General Zelda VikzeLink's Weekly Sunday Poll 110!

[VikzeLink]

Last week's winners:

Third Place: Nothing, it's good as it is (13.64%)
Second Place: Let the player choose their own path (like in ALBW) (40.91%)
First Place: The Level Design (45.45%)

This week's question: Do you think that there should be seasons in upcoming Zelda-Games? Not like in OoS, where you control them, but just as a visual thing.

Yes, would be awesome!
Sure, I wouldn't mind
I don't care
No, I don't want the developers to put time into that
Noooooooo!

 

[Mask-Salesman]

Yes, I'd definetly love to see that in Zelda, as long as it enhances the gameplay and isn't only for the visuals. Think about treasures of special rooms you can only find in the spring or summer when there is no snow blocking it. Or some hidden collectables you can only see in autumn because then there are no leaves on the trees. Majora's Mask introduced this in a very light way with the Mountain Village after you beat Goht in Snowpeak. I'd like it.

Maybe Nintendo can use Banjo Kazooie for inspiration? Any oldschool Nintendo fans who remember The Click Clock Woods? Best level ever!

 

[Moonstone]

I would love seasons! ...if it added to the gameplay. Like Mask-saleman said, if it changed the way to move about, opened up new puzzles and items, it would be awesome!

If it was just for visual aesthetics, then meh.

 

[Therapist Bill]

Who wouldn't love season?

I remember asking his a looong time ago in a mailbag, but it got discarded for some reason. Like Imogen, I believe it would add to the gameplay but also just add some variety instead of seeing the same boring green grass all the time.

 

[Dragoncat]

They would have to do this like in Pokemon Black/White, where there's only a month real time in between seasons. Because I'm sure having to wait 4 months would annoy people...

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

Yes. It could be a really cool concept if used correctly. Though, like Dcat said, it would suck if it was done in real time. Nothing like Animal Crossing pls, it wun' work!

I would propose something like a change in season for every few hours of gameplay. Maybe Link needs to get some new slothing before winter approaches or he will gradually lose health. Perhaps he needs to get some new footwear that will help him walk in the snow. Stuff like that would be interesting to see, but as long as it doesn't pose as a distraction from the main story.

Adding puzzles that are based on the season would be neat. I can see them doing something like making a river that you can't cross until it freezes, closing off a large portion of the overworld until winter arrives. Something along those lines I think could be quite an interesting concept. Although, as I said above, as long as it doesn't pose as a distraction from the overall story and gameplay of the game.

 

[Évariste]

If seasons are to exist for visual purposes, then it should be triggered by completion of a player event or by some other action of the player (like in OoS, for example). The change in color palette from winter to spring in Mountain Village does add to the experience by making the world feel more vibrant. These attributes are not unique to seasonal changes though. Events occurring in Southern Swamp, Zora's Domain (Ocarina of Time), Windfall Island accomplish these goals just as well. All in all, I'm for existence of seasons if they seek to affect the feel of the world substantially. But seasons aren't necessary.

 

[Mangachick14]

Ohhh Yes please! Even if it's just purely cosmetic, I'd love to see it along with a real, honest-to-goodness day-night cycle--like MM (but of course without all the emphasis on it). I definitely don't think it'd really work real-time though, seeing as you'll likely never see any other season than the one you started in as it usually won't really take a person like three months to complete the game (unless you don't play very often, or just get reeeeaaallly stuck a lot). I'd say the best way to approach it would be similarly to how season cycles are handled in the Sims 3: after a certain amount of in-game day and night-cycles pass (in the Sims, the default is 7 in-game days, and each in-game day lasts about a half-an-hour), it switches to a new season.

 

[Iridescence]

Only if it goes with the story and gameplay. If it doesn't then, I wouldn't push it. Seasons can be used in storytelling, like in The Last of Us. As they have in literature.

Summer (romance)
reaching one's peak, living one's year to the fullest

Fall (tragedy)
your last years ; an end ; harvesting what you planted ; dying

Winter (scorn, satire)
the cold unforgiving nature of reality

Spring (comedy)
rebirth , renewal , growth

 

[Snow Queen]

I can't see a reason why there shouldn't be seasons. It's a feature that would add new elements of exploration, like ice blocking off some areas during the winter in such, or leaves filling chasms and providing a walkway. That's cool.

 

[Salem]

No, it might be either be too simple or too complicated, and both can be annoying in their own way.

 

[Maikeru]

I'm down with it whether it affects puzzles or just is for looks. However, if it affects the way you traverse throughout the world, I'm even cooler with it.

 

[Iridescence]

I'd be careful with adding seasons because it would take away what made Oracle of Seasons unique.

 

[PalaeoJoe]

I'd be careful with adding seasons because it would take away what made Oracle of Seasons unique.

I think that because Oracle of Seasons was so unique (with no other games utilizing seasons) that having a new game with seasons would not detract much from it, because Zelda players would still have only two options to chose from (in terms of having a Zelda game with different seasons). Besides in OoS you specificly have some control over the seasons with the rod of seasons I would imagine that if a new Zelda had seasons they would not handle it in the same way the did OoS, thus OoS would still be unique.

 

[VikzeLink]

I think it could be a great thing if they did it right, but if it would take the time from developing more important things, I'd say to make it a secondary priority.