I'm going to start off saying I'm not opposed to a realistic(ish) styled Zelda game, just I don't agree with a lot of the reasoning's for a realistic Zelda game.
Nintendo really should make the upcoming Zelda Wii U should go for a realistic (or semi realistic) art style, similar to the 2011 tech demo, and these four reasons explain why:
1. Nintendo specifically said that they want Zelda Wii U to bring Zelda too a big audience. Zelda games sell the most in North America (NA). NA gamers tend to like games with realistic graphics opposed to cartoony graphics, hence why Twilight Princess (TP) sold a lot more than Skyward Sword (SS). If they want the game to sell well, they should make NA the targeted audience, and make the graphics realistic or semi realistic.
I guess I agree with you there, if Nintendo wants to bring more sells to NA, I guess its a good idea. But the problem is we might get TP again, and Nintendo's big thing is innovation. Not repetition.
2. It been 7 years since a realistic looking Zelda, It’s time for a change and to go back to a more realistic looking Zelda style. I don’t mind the cartoony art style (I loved the way Wind Waker looked), but do you really want the Zelda franchize to stay cartoony forever? Plus, Wind Waker (WW) is being remade on the Wii U, so why have two cartoony Zelda games on the Wii U? Why not mix it up a bit, and give Zelda Wii U a more realistic and darker art style to contrast WW Wii U. Every Zelda game released after TP has been cartoony, that is three original games over 7 years. As I said before, there is nothing wrong with the cartoony art style, but it’s time for change. It’s only fair to go back to a more realistic looking Zelda, and the Wii U is the perfect opportunity for this. There should be balance.
Why realistic? There is so many other art styles they can try instead of going to realism. They can even make it darker with other art styles if they wanted to
3. Zelda Wii U is on the Wii U, a next gen console, it has the power to run games with HD and really good graphics, it would be a waste of the console not to push the next Zelda game with a more realistic art style. This is the perfect opportunity for them to make a Zelda game with really really good graphics. SS and WW’s art style had smoothe textures while TP's art style on the other hand, allowed for far more detail in it’s textures and allows for the lighting to be more dynamic. Overall TP’s art style allows for better graphics, and more detail than art style’s from the cell shaded Zelda games. With the Wii U, if they went with a cartoony art style, that would be holding the console back and not allowing it to demonstrate it’s potential. Realistic art styles tend to demonstrate graphics better than cartoony ones. It would be rather lazy of them to give Zelda Wii U a cartoony art style opposed to challenging/utilizing the console with a more realistic one. The Wii U's graphical capabilities shouldn't be wasted.
Again, although realism would look pretty on this consul, other styles could look just as beautiful. Just think how beautiful SS could be, with its impressionistic style, being able to see every brush stroke? Not saying that I want SS graphics-I don't- I'm just saying there are more opportunities then realism
4. The reason SS had a cartoony art style was because TP’s realistic graphics pushed the GC/Wii to the limit, Nintendo couldn’t make a Zelda with better graphics than TP on the Wii. So instead of them giving SS realistic graphics, they decided to take it’s visuals in a different direction, giving it a more cartoony look (they also said they used this to emphasize enemies weak spots to help with the motion control). Now with the Wii U, Nintendo actually has the graphical power to make a Zelda game that looks better than TP, so why use SS’s art style on the Wii U?
SS wasn't necessarily cartoony, the only thing I found cartoony were the proportions of some of the characters, which in my opinion, I find those people to be hidous. Everything else was stylistic, not cartoony
And one more thing, isn't 'anime' just a cartoon? Just a different style? TP was anime styled, all the characters had eyes to large for their heads, and Malo isn't quite proportioned right (*shivers* Malo creeped me out 0_o)
After listing these four reasons, it would not be very smart of Nintendo not to grant Zelda Wii U a realistic (or semi realistic) art style. An art style similar (or the same as) to the E3 2011 Tech Demo.
Well, the pictures here didn't give TWWHD justice at all. Not only are those earlier pictures of Link, TWWHD has very beautiful scenery. I wasn't a huge fan of it at first until Miyamoto mentioned how you can just feel the temperture. I hadn't noticed before, but then I really saw how beautiful it was, how I could just feel like I was there. I watched the trailer and it was just gorgeous.
And one of the reasons why they brought TWW to WiiU was because it was such a surprise how beautiful it really was, you would expect something beautiful from the other games, but TWW? Who knew!
The thing is, it is sort of a reason to go for a realistic art style. Skyward Sword and Wind Waker's art style's were created to look good on the hardware, which is why Twilight Princess looks dated already. The Wii U has more power and has better capabilities, and it's also what fans want. If they're not going for a realistic look, then that's a shame. There still hasn't been a game on Wii U that shows it's full power quite like the Zelda Tech Demo did.
Yes, the tech demo looked beautiful, but the actual game play won't be as great, and it probably will last only a couple more years the TP did. Even then, that doesn't mean realism is the way to go.
FFXIII? LOL everyone hated the gameplay. People certainly didn't buy the game for music. The story was often cited as crappy. So...? GRAFIX.
Battlefield and CoD are generic shooters. People don't get them for story or for gameplay mechanics; they get them for TEH GRAFIX!1EON.
RDR has great everything, so I concede for that game.
MGS4 has great everything as well, so I concede for that game.
You sound like your trying to give Nintendo advice, NINTENDO advice. A company that has been in the video game market LONGER then ANY OTHER VIDEO GAME COMPANY. I think they know what they are doing with there precious Zelda. They are going to go with the graphics they find suit the Zelda universe and specific game the best. if thats realistic, we are going to get realistic, and the COD players can play some Zelda(Although I think Zelda, being a puzzle game, might be to complicated for some of them)
Nintendo knows how to look at statistics to ya know, they just know if they make a game they don't want to make, just because the majority of North America would like it, they won't be proud of it. Why not make a game a lot of people will enjoy(maybe not right away) instead of a game most people will enjoy for a short time, then get lost with all the other realistically looking games?
Yes please can we get Wii U Tech Demo-esque graphics. Not only does it show the capbilities of the Wii U more, it demonstrates that Nintendo simply isn't playing around - that they take Zelda seriously. I'm sorry but what percentage of the CoD fanbase would exist if CoD's art style changed from release to release - with the gravitas of a Zelda artstyle change? I daresay a meager 4% or less.
So please Nintendo. Do what looks greatest, not what may possibly be timeless. TWW's timelessness doesn't mean it sold great - and it didn't.
Nintendo
is taking Zelda seriously. Why are the graphics in SS so flexible? With the ability to go from light and dandy, to dark and creepy? Why are the words of Ganondorf from TWW so poetic? Bringing such depth to a once thought mindless evil doer? Or Zant and Midna have such complex character development? Why on earth would the world of majoras mask be filled with so many in depth characters?
So how about this, have Nintendo do what they believe is great for the next Zelda. I'm not saying they ALWAYS know what to do, but I don't think the graphics are the problem.
I think it's good for Nintendo to vary artstyle.
For a company that claims to innovate consistently to spur player interest, it's been relying more and more on already established visuals like New Super Mario Bros. and cel-shaded Zelda. Although it opened to skeptical reception, a lot of people appreciate The Wind Waker for the change it brought, both graphic and story wise. Nintendo easily could have used its Spaceworld engine for the first Gamecube Zelda, but rater than continue the realistic trend, it chose a lighter, more whimsical style. Now it's time for the reverse. Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and The Wind Waker HD have rendered cel-shading boring and predictable. Heck, Nintendo's so infatuated with the look, it chose to adopt an altered version for Skyward Sword.
Looking back at Zelda's chronology, I consider three distinct art stlyes: Overhead, realistic 3D, and cel-shaded 3D. The first four Zelda games, the Oracles, and The Minish Cap fall into the first category; Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess belong to the second; the third is composed of The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Skyward Sword. We've seen a lot of the last recently, and a Link Between Worlds will revive overworld Zelda. Now it's time to focus on something more realistic. As HyainKnight pointed out, a lot of people incorrectly assume realistic means darker. Ocarina of Time is a realistic Zelda game, yet only in select locations like the Royal Family's Tomb and Shadow Temple is it "dark".
Crafting a more realistic Zelda world is sure to expand Nintendo's userbase. There are a lot of people who play games like Skyrim that would gladly return to the Action-Adventure front if it offered titles that closer resemble real life. Gameplay will always be the fundamental component of a videogame experience, but it's also nice to stop and take a gander at the environments on display. Some of the set pieces in modern phenomenons like The Last of Us are absolutely gorgeous, and I can spend over ten minutes taking them in. A lot of people ask what the next revolutionary phase for Zelda is. Nintendo needs to refine contemporary game settings. A large, detailed overworld complete with player interaction like destructible environments, day-night cycles, weather patterns, and Miiverse integration is the next logical step.
I agree, it is good for Nintendo to vary in art style, and so far, you are the best argument for a realistic Zelda game. But if it were to become to realistic, then wouldn't resemble more of Skyrim then Zelda? I don't mind the TP style, but I know I don't want something was realistic as Skyrim
Well there is no argument there, but on the other hand, games don't need to have realistic graphics to look breath-taking. At first I doubted the Wind Waker HD's Graphics and wasn't really fascinated by the visuals, but once I watched the Gameplay footage of the game, my opinion on the matter completely changed. No doubt a realistic Zelda would look stunning, but the fact that this is pretty much the norm for most X-box and PlayStation games, this artstyle has turned stale for me, and would much preferred it if Nintendo did something completely different then jump on the realism bandwagon. Thankfully Eiji Aonuma has said that Zelda Wii U won't have a realistic artstyle, so it would be interesting to see what they come up with.
I also agree with this, I don't want Zelda to be overly realistic because it would be to much of a look alike to other games. I don't necessarily mean I'm not open to a Zelda game that looks like TP, I think that would look beautiful on this consul, I just think that there might be something that could be even more stunning.
I think it should be realistic. My reason being that with realistic graphics, you can capture the landscape better, and I think that is very important to a game.
I disagree. I found SS's landscape to be beautiful and captured perfectly, and the same with TWW.
I think in the end the art style should be based upon whatever the game's feeling is going for. If it's a more serious game, go for a realistic art style and if it is a more light-hearted adventure, go for a cartoonish style. Based on personal preference, however, I would very much like to see a game with the color palette of Skyward Sword, the environment designs of Twilight Princess, and the character designs of Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask. A perfect blend that will really make the game feel like Zelda and not too experimental, which will in-turn cause less controversy within the fanbase.
Not too cartoony of course, but also not too realistic. I don't want it to look like Skyrim, however, because I just can't see that style working for a Zelda game due to Zelda's more fantasy-based atmosphere. Skyrim's art style is too serious and rigid, I want my Zelda art style to feel magical.
Exactly my thoughts, whatever the style is, I want it to match the feel of the game. I don't want it to be 'realistic' just because a whole bunch of twelve year old boys are like "omg ittzz so realz yo". If its gonna be realistic, its going to seem realistic. I don't want that at all. I want magical and whimsical, or maybe darker. I just want it to be a world filled with magic and wonder, not just the real world with magic in it. That would be boring.
To be honest, I really like the E3 WiiU demo, and if they went that way, I would be happy. It felt magical, it was beautiful, and it looked like it could be a lot of fun. But my point is that Zelda doesn't have to be realistic. It doesn't have to have realistic colors, or realistic proportions, it just has to feel right. THAT'S what I want.