cannot express how much is wrong with this sentiment.

Guess you'll just have to use a drawing or song or something, then. Interpretive dance, maybe?

One hour of forced, unnecessary, boring, borderline frustrating game time is not an issue? ONLY 5-7% of total time? I mean this isn't counting all the times Fi butts in to say "hey Link *the bloody obvious goes here*". Again if all of this could be skipped then we're all cool here, but no, it's imposed, and a minimum of 5% total gameplay time being imposed tutorial sequences is unacceptable.

Why was any of the tutorial material really that bad? It's not as if they lock you in a room and drill you on the material. It hardly constitutes more of the game than, say, Ocarina's tutorial stuff does, and with a completely new control scheme, wouldn't you prefer the game teach you the basis of combat before it dumps you into the midst of a horde of enemies and say "'kay, have fun!"?
 
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mitchman_93

AND IT WAS THIS BIG!
Hoooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
hd windwaker on the wii u what the flying **** can't contain all my hypes. Can't contain them at all! I don't give a **** if its cause the newer one is gonna take long to make, its the best apology ever. Ever!

More importantly, the next one is gonna be non-linear? You said that about SS, but we'll see Aonuma, we'll see!
 
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MidnightMelody

Hopeful for Gen 8
HD Windwaker looked amazing! Just when I thought I would be free from buying new stuff after April we get a fall release :D
 
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