Reinventing Zelda

[DeltaToHell]

Hey Newground forum readers, today I had an interesting topic for you guys to discuss. Big video game site's talk about all the time how The Legend of Zelda series should find new ways to change so that it can reach the newer generation or blah...blah...blah... but it got me wondering, what exactly can you do to change the series? It's a formula that's worked for years but maybe you guys can put in a little bit of opinion to find out what Nintendo needs to do to revamp the series and make it better.

[Auz]

Well Zelda is a series where they always seem to aim for bringing something new to the players with every new instalment. Of course the core concept stays the same, but every game has its unique elements that sets it apart from the others.

I mean, just look at Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.

Ocarina of Time you could say is the base template
Majora's Mask had a unique 3 days system and an apocalyptic setting
Wind Waker brought boats and an ocean to explore rather than land
Twilight Princess allowed you to transform into a wolf
Skyward Sword brings flying and has upgradable items (there might be more things, haven't played it yet)

There's also the handhelds which have their own unique elements.

So I don't think they need to make drastic changes to appeal to a new generation at the moment. They're making enough changes to prevent the series from growing stale.

Just my opinion though

[ZombieKangaroo]

It doesn't really need reinventing, the core gameplay is fine. It's just a matter of coming up with a good enough story again. A lot of the titles are very run of the mill: become a hero, kill Ganon. Twilight Princess would have been a better game had they kept Zant as the main boss although all in all, it was a great game in my opinion.

[kakalxlax]

well, maybe making it a good game actually worthy of the worship its getting

[kmau]

At 12/16/12 04:10 PM, kakalxlax wrote: well, maybe making it a good game actually worthy of the worship its getting

You could say that about any videogame franchise.

[Dev]

At 12/14/12 06:58 PM, Travis wrote: Call of Zelda: Hylian Warfare

lmao

At 12/16/12 10:03 AM, ZombieKangaroo wrote: It doesn't really need reinventing, the core gameplay is fine. It's just a matter of coming up with a good enough story again.

This, along with what Auz said pretty much sums up my thinking as well. I think it's just a, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" type of thing. I feel like the atmosphere changes enough from game to game to be able to keep the same essential OoT "formula" and still remain entertaining. I've been playing Zelda since the mid 90's and I'm still loving it as much as ever... Then again, maybe I'm just easily amused...or a fanboy. :P

Also, the younger generation (people who were too young to play OoT when it came out) are lucky if you ask me -they've got a whole slew of classics to play that are all brand new to them!

[Maverick-Alex]

Made the game hard like the original.

[elegy]

I'd love a difficulty increase, as it gives you added incentive to collect heart pieces/armour/weapons or whatever and it's gotta be more immersive. Majora's Mask was by far the most immersive for me because it was alive. You actually felt like you were in that universe for three days and the sidequests were awesome. I haven't played SS, but Twilight Princess was very dead and lonely. Not as believable. I wouldn't say the series needs to be "reinvented." More tie-ins to other games in the series would be nice.

[Dev]

At 12/17/12 01:21 AM, elegy wrote: Majora's Mask was by far the most immersive for me because it was alive. You actually felt like you were in that universe for three days and the sidequests were awesome.

Thank you for describing perfectly why I love Majora's Mask so much. The way all the characters were on a schedule did add a unique element of realism to that game. "...it was alive." -I love it. :P

I haven't played SS, but Twilight Princess was very dead and lonely. Not as believable.

You'll probably like SS even less, then. :\

[DeltaToHell]

At 12/17/12 12:06 AM, Maverick-Alex wrote: Made the game hard like the original.

Agreed. Two words: Water Dungeon

[kakalxlax]

At 12/16/12 05:32 PM, kmau wrote:

At 12/16/12 04:10 PM, kakalxlax wrote: well, maybe making it a good game actually worthy of the worship its getting

You could say that about any videogame franchise.

you could, but it would be necessarily true in every other case, plus zelda is the iconic and most obvious case of an overrated game

[darkspartan000]

Honestly, I don't think that Nintendo really needs to "reinvent" their own franchise. If anything, remake of Majora's Mask for the 3DS, amirite?

[ZombieKangaroo]

At 12/17/12 01:21 AM, elegy wrote: I haven't played SS, but Twilight Princess was very dead and lonely. Not as believable.

I felt that Twilight Princess was the least "dead and lonely" of the series. Hyrule Castle Town was full of people bustling around, the world had a lot of warmth to it. Certain areas like Kakariko felt dead and lonely but that was by design. I would say that the older games like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (in spite of the oncoming doom) had a more upbeat feeling in their settlements.

[joe9320]

There's a very good article that talks about this.

In my opinion, they should just give Link a makeover and split up the timeline from Zelda II, creating a game based after the events of Ganon being prevented from resurrection.

Or even better, set Zelda in a futuristic-style place, something like in Metroid. But instead of Samus killing aliens, I got an idea: Imagine Link being born in a future where there is war, which has been started by Ganondorf's followers. Link has to murder the leader after the leader murdered Zelda and must resurrect Princess Zelda.

[Pervy-Dan-Hibiki]

Sure, there may have been some missteps along the way, but I don't think the series needs re-inventing. It really hasn't gotten stale or anything. Sure there are a lot of similarities in how the game works, but there's always a hugely different feel from game to game. And they always bring something new to the series. If they went much farther with changing it, it wouldn't really be "Zelda" anymore.