Wii Zelda Concept Art
Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:48 pm
First, the concept art:
http://kotaku.com/5279554/first-look-at ... oncept-art
Now, some speculation. The sidekick looks like the Master Sword, probably has something to do with it, this is an "adult" link, etc.
Now, some thoughts. To me, Zelda's never been about "darkness." I know this is an unpopular view, but A Link to the Past is one of my least favorite Zelda games at least in part because you spend most of your time in the patently uninteresting, depressing Dark World. Ocarina is my favorite (and yes, I realize it owes a debt to A Link to the Past) because it manages to balance Zelda's more lighthearted, adventurous tone with darkness almost perfectly. It's not Lord of the Rings, but it's not The Hobbit, either. It's more along the lines of Star Wars. Fun, epic, and, when necessary, fittingly dark.
I generally prefer to err on the side of lighthearted Zelda games. This is precisely because to me, the core of the Zelda experience is adventure. The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap, neither of which is particularly hard but both of which capture this atmosphere perfectly (Link's Awakening does this too, and was probably the first to perfect it) are good examples. I've always wanted them to try to revisit Ocarina's darker (but not too dark) tone, which is why I was hyped for Twilight Princess. But they fucked it up. It was linear, fronted by one of the worst, most overbearing sidekick characters I have ever seen in a video game, and completely lacking in the emotional involvement I experienced with the prior three 3D games. About 40 hours in to its monotonous shades of brown, plodding through yet another decent enough dungeon (most of them were passable), I realized this Zelda was royally lacking in any charm at all. I grudgingly finished it, clocking no less than 79 hours. Not even the music, apart from the awesome overworld theme, was memorable--after finishing it, I assumed Kondo simply lost his bearings, but Mario Galaxy (perhaps his best soundtrack) later proved me wrong. Ultimately, Okami turned out to be the Zelda game I'd been waiting for, and too many reviewers gave Twilight Princess, a mediocre game in its own right, the benefit of the doubt because it bore the Zelda label.
That's why I'm both excited and concerned about this next game. There's not much you can tell from the concept art, but it does look stylistically similar to Twilight Princess. Given that games's general lack of atmosphere, I'm afraid we can be expecting more of the same, and more mock "maturity" to go along with it. The aesthetic they're promoting with this little concept art is setting expectations. As far as characters are concerned, there are few overbearing sidekicks who interest me...Issun in Okami is about right, but Midna is a little too much. Such a prominently featured sidekick character (unless she isn't the sidekick...but somehow I doubt that) means the Midna curse might return. I hope not.
Since it's evident they've already chosen to take that darker direction, I only hope they do not purge this game of the spirit of adventure that was so well-realized in The Wind Waker. After a console release like that, Nintendo has some level of responsibility to its consumers--don't abandon what works. Build on it, but if anything, open the game world up and make it more spirited.
That's all I have for now...and sorry if that was a little rant-ish.
http://kotaku.com/5279554/first-look-at ... oncept-art
Now, some speculation. The sidekick looks like the Master Sword, probably has something to do with it, this is an "adult" link, etc.
Now, some thoughts. To me, Zelda's never been about "darkness." I know this is an unpopular view, but A Link to the Past is one of my least favorite Zelda games at least in part because you spend most of your time in the patently uninteresting, depressing Dark World. Ocarina is my favorite (and yes, I realize it owes a debt to A Link to the Past) because it manages to balance Zelda's more lighthearted, adventurous tone with darkness almost perfectly. It's not Lord of the Rings, but it's not The Hobbit, either. It's more along the lines of Star Wars. Fun, epic, and, when necessary, fittingly dark.
I generally prefer to err on the side of lighthearted Zelda games. This is precisely because to me, the core of the Zelda experience is adventure. The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap, neither of which is particularly hard but both of which capture this atmosphere perfectly (Link's Awakening does this too, and was probably the first to perfect it) are good examples. I've always wanted them to try to revisit Ocarina's darker (but not too dark) tone, which is why I was hyped for Twilight Princess. But they fucked it up. It was linear, fronted by one of the worst, most overbearing sidekick characters I have ever seen in a video game, and completely lacking in the emotional involvement I experienced with the prior three 3D games. About 40 hours in to its monotonous shades of brown, plodding through yet another decent enough dungeon (most of them were passable), I realized this Zelda was royally lacking in any charm at all. I grudgingly finished it, clocking no less than 79 hours. Not even the music, apart from the awesome overworld theme, was memorable--after finishing it, I assumed Kondo simply lost his bearings, but Mario Galaxy (perhaps his best soundtrack) later proved me wrong. Ultimately, Okami turned out to be the Zelda game I'd been waiting for, and too many reviewers gave Twilight Princess, a mediocre game in its own right, the benefit of the doubt because it bore the Zelda label.
That's why I'm both excited and concerned about this next game. There's not much you can tell from the concept art, but it does look stylistically similar to Twilight Princess. Given that games's general lack of atmosphere, I'm afraid we can be expecting more of the same, and more mock "maturity" to go along with it. The aesthetic they're promoting with this little concept art is setting expectations. As far as characters are concerned, there are few overbearing sidekicks who interest me...Issun in Okami is about right, but Midna is a little too much. Such a prominently featured sidekick character (unless she isn't the sidekick...but somehow I doubt that) means the Midna curse might return. I hope not.
Since it's evident they've already chosen to take that darker direction, I only hope they do not purge this game of the spirit of adventure that was so well-realized in The Wind Waker. After a console release like that, Nintendo has some level of responsibility to its consumers--don't abandon what works. Build on it, but if anything, open the game world up and make it more spirited.
That's all I have for now...and sorry if that was a little rant-ish.