Master Kokiri 9
The Dungeon Master
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2009
- Location
- My ship that sailed in the morning
Basically speaking, what elements from the more classic games in the series do you think should return in Zelda Wii? I've got a list as well as descriptions and reasons why, but it's lengthy. In order for an element to be considered "classic" it had to have been used in MM, OoT, LA, ALttP, AoL, or the original LoZ.
EDIT: I changed a bit of the stuff and fixed typos as well as add a few classic elements that I forgot. I also extended the classic elements to games that were released in the year 2000 or earlier because technically, those are "Retro" games.
EDIT: I changed a bit of the stuff and fixed typos as well as add a few classic elements that I forgot. I also extended the classic elements to games that were released in the year 2000 or earlier because technically, those are "Retro" games.
#1: Overworld as an Area
Gasp! I know, aren't I crazy? But that's the thing, we haven't gotten the overworld as an area since ALttP. In recent Zelda games such as Twilight Princess and Spirit Tracks (don't get me wrong, ST is still my favorite but AoL is starting to give it a run for it's money), the overworlds have been little more than hubs to get to and from certain areas, such as towns and dungeons (thank you OoT, for giving us this downfall).
In more classic titles such as LoZ and ALttP, the overworlds had craploads of stuff to do. You had Heart Pieces/Containers, sword upgrades, shops, shield upgrades, Medallions in the case of ALttP, optional items (technically you didn't even need the Blue Candle or the Blue Ring, but they helped a lot), and more stuff that I'm probably forgetting.
In recent games like TP, there was a Heart Piece or two and then some useless collectibles (bugs and Poe Souls, both of which were more or less useless to get).
Basically, the overworld was as much an area as any of the towns were.
#2. Semi Lack of a Sidekick
Don't get me wrong, I loved the wise cracks Midna and Ezlo made (two of my favorite characters in the series), but they were too... how do I put it? Informative. Basically, Ezlo and Midna made the puzzles of the games too easy (although Ezlo was more cryptic with his hints, as I remember him saying in the Deepwood Shrine when you needed to use the Gust Jar to move across the water on the lily pad that "Unless we find a way to travel across the water, we're not getting anywhere" [although I played Super Mario Sunshine prior to that so I had a good guess of what I had to do]).
This is another thing that the classic games had. They lacked a sidekick to make your quest painfully easy and boring. After all, what's the fun of puzzles when somebody tells you exactly how to do them? However, in LoZ and AoL this made it too hard, to be quite honest (thank God for walkthroughs for the original LoZ! I'd probably still be stuck in the First Quest after having it for over a year now). So what did ALttP improve? It gave you somewhat of a sidekick, in the form of a hint system. In preset places you could tune into Sahasralah's telepathic messages (and in one case in the Palace of Darkness Zelda, but she didn't help any) in order to attain a hint, but the choice of whether or not to tune in was up to you, thus allowing you to take the hardcore road, or the casual road as I like to call them.
#3. Importance of Towns
One of the good things about AoL (and yes, it actually had good things about it! Go figure!) was it's system of towns. There were many towns with many people in them, coming and going and doing stuff. You could talk to them all and some didn't help (some saying "I know nothing" and "I can't help you" for instance), but every town served it's purpose and had hints and stuff to do there. There were places where you could restore your life and magic, Wise Men that taught you spells, and in some cases there were guards who taught you sword techniques.
In recent games, however, there were only a few towns and they served little purpose. There might've been one or two Heart Pieces or upgrades you could get there, but beyond that there is nothing to do.
#4. Nonlinearity
Yes, I do want to bring nonlinearity back into the Zelda Equation.
And I'm sure a lot of you are going to argue that nonlinearity would cost us a quality plot for the games, but you are forgetting one key example that says otherwise. A Link to the Past. Yeah, ALttP is nonlinear (for the most part you could do the Dark World Dungeons in any order) and it had incredible in game story.
Basically, the first three dungeons are in ABC order without any bending or breaking (at least, not without cheats or glitches) and the story was explained pretty well. And when the game really kicks off (Dark World exploration), you get basically a non linear style.
While you had to do some dungeons before others (you had to do levels 1, 5, and 6 before you did 7 and so on), it was mostly linear, allowing you to skip certain stuff. In addition to this, the plot of the game was revealed in chunks by the maidens as you rescued them (and early in the game by Sahasralah and the old man on the mountain), which was actually pretty captivating. This is what I want to see in Zelda Wii. Nonlinearity with the story being revealed in chunks in some sort of way (perhaps something similar to the Chozo Lore and Pirate Data in Metroid Prime?), thus allowing you to have the difficulty of nonlinearity without sacrificing a good plot.
#5. Classic Difficulty
I recently thought of another one while playing AoL and thought I'd squeeze it in here. The classic difficulty. The quests have become painfully easy and dull lately with gamers having to put in less and less effort over time to beat a game.
This is what the classic games had. They were pretty dang hard, in both terms of AI and in terms of puzzles. Even AoL with it's simple layout made me scratch my head in certain dungeons (and I had to completely restart my playthrough because I went the wrong way ><). While I do agree that bringing back the difficulty of the NES classics is unnecessary (as that would put off too many fans from the greatest video game series known to man), I think that the difficulty of the SNES classic, A Link to the Past should come back. The puzzles were pretty good, but not over the top like it was in LoZ (you had to walk through walls in some parts of the Second Quest and I think the First Quest. Seriously, who's going to figure that out within less than an hour?) which is good.
The AI of the enemies was also pretty challenging, but not over the top like it was in AoL and they did a fair amount of damage to you (not like "three hits and your dead with maxed out health" during the Thunderbird fight and not like "Even during three heart challenges you still can't be killed unless you try" like in recent games).
Really, what's the fun of playing something if it's just handed to you with little effort? Really, they should just stop making games so easy and actually give the players a challenge.
#6. Travel by Foot
This pretty much goes without saying. While I enjoyed the train from ST, I just feel that it was unnecessarily modern. Epona is fine and dandy, but that limits what can be done in the overworld. Basically, I want the classic format of traveling on foot with warps back, as I thought that was the best way to travel in Zelda. It's just your boots clomping on the ground exploring by foot and warping over long distances.
Really, while Epona is epic and all, she really doesn't do much good to the overworld and the gimmicky travel modes like the train just didn't do any good either.
#7. Items Stay Useful
Another thing modern games lack. In recent games such as Twilight Princess we get epic items such as the Ball and Chain and the Spinner that are used about... once or twice at the most.
In more classic games such as ALttP and LoZ the items stayed useful throughout the entire game. For instance, the Boomerang from the original. As soon as you got it, it was very useful. It allowed you to pick stuff up that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise (very useful for getting things like the Bomb Upgrades), allowing you to not have to chase down those annoying Keese, and stunning some of the tougher enemies. There was also the Bow from ALttP which is very useful at many points in the game. If Nintendo wants to give us more unique items like the Ball and Chain, then by all means give them to us. But, at least make an effort to make them useful throughout the game.
In more classic games such as ALttP and LoZ the items stayed useful throughout the entire game. For instance, the Boomerang from the original. As soon as you got it, it was very useful. It allowed you to pick stuff up that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise (very useful for getting things like the Bomb Upgrades), allowing you to not have to chase down those annoying Keese, and stunning some of the tougher enemies. There was also the Bow from ALttP which is very useful at many points in the game. If Nintendo wants to give us more unique items like the Ball and Chain, then by all means give them to us. But, at least make an effort to make them useful throughout the game.
#8. Optional Items
Another thing the recent games lack is the existance of Optional Items. Basically, items that you don't need to get but are useful anyways. For instance, the Rings and Tunics from LoZ and ALttP respectively. They were both completely optional but they helped a lot. Why is it that Nintendo feels the need to strip us of these great items? It's not like it's going to ruin the game.
#9. Magic/Magical Items
Another thing recent games lack. The use of Magic has been a large part of the series for a long time. AoL introduced it with it's various spells that were used for puzzles and helped out with combat and whatnot and ALttP further expanded on it with the use of Magical Items (the Medallions). These added gameplay value if you ask me and also added some difficulty for making sure to always have enough magic power.
Well that's it from me for now. Anything you want to add? Do you think I'm wrong and these elements shouldn't return (although I can't understand why somebody wouldn't want these awesome things back)? Are there classic elements that you think I missed? Tell me about it here.
Well that's it from me for now. Anything you want to add? Do you think I'm wrong and these elements shouldn't return (although I can't understand why somebody wouldn't want these awesome things back)? Are there classic elements that you think I missed? Tell me about it here.
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