IGN: Wii's Next Zelda Game
NV55
Wii's Next Zelda Game
Miyamoto says the franchise needs some big new ideas. What might the
successor to Twilight Princess play and look like?
by Matt Casamassina
October 16, 2008 - When Nintendo unveiled The Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2004 to a
packed auditorium of journalists and fans, the crowd went wild, and
some people in attendance actually cried. Yes -- real, genuine tears,
induced by the very sight of a reborn Link, no longer a cel-shaded boy
but a teenage warrior surrounded by a realistic world. Decades after
the classic game released, few franchises in the history of the
industry share the same powerful hold over players as Zelda, and yet
Shigeru Miyamoto's series about a Hyrulian hero and a kidnapped
princess has stayed stubbornly true to its roots through the years, a
fact that some critics held against Twilight Princess when it shipped
two years ago. These criticisms haven't fallen on deaf ears, for
Miyamoto himself commented in an IGN interview that Zelda is "... a
franchise that does need some big new unique ideas."
Miyamoto offered those words at E3 2008, where he also confirmed that
a new Wii Legend of Zelda game is in development by key members of the
Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass teams. This new title is
poised to be fundamentally different from its predecessors for a
couple key reasons. First, Nintendo is obviously aware that the series
needs a new hook or two -- even if Twilight Princess remains, in our
humble opinion, one of the best adventure games of the generation, it
lacks a certain freshness, largely because it adheres to the age-old
Zelda formula. And second, whereas Twilight Princess began its life as
a GameCube title and was later ported to Wii, this new Zelda project
will be designed from the ground up to take advantage of Nintendo's
little white box. It's with all of this in mind that we explore the
the potential dos and the don'ts and focus our eyes keenly on the
future of the Zelda franchise. Here are just a few possibilities:
A Compelling New Tale
Nintendo prides itself on creating games that simply play
exceptionally well, but seldom do its titles, even those grand
adventures, feature rich and compelling stories, particularly by
today's standards. Although Link's journey to save princess Zelda has
seen several unique variations over the years, it is usually still the
same quest with new bells and whistles and it is partially because of
this that titles like Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time feel so
similar, whereas an all-new tale might have created a greater divide
between the games. Case in point, you won't see any comparisons to
director Eiji Aonuma's first N64 Zelda, Majora's Mask, for that dark
and difficult title included an original storyline set outside of the
traditional save-the-princess theme.
"I would love to see a Zelda title that really takes story to the next
level. Twilight Princess did a great job with storytelling -- more so
than any other Zelda, I believe. I'd just like to see that taken a few
steps further," says Kevin Cassidy, who operates the Nintendo website
Go Nintendo. "We know that there are people on the Zelda team that
would love to create a deep, rich story, but Miyamoto doesn't seem too
fond of it. I think it's time to take the franchise in a more
narrative direction. I think gamers can handle a Zelda with complex
emotions, rather than on-the-surface responses."
We loved the wolf mechanic in Twilight Princess. We also loved Midna.
What can Nintendo come up with next?
The narrative in Twilight Princess called upon the same methods that
worked for Ocarina of Time a decade before it -- namely, a combination
of game-engine cut-scenes, text bubbles and character grunts to drive
story. No pre-rendered cinematics and no voice work, the latter of
which has remained a pet-peeve of ours. Cassidy, though, stands atop
the other side of the chasm.
__
"I don't ever want to see a Zelda game with voice acting. I know that
most AAA titles of today feature voice acting, but I just don't think
that works for the Zelda series. I have no trouble reading a story,
and listening to grunts and sighs to accompany the text. I think that
a speaking role for Link would really ruin the experience. Just
because it can be done doesn't always mean that it's the right thing
to do," he says, adding, "Do you really want line after line of Tingle
dialog?"
Actually, we don't. And we would prefer to avoid Tingle altogether,
thank you very much. But we still contend that quality voice acting
would enhance and not detract from the storyline in the next Zelda
game. Link will forever be the silent warrior, but the characters he
encounters might better come to life with rich, well-acted dialog, a
technique designed by developers to immerse players into the
experience. Text bubbles are, if nothing else, a constant reminder
that you are playing a game, a presentational faux pas in today's
industry, where software houses strive to make games void of graphical
heads-up displays, let alone text-based character interactions. There
is also the point that if Nintendo never tries, how can we ever really
know? Long ago, Nintendo fans might have leveled the same skepticism
at the company's attempts to drag the always-2D Mario games into the
third-dimension with Super Mario 64. Looking back, nobody's
complaining. Finally, Nintendo could take a cue from companies like
BioWare, which are creating dialog trees for character interactions,
offering players a level of flexibility that could actually have an
impact on the storyline as they go.
Regardless of how Nintendo chooses to present Zelda's storyline,
though, most would agree that a fresh new tale would benefit the
franchise. We have, over the years, come to appreciate Majora's Masks'
interesting yarn set to the backdrop of an eerie moon threatening to
fall on and crush the planet where Link finds himself stranded.
Nothing, save for tradition, is keeping the developer glued to the
damsel in distress lure and we hope that Miyamoto will consider
upending the tea table, so to speak, when it comes time to pen Link's
newest travels. We would stand up and cheer for a deep, complex and
unpredictable story that reveals more about the Zelda characters than
we've learned previously, and we would likewise like to see the
franchise taken into altogether fresh directions. Whether that means
new playable characters, the return of some fan favorites like Deity
Link, some unexpected twists, or even the possibility that some major
players could bite the dust, well, we'll leave the details up to
Nintendo. Our one hope is that the storyline in Wii's next Zelda will
continuously surprise us.
No More Mr. Nice Guy
The original Legend of Zelda was ridiculously epic and challenging for
its time and some of franchise sequels have proven equally taxing.
Majora's Mask again comes to mind. But few would argue that The Legend
of Zelda: Wind Waker or Twilight Princess after it were overly
challenging games. In fact, hardcore fans have expressed
disappointment at how easily completed both titles were. That being
true, we think it's time for Nintendo to turn up the heat with Wii's
next Zelda game and provide the original fan base with an adventure
worthy of Link's time. As seasoned Zelda fans, we long for the day
when taking damage from an enemy resulted in the loss of more than one
health heart and not just a fraction of a one heart, for example. An
easy setting to tweak and if the developer so desires, it could
provide multiple difficulty settings, still appeasing the casual user
base -- a demographic, by the way, that we're still not convinced
cares to play Zelda regardless of its difficulty setting. Directly
relating to this is the challenge associated with fighting boss
characters. Although formidable in size, few of the bosses in Twilight
Princess presented notable hurdles to overcome, a disappointment given
that the franchise helped establish boss fights with some truly
intense and taxing battles. For the next game, we hope that Nintendo
will not be afraid to create some hard fights -- situations where Link
might actually perish and where players will need to use strategy and
reflexes combined to emerge victorious.
"Without the threat of doom, the beeping heart noise getting your
adrenaline up, beating a boss just doesn't feel the same. Think about
it, didn't you just hate Metroid Prime (the final boss)? Didn't you
sink back in your chair after beating it with a true sense of
accomplishment? A Zelda game that tries to cater to everyone will
never be able to do this," says IGN's publisher, Peer Schneider, a
longtime Zelda devotee and author of our Hyrule Times articles.
__
Revolutionary New Controls with Wii MotionPlus
Zelda traditionalists may argue that Nintendo needn't fix what isn't
broken and that mucking around with MotionPlus controls could
ultimately damage a perfectly fine configuration. Take, for example,
Wired's Chris Kohler, who would rather the developer play it safe and
remain cautious of dragging more motion work to the franchise.
"I'd absolutely hate for the next big Zelda game to be a Wii
MotionPlus game that's centered around 1:1 sword fighting, or
something similar that throws the baby out with the bath water," he
says
Cassidy disagrees. "I can't stop thinking about the possibilities of
MotionPlus. I would be extremely shocked and disappointed if the next
Zelda title didn't use the device. The types of gameplay and movement
that the MotionPlus makes possible would work perfectly into a Zelda
game. It might be the best way to move the series forward, while
still keeping things familiar. Everything from sword fighting to
boomerangs would become a lot more engaging," he explains.
With respect to Kohler, we tend to side with Cassidy on this one, but
we definitely understand the point of keeping an eye on the dangers of
overuse in regard to MotionPlus. Having waggle just for the sake of
waggle is unnecessary and could even feel contrived or broken. Were,
for example, the next Zelda to ditch the adventuring altogether for a
MotionPlus-enhanced sword fighting game, we would not be able to
contain our disappointment. Link's Crossbow Training is a fun
diversion, but completely ignoring the fundamentals of the franchise
in a major new release would be unfortunate for all the fans, us
included, who have grown up exploring the open world of Hyrule in all
of its glory and solving countless environmental puzzles.
We didn't immediately love Wind Waker's style, but looking back, it
was both gorgeous and extremely effective.
We envision smart, gameplay-changing integration of MotionPlus in a
manner that would complement today's Z-target lock-on. Imagine if Link
could freely maneuver through a non-linear world in typical Zelda
fashion, but as soon as he locked onto an enemy, players would be able
to control his sword-carrying hand with perfect precision using the
Wii remote. Players could still jump, strafe and even dodge with the
nunchuk, but they could also deliver accurate, fast slices and dices
with the remote. With this kind of pinpoint control, Link might even
be able to block incoming projectiles -- arrows, fireballs, etc. --
with his sword, but of course he wouldn't be reliant upon doing so,
for holding down B-trigger would cue his shield. And when the lock-on
is broken, normal controls would resume.
"I would love to see the combat camera moving behind Link's shoulder,
with Wii MotionPlus giving us unprecedented control over his sword,
shield, hammer, hookshot, bow and arrow, and so on. It shouldn't just
be mindless waggling, though. I want the game to use accurate
swordplay as a unique mechanism and tool the enemies' behavior and
weak points around this," Schneider. "Let me swipe up to knock a
helmet of a Bokoblin and expose his noggin. Let me stab forward to hit
a gap in the back of the shell of an Amos Knight. Let me pull back
with the remote to block or parry a blow from a powerful enemy."
__
Naturally, Wii MotionPlus controls wouldn't be limited to swordplay,
as Schneider suggests. Nintendo could cleverly devise a series of new
weapons that might make intuitive use of the control add-on. For
instance, a spiked ball and chain that would allow players to
accurately swing the Wii remote around to gain momentum, releasing the
attack at precisely the right moment to inflict damage. Or, the
ability to curve Link's boomerang using the same technique that works
for frisbee in Wii Sports Resort. And what about finally being to hurl
a bomb farther based on the power of motion, as measured by Nintendo's
add-on? But one item above all else seems the perfect fit for
MotionPlus and that is, of course, the Wind Waker, the magical baton
that could literally conduct the wind in the hit GameCube title. Using
MotionPlus, players could make subtle gestures that would be read and
translated on-screen. Think of Wii Music's maestro mini-game taken to
the next logical level, except as a legitimate hardcore gameplay
mechanic.
Don't Forget the Pointer
Wii's next Zelda needn't embrace MotionPlus at the expense of the Wii
pointer, which has thus far been every bit as effective as a gameplay
tool as waggle. Twilight Princess, in fact, successfully used the
pointer for the hookshot and for the bow and arrow and we think
there's room for further integration. Schneider referenced Metroid
Prime's boss battles, but we can also look to that game for pointer
inspiration. Not only did it employ fast and smooth pointer-based
shooter mechanics, but it transformed the Wii remote into a virtual
welder, enabling Samus to burn together cracks in walls in order to
proceed. The mechanic was a lot of fun and we've always wondered why
more developers haven't put the controller to use for similar results.
If any developer can one-up Retro Studios, it's Nintendo. Hopefully
the studio can develop some new tools for Link in his next adventure
so that gamers might have fresh reasons to grip the company's
revolutionary remote. We don't think anybody would be offended if the
Miyamoto and crew looked to a title like Okami, with its on-screen
drawing mechanic, and aspired for something similar.
The Question of Style
Here's something you probably didn't know: Twilight Princess, for all
of its hype, sold worse than The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Well,
kind of, anyway. Wind Waker outsold the Wii version of Twilight
Princess by about 30,000 units, believe it or not, but of course that
doesn't account for all of the gamers who bought TP on GameCube, some
900,000, if you're counting. Nintendo's Tokyo unveiling of Wind Waker,
with its cel-shaded graphics and tiny warrior, may have resulted in a
decidedly different brand of tears than those shed for Twilight
Princess -- purportedly, Shigeru Miyamoto turned NOA employees and
asked why the American press wasn't clapping -- but in hindsight, the
super-stylized game had a lot going for it.
The Twilight Princess team wanted to enhance the graphics for Wii, but
ran out of time.
"What surprises me is, I keep finding myself going back to Wind Waker
as my favorite 3D Zelda," notes Cassidy. "It has its flaws, but the
story, design, graphics and humor are all very unique when looking at
the franchise as a whole. Twilight Princess was a textbook Zelda
game, which is a very good thing, but it undoubtedly lacked that fresh
feeling."
__
Wind Waker, by comparison, brought to the table a brand new visual
style which suited the Zelda series so well that it was used again in
a DS sequel, Phantom Hourglass. The cel-shaded presentation powering
Wind Waker is one that flows just a little better from a technical
standpoint within the limitations of the Wii hardware. Compared to
today's cutting-edge high-definition-ready consoles, the most
difficult visual hurdle for developers making Wii games is that of
creating realistic, gritty visuals. It is much easier and oftentimes
more fruitful to go with a highly stylized graphic makeup like that in
Wind Waker, with its colorful worlds and beautifully animated cartoon
characters. That all being said, we'd wager that the majority of die-
hard Zelda fans would still prefer that the next Zelda retain the
visual style established by Twilight Princess, even if it is easier to
spot graphic blemishes in an ultra-realistic game world.
"I like that Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass seem to have
resolved the question of what do we do with these two totally
different, but completely viable, graphics styles: Cel-shading, which
looks really nice on DS and helps smooth out that platform's lack of
graphical power, goes to the portable; "realism" (such as it is) on
the console. I think that's a solid solution that I'd like them to
continue on with," says Kohler.
It's important to remember that the development team making Twilight
Princess wanted to enhance the visuals for the Wii version, but that
Miyamoto declined because it would delay the release of the game,
which had already missed its ship date, even further. So we're
confident that that given the time to work exclusively on a Wii Zelda,
the team will be able to improve the look considerably. And yet, at
the same time, we find ourselves surprisingly accepting of the
prospect of another cel-shaded game -- again, simply because the style
works so well. We're not suggesting that we would want to return to
child Link form, but what if an adult Link could be brought to this
cel-shaded design complete with an aged-up presentation to suit him?
We think there's a lot of potential with something like that.
Imagine the swordplay in Wii's next Zelda, now with MotionPlus
controls.
And Just to be Clear, a Recap
Nintendo can absolutely afford to rest on its laurels. Twilight
Princess introduced a fun wolf mechanic and the ability to drop
between two dimensions, but by and large it played like every 3D Zelda
before it. And it was still amazing. So we're not going to lie --
sure, Nintendo could do exactly the same thing all over again and the
end result would probably still be fantastic. Yet, as Zelda fans, we
want to see the franchise taken into a bold new direction -- one that
doesn't just follow the bar, but raises it. We would be disappointed
if Nintendo diluted the power of the franchise with another spin-off
like Link's Crossbow Training, an excuse to forgo a long development
cycle. It would be unfortunate if the company didn't up Zelda's
production values -- injecting the experience with a deeper storyline,
multi-faceted characters, orchestral music, voice-acting and well-
choreographed cinematics. And it would be a missed opportunity if the
next game didn't fully utilize the Wii remote's pointer and Wii
MotionPlus for a better gaming experience than ever before.
The Zelda team has been reunited for a long time and we know that
something major is beginning to take shape back in Japan. Here's
hoping the game exceeds our wildest expectations when Nintendo finally
unveils it.