Ashley's Thoughts on Zelda

[Ashley the Witch]

That’s the thing though. All games inherently “focus” on exploration. Zelda 1, BotW, OoT, SS, even the multiplayer games. It’s the methods they use to give that sense of exploration that sets games apart, and BotW goes out of its way to change the main method the series had used since Zelda 1.


I’ll give you the Zora outfit, but outside of the times it’s required to progress through the Vah Rutoh quest line it’s usefulness is pretty limited to the Lanayru region and select parts of the Faron region.

The Gerudo outfit almost counts but it’s really only used for one thing. It would be like equating Zelda’s letter in OoT to a full item. It really doesn’t accomplish the same task as a full item.

The Goron and Rito outfits… kinda? They serve a similar purpose as the Goron and Zora Tunics in OoT (or the Varia suit in Metroid). They’re a technically optional item that can be skipped if you know what you’re doing. The problem is that while skipping the tunics in OoT or suits in Metroid is treated as an extra challenge meant for experienced players, skipping the outfits in BotW is just treated as a thing you can do and nothing more. It’s not particularly difficult just because of how easy it is to fill up on healing items.

So overall theres basically only one time that the game even starts to resemble the classic item structure Zelda 1 had.

If I dare say, Wind Waker has more of a Breath of the Wild feel in terms of a seamless open world, at least for what the GameCube could handle, as well as the limited items for crafting potions and side quest items, and even picking up enemies weapons.

 

[thePlinko]

If I dare say, Wind Waker has more of a Breath of the Wild feel in terms of a seamless open world, at least for what the GameCube could handle, as well as the limited items for crafting potions and side quest items, and even picking up enemies weapons.

There are definitely some shared elements, though they aren’t really implemented in the same way.

The method of traversing the overworld, for instance, is vastly different by design. For the most part, the Great Sea is designed merely as a buffer between the game’s challenges. It’s pretty much filler between the games actual challenges (which sounds like a bad thing but it’s good to have some level of that in a game). Meanwhile in BotW’s Hyrule there’s a lot more emphasis placed on the overworld itself as one of the challenges to be overcome. It’s not a particularly well designed challenge, but I digress. I would compare it more to Skyrim than Windwaker.

Similarly, picking up your enemies weapons is also handled differently in both games. In BotW it’s used as the main method in which the player gets stronger, which is pretty standard open world fare. In Windwaker it’s more like an optional quirk in combat. You’re almost never required to do it and it rarely benefits you to do so. If anything, it’s more comparable to using magnesis to kill an enemy with a box that happened to be lying around.

I wouldn’t even really call using the potion shop in Windwaker “crafting.” I’d compare it more to collecting different items in Banjo Kazooie than anything else. The same could be said for the rest of the spoils. Skyward Sword’s crafting is far more comparable.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

There are definitely some shared elements, though they aren’t really implemented in the same way.

The method of traversing the overworld, for instance, is vastly different by design. For the most part, the Great Sea is designed merely as a buffer between the game’s challenges. It’s pretty much filler between the games actual challenges (which sounds like a bad thing but it’s good to have some level of that in a game). Meanwhile in BotW’s Hyrule there’s a lot more emphasis placed on the overworld itself as one of the challenges to be overcome. It’s not a particularly well designed challenge, but I digress. I would compare it more to Skyrim than Windwaker.

Similarly, picking up your enemies weapons is also handled differently in both games. In BotW it’s used as the main method in which the player gets stronger, which is pretty standard open world fare. In Windwaker it’s more like an optional quirk in combat. You’re almost never required to do it and it rarely benefits you to do so. If anything, it’s more comparable to using magnesis to kill an enemy with a box that happened to be lying around.

I wouldn’t even really call using the potion shop in Windwaker “crafting.” I’d compare it more to collecting different items in Banjo Kazooie than anything else. The same could be said for the rest of the spoils. Skyward Sword’s crafting is far more comparable.

I definitely agree, it just seems interesting how a lot of the ideas from Skyward Sword and Wind Waker led to the direction Breath of the Wild took.

 

[thePlinko]

I definitely agree, it just seems interesting how a lot of the ideas from Skyward Sword and Wind Waker led to the direction Breath of the Wild took.

I wouldn’t say they were “from” Windwaker or Skyward Sword as much as they just sorta happened to be in those games. All three of the tropes in question are pretty standard open world fare, so I’d say that it’s more likely that BotW’s direction was more inspired by other open world games than anything Zelda.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I wouldn’t say they were “from” Windwaker or Skyward Sword as much as they just sorta happened to be in those games. All three of the tropes in question are pretty standard open world fare, so I’d say that it’s more likely that BotW’s direction was more inspired by other open world games than anything Zelda.

That's fair.

 

[Malon]

Wow. This thread has gotten impressive.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I haven't left the Great Plateau yet, and I'm already thinking about placing Breath of the Wild before Zelda 1 in the my own timeline.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I haven't left the Great Plateau yet, and I'm already thinking about placing Breath of the Wild before Zelda 1 in the my own timeline.

My reason for thinking this is because there's a lot less structures in Zelda 1, let alone civilization in Hyrule, like there still is in Breath of the Wild.

 

[Malon]

My reason for thinking this is because there's a lot less structures in Zelda 1, let alone civilization in Hyrule, like there still is in Breath of the Wild.

That's actually pretty smart.

 

[thePlinko]

My reason for thinking this is because there's a lot less structures in Zelda 1, let alone civilization in Hyrule, like there still is in Breath of the Wild.

You do realize that the United States and all of its infrastructure was made in ~250 years, right?

BotW directly states that it takes place 10,000 years after the last game.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

You do realize that the United States and all of its infrastructure was made in ~250 years, right?

BotW directly states that it takes place 10,000 years after the last game.

That's a fair point. However, everybody seems disconnected after Hyrule was destroyed by Calamity Ganon. My placement could very well change. However, as it stands, This is what I'm going with.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

You do realize that the United States and all of its infrastructure was made in ~250 years, right?

BotW directly states that it takes place 10,000 years after the last game.

wasn't it 10,000 years after it's own stupid made up backstory? so the time b/w that and the actual last game is unknown

 

[thePlinko]

wasn't it 10,000 years after it's own stupid made up backstory? so the time b/w that and the actual last game is unknown

Right, that too.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

wasn't it 10,000 years after it's own stupid made up backstory? so the time b/w that and the actual last game is unknown

That's just business as usual for the franchise.