Official Zelda Thread

[Chris]

I've not died to a boss fight or to an enemy but I died a couple times to motion controls when on low health.

Occasionally I may have to think twice about a puzzle or such but over all it doesn't take long to figure what you're meant to do, not a bad thing as such but some 'dungeons' so far (I've just got passed the ship) I've breezed past. It does flow quite nicely though except that Fi pops out every 5 mins and tells you what you already know or something an NPC just told you, wish you could turn her off.

The boss in the cistern was probably the biggest challenge for me so far, [spoiler]as it took me while to figure out what was meant to strike with the dropped swords, didn't realise at first could shop it's limbs off, it wasn't till I was down to 2 hearts that it clicked, was tense[/spoiler]

Thing is though, I simply don't have the time these days to play as much as I used to, so not been the hardest game in world sits well with me now. That's why I'm only at the stage where I am now in the game, I play a dungeon a week or so on a Sunday.

[Infinity's End]

except that Fi pops out every 5 mins and tells you what you already know or something an NPC just told you, wish you could turn her off.

THIS X 1000000000000000000000000
What in the flying FUCK is up with Nintendo in they have this belief that everyone who plays their games is an absolute fucking moron? I understand the whole concern of "we don't want people to stop playing our games because they're too difficult," but COME. ON. At the very least give me the option to "turn off hints from Fi." You can turn off the hint system in the Prime games, why should Zelda be any different?

I think the one where she tells you that your batteries are running low is cute and kinda cool, but they incessant bitching of "YOUR HEALTH IS RUNNING LOW" got really REALLY old. There's already a low-health alarm; we don't need a SECOND hand tapping on my shoulder letting me know something I already know!

[LesserChozo]

Been playing SS the past few days. I was a little slow getting into it. The Motion Plus took some getting used to.

Best new feature I've encountered so far - mind you I just finished the Temple of Time - is the ability to pocket bomb flowers. I've been wanting to do that since Ocarina.

Oh, and

Fi pops out every 5 mins and tells you what you already know or something an NPC just told you, wish you could turn her off.

Ditto. I'm starting to miss Navi.

[gigatravis]

Yeah, Fi is EASILY more annoying than Navi. In fact, Navi's annoyingness has been greatly exaggerated, in my opinion. She doesn't say "Hey, Listen!" nearly as much as people say. And during some boss battles, when I do need Fi sometimes, she WAITS FOR ME TO DIE before giving me hints on how to defeat it. [spoiler]So when it came time for her to leave during the final cutscene, I didn't feel bad at all, and found it extremely corny.[/spoiler]

[Apothem]

The Super Guides and automated playthroughs of previous games like New Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong Country Returns and I believe even Kirby's Return to Dreamland are all bad enough. Great, I suppose, for players truly lacking in skill but otherwise unwarranted and annoying. Fi, however, is simply mind-boggling. Rather than try and build another well rounded and integral support character like Midna, Nintendo instead opts to slap the player in the face with a companion that acts as though you're literally retarded. No option to turn her off, no attempt to endear her to the player, her role in the story at large is negligible and what advice she does impart that isn't simply restating the obvious is all but worthless. Whoever was responsible for her inane dribbling should be publicly beaten with bamboo sticks and mocked for their poor design decisions.

Fi, as a character, isn't a bad idea. Giving Link's sword a personality of it's own opens up a magnitude of possibilities. The problem stems from her complete lack of personality. She's quite literally a robot and no attempt is made to build on her relationship with either Link or the player. If she were some scarcely seen side character her annoyance could be easily over looked, however as she's a constant companion the player is forced to suffer her frustrating idiosyncrasies. I tried to like her, truly, or at the very least remain ambivalent to her, but buy the end of the game a moment meant to be touching simply fell flat and I was relieved to be finished with both her and the game.

If Nintendo is even remotely serious about shedding their now almost purely casual image then they desperately need to let go of their player's hands. If someone's playing a game and they happen to suck so bad that the developer believes they need the game to play itself than either they need desperately to reevaluate their design philosophy or the player in question needs to move on to a more appropriate game. Considering Nintendo's average fare is far from complicated or explicitly challenging, I'd say they either drop their superfluous hand holding or simply come out and admit they think their entire player base a bunch of mentally incompetent imbeciles.

[okey]

Well this could be cool for Zelda

Well actually let me save you a click and quote the most relevant part:

As you know, we have already collaborated with Retro for the Metroid Prime series in the past. And I think when we talk about any other franchise, Zelda might be a possible franchise for that collaboration

Yeah, so that's pretty much "Retro kinda sorta might have something to do with a Zelda game possibly. Maybe. I dunno." It could be simple as Retro doing some models and levels, like they did with Mario Kart. Or they could just flat out be making the next Zelda.

I can't imagine what a Retro-developed Zelda game would look or play like, which is exactly why I want them to do it.

[Naner]

DAN-DAN-DAN-DAAAAAN!


After a long and arduous quest, I finally have my bundle!


Too bad I'll only be able to play it after Friday next week.

[DJ Trancetronica]

OMG! Looks like Shiggy-sama wants Retro Studios (Metroid Prime series) to develop a Zelda game! Probably for the 3DS 'cuz Toon Link might have his story in it.

Shigeru Miyamoto Says He Would Like Retro Studios To Develop A Zelda Game

[Apothem]

People seem to be blowing the news out of proportion. All Shigeru Miyamoto said was that Retro might be a good fit for an additional collaboration, in the same vein as their work on Mario Kart 7, stating Zelda as a potential example in response to Wired's own question. It's not technically an endorsement. I'd personally be flabbergasted if he handed over the reins, even in part, to another developer on a major Zelda title, though given Nintendo's various collaborations involving handheld Zelda games, there's some credence to Retro co-developing a 3DS Zelda, it's still a far cry from any kind of confirmation.

Furthermore, it has been explicitly stated, by Aonuma himself, that the forthcoming 3DS exclusive Zelda title would be wholly separate from both the Wind Waker continuity and art style. If anything it may bear some connection to Skyward Sword, but we aren't likely to see Toon Link again for some time. Which is all well and good, as at eight games he's gotten far more exposure than any other singular iteration of Link in the series history. The games were fun, but it's time for a change. I'd much prefer a continuation of Skyward Sword in some form, there's much presented in the game that could greatly benefit from continued extrapolation and development.


For those wondering which games I'm refering to:

2002 - Wind Waker
2002 - Four Swords (GBA)
2004 - Four Swords Adventure (GC)
2004 - The Minish Cap
2007 - Phantom Hourglass
2008 - Super Smash Brothers Brawl
2009 - Spirit Tracks
2011 - Four Swords Anniversary Eddition (DS/3DS)

That's a lot of Toon Link.

[Labrynian Rebel]

Oh, and

Fi pops out every 5 mins and tells you what you already know or something an NPC just told you, wish you could turn her off.

Ditto. I'm starting to miss Navi.

I don't care if there's hand-holding, so long as it's OPTIONAL. Fi pops up WAY too often to spell out EXACTLY what you have to do, when you don't even ASK for it.

[Fission]

OMG! Looks like Shiggy-sama wants Retro Studios (Metroid Prime series) to develop a Zelda game! Probably for the 3DS 'cuz Toon Link might have his story in it.

Shigeru Miyamoto Says He Would Like Retro Studios To Develop A Zelda Game

That would be great, although I'd rather see Retro work on their own IP or revive another dormant franchise (Star Fox or F-Zero).

[gigatravis]

So, for those of you have beaten Skyward Sword, what was your favorite dungeon? Mine was easily the [spoiler]ancient citern[/spoiler]. One of the best dungeons in Zelda history.

[Tianna]

Wheeeee. I just got the harp.

The boss fight for the third dungeon was stupidly easy. I went in with like.. four hearts (fuck you, beamos, fuck you) and came out with 8. Didn't even use my fairies.

I do have to say that the plot is really fantastic so far. I'm definitely enjoying this a lot.


ETA: I'm starting to think of theories about Groose. o.O Nobody tell me, I haven't beaten it yet. I just got to the 4th dungeon.

[Apothem]

Here's something of potential interest: A recently released Zelda art book, in commemoration of the series' 25th anniversary, Hyrule Historia, contains amongst the usual fair for such publications a supposedly official timeline for the whole series. Kotaku reports, by way of an ongoing fan-translation, the timeline in a new handy graphic showing a now thrice split chronology, in stark contrast to the oft held theory of the dual timeline post-Ocarina of Time. Of course, the validity of both the translation and the included chronological order as presented in the art book have both yet to be verified, as such there's always the possibility of a mistranslation or Nintendo could simply renege the sequence flat out. If, however, it all proves positive such would be the first definitive confirmation of the otherwise rampant imaginative speculation of the Zelda community.


What strikes me odd about the supposed official timeline is the third arc. The prevailing theory is that Ocarina of Time split the series chronology in two: The adult timeline, picking up after Link defeats Ganon and branching off into The Wind Waker and it's sequels, and the child timeline, where Link is sent back to the past by Zelda after Ganon's defeat and successfully foils his plans, thus branching off into Majora's mask and Twilight Princess. The only reason thus far stated for the third arc, containing A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages / Seasons, Link's Awakening and Zelda 1&2, is that he somehow failed in his fight against Ganon, thereby branching off a new third path. How, when or why are left unanswered, all that's known is that it happens in an alternate setting of Ocarina of Time.

Those six games never fit quite as well as the others in most fan theories, so presuming the art book timeline to be accurate and canonical it's quite possible they're simply sectioned off in their own timeline until Nintendo can more appropriately place them. Regardless, as it stands this is all little more than additional wild speculation. The prospect of an official, Nintendo endorsed timeline for the series is nothing if not exciting. An indisputable unifying history is exactly what the series needs. Something to build off of rather than vaguely allude to. Still, take it all with a grain of salt, I suppose.

[Naner]

I've seen it, and I'm doubting its veracity. I think what bugs me the most is Four Swords Adventures being placed after Twilight Princess, which makes little to no sense. And three timelines might be a little too much.