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SS Not As It Seems?

Majora's Cat

How about that
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
NJ
I'll be the first here to bring this up. Skyward Sword might be made out to be more than it is. Hopefully Nintendo will keep things a bit quiet with SS, as exposing it too much will raise fans' expectations too much. That is what caused TP's great downfall. Quite frankly, this will likely happen if Nintendo lets slip too much.

Remember the hype that surrounded Twilight Princess before its release? Insanity. Tears. Joy. Utter eagerness to get their hands on it. Twilight Princess was supposed to dethrone Ocarina of Time - it was supposed to be Nintendo's ultimate swan song to Zelda fans. Nintendo made it out to be so much more than it really was - there was only one thing that made TP fall so hard. This one thing was the ridiculously high expectations. Just about everyone expected TP to be a godsend - a legend - the greatest game of all time. Fans were probably shocked when they sunk their teeth into it. Regardless of the bad feedback from purist fans, TP remains one of the greatest games ever created. But not the greatest. The lack of innovation also contributed to TP's unpopularity, if just a little.

Now do you recall Ocarina of Time? I really don't have much to complain about here, but I had one concern regarding OoT's release. OoT was supposed to be a good game, not really the greatest game of all time. Everyone knew that it was a fresh new start for Zelda. An innovation in gaming, basically. We got what we wanted - we got the ultimate game. But there was something that Nintendo got right - the innovation. Everyone thinks a game can automatically become the greatest thing ever just because it's over-hyped, has really good graphics and has caused up quite a stir before its release. Of course, if a game garners that much attention, it has to be good... right? I don't think I have to say anything else to say when I speak these simple words: Halo: Reach. This honestly made me laugh. Reach had so many fans hot on its heels, trying to find every tidbit of information they could. When the game finally released, I must say many students in my school weren't especially excited. Many call it "okay" and "good". Wasn't Reach supposed to be the greatest thing ever? The king of first-peson shooters? You can ask some of the fans. I speak nothing but the truth when I say that since its release, Reach has not gotten as much attention as I thought it would.

But let's get back to Zelda. OoT was exposed to the public and garnered lots of attention, but it did one thing right: it was amazing beyond words. Great games usually get a lot of hype before being released, but do these games ever live up to the hype? I would you to think about that, because the answer that most likely comes to mind is "no". Modern Warfare 2 - it was mostly criticized by its fans and called "overrated". Same goes for Twilight Princess. TP was immediately called overrated when it was first released. Only OoT had the epicness that made it live up to the hype and become much more than anyone could've ever imagined.

I want you to seriously think about the history of video games and their debuts at E3. Will Skyward Sword, a very talked-about game at the E3 press conference, become a repeat of Twilight Princess? I say that if the game is simply brilliant enough to be able to overshadow the hype, then it is one of the greatest games ever. There is a good chance that SS will become a revolution because of the new gameplay mechanics... but remember. Everything could go the opposite way as well.

That's it for me. Tell me what you think. :P Will SS become a success worthy of its current hype?
 

athenian200

Circumspect
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Location
a place of settlement, activity, or residence.
I really have no doubt that it will live up to the hype for the majority of people. But I think that it may alienate many of Zelda's core fans if certain design choices are made that I suspect might be made.

I'm fairly certain that they'll make a best effort at graphics, enemy, and level design, as well as adding innovative features and a full world, especially since that last one is what people complained about most in TP. That could be enough to cover any potential weaknesses. Then again, it might not be.

Right now, we only know how SS seems. We don't know how it will play, we don't know how difficult it will be, we don't know how good the story will be, and we don't know how long the game will be. Until we know those things, there's no way to assess whether it lives up to the hype.

I suppose I'll end up buying it, but I may not end up finishing it if it's too difficult.
 

disturbed42

I will win....eventually!
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Location
over here!
I sincerely hope that Skyward Sword lives past its hype greatly, especially since there are many new changes going on (good changes, I might add - or at least in my opinion). Of course, not every single Zelda fan is going to love it, but I'm thinking that a lot of people will. :)

And this thread reminds me of an article I read today on Zelda Informer: http://www.zeldainformer.com/2010/10/not-another-twilight-princess.html
It's a great read, and the comments are very interesting too.
 

Majora's Cat

How about that
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
NJ
Yep, that's where I got the inspiration from. I wanted to bring this conversation here to ZD and add my own personal twists to it.
 

Xinnamin

Mrs. Austin
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Location
clustercereal
Quite honestly, I think Nintendo did pretty well controlling SS's hype this time around. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see nearly as much hype for Skyward Sword as I with some other games, like TP.

For one thing, TP's hype was partly due to its constant postponement, giving fans two full years after the initial trailer to totally fan-gasm over. I don't personally remember the hype all that much, I just know that we had so long to think about the game that fantasies ran wild, and there was no way TP could live up to the fans' crazy imaginations.

SS doesn't feel nearly as hyped to me. We got one piece of art to contemplate for a year, so we didn't have much to work with. E3 gave us a trailer and a demo that showed off the graphics and gameplay mechanisms, the latter being what Nintendo wanted us to focus on. We already knew that Wii Motion Plus would be used for a while before that, so the information had time to sink in. There's not much to hype over with the motion controls, most people expected and accepted it, and we don't have much more information to play with to build any hype.

Story-wise, we have also gotten minimal information. I feel like Nintendo is purposely withholding vital information to keep the hype down. Like that girl in the art for example. We barely have any information about her despite the initial hullabaloo. Without any more information to work with, the fans pretty much bleed their own ideas dry, and without fresh ideas, the hype goes down. Same with the rest of the demo. The location in the demo won't even be in the real game, so we haven't even seen a real place in the game yet. They give us just enough information to keep us excited, but not so much as to let the hype skyrocket.

I think Nintendo learned from the TP hype fiasco and is now trying to keep the hype manageable so as to not disappoint the fans in a way they can't control. Maybe I'm misinterpreting something, and maybe my poor memory of the TP hype is totally failing me, but this is how I see it.

As far as I am personally concerned, there has not been enough info for me to get uncontrollably excited about the game, so more likely than not, SS WILL live up to my expectations.
 

disturbed42

I will win....eventually!
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Location
over here!
Yes, there are many great points in the article and in your own individual thoughts as well. I can see why Twilight Princess was so clearly assumed as "the next OoT". A lot of things were major factors that contributed to TP's enormous amount of hype. I remember watching the trailers for it online and googling everything I could about it because I was so hungry for it; I wanted more. And I found loads of videos and articles and whatnot about the game, including some stuff about Midna (who, I must say, is my favorite Zelda character besides Link, even though TP is not my favorite Zelda game). I was extremely excited for that game; my brain was on FIRE (lol). And when I finally played it, I felt like it wasn't really Zelda. Something about the game was off, and to this day I can't even clarify what it is. But it just made the game feel so....misplaced. There are various things that I can nitpick about the game and other things that I just dislike altogether, but I won't get into that. Twilight Princess just felt so bland and lonely and non-Zelda, to me at least. Other people will feel differently about the game, some of them might think the exact opposite as me, but I'm not saying these things to argue about whether or not TP was a good or a bad game. I'm saying that all that hype led up to basically nothing, like you're pointing out. To borrow a few words from the Zelda Informer article, TP "fell flat on its face" when it came to living up to the hype.

I'm most definitely hungry for more news about Skyward Sword, but there's not much story or information to go by that gets me over-the-top excited for this game (even though I'm still pretty excited). Sure, there's 1:1 swordplay and WMP involved, but to be honest, that isn't what's got me excited. I could most definitely live with SS being played with a classic controller; it wouldn't bother me in the least if Nintendo changed it to that at the last minute. It's that fact that they're chaning the Zelda formula as a whole. TP was a very linear game and SS seems like it's going to be much more loose, especially since it's not structured dungeon-field-dungeon. It's supposed to flow together and it's different. It's something new that Nintendo is implementing into the series and I absolutely love that. While I'm scared a little of the change, I know Nintendo will do good.

However, that being the case, certainly there's some hype for SS, but definitely not as much as TP had (and hopefully it'll never get that way too long before release). This and the fact that there's still so much more that we don't know about SS makes me so curious. It envelops SS in mystery and we won't even get to know more about the game for a long while until it's soon before it's released (or so I'm assuming). So there's not as much hype for SS to live by as there was for TP, but there's still a lot.

But the new elements of the game (even the 1:1 swordplay and whatnot that I could live without) give SS a better chance at success. TP was too much of the same for me. I'm not saying that the game didn't have its own personality and it wasn't original whatsoever, because that's not the case (we were introduced to the Twilight Realm, a brand new villain, etc). I'm saying that gameplay-wise, it was sorta....meh. The game mechanics were still the same as before and weapons just weren't utilized enough for me (there were some cool weapons, but I wanted to keep using them even after I left the dungeon where they were found). Too many things were getting repetitive and it really annoyed me. SS has a ton of new stuff to look forward to. Even though we don't know for sure if these new things will be great since the game has a long way to go till release, it'll still give us a fresh look at the series of Zelda. Plus the difficulty is being increased. Even though some people thought TP was difficult enough already or others don't want SS to be more difficult, I look at this as a good thing. Because I love being challenged. Cause when I get through the challenge and complete the puzzle or defeat the boss or even complete the game, I feel this HUGE sense of accomplishment and I'm just like, "Oh yeah, I beat that. Who beat that? I did!" And it just feels great (plus I feel a lot smarter when I complete a really hard puzzle, lol). Not to mention the new graphic style is still sinking in with some people, even though I personally think it's beautiful. Even though we've had a while now to think these new elements through, it's still going to all come alive again soon before it is released.

So there's a lot to hope for in SS, but in my eyes, it'll most likely live up to its expectations or even soar past them. This is a new experience for us to take hold of. We shouldn't be afraid to jump right in and have it as our own. Of course, I could always be wrong about this subject, but I'm speculating here. And the point of this novel was not to rant against TP, so please don't try and bring that up against me, cause that's not the point! --flails arms-- Peace!

And sorry for typing so much.... :3
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
Ganon's Tower
I really hope that all we've been excited for does not go into waste. Of course, SS isn't a that much of a fresh start as OoT was, because OoT was the first graphical 3D (the other type is visual 3D, like OoT-3D). SS is adding the 1:1 sword and items into it, so it'll be fun. I do think it'll be a Wii top-selling game.
 

Destiny

Single❒Taken❒Assassin✔
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Location
nowhere
Nintendo should keep as much a sercret as possible. Your are comepletly spot on with you post. Twilight Princess was made out to be better then it was went it turned out. Part of me feels that they where pushed so much to get out a great game but comepletly missed the mark.

SS should take time and effort, I think if they want to perfect the game they should definetly take more time, I'd rather have an amazing late game then a second class early game. Part of that contributes to fan pressure and hype trying to the the game out as fast as possible. Take your time, I say.

We can't get our hopes to high, and hopefuly they will let more information slip but no too much to throw us and them off the wagon.
 

Alar

Clothed in Green
Joined
Sep 25, 2010
Location
England
Well there should be no worries in it being refined and perfected by its due date, when ever that is, because it has been in development for several years now.
 

DuckNoises

Gone (Wind) Fishin'
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Location
Montreal, QC, Canada
Don't forget how much initial negative response there was to the game; people complaining about the art style, claiming that it looked "cartoonish" and was therefore child-oriented and easy. Firstly, I'd just like to address the fact that none of those factors are relevant to each other; Twilight Princess had a "gritty" visual style and was definitely one of the easiest Zelda games. Quite honestly, graphics are the very least relevant to a game's worth, and if someone has the stubbornness and childishness to refuse to play a game just because of the way it looks, then that means they are an extremely shallow person.
People had also complained about motion controls, but that is certainly a more legitimate concern. There have been a lot of "waggle" games, which
Now, these kinds of negative emotions can have two outcomes; they can either create indifference in someone about a game, or alternatively, found so much premature resentment of the game that they subconsciously refuse to enjoy it when they play it. This could have been the case with Twilight Princess, and all of its delays. It kept hyping people up, only to disappoint them at the next announcement that the game wouldn't be coming out when they thought it would. That merely serves to raise people up so that it drops you down harder. Disappointment surrounding the release was very much the case with Twilight Princess (also, I mention the fact that I didn't find it particularly great, but that's a story for another day).
Another thing that had a negative impact on the game's perception was the unfortunate E3 demonstration. A lot of people understood that there were genuine technical difficulties because of infrared pollution, causing Link to flail around and making Miyamoto have a hard time, but then again, some of the general populace wasn't entirely informed of the specifics. This made some people lose faith in the motion controls of the game, and even some other elements. A lot of people assumed the level played in the demo was actually in the game, but I believe Nintendo has since confirmed that it was lacklustre and empty because it was a sandbox created specifically for E3 to showcase some of the bells and whistles of Skyward Sword. This certainly caused some disappointment in people, either in the field of the game's mechanics, or again for aesthetic reasons. We have to remember that (to the best of our knowledge) this isn't an actual segment of the game, but some people went away from the demo disillusioned.

Similarly, hype itself can have serious repercussions on a game. You go in, expecting something innovative and grand, but that can't always be the case. Occasionally, putting too much pressure on a game can be very bad for how people perceive it.
Again, I believe someone mentioned the notion that too much was revealed of Twilight Princess; this can simply be the case that the gamer wasn't wowed by it when they played it because they had seen it before. There wasn't much of a chance for genuine awe to ever be present, because it's not surprising or "fresh" to the gamer, and therefore may not feel innovative or creative. Although this wasn't the case for everyone, this is certainly something that has been a result of over-exposure in the past and can certainly be a result in the future.

However, I don't think that everything will go awry with Skyward Sword. I remain fairly optimistic, particularly about the new combat mechanics, which sound like they'll have a major impact on making the game feel fresh and different, both from other Zelda titles, but even for itself, from helping it stay away from being repetitive. Little detail about the story has been revealed, but we have enough to know that the game will have a fairly large amount of connectivity to other games in the series, which is always a satisfying feeling. Because this is the earliest game on the timeline to date, it will probably shed a lot of light into a very vague and ambiguous section of Hyrule's history.
In terms of prospect, it sounds very promising, but the quality of its execution will ultimately be the deciding factor. Although our perception of a game can be skewed by hype, praise, or contempt, the majority of what forms our opinion of it is our experience with the game itself. That being said, I think it's hard to say how it will fare; I am optimistic, but I think we'll have to wait and see, for the most part.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
I agree with you to a point, MC. Hype can kill a game, but really only on a personal level. If one gets too wrapped up in the hype, it can often kill the experience for them when it comes out. This does often happen on a large scale though. However, this isn't always the case. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a very hyped game, and I was pretty much going bat**** about it for months up until its release. When it came out, I was far from disappointed. It was everything I wanted it to be. I'm aware plenty others do not feel the same way about the game, but the point is games can live up to the hype, even if it was monumental hype.


Remember the hype that surrounded Twilight Princess before its release? Insanity. Tears. Joy. Utter eagerness to get their hands on it. Twilight Princess was supposed to dethrone Ocarina of Time - it was supposed to be Nintendo's ultimate swan song to Zelda fans. Nintendo made it out to be so much more than it really was - there was only one thing that made TP fall so hard. This one thing was the ridiculously high expectations. Just about everyone expected TP to be a godsend - a legend - the greatest game of all time. Fans were probably shocked when they sunk their teeth into it. Regardless of the bad feedback from purist fans, TP remains one of the greatest games ever created. But not the greatest. The lack of innovation also contributed to TP's unpopularity, if just a little.
I also feel you've grossly overstated the hype's negative effect on TP. Again using myself as an example, I was actually not very excited about TP. In fact my negative opinion of the game was stronger prior to playing it. While I still dislike many things about it, I liked it more upon finally playing it than I did for the time between its announcement and release, and during the months after release before I got to play it.

You also need to recognize the difference between "what everyone's talking about" and how people actually feel about the game. People will ***** and moan about the game. If there was a lot of hype, they are likely to do it more. That doesn't mean they didn't actually love the game or that its reception was actually fantastic. Don't forget, for all the complaining fans, TP is still a beloved game in the series to many and is critically acclaimed.


Quite honestly, I think Nintendo did pretty well controlling SS's hype this time around. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see nearly as much hype for Skyward Sword as I with some other games, like TP.
Completely agreed. While they've let us off with a couple more tidbits about the plot than they have in the past, in terms of the overall game they've avoided showing us very much. After E3 and all the interviews after it, they've basically completely clammed up and haven't said a word. Gamescom didn't tell us a damn thing we didn't already know. To compare the hype of Skyward Sword to Twilight Princess... or even Ocarina of Time... is hilarious and kind of inappropriate.

And as Ducky also mentioned just above me, Skyward Sword has also been greeted with fairly negative opinions. It's received a lot of criticism for both its art style and controls. While people seem to have warmed up to it, it has not had an easy time.

I don't think we have a lot to worry about on this.
 

VergilDante100

Legendary Dark Knight
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
I am actually glad there is not a lot of hype for a game such as this, since of course hype is sometimes bad remember look at windwaker, when it was first announced it was less received then a lot of the other zelda games but it took off, not saying that is a bad thing however but let me state my point a little more clearly.

The details about SS have been kept hush hush up to this point since nintendo learned from prior experience that sometimes hype is a bad thing, they want to keep the audience surprised and that when it comes to the newest zelda title which is supposed to launch next year of all things, meaning this particular zelda title will be kept under wraps till the last possible minute and only specific things will be shown like a trailer or two here and there, but i digress in my point no hype has actually been good for skyward sword personally.
 

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