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The Reinvention of Zelda

Posted by Zonk on Fri Mar 09, 2007 08:24 AM
from the he's-always-wearing-green-at-least dept.
Businesses Nintendo Entertainment Games
Gamespot reports on a lecture at GDC on Thursday, with commentary from Nintendo's manager of software development Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma went through the very long process involved in bringing Twilight Princess to the American audience. Realistic graphics were chosen for the US playerbase, but many other decisions came about via unorthodox thinking and the intervention of a higher power. "It was around this stage that Aonuma was talking to Nintendo senior managing director Shigeru Miyamoto, who told him something along the lines of, 'It's as though the Revolution (later renamed the Wii) was designed just for Zelda! Why don't you try making a Zelda for the Revolution?' In the end, believes Aonuma, the kind of direct control offered by the Wii Remote was exactly what was needed to breathe life into the game."
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  • MMmmmhhh, I might give it a try to this game, after all I bought it after getting the Wii (because my girlfriend likes playing Zelda games) but after watching her playing a bit, it seemed a bit boring. Catch some fish in order to attract the cat in order to take the cat to the grandma in order to get a token you take to grandpa in order to get some info on how to get the sword. And of course you can not do anything else unless you have done that...

    Dont get me wrong, I loved the LOZ- A Link to the Past (SNE

    • Re:I might give it a try... (Score:5, Informative)

      by MemoryDragon (544441) on Friday March 09 2007, @09:00AM (#18287672)
      This is purely the beginning... Zelda TP is very puzzle intense, but once you are above the first 5% you have lots of action.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by autojive (560399)

      They are supposed to be a bit "role playing" but are very linear.

      Um, pretty much all of the Zelda games are linear. Go to this dungeon, get this item & defeat this boss, get direction to the next dungeon to get that item & defeat that boss, wash, rinse, repeat. I don't know what games you've been playing to make you think that they were anything but linear.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Fiztaru (990211)
      I see your point about it being linear, but that's not really any big surprise; none of the games in the Zelda series could seriously be considered true RPGs (adventure with a few basic RPG elements mixed in).

      Look at A Link to the Past-you can't just go fight Agahnim; you've got to find your uncle in the castle sewers, rescue Zelda, take her to the church, travel to three dungeons to get all three Pendants to get the Master Sword, etc. So there hasn't been much of a change in that regard.

      Don't get me wr

      • ### I see your point about it being linear, but that's not really any big surprise; none of the games in the Zelda series could seriously be considered true RPGs (adventure with a few basic RPG elements mixed in).

        Zelda games are no RPGs, but they never were as linear as Zelda:TP. In Zelda:TP you could literally just solve dungeon, warp back to Thelma's tavern, get hint for next dungeon, warp to dungeon, solve dungeon, repeat. There was no need to explore at all, since everything you had to do was down right
        • Massive Zelda fan and I'll definitely give you that point, Zelda:TP is more linear than previous Zelda's.

          I'm not sure if it really detracts from the game though... Zelda:TP has a much stronger storyline than previous incarnations and hence the more strict storyline. As far as "Zelda Moments" go, the bits with Llia in them are right up there for me.

      • I actually played both games. "Shake the Remote" is simply mapped to the old B-button presses. That's all that's going on. The parry moves in the GameCube version of Twilight Princess are equally as complex as they are in the Wii version, only you're pressing B instead of shaking the Remote.

        The improvements in combat are part of the game, not part of the system.

  • Owners of the game: can a left-hander play it? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mccalli (323026) on Friday March 09 2007, @08:54AM (#18287634) Homepage
    I'm left-handed, and I already notice that I have to play Rayman Raving Rabids differently to the way they show you on the screen. I was wondering about Zelda, which I understand has Link being right-handed in this instalment.

    Now, this isn't a fanboy "Link should be left-handed!" rant, it's a question about whether a left-handed person can play it at all. Are there any settings for left-handers?

    Cheers,
    Ian
    • How you swing the Wiimote has no effect on Links sword movements at all, so if you swing with left or right doesn't matter at all. Most people just shake the remote to trigger a sword move, since swinging it doesn't make a difference.

    • Re:Owners of the game: can a left-hander play it? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Tofof (199751) on Friday March 09 2007, @09:04AM (#18287716)
      No, there's no "left-handed mode" setting or anything like that. However, unlike in, say, Wii Sports, the actual swinging motions you make have no effect on Link's action. Instead, it's basically a direct port from the GC version - instead of pushing a button to attack, you waggle the remote. The actual angle and speed of the swing don't matter - you can't aim the sword with the remote. Instead of the old 'hold b, then release' scheme, you waggle the nunchuck, and Link does his spinning move. The lock-on and jump attacks are all button presses even on the Wii. Bottom line - I'd be shocked if handedness affected it for anyone at all. The only places where you actually do any aiming are the ranged weapons (bow, hookshot equivalent, etc), and those zoom in to a first-person mode with a crosshair - again, Link's handedness shouldn't affect your ability to put the crosshair on the spot you want to shoot.
      • just for s*** and giggles i tried playing with the wii-mote in my left hand and navigating with nunchuck in the right and i must say the only problem i had playing this way was my lack of coordination between my cerebral lobes. i caught myself waving the wiimote in the direction i wanted to move in and link was running around a bit drunk looking. otherwise, once i got used to it the mechanics were unaffected. i could slash and aim just fine.
    • You do have to go out and buy the left-handed nunchuck attachment.

  • Inaccurate wiimote or just dumbed down control? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I hoped to see more complex combat in TP (as in requiring skill, not more token special moves), particularly with the wiimote's potential. Unfortunately, the wiimote's introduction really only means waving it around in time rather than pressing buttons in time, which isn't much better than button mashing. I'm not sure if this is the result of the wiimote/sensor not being accurate enough for real swordplay, or if the developers decided to keep it simple for the lowest common denominator (or maybe it seemed t
    • It's amazing how many people don't get this.. but can you imagine how badly Zelda:TP would sell if half its fanbase weren't "skilled" enough to play it?
      I love single player games, I love Zelda, but if you want an actual test of how good you are, that's what online is for. (NB: you will be dissapointed in yourself :-P)
      • It's amazing how many people don't get this.. but can you imagine how badly Zelda:TP would sell if half its fanbase weren't "skilled" enough to play it?

        You could have multiple difficulty levels. Granted, this takes away some of the mojo from beating it, but would still give skilled gamers something extra out of the game.

        I love Zelda, but if you want an actual test of how good you are, that's what online is for. (NB: you will be disappointed in yourself :-P)

        I'm not; they must be cheating somehow! Gotta be
  • I bought the Gamecube version of the game and can attest that the game still has plenty of "life" without the Wiimote. This would make sense, considering that the game was originally designed for the Gamecube.
    • Same here. I've played through the game on my Gamecube, and played a few parts on a friend's Wii. I didn't feel that the game on the Wii was really any better. I think there are lots of things they could do with Zelda on the Wii, but making it compatible with Gamecube as well was rather limiting.

  • Great game, spotty controls (Score:4, Interesting)

    by WapoStyle (639758) on Friday March 09 2007, @10:57AM (#18288642)
    I have enjoyed my time with Twilight Princess so far, I'm just past the "intro" dungeons. (First three) The more I play it, the more it seems like Ocarina of Time with a different story. Perhaps that's not too bad of a thing, that game is fondly remembered for good reason.

    My experience with the Wii Remote control system in Zelda is not a very good one. The big problem is the motion detection on the nunchuck attachment. Pushing it forward to do a shield block is an exercise in frustration as it never seems to work. I'll often end up shaking it violently for a few seconds before Link will perform a spin attack. This issue only crops up in Zelda, I never have an issue with motion sensing in Wii Sports.

    The only work around I've come across is exploiting line of site with the remote. I discovered the nunchuck is a lot more responsive if you drop the remote down by your side, out of line of sight of the when doing nunchuck movements.

  • I really liked Wind Waker though (Score:3, Informative)

    by OrangeTide (124937) on Friday March 09 2007, @12:35PM (#18290076) Homepage Journal
    I guess I'm one of the minority that thought Wind Waker's style of graphics and game play was the best thing Zelda has ever seen. I'm fine with alienating teen gamers, they have no taste. :)
    • Actually it is not really tacked on, the floating fairy is a matter of taste, I could live without it, but the motion sensing in combats is definitely a huge plus as well as the aiming via wiimote. If the graphics are improved I rather doubt it, the textures are way to washed out for a wii game, which is the main problem the game has graphicswise. (Btw. I hate the zoning system, this is definitely a huge design flaw and not really that necessary anymore)
    • You can turn off the fairy cursor. I made this one change, and the playability of the game improved about 100%.

      It could be worse. You could be damned to the Hell of eternal "HEY LISTEN!". At least the fairy knows she's best seen and not heard in this game. (Though really, I'm still scarred for life from "HEY LISTEN!")
      • I can imagine how you feel, for me it was the first Zelda so it is a nice experience. But the boss battle system inherent on consoles, is a pain in the buttocks. I really hate that, most PC rpgs do not have this definitive boss battle system but more a mission based one, which feels more natural, a boss battle can happen, but does not have to. Most console games felt like, go from a to b once you have gone far enough run into the boss. Most pc games feel more along the lines try to accomplish something no m
      • I can definately see where you're coming from. TP was my first Zelda game, I loved it so much that I went out and bought the OOT and WW. They are the same game with subtly different twists. I had a mixed feelings about this. On one hand having the same music and recognisable locations was refreshing, but it was also the same puzzles which I found frustrating. I guess its no different to any other series that has a 40 hour ark built in the same universe and the same core charactors. But OOT and TP were so cl
      • No, its not the same game. It's a Zelda game (Save the Princess!) with new dungeons, and new puzzles. Just like every other Zelda game has always been.

        Remember when Wind Waker came out? "Zelda? More like Celda!" and the other protests. People wanted a game more like Ocarina of Time. So Nintendo gave it to us. Twilight Princess is more beautiful than any Zelda before it. (Although I definitely prefer the fishing game in OOT). My only other complain is that the boss battles are too easy, but lets

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