I now appreciate the steps WW and TP were taking

[Quillion]

Because after the relatively tiny, fairly insignificant overworld/field of OoT, WW and TP were trying to edge in those elements of exploration from the 2D games back in.

It's just that with 6th-gen limitations, they couldn't fully bring the whole experience in just yet because they had to work with a third dimension and memory limitations.

Actually no; I always appreciated it. People were just negative and that's why they minimized the overworld in SS because Nintendo thought everyone only played for puzzles. Well look where you are now.

 

[SketchyGL]

I agree with you here. I was disappointed with SS for the small world and super linear gameplay.I love the game except those elements. I hope the open world thats supposedly in the next big Zelda title will be successful and just down right make it maybe the best zelda t date. a solid feeling of exploration would do the franchise good.. XD I think i got too much hope.

 

[DARK MASTER]

I agree with you here. I was disappointed with SS for the small world and super linear gameplay.I love the game except those elements. I hope the open world thats supposedly in the next big Zelda title will be successful and just down right make it maybe the best zelda t date. a solid feeling of exploration would do the franchise good.. XD I think i got too much hope.

I would just like to add, I wish Skyward Sword had a better story. Council of Doom (Dark Tribe) maybe?

 

[Zonda]

I have high hopes for Zelda U. From the E3 footage, it looks like it might even be comparable to the Skybox in GTA V.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Heck, I always felt Skyward Sword would have been a little better in my opinion if it had an overworld on the surface connecting the surface regions - something atleast the size of Twilight Princess' overworld.

 

[Iridescence]

I loved Wind Waker and liked Twilight Princess, but I don't necessarily agree.

Bigger doesn't mean better. In Ocarina of Time, areas were small, but each area felt completely unique and full of personality. I'd rather have a half-cup of orange juice than a full cup of orange juice that's diluted with water. The problem, particularly with Twilight Princess, was that most of the large overworld was just barren brown low-poly land. Zelda U's open design will make it better to traverse through, but it runs a similar problem to other open world games.

 

[Quillion]

I loved Wind Waker and liked Twilight Princess, but I don't necessarily agree.

Bigger doesn't mean better. In Ocarina of Time, areas were small, but each area felt completely unique and full of personality. I'd rather have a half-cup of orange juice than a full cup of orange juice that's diluted with water. The problem, particularly with Twilight Princess, was that most of the large overworld was just barren brown low-poly land. Zelda U's open design will make it better to traverse through, but it runs a similar problem to other open world games.

Barren? Have you even put the time into the game?

There are loads of these circles where you have to dig in order to find rupees or heart pieces. And there are a lot of hidden areas where you have to use your unlocked items to get through just to get that piece of heart.

Between WW and TP there SHOULD have been a step towards fully bringing the overworld structure from the 2D games into 3D, but no one played the games for the overworld and NO ONE WANTS TO.

 

[AncientPoe]

I loved Wind Waker and liked Twilight Princess, but I don't necessarily agree.

Bigger doesn't mean better. In Ocarina of Time, areas were small, but each area felt completely unique and full of personality. I'd rather have a half-cup of orange juice than a full cup of orange juice that's diluted with water. The problem, particularly with Twilight Princess, was that most of the large overworld was just barren brown low-poly land. Zelda U's open design will make it better to traverse through, but it runs a similar problem to other open world games.

It's important to point out though that when that game came out, we didn't really have a frame of reference for what a large open world should feel like, what it should contain. Now with several generations of much more powerful consoles under the gaming community's belt, the bar is higher for what people expect out of an open world. If it's too big but has no meat, it will feel barren and stale. If they pack too much in, it will be like Witcher 3's Quest-kkake. The open world in that game is beautiful, but the complete schizophrenic nature of its quests an explorables makes it difficult to really emotionally invest yourself in.

But honestly, if the game still looks like what it did a year or so ago, then that bodes very well. I've found in games like Witcher 3 that the plethora of detail mixed with the high degree of individual detail makes my eyes try to shut out a lot of it, but the almost Impressionist art style used in the Zelda U footage really invites your eye around, it doesn't feel discombobulating to look at.

 

[A Link In Time]

I think The Wind Waker was a big step towards making believable characters in the Zelda universe. It definitely had its fair share of overworld secrets, too, but it felt a bit lacking compared to the NES original, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask.

Twilight Princess is a significant point in the franchise, because I consider it to be the last game where the Zelda franchise was at the top of the industry. Sure, some people argue Okami did the wolf mechanic better, but Twilight Princess had a very large and expansive overworld by 2006 standards. It's a shame that people now focus more on criticizing the game, because as AncientPoe writes, the game has to be framed in its historical context.

 

[Quillion]

Exactly what's so great about the overworld secrets of OoT? The overworld is tiny and a lot of the grottoes are actually the same (a chest with a few rupees and a few bugs). I never felt like I wanted to finish the Golden Skulltula quest.

 

[A Link In Time]

Exactly what's so great about the overworld secrets of OoT? The overworld is tiny and a lot of the grottoes are actually the same (a chest with a few rupees and a few bugs). I never felt like I wanted to finish the Golden Skulltula quest.

The game is great because it rarely feels tedious. I admit the Golden Skulltula hunt may be the exception, but the game is overall designed to reward progression and scouring the overworld for hidden secrets. That there is repetition in the nooks and crannies of the overworld is understandable due to the technical constraints of the N64, especially without the expansion pack.

 

[Iridescence]

It's important to point out though that when that game came out, we didn't really have a frame of reference for what a large open world should feel like, what it should contain. Now with several generations of much more powerful consoles under the gaming community's belt, the bar is higher for what people expect out of an open world. If it's too big but has no meat, it will feel barren and stale. If they pack too much in, it will be like Witcher 3's Quest-kkake. The open world in that game is beautiful, but the complete schizophrenic nature of its quests an explorables makes it difficult to really emotionally invest yourself in.

But honestly, if the game still looks like what it did a year or so ago, then that bodes very well. I've found in games like Witcher 3 that the plethora of detail mixed with the high degree of individual detail makes my eyes try to shut out a lot of it, but the almost Impressionist art style used in the Zelda U footage really invites your eye around, it doesn't feel discombobulating to look at.

The Zelda games generally have a timeless quality. Twilight Princess trying to go full large realistic overworld before the technology was realistically there made it age (as least in terms of its overworld) poorly. It was great looking for 2 years. But that's not the metric a Nintendo game should run by.

 

[AncientPoe]

The Zelda games generally have a timeless quality. Twilight Princess trying to go full large realistic overworld before the technology was realistically there made it age (as least in terms of its overworld) poorly. It was great looking for 2 years. But that's not the metric a Nintendo game should run by.

But still, someone has to push that boundary. Now it just gives them information to work with when doing their next piece, and this time they have the tech to follow through. And a lot of people overlook the good things that open space does for the game, they can only focus on what they didn't like (or worse, regurgitate the opinions of others who didn't like it whilst forgetting that during their own experience they didn't actually notice or mind). There was possibility held in that space, from running about simply enjoying the wolf form, or using it to practice skills, or ambush enemies from afar. But more still, if that space wasn't there than each location would have felt too close, going from one place to another would have felt more like checking off a grocery list. If that space had been there, but jam packed full of stuff to do, the game's pace would have suffered as you get bogged down in endless distractions or sidequests, and the world itself would actually have felt less holistic, as many people have criticized Skyward Sword for doing with its overworlds and their unnatural puzzles.

 

[Quillion]

But still, someone has to push that boundary. Now it just gives them information to work with when doing their next piece, and this time they have the tech to follow through. And a lot of people overlook the good things that open space does for the game, they can only focus on what they didn't like (or worse, regurgitate the opinions of others who didn't like it whilst forgetting that during their own experience they didn't actually notice or mind). There was possibility held in that space, from running about simply enjoying the wolf form, or using it to practice skills, or ambush enemies from afar. But more still, if that space wasn't there than each location would have felt too close, going from one place to another would have felt more like checking off a grocery list. If that space had been there, but jam packed full of stuff to do, the game's pace would have suffered as you get bogged down in endless distractions or sidequests, and the world itself would actually have felt less holistic, as many people have criticized Skyward Sword for doing with its overworlds and their unnatural puzzles.

What's wrong with puzzles? They're the core component of the main campaign.

 

[DARK MASTER]

I always liked both games a lot. Not sure why some people think there has to be a such a divide. Can we agree Spirit Tracks and Skyward Sword are much worse lol?