The Legend Of Zelda - General Thread

Haven't been following the discussion in detail, but I'm pretty optimistic about this direction. I mean. This is the team that made their first open-world game, everyone was like "haha nintendo is like a decade late to the party again" and then the game ends up being lauded as "open-world done right" all over the place. These guys know their game design, is what I'm saying. Of course, there were a lot of less-than-stellar decisions in previous titles, mostly related to hand-holding and difficulty, but now they've done a full 180° and seen that they can get away with the bare minimum of hand-holding and legit difficulty.

So yeah, I think two things:

1) Botw is a good/great game but more of a proof of concept in the long run. Making essentially the same game, just with a different map and story and such, would already feel old by the next title because the experience would still be essentially the same. The name of the game in this particular one is self-sufficiency, but there's only so many ways to make collecting materials and roaming a giant world feel fresh in itself. So I think future games will take hints (and the engine) from Botw, but will find a new balance between the old and the new, featuring a world less sprawling but more intricate, still letting you find your own adventure in many ways, but focusing more on towns that feel alive and dungeons that ooze personality and backstory like the ones before, just with more freedom inbetween.

2) Or I'm wrong and they will go essentially the same route again, but will find some other way to make it fresh that I didn't even consider. I'm no game designer after all.

There's actually a chance we might see hints at the new direction in the DLC. Iirc, there's supposed to be one new dungeon and a new story, right? Unless they somehow manage to make the new dungeon and all that stuff just a new part of the existing map, it would probably be self-contained. Especially if my dreams come true and they'll let you play as Zelda in it!

I agree that calling the previous Zelda games formulaic, yet wanting BOTW to be the blueprint for a new formula is hypocritical. That's like joining the punk scene to "rebel against the establishment" yet talking shit to pop-punk fans for not being "real punk."

Again, though, there are just too many elements to Zelda that adding something will almost always come across as a one-time gimmick and/or not feeling "different enough." Zelda is one of the few series, probably the only series that is so focused on "doing everything" that it's only with Nintendo's high standards that it's running to this day.

Apparently I'm not the only one who kept hearing the Flintstones theme whenever I activated a Sheikah Tower.

I'm surprised it took this long for a Grand Dad + BOTW Main Theme high quality rip to be made.

edited 7th Apr '17 4:38:13 PM by FawfulCrump

Replaying Ocarina 3D, because why not. Can't climb anything 0/10. But my sword isn't breaking, so 10/10.

Even after Breath of the Wild, it still holds up. It's easy to tell how the series has improved with combat, level design, and general feel, but Ocarina is still fun to play. I definitely enjoy the more frequent dungeon crawling as opposed to trekking across a giant overworld.

Still, it's age does show, and I'm more inclined to put BotW over it now.

OoT is still indisputably the most balanced of the series, though. It's the one that takes to heart the Jack of All Trades nature of the series the most. The overworld, dungeons, puzzles, combat, quest-taking, and story are all good.

I'd say it's more in those individual qualities that it hasn't aged well, but in combination, no other Zelda game, hell no other game in general has that well-rounded of mix of qualities to this day.

I mean, I understand why later games aren't as well-rounded (having to focus on all of those things at once isn't practical for games in this day and age on a limited budget), but still.

I finally got a Switch today, and BOTW with it. God damn this game's pretty.

Welcome to the club and remember:

• Bottomelss pits don't kill you, but long falls onto solid ground will.
• Don't stress about a good weapon breaking, sooner or later you'll be drowning in them.
• Bows are OP, buy lots of arrows.

... why are bows OP

Headshots, safe attack method, bullet time is easy to activate in a lot of situations, elemental arrows, bomb arrows, said special arrows can be stocked up frequently.

Bows are really good, yeah.

It's hard to keep arrows stocked, though.

I'm having a hell of a time trying to deal with anything tougher than a Bokoblin or Lizalfos. Everything does multiple hearts of damage, and I only have four of those in the first place.

Are there Octoroks in Breath of the Wild?

I always thought it was a little funny that Wind Waker gushed about Octoroks being in every single game, only for them to be replaced in Twilight Princess by the functionally identical Toadpolis.

Toadpolis and Spumes really are the Strollin' Stus of the Zelda series.

Water Octoroks, Grass Octorocs, Snow Octoroks, and even Mimic Octoroks that will smack your ass sky-high with a fake treasure chest.

One of their drops is the Octo Balloon (I think that was its name), that you can attach to many things to make them float, including your own bombs. Include wind from a Deku Leaf, and hilarity ensues.

I like the sound of that.

So as I said, I'm finally back on Twilight Princess as I mentioned earlier. I somehow ran mostly out of money, so I'm trying to recall what's the quickest way to make it back.

I mean, beyond finding Purple Rupees and shit. Just need a hand jogging my memory really.

Giving bugs to Agatha was always my easiest way to make some cash in TP once you cleared the Twilight.

Hmm. Guess I gotta start searching for those damned things again then.

Her first and last gifts are the wallet upgrades, so it's a fairly important sidequest.

They're not hard to find. The male and female pairs are always found in the same area of Hyrule Field—except for the dragonflies, which are found in Zora's River and Zora's Domain proper; and the snails, which are found in the Sacred Grove and the entrance to the Temple of Time.

I am not sad that Breath of the Wild did away with limited wallets.

And Link Between Worlds did it too.

But yes, thank god for no more limited wallets. Makes saving up Rupees worth it, instead of the dillema of "fuck, more Rupess and my wallet is full. Why didin't I spend like a teenage girl?"

On the other hand, it leads to rupees not even being much of a mechanic. You end up accumulating tons of rupees and don't have much to spend them on, so your rupee count pretty much only goes up now. Then again, I guess you never buy much in most Zelda games anyway.

Except in ALBW (up to a certain point, anyway) and Bot W (mainly for arrows, which can be surprisingly expensive)

I'm always strapped for cash in BoTW and constantly need to sell stuff to buy anything. Kind of annoying, honestly.

edited 9th Apr '17 1:37:26 AM by Karxrida

Saw this today. I only read the first panel, since I have yet to purchase a Switch, but I do have it bookmarked for later.

edited 9th Apr '17 2:51:33 AM by 32ndfreeze