The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[TV Eye]

Watch them pull a Frieza and have Ganondorf come back as a cyborg.

[Shrikeswind]

Why would Braindead Ganon/dorf be a problem? Remember, when Ganon/dorf gets stupid, Ganon/dorf gets pissed. Remember Oracle? He had like no mental capacity because his resurrection was corrupted. What happens? "RAR ME KILL YOU RAR!" And you fight the Man-Bear-Pig in all of his deficient glory. And also, you know how Ganon/dorf works. Ganon/dorf DOES NOT DIE. He simply wills himself to live, looking roughly the same every time until he permanently turns into Ganon, and even then continues to will his continued existance until, apparently, LttP, at which point Link finally gets the whole Triforce to himself. A part of his wish, "And the Master Sword sleeps forever" would imply that Ganon's going to stay dead (probably the result of the Triforce saying "Okay, if the Master Sword sleeps forever in a paradise, that means there will be no need for it.") And no matter how many times he's slashed, stabbed, shot, and smashed, the mutant son of a genetic-design-flaw species will never change his mind. I mean, by rights, he should have died after OoT, when you basically wail on his face with the one weapon that can kick his ass with the final strike going CLEAR THROUGH HIS FREAKING SPINAL CORD. Yet somehow, he's still able to move. The guy's good.

[Koopaul]

Were forgetting Ganon was stabbed several times in the head in OoT and he ended out fine. That guy has got some serious powers of survival.

[Shrikeswind]

Way to summarize there, Koops. =P

Though I have to say, a game where the entire plot was instigated by a mentally crippled Ganondorf would be funny as hell. (Which is to say, Ganondorf's mental handicap has forced you to fight bizzare bosses for a messed up plot to conquer the world then he ends up fighting like Majora's Wrath pumped up on so much crack and steroids the mask would be a muscular pile of dead meat.)

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2010 21:28:38 GMT -5 Manspeed said:

Jan 7, 2010 19:17:02 GMT -5 @sgtmajorkururu said:

stuff

To be fair TEi, it's kinda hard to develop a character when there's actually like ten of them running around in different time periods.

That doesn't excuse Nintendo from not trying. XD If anything, that's just incentive for them to give it a shot! To beat a dead Epona, Nintendo was there with Wind Waker by making Tetra an individual, and Ganondorf sympathetic, rather than forcing them to adhere to the basic traits of the characters and not actually deviating from that course.

Let's see here. There have been...eight Links and Zeldas by this point, and seven Ganondorfs? (I dunno if he's in Spirit Tracks). That's twenty-three characters. Are you telling me it's difficult to write personality and growth for twenty-three different characters who live in multiple time periods and in vastly different contexts from each other? So, if there was to be a video game about, say, me and my ancestors, you're saying developing me would be impossible because my great-grandparents lived in a different age, with different people and different surroundings? I've got to raise an objection there, my friend.

Another example...the Tales Of games. Each one is set in what appears to be a standard fantasy setting, but each member of each party of each game grows and changes and adapts to what happens when their standard fantasy world starts going through changes as well. You get my point.

[Johans Nidorino]

This blog compiled a list of facts that are known about the upcoming Zelda.

The thing about the game being in development for years confuses me. The article they cite said that a newer Zelda (than Twilight Princess) was in development since one year before 2007. But the article didn't mention that the game was for the Wii. Even if it was for the Wii, Crossbow Training had yet to be released, too.

[Flip]

If memory serves me right, TP was in development since Wind Waker. There was a split in the dev team: some guys went on to do the console game, some went on to make Phantom Hourglass. (Games like Minish Cap, Four Swords, etc. were done out-of-house by other dev teams, for those wondering).

Since TP was basically in development since 2003, at the latest, that gives 3 years for its release in 2006. The conversion to a "Wii title" literally took very little time, as they just ran the game on better hardware to enhance the graphics, flipped the map to save time, and added Wiimote functionality--easily the work of a few grunts and not a whole team. So it's completely logical to say that people were able to come together and start work on new ideas for the next Zelda at roughly that time. Easily and completely sensible.

Now, since that means the game would have been in development for, roughly, 4 years, you have to wonder what they'll be pulling out of their hats in 6 months for E3. I think the biggest clue we can have is how involved Miyamoto has gotten. If his hands were deep in there, it may turn out to be another OoT; if he only had his name and a few good bitch slaps thrown in there for the team, I can see it pulling another TP and "flopping."

Time will tell, but honestly? I'm not that excited. Let me see what they've got, then we'll talk.

[Fryguy64]

Twilight Princess was an outstanding game, but it's been given a short shrift for no discernible reason. Seriously.

So it didn't perform as well as expected in sales... well of course not! You don't launch a console with a Zelda game when the console is in limited supply and marketed to mums! You release the Zelda game later, when the console has a greater market penetration!

Apparently people think sales figures are a good judge of quality these days and allow this (external) factor to affect their subjective opinion. It's bollocks. Brilliant things go unnoticed and absolute toss hits the top of the sales charts. If we used that rule for everything, we should all rave about how much we love Transformers: The Game!

Twilight Princess has a largely forgettable soundtrack, and a small handful of isolated parts of the game were a little pedestrian... but the whole package was one of the best adventure games ever made. Fighting Yeta, getting the Double Hookshot, discovering the forest ruins are the Temple of Time, being stealthy in the Hidden Village, finding the chunk of bridge in the middle of the desert, riding a boar, successfully sniping enemies with the Bow on horseback, running through Hyrule Castle Town stuck as a wolf... the game was filled with astounding moments that are among the series' most memorable.

So what's wrong with it? Honestly!

[Johans Nidorino]

Hey Flip, it's not that I didn't believe they had been making the game for years. I just didn't see how citing this paragraph ensured they were talking about a sequel for the Wii ^_^ But I guess it wasn't Phantom Hourglass anyway.

[Shrikeswind]

Take note that there was one track in TP (heheheheh...TP) that was freaking amazing and highly memorable. Even came to Brawl. You know what it is.

What ACTUALLY struck me (relatively) against TP (being that it's still amazing) was how relatively unadapted it was. Still an 8-temple surge, still played like OoT, and nothing particularly novel (like WW's boat and MM's expansive sub-quest system and three-day cycle.) Just OoT again, but with horse-fights and shiny graphics. And pigs, which always makes for a fun day in Eldin playing Custer's Last Stand with the Bulblins.

[TV Eye]

Don't forget all the homosexual undertones in TP...

Fyer, Falbi, Malo Mart...Also, wasn't there a character who was Tingle's reincarnation? The star game guy? Yeah, then he's gay too.

[Flip]

Twilight Princess was largely forgettable for me because the "out-of-game" experience wasn't there. It is probably the ONLY Zelda game I have played where there weren't massive lunchroom discussions over how to get past a puzzle, find a hidden grotto, or discover the "Triforce" hidden away in the game. I remember consulting guides, calling friends, freaking out over little hidden gags and fanservice with all the other games... never happened for TP. Just sat in my room, beat it, and stowed it away, never to be touched again.

not sure why, really. maybe I'm just older and more bitter. I was surrounded by my college friends, but none of them were playing it with me--none of them really cared that they made a new Zelda for the GCN OR Wii. Maybe it was the timing, because Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks both returned to the "fanfare" of Ocarina, Link to the Past, and all the others.

THAT'S my problem with TP. It just didn't have that same PUNCH that all the other Zeldas did when they were released. It's not numbers of game quality. Just... overall social satisfaction.

[Fryguy64]

You see, while my experience of TP was largely solitary as well, but I didn't experience a moment of fanfare around either of the DS games, and I actually find them much less palatable than TP. It was only the last few months I decided to finally beat Phantom Hourglass, and I was underwhelmed by everything except Linebeck!

But Zelda games follow a formula, and they have done since 1993's A Link to the Past. This means that with each new incarnation, you can either blow the formula up to epic proportions, or break it entirely. TP was the first effort, and it sounds like they're going into the second with the new game.

And it will do better, because more people have the Wii, and more people are hungry for "hardcore" Nintendo games. That's the only reason I can see for the DS games doing so well - sheer numbers of DS owners!

But for me, Zelda has always been a solitary experience. Most games are. That's the problem with being a Nintendo gamer. And one of the reasons I love you guys so much! Awwww!!

[Deleted]

I really do enjoy playing Twilight Princess! It's much more immersive than OoT, despite the fact that the formula is tired. My main annoyance with it is that you get burdened down with so many useless weapons that COULD have been awesome and really weren't. I'd love to use the Dominion Rod, Ball and Chain, and Spinner on more than just the dungeons you found them in, you know? (Tho I did make good use of the Ball and Chain in the Pit of 100 Trials.)

[Fryguy64]

I was so excited by the ball and chain that I attempted to use it as my primary weapon in as many circumstances as possible! SMASHY SMASHY!