Official Zelda Timeline

Wait, I didn't post about this yet?

For the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series, Nintendo has released the "Hyrule Historia," a book detailing development, official art, and most importantly, the relation of the games to one another.

Oh dear lord...

I just... ugh...

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_legend_of_zelda_skyward_sword/b/wii/archive/2011/06/07/zelda-skyward-2011.aspx

While the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series had a prominent presence at the beginning of Nintendo’s E3 press conference, Skyward Sword was barely mentioned. Due out this year, we haven’t  heard much lately on the progress of Link’s next adventure

Oh, of course not, that would ruin the "surprise."

Sorry, please continue.

While the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series had a prominent presence at the beginning of Nintendo’s E3 press conference, Skyward Sword was barely mentioned. Due out this year, we haven’t  heard much lately on the progress of Link’s next adventure. Despite the lack of updates, the upcoming Wii title was playable on the show floor in the form of a new demo. I got a chance today to try out three different sections of the game - a bird riding race, a dungeon area, and a boss fight.

Bird riding was a fun segment that featured Link out of his standard adventuring garb. He resembled the farmer version from Twilight Princess, and was participating in a high-flying race for a trophy. It starts with the four participants diving off a cliff, followed by grasping and mounting a giant bird. Shaking the Wii remote makes the bird fly higher into the clouds, and the A button activates a speed boost system not unlike Epona’s carrots from previous games. Your objective is to reach a bird that’s carrying a trophy before any of your opponents, and they’ll eventually get more aggressive. After my first win, my fellow riders started shooting eggs back at me in an effort to slow my progress. Upon catching it the second time, I was treated to a cutscene of Link and an impressed Zelda flying off atop the bird.

And then they break out into song!

I can show you the woooorld...

Yes, I've missed impressing an non-princess Zelda by flying around on a bird.  I haven't done that in a Zelda game since... 

Wait, what?

Second on the agenda was the dungeon demo. This allowed me to experience more traditional Zelda gameplay, with a focus on finding keys, using items to solve puzzles, and defeating enemies. Like in Ocarina of Time’s Deku Tree, giant Skulltulas drop down from the ceiling if you get too close. Unlike those, however, there’s no immediate way to attack their weak spot. Destroying them is a mini-puzzle in itself, and it first requires you to snip their line of web with the flying beetle item. Once they’ve fallen to the ground, they’re still protected by their hard shell. Thanks to the added control afforded by MotionPlus, you can hold the sword near the ground and pop the enemy up to expose their weak point. A few stabs and a dramatic finishing move later, and they’ll be defeated.

You read that right, folks, flip it over and attack it's weak spot for massive damage!

Giant Enemy Spider! Actually happened in ancient Hyrule

After disposing of several of these Skulltulas, I started searching for a key. Flying my beetle around exposed a switch that opened a door, leading me to another puzzle. A gate guarded a treasure chest, and three ominous wall-mounted eyes watched me as I got close. They’d follow the movements of my sword like a haunted house portrait, but would quickly shut if I aimed at them with my bow. Looking around the room, I spotted a box hanging from the ceiling. I cut it down with the beetle, shoved it near the eyes, and stood on top. Now that I was close enough, all three eyes were open and following my sword. I still couldn’t shoot at them, so I spun my sword around in circles. After a few rotations, the eyes got dizzy, turned red, and disappeared. The gate opened, and I received the key I was looking for.

Such innovation! I haven's seen something like this since...

since...

Mario 64!

And it was obvious then, too!

The final section of the demo was a boss battle that relied very heavily on directional sword swipes and well-timed blocks. It was a ghostly white female, although it wasn’t clear what species in the Zelda universe she was. Rather than the immediate action of many Zelda boss fights, this woman slowly made her way towards Link. Her hand followed the movements of my blade, and she would catch it whenever I attempted to strike her. I learned that I had to get her hand set in a specific location, then quickly alter the direction of my swipe and get the upper hand.

 Okay, first things first.

That's a dude.  I know because in Japanese media there's generally two indicators of gender.  Usually rather large, round, and obvious indicators.

Secondly, I assume the 'species' is the same as the sword-fairy-master sword-girl from the concept art.

After striking her numerous times in this manner, she started backing up and throwing projectiles at me in lines of five. I initially dodged them by jumping to the side, but you can also deflect them with your sword if you swipe accurately enough to hit all of them at once. The boss started charging me, and I got another chance to get some hits in after parrying with my shield as the strike approached. When she finally fell, it felt like I had played an entirely different boss fight than any of the dozens I’ve encountered before in the Zelda series.

See, this sounds fun, and it very well could surprise me, but really it just sounds annoying and boring.  Why can't  I have more than one way to attack enemies?

Gamers have complained for years that Zelda is a franchise content to rely on an age-old formula. You may be collecting keys, taking on bosses, exploring dungeons, and pushing blocks again in Skyward Sword, but the 1:1 MotionPlus swordplay really does make a difference. Many encounters with standard enemies feel like miniature puzzles in their own right, as you have to perform actions like flipping the spider on his back before you can take it out. With a new take on enemy encounters, a visually pleasing art style, real-time weapon switching, and fantastic motion controls, Skyward Sword looks to be a great addition to the Zelda lineage.

Why would I want enemy encounters to be miniature puzzles?  I don't want puzzles, I want mechanics.  Like raid bosses in World of Warcraft.  Like a good boss fight.

Why is it that people complain about the boring dungeons, (because they're full of boring, tedious puzzles) so the solution Aonuma comes up with is to make the overworld like one giant dungeon?  To make the boring puzzles into enemy encounters?

Why is it that the solution to 'you only use items once' is to make that stupid flying Beetleborg morpher used for everything?  It's like the seagulls in Wind Waker, and I didn't think that those were worth revisiting.

I really don't think motion controls will impact the gameplay that much (considering how most of the complaints about the formula aren't centered around pushing B to swing your sword) and I sincerely hope that this game bombs just as bad or worse than the atrocity known as Spirit Tracks.

I don't know if I should be screaming in rage or laughing my head off about this game.  At least Spirit Tracks made that distinction obvious.

And another thing...

http://www.1up.com/news/eiji-aonuma-wraps-zelda-skyward

-In this game, Zelda starts out as a childhood friend of Link's -- and not royalty. "She's not a princess this time," Aonuma said, "which is something I'll pretty much have to put forth right now in order to talk about this title. She's a childhood friend, but she goes away in the midst of the game and it's Link's job to search for her."

...
...
...Nintendo's trolling me, right?

- The starting plot unfolds quite a bit differently from other Zeldas. "This game's plot is something like a school drama, you could say," Aonuma noted with a laugh. "The flying sequence at the E3 demo is Link competing against his classmates. One of them looks kind of a like a bad guy, as you saw, and he shows up in other ways in the game too, since he has a major thing for Zelda."

Yes, that's exactly what we need in Zelda, bad high-school drama ala Kingdom Hearts!

- Despite this, though, the game progresses in a somewhat similar fashion to a previous Zelda title. "The game starts in Skyloft, this city that's floating in the air, and you'll come back to this town multiple times," Aonuma said. "Things are always proceeding along in town, and in that respect it's very much like Majora's Mask. Like with Majora, there are a lot of game events involving the townspeople that get intertwined with the main story. Link, Zelda and their other friends all go to the same boarding school, and you've got teachers and a principal as well. It's a bit of a different setting from previous Zeldas."

 Um...almost all of that stuff in Majora's Mask was optional.(i.e. not part of the main story)  This sounds more like Wind Waker, or Twilight Princess, will all these stupid NPCs that nobody cares about.

- Aonuma's team is making a deliberate effort to give Link new items -- like the boomerang-beetle in the E3 demo -- early on in Skyward Sword. "With previous Zeldas," he said, "the common pattern was that the really neat items wouldn't show up until later on in the game. You need to have the basic item set or it wouldn't be Zelda, so the new items tended to get shunted to the latter part of the game. [Shigeru] Miyamoto said that had to change, like 'This is neat, let's bring it out from the start.' So a lot of neat new items will show up pretty early on."

- Is Skyloft the entire 'world' in this game? "Yes, it's only the people in Skyloft," Aonuma responded. "Nobody on there thinks anything of it, though, because living in Skyloft and flying around on birds is normal to them. They don't have any awareness of there being a mainland beneath the clouds and so forth -- that gets expanded upon once Zelda goes missing, and you get access to the areas under the clouds."

 So...It's like Final Fantasy III (not 6)? Or Baten Kaitos?

- Does everyone in Skyloft have their own personal avian transport? "It's the custom for each person to have one bird. Link has a red one, and it's actually a special and very rare breed of bird -- which is something that makes him get picked on, like 'Why do you get this fancy bird and we don't?!' But it turns out that you need that red bird in order to access the mainland. So the hand of fate gets involved here, like it always does in Zelda games sooner or later."

 Oh, poor picked-on Link, is this supposed to be meta or something?

- Ghiraham, the enemy Link fought in the E3 demo's boss battle, is definitely going to be an important character in Skyward Sword. "The demo shows when you first meet him, and plainly he's looking down at Link, stopping his sword with his fingers and so forth," Aonuma noted. "In terms of story image he's kind of like Dark Link [from Ocarina of Time]; he sees right through Link's moves in battle. You can sort of swing your sword wildly and still hold your own against a lot of foes, but there's no way you can beat Ghiraham like that. You need to keep your distance and watch his moves, and it's something you'll need to change your strategy for. I think he's a pretty good change of pace as bosses go, and he'll change gradually throughout the game."
 

 He's kind of like Dark Link?  Okay...so you beat him by not using Z-targeting?  And what does "in terms of story" mean, anyway?  Dark Link was just kind of...there.

"This game talks about the birth of the Master Sword, and it touches on why Ganondorf showed up. If you play it, I think you'll get some understanding on that. It connects to Ocarina, so if you play Ocarina of Time 3D and move on to this game, I think you'll catch on to a lot of things."

 "Please, play this other, better, game, first.  That way you can know what everyone else has for the past 13 years."

- How's development going along? "The whole game is complete, and we're fine-tuning the balance right now. We were going to have it wholly done by around E3, but there's so much volume to it, neither I nor Miyamoto have gotten to fully play out every aspect. The non-English localizations are proceeding along now, and we're trying to make this a simultaneous worldwide release. You have to put Zelda all out at once or else the story's going to get spoiled -- although, really, there's a ton to enjoy here even if you know a little about the story beforehand."

Oh, yes, this sounds like a fantastic story.  I wouldn't want it spoiled.

This makes absolutely no sense.  Why is it that Nintendo is so intent on changing absolutely everything about Zelda except for the one, small thing we want them to?  Not only that, why do they get to completely destroy the lore that's been set up?  I haven't seen such blatant mockery of the lore (and the fans) since Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Star Wars prequels.

 

I've finally figured out what Malstrom has known ever since Yoshi's Island, Nintendo has absolutely no intention of giving us the games that we want.  They insist on finding ways to buy the games that they want, and yet New Super Mario Brothers still manages to be in the top 40

I'm not going to get a true, spiritual sequel to Ocarina of Time, I'm not going to get a New! Legend of Zelda.  I'm not even going to get The Last Story.

Screw you, Nintendo.  I'll be giving my money to people who deserve it.  People who know how to listen to customers, like Blizzard.

Or maybe I'll just make the games you refuse to, and get your money.

Even More Zelda Without Zelda

I might do more of these if Nintendo's going to just do all the work for me.

 No Zelda to see here, move along.

Spoony's thoughts on Nintendo

I love watching videos at The Spoony Experiment, though due to his use of particular language, I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone.

This video is great though, and I'm pretty sure it's clean to boot!



I really listened in when he was talking about Zelda and Nintendo in general (about 10 minutes in)

There's so much to love in what he says in only a few minutes. I love the way he talks about how the Zelda games feel like they're in parallel universes, about how they have such a great backlog of world and characters and yet always have to do something radically different. I love how he compares Ocarina of Time to steak and the later games as "steak and potatoes," "steak with garlic bread," and so on. He just really hits the nail on the head, and I had to stop myself from cheering out loud at one point.

Anyway, his videos are great, and if language isn't an issue, I'd say check his website out. He's got a fantastic set of videos.

E3 Impressions: Legend of Zelda

So, here we go, I'm going to watch through Nintendo's press conference, and try to kind of leave my impressions here.


Cell shading?  I'm not so sure, it makes me think of Wind Waker.
Skyward Sword, huh?  I like it!

Bill Trinnen demoing, dag nabbit, it actually looks fun.

Mushrooms, hm...


Sword beams?!? holy crap, holy crap, holy crap...

Miyamoto is demoing it now,

swordfighing inspired by Wii sports resort? [expletive]!


Potion drinking is in real time?

Don't have to point at the screen to aim the slingshot?

Items not assigned to buttons?

Rolling bombs ala Wii sports bowling? Nice.

Bow & Arrow also inspired by Wii Sports Resort?  Very nice.

Whip?  Oh please let there be Indiana Jones throwbacks.


Crap, I'm sold.  Time to start up the "can't wait 'til next year" calendar

EDIT: Also of note is the fact that the Master sword is PROMINENTLY displayed.

An e-mail for malstrom

No, it's not from me.

First of all, I find it hilarious that this guy's suggestions are almost exactly what the 'leak' says, only furthering my point.

Here's a clip of what he said about Link's Awakening:

The next interesting bit is that Ganon is not the villain of the game. Third, there is no Princess Zelda, and fourth there is no Triforce, and fifth, there is no Master Sword.

Wow.

He then pretty much goes on to itemize what he wants in a Zelda game, by listing things you can do in The Elder Scrolls series.

I don’t want one kingdom to explore. I want many kingdoms. I don’t want just a village, I want to explore remote settlments, colonies, traverse hostile wilderness, accidentally come across an encampment of bad guys and have to fight them. I want diverse habitats and ecosystems.
...
I want the freedom to either storm into a fort full of badguys with a sword in one hand and a bomb with a lit fuse in the other. Or I would like the ability to use a hook and rope to rappel up into the fort and try to sneak through.
...
There shouldn’t be any “dungeons.” Maybe I need to storm a castle to get an important item. Maybe I need to raid an underground catacomb filled with zombies or mummies to get an item. Maybe infiltrating a monastary requires Link to leap and bound over the surrounding rooftops before sneaking in through the bell tower. Maybe I have to haul ass on my horse to intercept a bunch of ruffians in order to save a fair maiden they kidnapped. Maybe I have to sneak into a prison to rescue an old man who has information I need, or whatever.
...
When I start the game I want to look like a wimp, and then by the end of the game I want to see Link wearing armor, and his Master Sword needs to glowing so bright that it could be used as a lamp in dark places. I want a visual progression to help emphasize Link’s progression through the game, and display the ultimate culmination of all his trials and tribulations. If a guy in a green tunic came up to me and told me he was about to storm a heavily fortified castle with just his sword I would laugh. If I saw a guy come up wearing heavy armor glowing with magic energy and armed with magic and weapons and more than enough gadgets to make even MacGuyver envious, I’d be more willing to take him seriously. I sure as hell wouldn’t laugh.

A guy wearing heavy armor glowing with magic energy? You mean like this?


Anyway, my reaction is similar to Malstroms, this guy doesn't want 'platforming,' because he does not want Mario. If he did, he would play Mario. Despite what he seems to be saying, he does not want Elder Scrolls V: Hyrule. He, like the rest of us, wants more action in Zelda. It's like people I've read in message boards. They seem to thing that 'enemies doing more damage' will solve the problem of 'Zelda has become too easy.' No, there is one big glaring problem with Zelda. What is the biggest complaint about Ocarina? Both Malstrom and the E-mailer mentioned this. Is it the annoying fairy? The tired story about Ganon, Zelda, and the Triforce? No. It's the freaking Water Temple. The last time I played through Ocarina, guess what? I didn't last long after the Water Temple. The main reason is probably because I forgot one key and ended up backtracking though the whole dungeon (because you have to do that to change the water level even once) to get one key.

The thing is, I think that this guy has unintentionally stumbled upon and downplayed a huge part part of the charm of Zelda. You are just a guy in a green tunic and you do storm a heavily fortified castle with just your sword. The problem in Zelda nowadays is that it doesn't feel like that anymore.

Anyone can put on magic armor and look awesome(there is another more appropriate word to use here involving bad donkeys, but I don't use that language). It takes a special kind of person, however, to be dressed in naught but a green tunic and still look awesome, be armed with naught but a sword and still kick trash and take names.

Zelda Wii 'leak'

Deep in a secret lair, a plan is brewing....

Hm, let's see. If I were to fake a leak about an upcoming Zelda game, what would I put in it to get the fanboys excited over?

Well, it would definitely be another game staring the Link from Ocarina of Time. (known around those circles as the Hero of Time. Oh, and by the way, yes they're not just all the same guy.)

And...Yes, definitely have it not take place in Hyrule, that combined with the Hero of Time would garner hopes of Termina. Oh, no Zelda or Ganondorf, either. Because they're the 'reason the series is getting stale.' Probably have a plot not involving the Triforce, either. Brilliant!

Um, what else? Oh, oh, I know! The fairy from the concept art that everyone thinks is the Master Sword isn't the Master Sword, and she isn't annoying and always popping up like the infamous Navi from Ocarina, or Midna from Twilight Princess. I'll have them, now!

What else? Oh, yeah, I have to include what the developers said somehow! There's not the same dungeon-overworld-dungeon setup anymore. Of course, I wouldn't mention that this probably means that the overworld will be minimized (or not be there at all) like in Spirit Tracks. No, I want them to believe me, which means they have to like me.

I need to ignore what Miyamoto said about it being a 'new era' for Zelda, since that could clash with how it's the Hero of Time. He could have been talking about the dungeon setup, but still.. Oh wait! It's the Hero of Time, so time travel must play a part. It can work either way, now! Mwahahahaha!

What!? Someone beat me to it? NOOOOO! Now I have to think of something else.

Whaaa?

What is this? A black controller? I have to get one in black if I want to get it with Wii Motion Plus?

I'm all for having Wii remotes in different colors (finally), but black? PS3 controllers are black. The 360 has black controllers to be 'cool' and to go with their black 'elite' system. Is Nintendo trying to weaken the barriers between systems? Why? People are buying the Wii because it's drastically different from the other systems. What, are they going to start putting out black consoles now?


WHAT!? They already released one in Europe!?

Bad Nintendo! Bad! Don't appeal to the hardcore, they still laugh at the lack of HD. Didn't you learn anything with The Conduit?

Alright, let me take a deep breath, all might not be lost. Malstrom's got a new article with a new thought. Nintendo seems to be planning on releasing Zelda Wii this year, when all the information we have is a piece of development art, Miyamoto's promise that it will be a 'New Era,' and Aonuma talking about flying. Not even a trailer. Could Malstrom be right? Are they just dumping the project so that they can start on a better one? One with Wii Motion Plus combat? I still think there's no hope for Zelda Wii, but there might be hope beyond that.

I'm crossing my fingers.

A plea for Nintendo

I know you have guys working on the new Zelda. I know that Eiji Aonuma is now the guy in charge of development, and I know that these guys love to put puzzles and trains into a fantasy Action/RPG because Mr. Aonuma's son likes it.

But please, PLEASE do something for me. Not just me, but every fan of your beloved series.

I've had Wii Sports Resort sitting around for a while, and I haven't played it much since I bought it, but today I decided to pull it out. I tried something that I hadn't played before, the "challenge" under the swordplay option.

DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN ZELDA WII! I can't express in words the amount of fun that I had playing the challenge mode, but I can say that the amount of fun I had wasn't in just playing the game; while I was playing I envisioned a full game devoted to this sort of combat system, dreamed of one day playing as Link, cutting down enemies left and right. The glee I felt playing, the satisfaction when I finished a level, I haven't felt these lately outside of New Super Mario Brothers Wii.

Please, I know I don't speak alone, and I know that with every Zelda game you make, more and more of your loyal fanbase leaves. Spirit Tracks was the breaking point for me. Despite the train I still had hope, but I put it down after I made it through the first dungeon and haven't picked it up since. I doubt I will be picking it back up anytime in the near future. One can only take so much. I have a glimmer of hope still deep within, waiting for more information on Zelda Wii, but given what you've let fly in recent games, I suspect that that small glimmer will be finally extinguished.

You are not immortal; despite what the 'hardcore' 90's crowd says, people will not keep buying whatever you put out simply because it's got your brand. The reason we've been sticking with you all these years is because of your consistency in putting out good games. Your current games aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't the same franchises that put you at the top, though they may share the name or look.

Please, make a New Legend of Zelda. The sales of both New Super Mario Brothers DS and Wii should not surprise you; these are the games we've been waiting for. Make a "new" Legend of Zelda, a "New" Starfox, and give me a reason to buy them, and not the ones on the Virtual Console instead. Learn from the success of New Super Mario Brothers Wii.

Aonuma is killing your franchise, and I wish you could see that. Put a leash on him before it's too late.