Seasons?

[Jupiter]

OoT introduced a day/night cycle into the Zelda series to great effect...there was also weather, albeit a bit limited...

What do you all think of the idea of having full-on seasons in Skyward Sword? In spring flowers would bloom and squirrels and birds (and Zora) would chase their mates amorously; in summer bees would continue to pollinate the flowers and weave their way through the tall grasses as the days grow long, and as summer comes to an end violent thunderstorms would roll across Hyrule; in autumn the leaves will turn and collect on the ground, the Hylans will start wearing thicker clothes and holding their harvest festivals; in winter the lakes will freeze and snow will build up, blocking pathways that can be plowed through with the help of the Gorons.

What are some other ways that seasons could be used? How could this add to the game?

 

[Ghosi]

That would be really awesome. Then thereforit could lead to different events, minigames, and such. Sounds really cool!

 

[Tony]

It sounds like a good idea now that I think about it. It could lead to different sidequests or new areas or minigames.

 

[arkvoodle]

I'd love to have a seasons system of some description, but it would seem like the game was continuing for years if there were constant changes. I liked the system in TP, where there was a day/night sequence, along with different areas of the map displaying different seasons.

I don't think the system would work very well if there were constant changes in one area, but i'd like to see something similar to TP included. For example, Snowpeak, Gerudo Desert...

 

[Icetomeetyou]

It would be even better if the game was in tune with what time it is outside of the game. So if it's December outside of the game it's December in Skyward Sword. Plus the dungeons could change depending on the weather.

 

[Majora's Cat]

I think that seasons are a great idea and could add quite a bit of depth to Skyward Sword. I felt that Twilight Princess should've taken its night/day system a bit further and added seasons as well. We can clearly see that Hyrule does have a variation of climates: Snowpeak is like Winter, Gerudo Desert/Zora's Domain are like Summer, Hyrule Field's like Spring and places like Kakariko Village are a bit reminiscent of Autumn.

While Hyrule may be pretty mixed up when it comes to temerature and climate, I think it's safe for us to say that there's no real logic or reasoning behind it. Why place Snowpeak right next to Zora's Domain? Or why place Gerudo Desert right next to Lake Hylia? The Zelda series has always been rather based around fantasies instead of real life. I liked how Nintendo tried to make Twilight Princess a little more realistic by ridding the game of the magic meter and other elements that made OoT, MM and WW seem more like fantasies.

I hope that SS can follow in TP's footsteps and try to make the Zelda franchise a bit more realistic. Even though I really like the elements of fanasy from older Zelda games, the franchise needs to live in the present and follow new trends. The fact is that modern day gaming is slowly becoming more reality based - I'm not saying all games are, but more and more games and franchises are becoming more realistic. While video games still touch on the fact that they are a boundless world, it's becoming more and more apparent that video game design is becoming more realistic graphics-wise and gameplay-wise.

Now back to the point. An inclusion of the seasons could really give the player a sense that the world is alive. It could also be implemented in solving puzzles and such. Maybe a certain location can't be accessed in the Summer? Wait until Winter and perhaps the extra snow that falls will be enough to help you reach a certain entrance. I feel that the change of the Seasons could definitely affect Skyward Sword and make the game more immersive.

Also... I personally feel that seeing old areas in a new light would be pretty interesting. Perhaps you start off the game in a dainty little village in Spring. After beating a dungeon or so and returning to your village, you may not even recognize it. Villages and old locations you may have seen before can become wonderous and exotic environments. The change of the seasons may even make you feel as if you are exploring a whole new location, starting anew. I kind of see this being similar to one of the elements in Majora's Mask.

That brings me to my next comparison. I liked how MM's Mountain Village and Southern Swamp became cleansed after the boss of the dungeon was defeated. Ikana Valley and Great Bay Coast were also "cleansed", but there really weren't any major changes in the environment. Instead I'd like to focus more on Mountain Village. The evil snow that plagues Mountain Village melted away and Spring began, freeing up the rivers. Mount Village felt like a totally different place - it was much happier and more vivid. To see this all throughout Skyward Sword would be just amazing.

Well, I've made my point. Overall, it's a great idea... but I don't know if Nintendo would ever bother implementing such an advanced feature into a Zelda game.

 

[Peace Of Heart]

Seasons sounds great, but we're up in the sky here. I'm convinced that we will be over or inside the clouds, so snow or even rain doesn't look like a great possibility. If there are floating islands, maybe each one could be a season? I would still like for them to make a seasonal system, even up in the sky. Like all the posts here, it could affect so much of the game.

 

[khalil]

just to make a full circle of seasons would be very expensive for the game developers, this is more of somthing that game developers do simply because they are getting a large amount of money from the fans for example world of warcraft they get 15$ a month from all of they're coustomers and in the new expansion they are making a large change to the entire environment in they're game, so as you can see they really need a really encouraging reason to make seasons in the game

(MMO game developers) is what i meant to say in the begining of my comment

MMO games is what i meant to say in the begining of my comment somehow it didn't find its way in there.

 

[13foxes]

I think that seasons are awesome idea. Wouldn't it be cool to change seasons to solve puzzles and to access new areas? I'd love to do those things. It'd add pretty much to game play experience and make the game more realistic, in my opinion. But, when I thought more about it, isn't it a little too complicate?

If Nintendo could make seasons in SS, how would it work? Would the seasons change according to real time? I think, that'd take too long for something to happen, for example, in TP, I've seen some people complained about having to wait too long for the time to change to night. And I definitely wouldn't want to wait half a day for it to turn from winter to summer, especially if I had some work to do...

If Link could control time in SS, then I could see no problem with the season changing. But, I think it's pretty unlikely that SS will turn into a second OoS. The idea is old, and I think fans want something new, not something recycled from an old game. Combining space travel (Skyloft-Hyrule) and season changing is kinda complicate, too....

Or, it'd be cooler if we defeat a dungeon and the season changes, like Majora's Cat said. That'd feel pretty realistic, surprising and it could add some in-depth sidequests to SS (just like MM). But, come to think of it, if we forgot to do some sidequests, then the seasons changed, we couldn't do those sidequests anymore. That wouldn't be good, and I honestly would be pretty sad if that happened... Unless Nintendo could think of some way to solve the problem (Refighting bosses? Not including sidequests?), I don't think this season system will work out.

In conclusion, the season system can add some really nice sidequests and incredible depth to the game, just like MM which is one of the best games in the series and my favorite Zelda game; but, I see this system might be a failure because it just couldn't work out. And Nintendo staff would have to work really hard on that, so it's not likely they'll add it in SS.

Zelda doesn't need to be realistic to be good, right? It's a fantasy series afterall...

 

[8bubbles8joe]

If not seasons, at least add weather effects like rain, because in Twilight Princess, there's only a few areas where it rains periodically.

 

[Hyrulian]

sounds really cool, but who would wait so long to do a quest? Its to much throuble for its worth...

 

[Master]

I think it would be a great idea for seasons , since i am playing Rune Factory Frontier right now , i would love it for the seasons in zelda would change . But i wouldn't like it to be automatic , i would like the seasons to change once you have completed a certain objective in the game . Just like in bully (PS2)

 

[khalil]

I think it would be a great idea for seasons , since i am playing Rune Factory Frontier right now , i would love it for the seasons in zelda would change . But i wouldn't like it to be automatic , i would like the seasons to change once you have completed a certain objective in the game . Just like in bully (PS2)

ok so you beat the fire temple and now it is winter? i think it should be automatic

 

[Raven]

Here's a better idea, all of Hyrule Field and the Hyrule Castle area should be subject to the changing seasons, but the areas on the outskirts that are themed could stay the same. Places like the Gerudo Desert would only have the day and night cycle but I think that some areas should have a season cycle. TP showed us what it would be like in 3D but only in that one fishing spot near Zora's Domain. I truly think they could have made a cycle like that for other areas in the game as well but they chose not to. Why? maybe because they were saving the feature to use in the next 3D game? not so sure about that although I can see them building off of it... TP treated it more like a concept, so im guessing that they will move forward with the idea. they could certainly expand on it and take it further.

Not like OoS though, I wouldn't want control over the seasons. just a simple cycle that i can't control would be great. a weather cycle would be cool too but that might be complicated. maybe one day...

 

[Jlemon21]

Here's a better idea, all of Hyrule Field and the Hyrule Castle area should be subject to the changing seasons, but the areas on the outskirts that are themed could stay the same.

This is what I was going to suggest. A seasons cycle would be awesome, but not if it affected everything. And what about certain types of enemies only appearing during certain season? (sorry if someone else suggested that already, I didn't read all the posts.)