A More Mature Zelda

[DeletedUser9]

This is an idea that's been coming up occasionally. I would have posted this in the Zelda Wii section except I mean more to discuss the idea as a whole rather than it being done in ZW.

Basically the idea is should Zelda be more mature? Be more violent, bloody, dark, etc.



Well, here's my view on it... Zelda has established itself being family friendly. While it's had serious or dark moments, that's always what it's been. I think making it more mature in a way betrays the spirit of Zelda. What it is, what makes it Zelda. Also I do not think we need any more violent video games with all the ones we have already (it's an over-saturation of the market, IMO). Besides that, I do not think adding the violence really adds anything. It's like bringing something new to something that was fine how it was. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Even with it being darker, I think it gets a bit much. I've talked about the games needing their lighter side no matter how dark they are, and I stand by that. Twilight Princess bugged me because it was too dark without enough lightheartedness to balance it, and it was also rated T.



But what do you guys think? What are your opinions, and what do you think of what I said? Is there even such a thing as the "spirit of Zelda" and do you think making it more mature would be against it?

 

[dur.i.am]

I feel that every 4-5 games they should bring out one which is more mature, the family friendliness in any game has never appealed to me really. I love games that have a darker feel for reasons I do not know, but since I played Gears of War 2, everything else just seems lighthearted, I thought TP was rather lighthearted as well to be honest. I don't want them to go over the top and be lie Gears of War with blood and guts flying all over the place while you are wondering through once glorious civilizations, but I doesn't mean I don't want to play games that are like that, just not Zelda.

The only thing that puts me off playing Wind Waker in favour of playing Twilight Princess is that Wind Waker was too family friendly for my liking and in my opinion, was aimed at most kids with the slightly mature side aimed to keep the older audience content. Majora's Mask is much the same, I like the feeling that both Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess gave off with there theme. Majora's Mask's plot had the feel that the world really was doomed to a destructive ending while Twilight Princess had a plot that gave off the sense that an evil force really was taking over, and no body could do anything about it (other than our good friend Link of course ).

However, I do see what you mean, I don't want to see a Zelda game that's too mature, as I said before I'd hate to see a game as mature as Gears of War, but I think that a Zelda game with a good mix is good for the fans that are more mature. It's also good for them to keep a mix of lighthearted games in there too though, so hopefully Nintendo will get a good balance between the two and then most Zelda fans will be happy ...well I would anyway, but I'm sure there are lots more fans out there who like the more mature games.

 

[athenian200]

I agree that Twilight Princess was too mature. It made me feel like I was watching a depressing Soap Opera at times.... it wasn't fun or light-hearted like Wind Waker.

I think maturity is often overrated. I like the lightness of many Zelda games, and don't feel that they would benefit from being made into a more mature game. We have plenty of mature games, and I wouldn't really want to see Zelda go in that direction.

The only mature element I'd like to see in Zelda games would be puzzles so intricate and difficult that they require an adult mind to solve them.

 

[Zeruda]

My answer is kind of simple:
Want mature Zelda? Play Darksiders. That is exactly where Zelda is heading if it continues down the "mature" path. Once it becomes that, then it'll no longer be unique and stand out among the other games.

The idea that TWW is for children and TP is for an older audience kind of annoys me, mainly because the only thing that gives off that vibe is the art style. I'm not trying to get into a TWW vs. TP debate here, I'm just saying that it seems that all that people pay attention to is the art or graphics. If TWW had been in TP's art style, holy crap. The story is by far one of the darkest Zelda stories, and I really don't want the games to go darker than that story-wise. Art and graphic-wise, I don't want them to go farther than TP has gone.

Really, a combo of TWW's story and TP's graphics would make for a very dark Zelda game. Darker than MM ever was. I think it'd be okay, but I also think it'd be too dark for the series. Dark games are fun- I enjoy games like Gears (YAY Gears 3!), Dante's Inferno, etc. etc., but I don't want that in Zelda. One step leads to another, and it's already becoming difficult to draw the line.... I don't want Zelda to become the next dark fantasy game- it'll just get lost among all the other titles. Zelda stands out because of how family friendly, fun, and adventurous it's been. "Family Friendly" does NOT mean childish- it simply means that anybody can enjoy it, and I don't want that taken away.

 

[dur.i.am]

The thing is, they wouldn't be making old lighthearted games into more mature games, they'd change it completely to match a more mature theme. I also disagree on the statement that maturity is often overrated, a lot of people don't mind seeing (or like seeing) a mature theme. However, as I said in an earlier post, we don't want to see a game that is too mature, or just thinking about it, too many of them either.

Although you say Wind Waker was fun and lighthearted, there are also fans out there who didn't think it was, and thought it was too immature (well, from my experience of the people that don't like it anyway) and child like. So in the opinions of people like myself who like mature games, we don't think it's too mature until the games become realistic and not very family friendly (well, it depends on which game/game series you are looking at, I love Gears of War for it's matureness thus I believe that it's a better game than Halo).

 

[Xinnamin]

I'm one of those people who enjoys looking at the darker psychological aspects of video games. By that, I mean I find a great deal of interest in mature themes that are often weaved, subtly or otherwise, into a story because it's good food for thought. Of course, such aspects can still be found in lighthearted stories, but they're not as obvious in a "happy" story. I personally really enjoy stories like TP and MM because of the darker atmosphere, but I do agree that Zelda is a family friendly series and shouldn't focus on those kinds of aspects all the time. The series doesn't need to get darker, and I think the series is doing a wonderful job with the balance, there are a few really light-hearted and humorous ones like the "toon Link" series, a few darker T-rated ones like TP, and those in between like OoT. As long as they don't gravitate towards either extreme for more than one game in a row, I think it's fine.

As for blood and the like, well I'm personally not opposed to having blood in the Zelda series, but only where appropriate, and only in the darker games. The last thing I want to see is blood squirting out of every enemy Link slaughters, but there were touches of it in TP and OoT (and maybe others I'm forgetting) that I liked. Blood can be very effective at setting an atmosphere, like the Shadow Temple for example, or in A Wolf in Ordon scene with Rusl badly injured. It creates a certain mood that can do wonders in the proper situation, and I'm certainly not opposed to bloody walls in a tomb-like dungeon or Ganondorf coughing up a bit of the stuff after you stab him in the gut. If we get another T-rated Zelda game somewhere down the line, I think blood could really work well used in moderation; certainly not to up the carnage or anything, but just for atmosphere.

 

[Zeruda]

I already made a post, but a thought crossed my mind- one that has before:

A lot of the reasons games go for a darker, more maturing feel is to obtain realism. This is also the case with Twilight Princess. But I think that, sometimes, there is too much darkness, and that can actually make games seem less realistic. Realism can also be obtained with more... should I say "brightness"? There needs to be a balance. An example is humor, which the "toon" games have a lot of. I was disappointed that there wasn't more humor in TP, as humor is a large part of what makes something seem realistic. Games without any only appear dark, not realistic.

It's realistic for humor to be in any situation as there are many types- self-depricating, ironic, sardonic, sarcastic, etc. etc. With darkness (danger, loss, peril) comes a lot of negative emotion, and it is completely natural and common that people deal with this in the form of humor. I think that this "brightness" is just as important as "darkness", and a balanced combination can achieve that realistic feeling that many people look for. I don't necessarily think that a game has to be "mature" to obtain this realism.

There is just as much psychology and philosophy in brightness as there is in darkness, it's just that most people see dark and think "oooh, it's so deep!" when really, it's no deeper than its counterpart. Mature is great, I really like it in other games. I don't think Zelda needs to change what it's always been and turn into the dozens of mature games that are like every other game. It's always been balanced. It's neat to play a game at one age and be able to enjoy it thoroughly for your age group, and then play it again later on and enjoy all the things you didn't understand before.

For instance, playing Metroid as a kid, could just enjoy running around killing baddies, exploring, appreciating that Samus was a character who disliked orders and was the very definition of a "free spirit". As I got older, I saw more and more into it. I started to understand tragedy in the series, I began to pick up on the psychology of Samus and now I can pick apart the inner workings of her creator. The games were balanced. Even today with the newer games, different age groups can appreciate and enjoy the games for different reasons, whereas a kid probably isn't going to be able to enjoy Gears of War except for the killing.... there's not much there to pick up on (unless you're older) because it's not "balanced".

So.... really, I don't think Zelda should ever be more mature than where it's at now. I'm not saying that I couldn't personally enjoy a more mature Zelda game, but there are many other age groups that just wouldn't be able to, and I don't want that to happen to Zelda. I don't want it to cater to one group, but many as it always has.

 

[StrangeWig]

I don't want the series to get too much mature simply because Zelda games are supposed to be lighthearted. Zelda has always been a funny game is various aspects, and I love this side of it. Some of my most fondly remembered moments in the Zelda series are funny moments. If Zelda turns into a bloody game, it's going to be contradictory to the feel of the game.

But yeah, a game can be both mature and humorous (an example being Persona 3). So, up untill now, I think Nintendo is doing a pretty good job by balancing this system. But bloody Zelda?!?! NEVER! (if you want it, you're looking for another game)

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

I remain impartial on the subject.

However, I want one thing to be very clear: I absolutely do not want games like Wind Waker to pop into people's minds when they hear of the Zelda series. That just bugs me, that people would automatically make that connection. I don't want the other audience to see the Zelda series as that way: The fun lightheartedness that WW was. As for the plot being dark, just no. Presentation is what does that. Only the fan is the one that can take WW and make something dark out of it, just because they can create it that way in their minds because they're so familiar with it. The General Audience can't do that. They'll view it as the rest of the world views it: The "kiddie" game in the series.

But I'm not hear to debate whether or not WW was dark. I personally despise the game with a passion, but maybe it's because I hate that the Zelda name can connected with such a game. I want the Zelda name to be tied to games like ALttP or MM. Games that didn't go over-the-top with a dark presentation, but didn't look like it was for kids only. Zelda games don't need to get darker; I think the precedent has already been set, and it should be followed.

The day when someone mentions the Zelda series, and the first thing that pops into a gamer's mind is "Oh, that weird graphics game for the Game Cube?" is the day I cry, because that's not what I want the face of the series to be.