“Did You Get All That?” Weekly News Recap

Thank you for returning for our latest installment of our Weekly News Recap! Where I, Kaepora Gaebora take you on a fantastic journey back in time to visit all of the most happening news and features at Zelda Dungeon from the past week. Today, we will adventure through some pondering on the benefit or not of multiplayer, interviews with a few important characters, and an offer of help for our delayed title, Zelda U. So let’s begin our trip back in time, but before I do… I must ask…

Did you get all that? If so, lets head off past the break.

We begin today with Monday’s Gossip Stone from Jon, where he pondered whether or not Tri Force Heroes multiplayer focus was a good idea. In his writing Jon proposed that maybe the lack of competitive multiplayer in the game might not be a great idea. To back up the thought he shares that there is a good level of fun that comes from the competitiveness being added to multiplayer games. He also ponders whether or not they will be sacrificing story development for a gameplay focus. I must say, I don’t disagree with him. The story is one of the things that draws me to the Zelda franchise, and although if done well a game with a light story would still be acceptable, I currently remain skeptical on my thoughts of Tri Force Heroes. This seemed to lead you all to much discussion on gameplay vs. story as well, and there seems to be a divide amongst the community at the moment. Do you have to sacrifice gameplay for story, can one be just as good as the other?

To read the full Gossip Stone or check on the discussion, check it out here.

Our next stop takes us to an interview conducted by Gamespot with Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America. In the interview the topic of Zelda U came up and Reggie talks about why the title was not shown at E3 and tries to calm the hearts and souls of Zelda fans by stating:

“For those of us like myself who’ve seen the game and seen how it’s progressing – no fears! It’s going to be wonderful!” – Reggie Fils-Aime, on Zelda Wii U”

Im not sure that it did the trick as there is still much debate and unhappiness that the title was not featured at E3. I don’t think that most Zelda fans have a lot of faith right now in how it was handled, but mainly I think it really stems from the love that we all have for the franchise, as well as the desire to see the game released soon.

To check out the interview for yourself, you can do so here.

We next take a moment to revisit an interview with Tri Force Heroes Director, Hiromasa Shikata and Kotaku. During the interview Shikata gives us a little insight to this “fashion obsessed” kingdom, more about the three Link’s, and the idea behind the lack of voice chat. The totem mechanic that has been much talked about so far seems to hold even more sway than just a toll to solve puzzles and defeat bosses. According to Shikata:

“The king is a firm believer in this legend, in this prophecy that exists within their kingdom, of three heroes that come together to form a totem. The king understands from this legend that describes the true hero as someone with these long sideburns and this particular hair style and these long ears. So the king from amongst these people is able to find the correct ones. The people who meet his conditions are the true heroes.”

To learn more about what Shikata said, you can check it out here.

The last stop on our journey this week has us taking a look at what Monolith Soft had to say about Zelda U. Game Informer had a chance to sit down with Testsuya Takahashi and Genki Yokota to talk about the learnings that  they have had in developing Xenoblade Chronicles X. In the interview the two discuss the obstacles and discoveries that have come from creating such a massively open world, and their sharing of said learnings with Nintendo. During the interview Takahashi said that although nothing has been communicated he would welcome the chance of working with Nintendo on Zelda U. This lead to a hugely positive response from the community with the majority of you being very excited for that possibility.

snakeoiltanker said:

“I wouldn’t mind this one bit, using Monoliths way of encountering combat, and the wide open beautiful landscapes (remember we haven’t even seen much Xeno X) minus the RPG twist. Just full out Zelda combat. Secrets everywhere, not so obvious what is the entrance to a dungeon or not. Use old bosses as normal big monsters you have to take on….this is where XP comes into play which I’m sure people will flame me for. Finally more loot. I’m just saying letting another developer co-develop the game with them, maybe it won’t feel like the same ol song and dance.”

Kaoru La Kaoru also had positive things to say:

“Anything that helps Zelda U’s production is A-OK in my book. It’s not the first time a Zelda game had other companies thrown in the mix, after all.

Plus, having developers who are more familiar with the open world formula help make an open world Zelda could really benefit. If TP is anything to go by, Nintendo may just need the help to keep the world from being too empty…”

To check out the full post or more of the discussion, you can do that here.

Our journey this week has now come to an end. I must thank you for joining me for another adventure back in time. I hope to see you next week as I return to help guide you once again. Until then…

“Did You Get All That?”