Spirit Tracks New Hyrule- Grand Concept or Filler Content?

[Spirit]

I am one of the many Zelda fans who prefers Spirit Tracks over Phantom Hourglass, and one of the things i really like about Spirit Tracks (and the adult timeline in general) is how much the story advances. From flooding the Hyrule we knew in and forcing us into a new world and era in Wind Waker to discovering the continent of New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks, the Adult Timeline does like to push things forward.

However, to me the story in Spirit Tracks; an infant monarchy on a wholly new and mysterious land of which future Zelda games may be based, is much more deserving of a game that was cloned from a two year old instalment which did little for the franchise and mythology.
New Hyrule itself, in my opinion and despite the linear travel system, is quite well designed. I really love the forest and ocean realms, they feel homely and exotic and exciting and i'd have loved to have seen them in a proper 3D game like a home console game or like OoT on the 3DS...


But how about you, should our first glimpse at New Hyrule have been something a little more grand?
Should it have been on a home console or have been more of a competent game on a more advanced console than the DS?

Do you care about New Hyrule at all?
Would you like to have future games set there?

 

[Justac00lguy]

In my opinion I think it was done "wrong"...

Now I'm not criticising it for it being solely on the DS, but in a way I feel it would have looked more grand, like the thread title says, on a home console, or maybe just a 3D perspective. From playing Phantom Hourglass first I felt like this was more of the same, however it felt just too linear, I was never a fan of the train mechanic and it just limited the player to a set path. I remember mentioning in a thread before about what games you would like to see in 3D and Spirit Tracks was my main choice along side the Minish Cap .

The fact is that ST felt too much like PH, it may have improved on a few concepts but I just couldn't get past the fact that it had so many reused concepts and the fact that it was released just 2 years later. The whole" idea" of a new Hyrule is really a great plot point, and I think it deserved a much more plot based narrative, which is where I feel ST lacked big time. We have this epic event, where Hyrule was flooded by the Gods and the land became on assortment of islands, ST could have been this groundbreaking game that could have pushed the limits of a great overworld and a plot but it just didn't.

It's no lie that this could have been the limits of the DS and the perspective and to be honest the lack of appreciation that Nintendo shower towards this idea baffled me. I now see "New Hyrule" as just an excuse to create continuity between ST and PH and it really doesn't feel all that special. However the quest that you raised; "Would you like to have future games set there?" is hard question in my opinion as I feel the games that fall after the Wind Waker didn't do it justice. The story could have been so much greater and in a way I would have wanted that Timeline to be closed off with that sort of unanswered question if Link and Tetra did find New Hyrule.

However the possibilities with a New Hyrule is endless, they aren't bound to limits and due to it being a new Land they can implement a wide variety of new races, locations, environments, enemies etc. If done right we could see a great story on the Adult Timeline however I feel that Nintendo missed a big opportunity initially with the idea of New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks .

 

[ihateghirahim]

I suppose it's a decent concept to put it on a grander scale, but really it works best on it's designed DS platform. If we'd gotten some new games featuring it, and maybe linked it with Vaati and the FS games, we could have had a sort of alternate Hyrule. It would be grand, we'd know things about it, and it would serve as a good alternative to the changing Hyrule's of the consoles. Some consistency would be nice. I think a home console might have actually lowered it into just another Hyrule for a game before discarding it, but that's what we got on the DS anyway so I don't really know.

 

[RichardBlaziken]

I personally hated ST (and loved PH). It's one of only two Zelda games I may never finish (other being Zelda 2), but I like the concept of New Hyrule. It has a lot of possibilities in the future. However, I really think they should stay away from reviving Ganon/dorf or bringing Vaati into this timeline, and focus on new villains. The adult timeline should focus on all of the new things to come with an entirely new land. It could be a grand concept if they did something good with it.

 

[Ventus]

Yes, it's a very wasted potential by being on DS with less-than-stellar graphics. Honestly, if Nintendo remade any Zelda title bar MM, I'd prefer it to be ST without the touch gimmick. The world has a lot of potential but it's wasted by having a mediocre story and showcasing it on pixelated machine imo.

But, because a remake has zero chance of happening, I would prefer that another game - maybe even Zelda Wii U - takes place in NH but isn't a Toon game.

 

[TwilitSecret7]

Spirit tracks was one of my first Zelda games, and I personally enjoyed it. I, personally agree that new Hyrule should have been a bigger deal then they made it. I can also say that I wouldn't mind seeing it in future games. As previously mentioned Nintendo would also have to incorporate the trains still, and while I loved the game, I didn't so much like the train travel part. This might be one of the few downsides to the game and probably one of the reasons Nintendo won't make a new game with new hyrule. In my opinion, anyway.