Gimmiks......are They Ruining the Zelda Series?

[zeldan]

many zelda games, in fact pretty much all of them actualy, have had a gimmik to make it stand out from other zelda games I belive this started with Ocarina of time (link being able to be either adult or child link) after the success of this game i belive nintendo tried to re-create this by putting a new gimmik into each zelda game!

I love zelda but many of these are not what is special about the games such as spirit tracks i hated the gimmik of the train but loved what is truely zelda about it (dungeons, items, bosses characters etc)

The same for twilight princess i loved the dungeons and many of the items where fantastic however the gimmik of being a wolf i did not like as much as the zelda elements of the game.

and as for wind waker the sailing gimmik put a lot of people off the game completly (even real zelda fans!) but the true zelda elements are some of the best in any zelda game.

On the other hand though some gimmiks I have liked throughout zelda such as the masks of majoras mask and the time travel of oracle of ages and ocarina of time but maybe they should stop putting them in every game....

what do you think?

 

[ApcolypticMufin]

Many of the gimmicks are simply reiterations of the one that aLttP started. I like to call it "The Alternate Worlds" gimmick. aLttP had the magic mirror which could transport Link between the Light and Dark Worlds. OoT copied this with it's own iteration, the whole "Two Time Periods" thing. Then, the Oracle games also used it with the different Seasons and, once again, time periods. Most recently, TP has used this, but to a lesser extent. The Twilight Realm gave you different versions of Hyrule.

The sailing in WW and PH was admittedly not the best aspect of the game. Especially PH. (Because you don't gain the ability to warp until far too late into the game.) I thought that the wolf transformation in TP had a lot of potential, but could have been executed better. The masks in MM, to me, weren't really a "gimmick" but rather just a theme for the game. I thought they weren't used to the extent of being unbearable and the transformation masks added several nice views of the gameplay!

So, over the course of Zelda, the gimmicks have had ups and downs, but as long as Nintendo chooses fun gimmicks and doesn't milk them for all they're worth, then I'll be happy! (and so will most of the Zelda fans out there!) The only question I have is whether or not the 1:1 controls promised in SS will end up being a one time gimmick, or a running theme of the series. Really, I could go either way!

 

[zeldan]

i totaly agree with you there i hope skyward swords motion controls avoids being a gimmik and just becomes a general improvement of the zelda seires' controls I also hope they try to avoid putting any other gimmiks into the game as i would very much like to see zelda return to its roots with skyward sword.

as with majoras mask i geuss you are right about that too i think thats why i liked the masks so much as they werent like the wolf in twilight princess or the train in spirit tracks they are a theme that is necessary all the way through the game and does not get boring or become a hastle for the gammer like sailing in wind waker. i think of nintendo do implement gimmiks in the future they should try to make them in this way

 

[Valexi]

I don't think they're gimmicks as much as the evolution of the series.
I mean, it's good to keep with the basis which makes it Zelda, but if they didn't add something new to the table then the series would get white stale since it would always follow the same pattern.
A recent pattern I've been noticing is that people tend to like a certain Zelda game the older it gets.
New elements in LoZ games seem gimmicky at first, but it seems to grow on people in later years.

That being said, I shall now post two relevant pictures:

 

[zeldan]

i think the seires should evolve in a different way, instead of just keeping the same old formula but putting a gimmik in it everytime to make it fresh they should improve and inovate on the things that make the zelda series good! such as its controls or its dungeons or its items that way the zelda series would begin to evolve properly instead of remaining stagnant and sticking too rigidly to the formula. that is why i think skyward sword will be so good as it is changing somthing that has always been very simliar in most of the zelda seires, the contol scheme, instead of just putting in some random gimmik that doesnt need to be in it! if the games are good they dont need a gimmik! my point is that the games are so good they dont need the gimmiks to get people to play them and the zelda series will benifit without them!

Oh and sweet pics btw! made me laugh anyway

 

[Tyeforce]

They aren't "gimmicks", they're gameplay mechanics. Dammit, I'm sick of that word. Everything has to be a "gimmick" nowadays. >_>

And no, nothing's ruining Zelda. If anything, it's evolving and becoming even better. Zelda with Wii MotionPlus technology is something I've always dreamed of, an now it's a reality.

 

[Cel-Shaded Deku]

They aren't "gimmicks", they're gameplay mechanics. Dammit, I'm sick of that word. Everything has to be a "gimmick" nowadays. >_>

Ditto.

Without "gimmicks" wouldn't every game be the same as the first game? Do you want every Zelda to be a top down 2-D with few NPCs, no Master/Four sword, and no creative puzzles that come from these "gimmicks"?

 

[Beeker]

I agree with Valexi. If we got the same Zelda over and over again, with nothing really new, the series would become extremely stale. People will expect the same thing every time, and it soon becomes boring. I believe that Zelda(and many other game franchises, in fact) needs some sort of gimmick not only to attract more people, but to keep the series fresh. Gimmick really is becoming an annoying word.

Even those pictures do justice, and they prove a point.We're always scared a new game will ruin the series, but it actually adds on.
And I'm sure that a few years from now, we'll be enjoying Skyward Sword just as much as Wind Waker or Majora's Mask.

 

[zeldan]

many things in the zelda serires ARE gimmiks though such as the wolf in twilight princess and the train in spirit tracks did they realy improve the quality of those games? i dont think so....

i think that without these things nintendo would have to think harder on how to make the zelda series better using other methods(improving the formula) this is why i think skyward sword will be so good! because it is not just putting in some crummy gimmik that doesnt improve the game it is taking steps to improve the series as a whole with its control scheme!

 

[dur.i.am]

As Valexi said, it's not really Nintendo adding gimmicks into the Zelda series, it's making sure that each and every game they create is different and fresh. I don't think that people would like the series as much if they never really changed anything about the game, and used the exact same formula each and every time. You could claim many Zelda games are gimmicky, but they are actually some of the more popular games, and any reasons for hating them are usually aimed at graphics or tedious sections, such as collecting the Tears of Light in Twilight Princess.

 

[TreeHuggerPanda]

It's Zelda for God's sake. The pictures say it all. Seriously, Nintendo's trying to make games seems new and stuff, it describes the individuality of a game. Sure, it may seem gimmicky, but Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time are the best Zelda games, in my opinion, of course. Just concentrate on the good elements of the game, and the Zelda games will seems a little better