Breath of the Wild Musical Instrument? Thoughts?

[Keese Keese]

Music and musical instruments have definately made their home in the series. So, here's the question: Instrument controls, type of instrument, or none at all?

Personally, I would love to have an instrument in Zelda U. It would be a great tool for Nintendo to experiement with and use the Wii U controls in a way that they hope to surprise players with. If we do have one, however, its control scheme should have some freedom to it... one of my biggest peeves in SS was that playing your harp only required 'learning' a song and swaying the Wii Mote side to side. It should be something more along the lines of the Ocarina of Time and the Wind Waker's controls... no handholding... where individual notes are used and songs have to be memorized, and can be played anywhere. Making an original
tune like the scarecrow's song would be a nice return as well. As for what kind of instrument, I'm not partial to any. A flute could be nice
Imagine bagpipes in Zelda...
(I haven't played Spirit Tracks, so I don't know how the pan flute is)

 

[A Link In Time]

I want Zelda Wii U to have an identity of its own.

Time travel and musical instruments are two aspects of the series repeated time and time again. Also, the more a certain theme is repeated, the more dissension among the user base. Some might argue the button pressing of the N64 ocarina was most intuitive, whereas others favor the rhythm based Spirit Flute and Harp.

Musical instruments have slowly been allocated to a lesser role that you probably won't notice it's missing like fishing from Skyward Sword.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

Although I love instruments in the series, I do agree with ALIT that they seem to be slowly fading away in terms of usability. The Spirit Flute was not used very much, and the Goddess Harp may have been used 7 times. Since the Wind Waker, we have not had an instrument that was used extensively as a big part of the gameplay, which is quite a shame (though, the Spirit Flute is still my favorite instrument).

The grand popularity of instruments could easily return if Nintendo makes something intuitive, yet relatively easy to use, utilizing the Wii U Gamepad in a clever way. If they also make the songs useful again, instead of just required, like OOT/MM, it might attract fans attention as well. Personally, I think it would be great if we kept seeing instruments. I mean, I love being able to play music in a video game, especially like Zelda.

All that being said, I do not want said instrument to be overused, since it could get bland very quickly. Ocarina of Time had the perfect amount of instrument utilization, so let's go back to the roots of button controlled instrument gaming!

 

[Ventus]

Oh God, not some more of that experimentation madness. I'm sorry but I'm tired of Nintendo using one of its most prestigious and solid franchises as a mere testing ground. Roll in the true releases. This is regarding musical instruments as well; I am tired of experimental things like the lyre in Skyward. Give us active instruments (e.g Spirit Flute, Ocarina in OoT/MM, Wind Waker in TWW), give us interesting instruments (anything has the potential tbh), and give us instruments that can be played however we want and whenever we want. No more applying some awkward control scheme to instruments. No more giving the instrument some insignificant plot relevance (face it, we all thought the harp/lyre in SS was going to be of some great importance ever since we saw the harp trailer). Just give us fun, useful instruments and nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Keese Keese]

I don't have much of a problem with Nintendo trying to be innovative, they've done alright so far. I do agree with the frustration of using Zelda as a mere guinea pig and wish they'd take it more seriously sometimes. However, when you look at it, the series has always introduced new things. As long as they don't take their motion controls to full body Kinect level or something equally extreme, I trust they'd tread lightly enough to keep it good.

 

[Yeti]

In my opinion, Nintendo's use of musical instruments in its games have become progressively weaker in recent years. The Ocarina and Wind Waker baton were both iconic to their respective games, but the mechanic shouldn't be forced into each Zelda title. Doing this not only diminishes the uniqueness of having a musical instrument , but it comes off as a half-assed attempt to force something into the game for the sake of having it there. When this happens, we end up with an unoriginal, and often poorly implemented, mechanic. The wolf howling in Twilight Princess was bland and musically descent, and the pan flute in Spirit Tracks forgettable. Skyward Sword's harp meanwhile felt largely unnecessary, and its controls were overly simplistic. Because of this, I'd rather have Nintendo set the musical instrument aside for Zelda Wii U. Unless they can make using it an engaging experience central to the game's identity, like in OoT, MM, and WW, there's no reason to include one.

 

[Zelda-Rocks]

I think a string instrument would be great on the gamepad.

I'm adding more to my previous statement. I think an Ocarina would actually be awesome on the gamepad. you could actually finger the holes and use the camera on it to purse your lips or something to blow.

 

[Twilight King]

I think that I'd like something different than the harp in the sense that I'd like to be able to control what I'm playing, rather than being forced to play what Fi wants else I just play gibberish.

I think the instrument should be unique in that we haven't seen it before in the series, but it should look and sound beautiful and elegant, yet capable of letting loose some wicked tunes. Personally, I've always wanted to see a lute, which can be beautiful if used correctly, and wouldn't it be cool to see Link with an old-fashioned guitar?

 

[BlitzPlum]

Link should have a grand piano in his back pocket that he can whip out in a second or two (It folds up, duhh)
The piano is played using the gamepad's touch screen, and the function of the piano is to travel through time while sat on your piano stool. It can also be used for busking in Hyrule Town and other villages.

Joking aside, I like having musical instruments in the game, mainly because the songs are always composed beautifully. If they do use an instrument, it should use the gamepad purely for innovation's sake. They've always been fun, and sometimes a plot point, so I'm not sure how they'd incorporate it.

EDIT: JUST DECIDED! I want 'Link's Mariachi Band'

 

[Sydney]

I think the Zelda franchise needs to take a step back and realize that they're abusing the concept of musical instruments. It's a creative concept nonetheless, but it's merely becoming overrated. They don't need to include harps or ocarinas to make their games better. Why not a prominent character or piece of equipment as a substitute? I can understand how well musical instruments are easily implemented into the games, but it's time for a change. I'm hoping that the series takes a break from this concept, at least for a while.

Regardless, if there had to be another musical instrument used in the next installment, I just hope that it's something we've never seen before. Perhaps the franchise can take ideas from countries such as India, or even continents such as Africa. In addition to that, I hope its purpose is equally unique. Meaning I'm not interested in seeing such an instrument being used for either time travel or warping. As long as it's unique in every single aspect, then I don't have too much of a problem with it.

 

[Heroine of Time]

I definitely want to see some form of musical interaction in Zelda U. I absolutely love music and how it is incorporated in Zelda games. However, like... pretty much everyone else, I'd rather see a more Ocarina of Time or The Wind Waker sort of instrument, because the harp wasn't really significant (although it was relatively fun to just wander around and strum in time to the music...).

By the way, the Spirit Flute wasn't bad. I actually really loved it. It was a step down from OoT, certainly, but still a step up from an instrument in any other handheld save OoT 3D. You could play actual songs on it and change the pitch (sharp and flat notes) with some buttons... but unfortunately, I couldn't do anything with it because every single time I tried I'd end up playing that annoying Song of Awakening. -.-

Honestly, I only use OoT 3D anymore to play the Ocarina. I'm not even kidding. Every time I turn it on, I just end up practicing new songs on it... XD So I'd absolutely love to see something similar in the upcoming game. There's a lot they could do with the gamepad. (What about a piano? Keys could appear on the gamepad! Yeah! ...No? ...Never mind. EDIT: Gosh dangit, BlitzPlum already said that and I didn't notice... XD)

 

[Randomlink7]

I wouldn't care either way if there was a instrument or not. If they decided to add an instrument, they need to do it right. Recently, the instruments haven't been that great. Spirit Tracks spirit flute was kinda annoying and wasn't that great IMO. The Harp in Skyward Sword had better uses (like the goddess walls) but still was hard to use at some points (like the Kina duet). If they were to add one, they need to make it how Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker were. I would want them to be button based so you would have to memorize the notes, and have songs that can warp or do special effects. Of course there would be different melodies.

 

[The Jade Fist]

In my opinion, Nintendo's use of musical instruments in its games have become progressively weaker in recent years. The Ocarina and Wind Waker baton were both iconic to their respective games, but the mechanic shouldn't be forced into each Zelda title. Doing this not only diminishes the uniqueness of having a musical instrument , but it comes off as a half-assed attempt to force something into the game for the sake of having it there. When this happens, we end up with an unoriginal, and often poorly implemented, mechanic. The wolf howling in Twilight Princess was bland and musically descent, and the pan flute in Spirit Tracks forgettable. Skyward Sword's harp meanwhile felt largely unnecessary, and its controls were overly simplistic. Because of this, I'd rather have Nintendo set the musical instrument aside for Zelda Wii U. Unless they can make using it an engaging experience central to the game's identity, like in OoT, MM, and WW, there's no reason to include one.

Well the Ocarina was in Majora's Mask, but that wasn't its core identity, though having 4 instruments did add alot to it. The howling was pretty lame, but more so only because it was the howling stones only, if they simply let you howl where ever you wanted that'd be different, and might have added some charm to being the wolf.

The Harp being a rythem thing is honestly just meh, I would have loved having notes to play alot more. But running the the streets of sky loft attempting to play metal is still quite amusing.

Honestly I disliked the Wind Waker because its not as much of an instrument as well a conductors rod *(which it happens to be), but it still functioned they way one would want.

A string instrument or a even perhaps a keypad (like an accordion) instrument could work very well on the game pad.

But kinda in line with what some people said they are tired of it being an experiment every time, honestly I don't think the Wii U pad needs to be the instrument, I mean buttons are just fine and perfectly enjoyable to use, the pad could show a sheet of music instead.

 

[ILU]

I wouldn't mind not having an instrument. The worst part of SS' harp was wanting to actually strum the darned thing and only being able to make swishy movements. Feh. I don't even care for movement-controlled gameplay, but if the Wii U had something kinda like the Kinect but could sense individual finger movements and all that... yeah, would've been cool to strum a song. BUT ALAS IT WAS NOT SO!

I want to be able to play the instrument I'm given as if it were real... and not hyperventilating into the mic, either.

With the touch pad, being able to at least touch the notes I want to play would be fun. Flutes are kind of Zelda's thing, whether they are pan flutes, ocarinas, or a simple wooden flute. Something that's small would make sense, but I can also see Link slinging a lute over his shoulder all medieval bard style. <3

 

[Riddle]

I think a string instrument would be great on the gamepad.

I'm adding more to my previous statement. I think an Ocarina would actually be awesome on the gamepad. you could actually finger the holes and use the camera on it to purse your lips or something to blow.

The WiiU tablet is single touch. So, an instrument where you would need to make a finger combination isn't possible. A ocarina or piano like thing isn't good if you can only press one button at a time.

The panflute could work ^^