The Thread of Zelda

[Aazealh]

I was just trying to point out that Nintendo is trying to market the new zelda to this particular niche, and I fail to see how it can accomplish that.

That's not the impression I got. They're making a big world, much bigger than previously, because they can. The Wii U has enough power for it. Are they merely trying to emulate Skyrim? I highly doubt that. Skyrim was a big commercial success, but I don't think people are oblivious of its flaws. At the same time, like others have said, the original Zelda pioneered the idea of an open world, and that's what this new game was first announced as going back to.

You speak of the series having a formula, but that idea has always been its greatest enemy in my opinion. To think that a Zelda game absolutely has to follow certain rules means funneling the series into a dead-end, which is pretty much what they've done to it. Breaking that mold means there's a chance of bringing back some freshness into it.

[Johnstantine]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rPxiXXxftE

New trailer for Breath of the Wild.

I'm trying not to hype, but this definitely looks like they're going in the right direction

[Walter]

Yep, watching the live stream now. Looks damned good.

[Aazealh]

Very promising. Might make me buy an NX, whatever that is.

[Ari]

I'll certainly have to go fifty/fifty with my brother on getting an NX, because the new Zelda looks great. I do wish gameplay was a little more...challenging looking. Enemies do damage now, which is too a good start, but combat looks...not very heavy? It looks simple.

[Tabris]

Haven't played a Zelda game since Ocarina of Time was brand new. Which definitely makes me a terrible human being and I will not hide that.

This new one is almost definitely going to be the next one. I do intend to play Twilight Princess in the near future too (a tad bit late sigh).

[Johnstantine]

I do intend to play Twilight Princess in the near future too (a tad bit late sigh).

TP is amazing, but there's also Majora's Mask, Windwaker, and Link Between Worlds--all of which are fantastic. Skyward Sword was okay for the story, but becomes terribly boring with its gameplay.

[Gamehowitzer]

I have played all of the zelda games (excluding warriors, thats not zelda) And to be honest my favorite was majora's mask. i fell in love with it when i first played it. You could be a goron, a zora, or a deku scrub, and the many other masks you could utilize and upgrading your sword were what made it great. Not to mention all of the sidequests, characters, and each of the dungeons. One of my favorite things to try to do was to try to go through each dungeon without having to use the rewind song (you could use the reverse song of time to slow time). But the one thing, the one thing i ALWAYS wanted to try, do all of the sidequests in 3 days without resetting. and there was merit in going back and playing the sidequests for fun.
Anyways i'm going to get an NX for BOTW. It's decided. even though i still have exactly 6 months until its release, im still so excited.

[Sareth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw47_q9wbBE

Hyyyyype. Reminds me of how excited 11 year old me was when Twilight Princess was announced. It's so bizarre that we're finally getting a Zelda game with voice acting, too.

Anyone else get a Studio Ghibli feeling? Something about the color palette, and it kinda seems like they took some inspiration from Castle in The Sky and Princess Mononoke.

[Aazealh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw47_q9wbBE

Hyyyyype. Reminds me of how excited 11 year old me was when Twilight Princess was announced. It's so bizarre that we're finally getting a Zelda game with voice acting, too.

Anyone else get a Studio Ghibli feeling? Something about the color palette, and it kinda seems like they took some inspiration from Castle in The Sky and Princess Mononoke.

Seems consistent with the usual Zelda vibe to me. Voice acting is neat. Don't have a lot of observations honestly. I've preordered the console and the limited edition of the game.

[Walter]

I watched the live presentation last night. It was pretty effective how they hyped up this thing's release date. No Zelda until the veerrrry end of the show. The rumor had been for a while that the game has been delayed until summer, which wouldn't have been surprising given all the other late 2017 releases, but it's actually launching WITH the Switch, which is going to do gangbusters for Nintendo's launch, of course.

I really loved the trailer. It's the first thing Nintendo has shown about the game that really made me see why I should give a shit. The Deku Tree speaking to Link, talking about not remembering, makes me think that this is a follow-up to Ocarina of Time, starring the Hero of Time. I'm still slightly concerned about how Skyrim the game looks though. I'm worried they're trying on so many completely new elements that it won't feel like a Zelda game in the end. But I'll happily be proven wrong.

I'm probably going to get the Switch, which is saying something, since the last console I owned was a Wii. Before that, a Gamecube.

[Johnstantine]

Seems consistent with the usual Zelda vibe to me. Voice acting is neat. Don't have a lot of observations honestly. I've preordered the console and the limited edition of the game.

Agreed. I preordered the Switch as well, but the limited edition has not been put up for preorder in the states yet.

Very, very excited for this.

[Sareth]

Finally found a special edition to pre-order   

[Griffith]

Early Breath of the Wild impressions, whether positive or skeptical, are indeed that it's much more open and will allow you to wander into trouble as not seen since the NES days. That's a good sign to me.

[Aazealh]

will allow you to wander into trouble as not seen since the NES days. That's a good sign to me.

Indeed. Few people realize how well the first Zelda game was designed. To this day, popular "retro" games like Hyper Light Drifter do not even come close to it.

[Salem]

Indeed. Few people realize how well the first Zelda game was designed. To this day, popular "retro" games like Hyper Light Drifter do not even come close to it.

Just a few years ago I finished the original LoZ for the first time.   I've played many of them and never felt compelled to finish, but that game is the masterpiece of its time.  For me it's that game coming I'm sure will score well that I know I won't play. Not sure why I can't get into the series, but hopefully the switch gives a few more reasons to invest.  This is the first Zelda game to peak my interest.   

[Gamehowitzer]

Here we are with less than a week until we can go and buy a nintendo switch. The anticipation is killing me.

[Griffith]

Buying the Switch might be the most exciting part of the experience! Sadly, I'll have to settle for playing the new Zelda for only $50 on the Wii U, and I won't be able to play it at the local park like a tablet propped up on a picnic table controlled via an Atari joystick. It just won't be the same.

[asic]

475 dollars for a console and one game (so far). Not exactly making me sprint out and get one, while Breath of the Wild looks great I cannot justify that price. If the Switch game lineup is gonna be anything like the Wii U we are in for another first party dust collector which is only brought out when Nintendo actually makes a good game. At least it can be played on the Wii U but it looks "bad" and a lower framerate compared to the Switch.

Then after 80 hours of playing Zelda the console can go back to gathering dust for 6 months until Nintendo releases another first party game. I really hope this is not the case but unfortunately the way the game industry is right now it's too expensive to develop for Switch while also developing for PC, XB1 and PS4 at least for AAA studios. This has been the case almost since the Wii came out and it's continued that tradition over to Wii U. All I can hope for is that the Switch does really well so there is an incentive to actually develop games for it.

[Walter]

475 dollars for a console and one game (so far).

What's your math on that?

[Gamehowitzer]

Well he says 475, ill try to see what he was adding. 300+60 is console and game, wow the pro controller is 70$! Wth Nintendo. So 360+70 is 430.... i wonder where the remaining 45$ are.

Edit: Well i guess the 70$ for the pro controller is justified considering it has so many features and better battery than the ps4 controller. And its comes rechargeable, and USB-C is apparently way better for charging and data transfer than what most tech uses currently.

[Griffith]

Well, considering the taxes on that stuff it's actually pretty close if you're getting the pro controller and the basic system and game, but I assumed he was talking about some special editions or marked up aftermarket prices. Of course, Nintendo found a way to solve this financial crisis by leaking the game early on Wii U, so there's a cheaper alternative! Can I get my legally pre-purchased though discounted copy early?

[Gamehowitzer]

Well, considering the taxes on that stuff it's actually pretty close if you're getting the pro controller and the basic system and game, but I assumed he was talking about some special editions or marked up aftermarket prices. Of course, Nintendo found a way to solve this financial crisis by leaking the game early on Wii U, so there's a cheaper alternative! Can I get my legally pre-purchased though discounted copy early?

I had seen some weird bundles including several games or something for $500+. Which is just retarded.

[asic]

What's your math on that?

I live in Scandinavia so the Switch here is 409 dollars, Zelda is 71 dollars. No additional accessories is included in that price. I do not know of any other company than Nintendo that can pull this stunt off and still be successful. Had they released a new Metroid or any Nintendo franchise other than Zelda I might be more on board. No sane person would pay 400+ dollars for a single game but that is what's happening with the Switch. Even the MarioKart on Switch is just MarioKart 8 with shinier pixels and a game mode added. Nobody knows when the new 3d Super Mario comes out so again we are in a Wii U situation. Oh right you can play Skyrim on it too, are you fucking kidding me? 

I bought a PS4 just for Bloodborne so I am not exactly following my own advice that well but at least the PS4 has a large library of games.

I love Nintendo gameplay but I also hate their console/game release approach.

[Walter]

I live in Scandinavia so the Switch here is 409 dollars, Zelda is 71 dollars. No additional accessories is included in that price. I do not know of any other company than Nintendo that can pull this stunt off and still be successful. Had they released a new Metroid or any Nintendo franchise other than Zelda I might be more on board. No sane person would pay 400+ dollars for a single game but that is what's happening with the Switch. Even the MarioKart on Switch is just MarioKart 8 with shinier pixels and a game mode added. Nobody knows when the new 3d Super Mario comes out so again we are in a Wii U situation. Oh right you can play Skyrim on it too, are you fucking kidding me? 

I bought a PS4 just for Bloodborne so I am not exactly following my own advice that well but at least the PS4 has a large library of games.

I love Nintendo gameplay but I also hate their console/game release approach.

If the launch lineup is a problem, why not wait until after the library grows more to your liking? No one's insisting that you buy on launch day. I'm not even buying it at launch, and I think Zelda looks rad. I guess I'm confused what the source of all this frustration is. Because that $475 figure you floated would be a problem with other consoles too, if the regional pricing is to blame, so that's not really on Nintendo.

Personally, the notion of a new, ambitious Zelda game and a new 3D Mario game in the vein of Mario 64 -- all in first year of launch -- sounds pretty damned good to me. I don't think Nintendo's ever pulled a stunt like that off before. But I'm comfortable waiting until more rational minds have weighed in on the Switch over time  before I get too excited about investing in it, given the Wii U's track record.