Dark or Happy?

[Destiny]

The graphics suggest a brighter more happy game. But who knows. Nintendo can surprise us.

 

[Majora's Cat]

Axle had a good point in his recent article that "dark" really depends on a person's definition. His example was the dread and anxiety in Majora's Mask, versus the themes of sadness and loss in Twilight Princess, and how people will have different opinions about which makes a game darker. When I think of "dark", it's things that unsettle me - like violence - and things that are really depressing. Both MM and TP have elements of the latter, but to me, they never felt like they went overboard.

That's profound, Evey. ^.^ Anyway, it also depends on how the term "dark" actually applies to both Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask. Twilight Princess was more obvious - the Twilight Realm and the overall tone made the game seem dark, but in actuality nothing else about the game was as disturbing as Majora's Mask. We take one look at MM and we notice its bright visuals and a happy looking central town. The only obvious darkness you can see from MM is the Moon with the creepy stare. But MM was more about looking further - looking behind the vivid graphics and seeing the plot in a conceptual point of view. TP was dark because of the graphics. The game tricks you into believing that it is indeed dark when it really isn't. MM on the other hand is much darker - cleansing areas, strange masks, creepy children, an insane antagonist and the coming apocalypse are all signs of a brilliant game. I'm sure that Skyward Sword will not be dark in terms of the plot. We've already seen that Nintendo is trying to "darken" the visuals a little bit to give it a more serious feel.

Most people want a mix of light and dark. That's what I want too, and if it is like OoT, it will be better than beaver!!!

Roflplatypus... light and dark? How can a game be both? Perhaps the graphics are light and the story is dark? I don't know about it being "better" than OoT. It depends on how biased people are - Ocarina of Time has is so popular that it is unheard of to say that a new Zelda game will be better. Maybe Skyward Sword will be the one that changes the game, maybe not. Certainly the gameplay, puzzles, graphics, etc. are all better if you compare newer Zelda games and OoT at a technical viewpoint. But in terms of the new Zelda being as revolutionary, probably not. If SS was the first game to use the Wii MotionPlus, perhaps it would have been a bit more "revolutionary" in the eyes of gamers.

I want to see a mix of both happy and dark.

Currently, the graphics make the game look more lighthearted because of the brighter colours. Just because the game has a bright tone doesn't mean it will be light(Wind Waker is an example).In fact, I'd like it how it was in OoT. The game has a mostly lighthearted story and feel, but has some areas in the story with lots of darkness to it.

For Skyward Sword, I would like some darkness to the game, but not as much as say, Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask. At the same time I don't want an extremely happy and cheerful game. A safe, balanced mix of the two would be perfect. And lots of emotion in all characters(including Link) would be great to see as well.

I see what you mean there Beeky. I would also love a balanced game. Wind Waker felt so bright - too bright, in fact. The cel-shading was pretty unique but definitely wasn't such a great idea because the game was just too bright and happy. Skyward Sword seems to be a mix of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, leaning more towards TP because of the darker, updated visuals. I hope SS doesn't have any goofy sidequests (like collecting rabbits so you can get a magic carrot to trade for a new, cooler looking green hat - hey, it could happen. )... Nintendo should focus on making SS... shall I say... regular. Like Ocarina of Time, for example. OoT was sort of the perfect Zelda game in a sense that everything was so well balanced out.

I hope so. What we've seen so far in terms of promo artwork, trailers and gameplay looks very bright and poppy. But with the exception of Twilight Princess, the last six Zelda games were bright and poppy. And yet it is games like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess that win over critics and gamers alike, games with atmosphere.
A shift from happy to dark, like metaknight proposes, would be a compromise I could live with.

I agree with your post, and I particularly like that last sentence. From happy to dark - I think we've seen this in a few Zelda games. Maybe just about every Zelda gme, actually. Happy village becomes unhappy when [insert peril here] occurs, there is panic, Link saves the day, but oh - what's this? A new, larger threat? Link comes face-to-face with several daunting challenges and finishes off a boss, transition from villager to hero... you know the rest. Each Zelda game becomes decidedly darker as it transitions from the opening sequence to further in the game.

As long as it says Legend of Zelda on the box I don't care to much about whether the story will be dark or happy (unless its a CD-i game but I don't have to worry bout that anymore ;D). I also agree with Jora,though the game looks happy it had a tendency to be sad at times. As well as achieving a wide verity of emotions because of the style.

:xd: Well said, DayDreamer. Although I do care about if its story is dark or happy, it will be good as long as it's a Zelda game. It's only common that we Zelda fans hold the series to such a high esteem and expect too much. I like to compare Zelda games to regular games so that I can truly appreciate them. Why try comparing a new Zelda game to Ocarina of Time instead of treating it like a normal game and evaluating it that way? We are only ruining what could be premium gaming experiences by expecting so much out of them.

Overall, I won't hold my breath for Skyward Sword. I'd like the game to be your ornery Zelda game - not too light, not too dark - nothing so completely different that it'll change your view on the franchise and its future installments. I'm not going to say it's going to be as good as OoT because I don't want to ruin the game for myself. I'm still looking forward to playing it and having a blast with the new motion controls.

 

[Icetomeetyou]

As some have said, the graphics make me think the game will be happier. But of course it could be a cover up and the game could be very dark. Or I could be like...what was it...Mother 2?...where it doesn't get dark until the end. Or it could be the opposite. Perhaps an equal balance...

 

[Master Sword13]

Dark or happy... I'd prefer it to be happy at first, but as you go the storyline gets more intense and the game gets darker and darker. But in truth, I think they'll make it a happy game.

 

[AlaskaAce1996]

I think a mix of both is required. Take a look at Majora's Mask, it is considered one of the darkest Zelda games, however it has some comedic elements in it as well. Majora's Mask gets tons of praise and the darkness mixed with the light is a key factor. Twilight Princess however is often being labeled too dark, and this is a reason it got a mixed reception by fans. With Skyward Sword, the art style restricts how the games atmosphere will be because a very dark game with the same art style wouldn't make much sense. I fear that Skyward Sword might be too light and retreat from some of the darker elements that define the Zelda series.

Hopefully it'll be like Wind Waker where it had mostly light elements due to the art style, but some darker things in order to keep it from sliding too far in one direction. Often we judge the game by the art style, because that is the first thing we see. With Skyward Sword, we were expecting a game graphically like Twilight Princess, but got something totally different. I think that contributed to the negative fallout because some of us seemed to think that the game will be all bright and happy, but we'll all find out in a few months when Skyward Sword gets released.

 

[Ice6661]

i think that it will be kinda happy with the graphics and how it looks, i dont know alot about the storyline tho so it could be either way for me.

 

[Anti-Hero]

I honestly think that SS will be a darker game than TP. To be honest, the game's plot wasn't as dark as it's visuals. Since the visuals in SS are far more expressive, albeit less intricate, the non-linear gameplay should help to support a very enticing and dark story. From what we've seen thus far, it is highly plausible that the game will gradually decay in terms of bright visuals. For example, the demo showcased Link venturing into a somewhat gloomy cave and battling a very threatening scorpionesque enemy.