What Makes It 'Zelda'?

[February Eve]

I have attempted to search for a thread like this...now that I've looked a day, someone will probably come in and post me a link within the first few comments.

This is a spin-off from reading some of the wants/don't wants for the new Zelda Wii and reading about what's classic to people and what doesn't feel like Zelda. Which begs the question...

What does make it feel like Zelda for you? For starters, I've been thinking about how it seems obvious to me that part of the staples are the triforce, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf...but Majora's Mask only has one out of four of those (well, 1.5 if you count Zelda in the flashback.) And while it does feel a little different to me, it's still "Zelda."

So, some of my staples:

1) Link and his video game equivalent of a bildungsroman (heh, sorry, it's just fun to say.) It's not just that he's the protagonist, it's that it's his coming-of-age story. (Perhaps this is one reason MM is that little bit different to me, since that already happened in OoT, but because Link is so young in it, it still works.)

2) Exploration. It's also starting to feel natural the way the world unrolls a piece at a time, though not as necessary (such as in LoZ and AlttP when you could visit a large amount in the beginning.)

3) The fantastical element to it. Magic meter or not, there's always SOME kind of magic that's accepted by the protagonist to advance the story - the triforce, warping, fairies & healing springs. Also, there's a spiritual component that no one in-story questions, it just is.

4) The quirky and often humorous universe. Gorons being used as a spring board, fish forming musical notes, cuccuos being used as hovering devices, cows in treehouses...even the darker games had these details.

5) Finally, when it all comes down to it, it's David vs. Goliath - Courage vs. Power.

I have others, but even out of those, my core elements are 1 & 5, so I'm fairly easy to please. What are your thoughts?

 

[TriforceHunter]

To me the things that make it Zelda is that there's an orphan child thats usually a nobody or a reject of society that gets caught up in a bunch of events were hell breaks lose, all to explore the beatifull world in order to complete a search and then finally be the hero in shining armer that will rescue the Princess from pure evil and save the day, thats how I look at it.

 

[43ForceGems]

To me the things that make it Zelda is that there's an orphan child thats usually a nobody or a reject of society that gets caught up in a bunch of events were hell breaks lose, all to explore the beatifull world in order to complete a search and then finally be the hero in shining armer that will rescue the Princess from pure evil and save the day, thats how I look at it.

You basicly just laid out MC.

Well, I think what makes it Zelda is unrealisticnessish. Translation of that word: Totally not real. That's a reason why I don't like TP, cause it was too realistic, no magic, all machines, no stupid funny things to make you lol. To me, 'Zelda' is The original Legend of Zelda. That's something I've said before, if you're playing the original LoZ and you say to something, "That's so not Zelda!" Well guess what, whatever you think is 'Zelda' isn't Zelda. Cause LoZ IS Zelda. OoT I think brought back a lot of the original Zelda elements. I can't say what I think is 'Zelda' , like you laid out, FE, but I can say what I think isn't 'Zelda'.

1. Magic is Zelda, so that makes realistic, like machines, and no magic, not Zelda. (TP)
2. Having the Triforce in the game, (as in Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf) is Zelda, but when you flop them in at the end to "make it better" that's not Zelda. (TP)
3. Lastly, Getting a Dungeon Map, a Compass, an item, a Boss Key, and then something after the temple, is Zelda. So not having all that, isn't Zelda. (AoL, FSA, PH, ST)

There's my points what makes it not 'Zelda'
I hope to see all that I think IS 'Zelda' in Zelda Wii. Why? Cause it has Zelda in the name.

 

[Zeruda]

1) Coming of Age Story
-- Younger and less developed gamers pay attention to it, but it is found in the series, even in the older games. Link basically starts as an innocent kid and gets wrapped up in a huge quest. Decisions have to be made, and the things he experiences will change his view of the world and himself. Ultimately, he "grows up". Most of the time, it's a sort of mental growth, but Ocarina of Time touched on both the mental and physical aspects of that part of the story. TP touched up on the mental part very well with Colin.

2) Simple Boy
-- Link is always a simple boy without any special powers. He's no Superman. That's part of what really makes the games 'Zelda'. He's just an ordinary kid who ends up doing the unordinary. It's feeling like you can do anything without having to be a super hero that really gives you that powerful, enlightened feeling. After beating a game, you just feel... empowered. Makes you feel like you can make a difference.

3) It's Own Reality
-- Zelda is NOT supposed to be realistic- even the makers say this. Most games out today mimic reality, but Zelda has its own reality. There are things in the world of Zelda that just wouldn't ever be real in our world, but when you play the games, they still feel realistic. It's because Zelda, unlike everything else, has a unique world that doesn't try to be something it's not.

4) Fantasy Feel
-- Fairies, magic spells, magic items... while they've sort of been disappearing, I think these elements are a core part of Zelda and need to return. Without them, it's does feel like Zelda.

5) The 'Zelda' Dream Team
-- I think having Link, Zelda, and Ganon all there makes it really feel like Zelda. Link's Awakening was a brilliant game, but it still seemed a little off at times because there wasn't Ganon. TP hit a lot of fans hard because Ganon and Zelda hardly had any screen time.

6) The Triforce
-- Speaks for itself, I think. Either having a piece or trying to obtain it needs to be mentioned. It's what all the hubbub is usually about anyway.

 

[Shadsie]

For me... I guess...

1. The very strong "Good vs. Evil" plot - as in, the black and the white are easily defined, not ambigious. Moral ambiguity is for real life, and for other stories. Zelda games have always been a fairy tale, where you *know* that you are playing/guiding a true Hero and you are out to fight definitive evil. Now, the games have played with this just a little bit - all the way from the beginning (where you have Moblins -normally enemy creatures - in some of the caves helping you out with money). You have the Moe the Moblin story in WW, you have Ganondorf give his sob story about his people living in their hard desert land (but it was *still* not enough to balance out his setting monsters upon the islands and murdering Sages and such...) You could argue for TP, too, with the Twilight, but in the end, Midna and the Twili weren't evil, just "dark" - you can be "dark" without being evil. Overall, the morality of the games is pretty much black and white. You know Link and Zelda are good and that Ganondorf is evil. If that were ever brought into real question (say, a scene where the Hero does something less-than-heoric just to "develop the character") ... it wouldn't feel like Zelda to me. Zelda needs the Black and White morality.

2. Fantastic Elements. Now, I don't *mind* things that seem "tech" or "realistic" in Zelda (TP is my favorite game, even with all its sky canons and sci-fi-ish themes.... probably *is* part of the reason I liked it so much.... I enjoy some of the advancement Termina has in Majora's Mask, I haven't played Spirit Tracks yet, but I am not turned off of the idea of Zelda with steam locomotives... I *wrote* a novel-sized fanfic that gave Hyrule a mixture of Old West, Modern Day and Sci Fi technologies and a lot of pragmatism and even had Link be skeptical of magic in the beginning...) However, in all of these (my fanfic included, though it doesn't count) there are elements of magic and things that feel realistic in the game that just don't happen in real life. I love the absolute whimsy of gliding down from the top of a cliff or building, holding the legs of a chicken. My rational brain tells me that I'm violating the laws of physics, but dangit, it's a fantastic world where impossible things like that happen and it's fun!

3. The little inside-jokes of the games present - at least, this is Zelda to me for modern games. What I mean is things like the fact that a small key opens only one door (Link breaks his keys?) The utter value of empty bottles ("trash" is worth more than rupees!) The potential for irate livestock to attack you... things like that.

4. Connection to Nature. All of the Zelda games (from the original to OoT, to MM, to Oracles... all of them) are set in places where nature is vast and largely in charge. In other words, I'm not sure a "cityscape Zelda" would do it for me. I like the forest, the mountains, the desert... even the sea (although, I have to say, WW feels like the "least Zelda Zelda" to me because it didn't have all the nice overland forests and fields, it was sea, ships and tiny islands... didn't feel the same as the other games).

5. Link, of course. I haven't played LA, and was a bit annoyed playing MM and seeing Zelda herself (TITLE CHARACTER!) give all of two minutes of screentime, but MM still had the "magic feel" for me, probably because Link is still Link. If Nintendo tried to make a "Zelda' title with a different protagonist, it wouldn't do it for me. (No, I have not played the Tingle games..).

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Here's my list.

1) Link must be the main antagonist and the character you play as. No exception.

2) It absolutely must be made by Nintendo or Capcom with Nintendo's supervision.

3) It must involve Link becoming a true hero. That's how it is and should be in almost every Zelda game. Link starts off as an ordinary boy (or man in one particular case) who becomes a true hero to the world.

4) Another thing that is a must is the Zelda formula. Go through three dungeons to get three items, plot twist, more dungeons.

5) In those dungeons, there must be an item that you use to defeat the dungeon boss.

6) Fantasy is also a must. It's a world with elves and fairies and fish people for god's sake! It was always meant to be fantastic.

7) There must also be puzzles in and out of the dungeons that when left unsolved, block progression.

 

[Linkette]

3) It's Own Reality
-- Zelda is NOT supposed to be realistic- even the makers say this. Most games out today mimic reality, but Zelda has its own reality. There are things in the world of Zelda that just wouldn't ever be real in our world, but when you play the games, they still feel realistic. It's because Zelda, unlike everything else, has a unique world that doesn't try to be something it's not.

4) Fantasy Feel
-- Fairies, magic spells, magic items... while they've sort of been disappearing, I think these elements are a core part of Zelda and need to return. Without them, it's does feel like Zelda.

5) The 'Zelda' Dream Team
-- I think having Link, Zelda, and Ganon all there makes it really feel like Zelda. Link's Awakening was a brilliant game, but it still seemed a little off at times because there wasn't Ganon. TP hit a lot of fans hard because Ganon and Zelda hardly had any screen time.

6) The Triforce
-- Speaks for itself, I think. Either having a piece or trying to obtain it needs to be mentioned. It's what all the hubbub is usually about anyway.

I so agree with that


For me those points alsoare really important
1. DUNGEONS, TEMPLES ETC
What is a Zelda game without dungeons, puzzles and mysteries? They were in since the first Zelda game so the next one should be no exception. Zelda games are known well partly because of the puzzles.

2. MEMORABLE NPCs
NPCs add a great touch of storyline of done well. I really like some dramatic scenarios like Anju and Kafei in MM, or the ghost of Dampe in the second part of OoT. I was a bit dissapointed with TP cause they just threw a bunch of NPCs who didn't matter at all to me. They should include a few new NPCs with unique personalities and put a couple of revamped NPCs from older games (return of Midna would be cool)

3. SIDEQUESTS
This might be an opinion but I love collecting things in games. (Gold Skulltulas, Poe Souls, Goulden Bugs, stamps, treasures etc) They give the game a 'Gotta Collect Them All' feeling.

 

[Ninten*]

I think a Zelda game includes a Hyrulean orphan boy named Link who is 10-17 years old, gets a sword and shield, goes minding his own buisness and gets to go on a quest to save Zelda/Hyrule. He goes through dungeons to get items and defeats bosses. He also battles a final boss and when it's defeated, Link saves Hyrule and the player officially beats the game. I think I'll come up with more ideas later.

 

[Diablo]

What makes it zelda for me is the good vs evil save the princess and kill the bad guy to save the world scenario. It is also a sense of adventure you get when you play the game.

 

[bigflyingpotato]

Well 1 would be the obvious one, Link being the protagonist and playable character, Nintendo won't change that. The good old trusty sword and shield are necessary. Dungeons too.
Magic or some form of it, something unrealistic that spits at our laws of nature.
I always like seeing Link mature and get stronger throughout the game, I like the idea of at first thinking you wouldn't stand a chance against that villain, and overcoming him/her in the end.
Multiple races, Sheikah, Zoras, Gorons etc. there should at least be one or two.
Sidequests, partners, (even if they're not around all the time like in Wind Waker) and the classic items like bombs, a bow, and hopefully some sort of hookshot.
I can't think of anymore right now but there are others I'm sure.

 

[SavageWizzrobe]

1) It must have Link as the protagonist.
2) It must contain fantasy elements. These include fairies, talking boats/trees, magical items, fictional races, etc.
3) It must have dungeons! The dungeons must involve solving puzzles, getting an item midway through and fighting a boss at the end.
4) It must have NPCs and sidequests! The world needs to be interacted with.
5) It must be developed by Nintendo or by another developer supervised by Nintendo.
6) It must be an action-adventure game, not an RPG.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

What I like is the magic, puzzles, and combat put together.