Breath of the Wild Will it be the last straw for you?

[Dio]

I have been with Zelda since OOT released I have witnessed the decline in quality of the modern series. I've had enough of it, all it does is get me angry at how it is being handled by Aounuma and I simply cant take it anymore.

If Zelda U sucks I shall completely lose my interest in the series. There are other fantasy games out there that are of high quality such as the Witcher series and Elder scrolls series which largely satiate my appetite yet the thing is I like the characters of Zelda. I want to keep adventuring with them but if these adventures are going to continue to be mediocre I don't see why I should pay to put up with it.

I hope this is the entry that restores my faith and gets me excited for future installments but if not I guess there is no point in taking part in purchasing games in a series that only disappoint.

How do you feel about Zelda U? You going to stick with the series even if the game sucks or will you also leave it behind to seek thrills elsewhere?

 

[Dan]

No game franchise will ever be the last straw for me. I look at games case by case. Saying that I'm really really really really really hoping Zelda Wii U is going to be the BEST GAME EVAR!

 

[Dio]

No game franchise will ever be the last straw for me. I look at games case by case. Saying that I'm really really really really really hoping Zelda Wii U is going to be the BEST GAME EVAR!

I'm not hoping for that as I believe I'll be disappointed again. If it is really good it will be a pleasant surprise.

 

[Jirohnagi]

I've been with zelda since 1998 (OOT) in other words and i've played them all and i've noticed over the years it went from brutally difficult to tough to merely hard to pathetically handholdy. I love the series but i am losing my enthusiasm for the series with the latest games to come out. TFH was a major mistake, the implementation and mechanics didn't belong in a zelda game and forcing us to Multiplay may have been good for mario or monster hunter but Zelda has never been about playing with others it's been about surmounting tough as nails challenges and getting those ever precious bragging points.

I don't think i'll stick around if Zelda U is crap.

 

[The lone shadowbat]

I guess sense I'm a newer fan I really like the series as it is now, so I don't think that any game will make me quit outside of a extreme case.

 

[Jamie]

I've been with zelda since 1998 (OOT) in other words and i've played them all and i've noticed over the years it went from brutally difficult to tough to merely hard to pathetically handholdy. I love the series but i am losing my enthusiasm for the series with the latest games to come out. TFH was a major mistake, the implementation and mechanics didn't belong in a zelda game and forcing us to Multiplay may have been good for mario or monster hunter but Zelda has never been about playing with others it's been about surmounting tough as nails challenges and getting those ever precious bragging points.


I don't think i'll stick around if Zelda U is crap.

I find it weird you would say this. ALBW is probably the hardest Zelda game since the Oracles. It also has the most freedom in it since probably Zelda I. I think at the very least, Nintendo has realized our complaints and that is why they've decided to create an open world game for Zelda U.

I also disagree that the series has declined since OoT. I happen to really like games like the Oracle series, The Minish Cap, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, ALBW, and honestly, Skyward Sword wasn't that bad. If you go into every game thinking "this will be ****", then it probably will be. If you are excited about the release and are hoping for the best, it's much more likely to entice you.

 

[Lozjam]

One bad game does not destroy a series, as the next game after the bad one is usually good(Except for the Sonic Series).
So what, Skyward Sword was just okay for you. That doesn't mean that future games in the series cannot be good.
Though, really, A Link Between Worlds was a fantastic game, and it was the last game that EAD3 created. So they really are in the right direction regarding the series.

I find it weird you would say this. ALBW is probably the hardest Zelda game since the Oracles. It also has the most freedom in it since probably Zelda I. I think at the very least, Nintendo has realized our complaints and that is why they've decided to create an open world game for Zelda U.

I also disagree that the series has declined since OoT. I happen to really like games like the Oracle series, The Minish Cap, Wind Waleed, Twilight Princess, ALBW, and honestly, Skyward Sword wasn't that bad. If you go into every game thinking "this will be ****", then it probably will be. If you are excited about the release and are hoping for the best, it's much more likely to entice you.

A Link Between Worlds is an absolutely gruesome game in Hero mode. That's for sure the hardest game since Zelda 2 even. What is fantastic however, is that unlike other recent released, ALBW was extremely well balanced in both regular and hero mode.

The series has not declined at all, they just had a mistep with Skyward Sword(it is still a fantastic game btw), and WW and TP are great improvements on OoT.

Furthermore, on that last statement, is that being overhyped is absolutely detrimental as well. Which is why Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and even something like Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were very well received when it released, but as time went on its reception declined. Being underhyped is probably for the best as well. For example, I was not hyped for A Link Between Worlds at all. I did not see the point of it. However, once I got my hands of the game, it knocked me completely out of the park. It really did surprise me, and it gave me a ton of hope for the next game that EAD3 releases, Zelda Wii U.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I'm not of the belief that Ocarina of Time is the best game in the series, nor is it my favourite. Therefore, I don't see the "decline" the same way you do.

Obviously, Nintendo's put out some not-so-great Zelda games, but that's expected when there are so many games in a franchise. For the most part, though, I think they're still on top of their game. A Link Between Worlds, Skyward Sword, and the 2 DS titles are great! Tri Force Heroes is mediocre but still has a really fun and challenging multiplayer. The Wind Waker is my second favourite Zelda game, right behind Majora's Mask, followed by SS. Even Twilight Princess and The Minish Cap are in my top 10.

So no. Zelda U will not be the last straw for me. If it's Zelda, I'll love it.

 

[Jamie]

@Lozjam I didn't mean be overhyped for the game, but rather being hopeful about it. Generally if you go into something thinking "this will suck", you tend to nitpick it a lot and it ends up, well, sucking.

 

[Emma]

I am not sure. Yeah the quality of the series has been declining. I haven't actually really liked a game from it since Twilight Princess. But I'm actually a bit optimistic about the things we've been hearing about the new one. Dragon Age did something similar. Amazing first game, severe disappointment in the second, and then an outstanding turnaround in the third. So it can be done. And not to mention that Nintendo has seemed to have given up on gimmick controls. While they're still obsessed with a useless hardware gimmick, at least their controls now are actually functional and can do their jobs. So it'll at least be comfortable to play and it won't be agonizing, quite literally, like the DS games and Skyward Sword. But then it could turn out to be a major disappointment anyway. So we'll just have to wait and see. And in any case it won't take away from my enjoyment of the earlier titles, which I still fire up now and then when I can.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

"Last straw" is probably a bit extreme. I'm more of a casual fan of the series these days, which is more of a result of the stylistic decisions of the series rather than the actual quality.

Although I will admit that I was very concerned during the era where our newest games were PH, ST, and SS. That's three very lackluster games, and pretty much all we had for a 5 year period. When you have three games over a five year span that are all vastly below the high caliber of the series, it's a pretty big red flag for the quality of the franchise. ALBW was a very good game though, and has hopefully put handheld Zelda back on the track that MC was leading it down before bad WW sequels took over. That alone gave me some hope that we were just in a down period for a while, which every series has.

That admittedly is just for handheld Zelda though. Having one console game per five years in the modern era makes a bad title hard to swallow, and that's exactly what SS was. I'm just scared that it's going to yet again be a good two or three years behind the competition - it could technically be "okay", but it'll just be retreading what others have already done better.

I won't give up on the series in its entirety necessarily, but my hope for the actual console installations will continue to drop.

 

[Jirohnagi]

One bad game does not destroy a series, as the next game after the bad one is usually good(Except for the Sonic Series).
So what, Skyward Sword was just okay for you. That doesn't mean that future games in the series cannot be good.
Though, really, A Link Between Worlds was a fantastic game, and it was the last game that EAD3 created. So they really are in the right direction regarding the series.

A Link Between Worlds is an absolutely gruesome game in Hero mode. That's for sure the hardest game since Zelda 2 even. What is fantastic however, is that unlike other recent released, ALBW was extremely well balanced in both regular and hero mode.

The series has not declined at all, they just had a mistep with Skyward Sword(it is still a fantastic game btw), and WW and TP are great improvements on OoT.

Furthermore, on that last statement, is that being overhyped is absolutely detrimental as well. Which is why Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and even something like Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were very well received when it released, but as time went on its reception declined. Being underhyped is probably for the best as well. For example, I was not hyped for A Link Between Worlds at all. I did not see the point of it. However, once I got my hands of the game, it knocked me completely out of the park. It really did surprise me, and it gave me a ton of hope for the next game that EAD3 releases, Zelda Wii U.

How is it gruesomely tough? ALBWs was ridiculously easy if you took 5 mins to watch enemy patterns and not to be sniggering at Hero Mode it's nothing compared to the older zeldas where difficulty didn't come from enemies that can just wack you in the face and kill you instantly.

The rest of it i won't argue with bar the fact for a long time it's been declining.

 

[The lone shadowbat]

How is it gruesomely tough? ALBWs was ridiculously easy if you took 5 mins to watch enemy patterns and not to be sniggering at Hero Mode it's nothing compared to the older zeldas where difficulty didn't come from enemies that can just wack you in the face and kill you instantly.

The rest of it i won't argue with bar the fact for a long time it's been declining.

Yeah, though even hero mode has started gotten easy for me, though that could be a byproduct of me over playing the game a bit. (Next play-though, three hearts, no upgrades.)

 

[Jirohnagi]

Yeah, even hero mode has gotten easy for me, though that could be a byproduct of me over playing the game.

Like i literally played Hero Mode the first time and due to enemies telegraphing attacks you can tell when you can kill them, that and if you figure it out Tornado Rod and Fire Rod are some of the most broken things ever in a zelda game. One literally gives a free stun shielded foe or not and the other crowd controls. Only time i ever truly suffered was the final battle against Yuganon and that was due to me overstepping my bounds. That and those accursed firefly things. Turns out you can just painting to avoid them

 

[The lone shadowbat]

Like i literally played Hero Mode the first time and due to enemies telegraphing attacks you can tell when you can kill them, that and if you figure it out Tornado Rod and Fire Rod are some of the most broken things ever in a zelda game. One literally gives a free stun shielded foe or not and the other crowd controls. Only time i ever truly suffered was the final battle against Yuganon and that was due to me overstepping my bounds. That and those accursed firefly things. Turns out you can just painting to avoid them

I have yet to finish the game in Hero mode, (blame me getting WW and ST) but I can agree with you, the only trouble I had was at the beginning, once I got to Lorule I made the mistake of upgrading my sword and tunic.