General Zelda War Sequences

[Justac00lguy]

So Zelda is a series set in a fantasy world replicating medieval themes and kingdoms and you can draw a lot of similarities between the two. Through the mythos of Zelda you here about these ancient battles, wars so to say that are actually significant to the games plot, such as the "Imprisoning War".

However wars become legends that we only hear about in Zelda games, we never get to actually take part in a gameplay sequence that involves a war if sorts. In my opinion the stage is already set, it only makes sense for a sequence in Zelda where you could have this epic war scenario.

There are a lot of choices that Zelda games can take regarding wars already mentioned within the series but they can always bring in new ones, so there is no reason they can't make it fit into the narrative. The one hurdle is that the actual gameplay and how it would work. As Link, we are used to having to fit solo battles and could it possibly harm gameplay if Link is not alone? The other factor is pacing, Zelda games are generally slow paced and wars are typically filled with action.

There may be some hurdles to tackle but the one theme I think is missing from a Zelda game is an actual playable war scenario. In my opinion it could definitely mix up gameplay elements and make for some intense fast paced action, all in all its something different that just overall makes sense in a Zelda game. What do you guys think about Zelda games visiting the idea of "wars" and do you have any ideas on the matter?

 

[PapilioTempesta]

It would be cool to have a war scene or something like that, only to see how it works and everything; however, it's true that war scenes would be far more fast-paced, and the few fast-paced scenes I can remember (especially TP Ralis Rally comes to mind), were very stressful and got me on my nerves. Besides, in a war scene you should either to fight in team, or at least with other people, or you should have to command soldiers, I don't know how this would work...

What I'd like to see is a real espionage scene, which could be part of the war, in which you have to sneak behind the enemy lines. Something like gerudo's fortress, but with you knowing exactly where you're going and what you're looking for, and being aware of the great danger of being captured. (Usually when Link gets into the baddie castle he just kills everyone he finds, the villain's den should be a hevily guarded place, not a idle-bublin who don't notice you untill you are one step away.)

Aaah, I may have gotten a bit away from the actual thread. Sorry.

 

[HyruleHistory10]

Well they could do it and I think it would be great. They could have it play like the lord of the rings games. those were nice and action packed but not too much to get overwhelmed.

Or they could go the Fire Emblem route and make a tactical RPG. This one I would save for the parts of the Zelda line that Link is not in Like the period of Hyrule's Flooding. You could Control Zelda as like a tactician leading the army. Link never appears so it wouldn't feel like he was left out.

 

[Mercedes]

I'd like to see that. In my head right now I have Lord of the Rings and man, does it look good. With stuff like Ocarina of Time, when it goes from normal to suddenly Ganon's taken over; could fill in the gap there with an actual war between the Hylians, who I suppose put up a fight, and Ganon's army. Or, the scenario in my head, rush towards the main boss' dungeon with the army, battling through hordes of skeleton warriors or whatever the enemy has as his main bulk, and then Link goes off on his own to stick that Master Sword through their forehead.

Modern technology could make that look amazing so yeah, I'd like to see it at least, if not play it.

 

[The Marshal]

Wars would be interesting. Though Link should not be an ordinary soldier. Link should either be a commander, though I don't know how that would work, or take a cloak and dagger approach to the battles - not fighting with the main force, but still helping them somehow. Imagine having to take a fortress, Link has to infiltrate it well before the main army is even seen. Use the hook/clawshot to get on top of the enemy's walls, kill 2-3 guards, get to the gatehouse and wait for the army there to raise the gates when they arrive. And after that do some simmilar objective, it all depends on the story.

 

[Ventus]

Link is a lone-wolf in all games he plays, I don't see how he would OR should be included in a war scene. Unless game mechanics changed in such a way that he became more vulnerable, I cannot advocate the Green-Hat-Hero making a scene within war. That being said, a war scenario would still be welcome in my opinion. Even though they're short, I think it's ample room for serious events to play out such as death of well-known characters and other gripping moments.

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

Reading through this post and actually read things like Espionage, I think this Zelda is already available since a long time. It's called Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Ok serious now. I think, a Zelda during a war, this sounds good, but in the end, it will disappoint. It's like Terminator. You only saw a few scenes of the war in the future in the first movies. When the new Terminator was released a few years ago, set in this futuristic war, the movie totally sucked. The same goes for Zelda. I prefer to read about such things. Or seeing a flashback in a Cutscene.

 

[Doc]

I have thought of this, but I don't think I would want to see Link as a soldier/commander. The closest thing to war for him I would like is a war going on outside his hometown. Link is often from simple, peaceful villages. Him being sent off to war doesn't feel like a start of a game. Besides, Link is often seen as being a hero who likes to fight alone. Making him no more than a common soldier seems odd and take away his purpose. As I said, I would enjoy if we see wars as Link explores the land, as it could highly influence the cultures of every race and personalities. If characters were to make Link perform tasks to let him through locations, and prove himself to advance again seems interesting. Wars are something I really want to see, but I really would not want to see him take place alongside others.

 

[snakeoiltanker]

all this works for me, I think it would have to be a spin off game, with Zelda being the General, Link being the captain down in the trenches with his men.... where in the time line you say...two words "CHAOS ERA"

Its after SS and before MC (which i oddly just discovered was the first Zelda game set in actual Hyrule) the game would cover the war which caused them to seal the sacred real, and end with the beginning of the "Era of prosperity" and show the beginning of Hyrule being established and leading to the world that MC was set in...... Works for me, a spin off game that fits in the timeline.

Yeah thats right your Mind=Blown LOL

 

[MilkbarOwner3]

I would like to see the imprisoning war in action. It would be so cool!

 

[Spirit]

Well we have the horde battle in SS which could probably be implemented into a war based scenario in Zelda, where one swipe sends enemies spiralling away Dynasty Warriors style.

While i would like to see Zelda make good on their promises of war within the narrative itself and not just mentioning it for a plot device, i'd rather them show us rather than playing through it. It'd be nice to have a character be talking to you and then see some great choreographed action scenes during a war that is being spoken about, i think that would be a lot more fun than actually playing one, it'd be a nice moment in the narrative to say 'things are gonna be different now' like the familiar third dungeon prologue twist.

So yeah just seeing a war in Zelda would be good enough for me.

 

[Azure Sage]

Well we have the horde battle in SS which could probably be implemented into a war based scenario in Zelda, where one swipe sends enemies spiralling away Dynasty Warriors style.

Like Spirit of Rutela said, the Horde Battle in Skyward Sword was pretty close to how I'd imagine a war scene would be. Personally, I've found the idea of a huge war in a Zelda game to not be very interesting. And like Ventus said, Link is generally fighting by himself in most games, discounting Spirit Tracks where Zelda could fight alongside Link in the Tower of Spirits. So having Link participating in a war alongside lots of soldiers seems rather unlikely. The closest thing to a war scenario I can imagine would be a scene similar to the Horde Battle in which Link drives off a huge enemy force all by himself. I could see something like that happening in a more story-centric game, but that's about it. I can't a imagine a full-blown war being implemented in the series.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I'm also with Spirit, I think seeing the war taking place would be a good thing.

I really liked that part at the end of TP where the freedom fighters storm the castle. I think this could be implemented in some future game, where we see the resistance fighters all gather and charge off against the enemy hordes. Combine that with the Horde Rush scenario like at the end of SS, and I think that would be perfect. We see many other people fight off in a war that we also partake in. We just won't need to take command of their forces, which would throw the pacing and style of Zelda games off, and instead focus on our own particular task at hand. Perhaps we could also throw in certain objectives like open the fortress doors or something similar to keep it fresh, maybe.

 

[SpiritGerudo]

I think that a war-based story would be excellent if only to finally have a game that actually involves the people of the world. I hate that in so many Zelda games, the story involves Link, Zelda, and Ganon. Nobody else knows that something's going on, nobody helps, everyone is just part of the superficial, meaningless world that is just there to mesh the dungeons together and to be an interlude between the bits of the game that actually mean something. I hate that. It's awful. Involving Link's story with an actual war would inevitably make the world more involving and ensure that the people are part of the story.

Also, let's not forget that "war" doesn't exclusively mean "huge full-scale battles of two gigantic opposing armies". Even if we did have a war-based Zelda game, it wouldn't mean that Link has to be a soldier (of any rank) nor would it mean that he has to be directly involved in the chain of command in a military situation. He could have a separate story that just intersects the war in certain points to involve the people of the world in his own adventure as well as involve Link in the world more. I think it could be great.

 

[robow87]

I think that instead of you playing as link it's someone else, like someone in the war, and he's telling link about it, as a bedtime story, because he's links father.
I'm a freakin genus!