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The Legend of Zelda, Should Something Change?

jlemon9721

Me. I kill you.
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Location
A place...... I think....
Hello, it seems that throughout 'Zelda' history Nintendo has stuck to the same very basic formula of "You find out that the bad guy is doing something, you go through part of a dungeon, you find the item, you go to the boss, you beat the boss, and you get a heart container for beating the boss." Now "The Adventure of Link" is the only game that doesn't follow this formula, but that wasn't Nintendo's fault. Other than that, does anyone think that the 'Zelda' formula should be changed?
 

yann

TheBitterDubstepMan
Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Location
Bournemouth, UK
Well to be honest, the formula is very similar and for good reason. It's that formula that has built and retained the reputation of the modern Zelda game.
All Nintendo have to do, is create new ways in which the adventurer carries out these tasks, which they are doing pretty well at the moment.
 

athenian200

Circumspect
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Location
a place of settlement, activity, or residence.
Well, with the exception of Twilight Princess, something usually DOES change for one game. They try to add a new twist, which I think is a good policy.

I think that as long as they add something new each time, they can afford to keep the core formula the same. They could change a part of that, but if they did... why bother calling it Zelda? It would be easier to just make a new game similar to Zelda and implement it there.
 

TVTMaster

Guy What's Angry Now
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May 15, 2009
Location
It's a secret to everybody.
Ha, um, no. That's more or less the definition of a Zelda game. Or at least, the dungeon bit. Dungeons can definitely be changed up (TP had monkeys in the Forest Temple and Big Key Shards in the Goron Mines), but that's never been the part of the formula that's stale.
Zelda is a great series because its formula works- and the failure of its DS entries is because of the loss of the crucial element of a Zelda game- exploration. When the world is empty save for dungeons and hub areas, the whole "explore the world until you find the next dungeon, using the new item you got" part is cut out and needs replacing- in the DS games by a shallow on-rails minigame and a repetitive stealth-based dungeon.

Really, what Zelda needs is to actually stick to the formula and execute it with the series' typical aplomb. The DS entries suffered because they omitted the overworld and shrunk the inventory, WW suffered because they omitted free transportation, and most other titles suffered only due to a lack of adding to the formula- the Oracles and TP suffered from repeating previous mechanics as new gimmicks (lightworld/darkworld for OoX, Eye of Truth/Shovel/Roc's Cape for TP), and MM suffered a bit from the lack of a truly epic, heroic tale.

So Zelda formula: Create a rich and varied overworld filled with various dungeons; motivate the player with an epic, heroic quest; add a gimmick without using it to replace anything else, and have the player progress through the game by using their own arsenal and abilities to explore the world.

(Interestingly, Okami executes this formula impressively- hence all of the comparisons to Zelda titles. It's the same experience stripped of the usual series trappings.)
 

LozzyKate

Ask Me Why I Love The Photoshops
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
If anything should change, it's the dungeons and bosses. The dungeons should have a little more length and puzzles in them. The bosses should much harder than they are.
 

Apple

Crazy Cookie
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Location
Zee Internets
I like the formula how it is, but I think Nintendo should change it just a little bit. Maybe don't find out who the main villain is so early in the game, have a reason for starting the quest other than beating the main villain (sort of like in the Wind Waker, but have more early dungeons, not just one), or change the dungeon formula around (Maybe have two bosses, not a boss and a mini boss. Something like this. Start dungeon > Miniboss > Get item > Get boss key > fight boss > No heart container > Realize that there's ANOTHER boss > Get heart container and more info about the story)

If anything should change, it's the dungeons and bosses. The dungeons should have a little more length and puzzles in them. The bosses should much harder than they are.

I agree with this. The dungeons are getting easier with every game. This needs to change. Bring back the difficulty from the old games! Make new kinds of puzzles, hard bosses, and new items. That would make for a really good Zelda game.
 

Flute Boy

ganon slayer
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Good ol' Space Aus
think of it like someones signiture, it means "i was here" the basic line is zeldas signiture.

also, can you come up with a different idea that might work better? you cant expect (no mean to be rude to nintendo) nintendo to be able to come up with this, im not saying they can't, but making conclusions is NOT always a good idea
 

Austin

Austin
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Addressing the dungeon issue, I do think these can be changed slightly. For instance, I liked how I didn't realize I was in a dungeon until I found this first key during the Sky Temple/City place in TP. At first, I thought I was just exploring a regular city and that I would find the dungeon later. The Goron Mines also had those safe zones where you got the Big Key Shards. The Skull Woods in a ALttP had this to an extent also. I think it would be cool if, every now and then, the "dungeon" wasn't its own exclusive location, but was built into a town or city. Hell, how cool would it be if the entire overworld contained scattered sections of a dungeon that you worked through piece by piece?
 

Link 2 the past

Slashy Slashy
Joined
Sep 5, 2008
Location
Harrogate, England
The Sonic games felt off completely when the changed it from just being, run fast and collect rings, and added all sorts of other stuff.

So if anything Nintendo need to return to something closer to the old formula.
 

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