Zelda for Wii U Wishlist

[Frogger]

DevilRising said:
MY Zelda U wishlist? *cracks knuckles* Here we go:

1. KEEP the fucking horse. Why? Because it's useful, and Epona rocks.

That's my point. Epona is useful because a fundemental flaw in the game's design. If that flaw is fixed, no one would miss Epona. I mean I guess keep her in as a cameo or something because people like the horse, but this is a Zelda game. You shouldn't need a hub world that requires a horse to nevigate.

2. Make the land massive, so that needing a horse, AND a later auto-travel feature, become necessary.

Again, you shouldn't need a horse. Every 2D Zelda game has a massive world and absolutely none of them ever needed a horse.

3. Keep the art style more or less what the E3 tech demo was, except with more flourish, IE more styled art design. Same graphics, just more details and personality. I don't want or need another toon Link game, nor do I want some other crazy art style. Changing the art style just to arbitrarily make it appear "different" is pointless. It's how the game plays that ultimately matters.

Ah... It's a wish list, so telling you that this is confirmed to not be happening is kind of pointless. It doesn't change the fact that you want it, which is okay. We're definitely not getting another toon Link game, so no worries there, but I'd argue that the TP (tech demo) artstyle was the only arbitrary artstyle change. It was only created to please NA fans. I don't think that the changing artstyles are arbitrary at all, and I definitely don't think that it effects how the game plays. Nintendo designs the gameplay first, and then employs the graphics.

4. Give Link MANUAL JUMPING. Whether it's something you have from the start, ala Zelda II, or something you gain through an item, ala Link's Awakening, I don't care how you get it, but give Zelda manual Jumping in 3D for once. That ONE element alone would add so much freshness and variety to the gameplay possibilities, I don't thikn most people even really think of this. I think most gamers by now just take for granted that every 3D Zelda has got to have the (in my opinion never-that-great) auto-jumping feature. You ask me, giving the player the ability to jump, to CONTROL when and how they jump, to control themselves while in the air, etc. would add so many possibilities to combat, to puzzle solving, to level design, enemy design, you name it. And while they're at it, throw in the adjacent ability to wall-jump, and maybe even run up or along walls.

Funny enough, the lack of jumping on 3D Zelda titles actually stem from the fact that Aonuma is terrible at platformers. Personally, I'd much rather the A button make the player jump than roll. He should still keep his auto jump though. I want both, not one or the other. Wall jumping would be horrible in a game like Zelda that isn't about presision platforming, so I wouldn't really want that. Running up walls worked pretty well in SS (minus the stupid stamina meter) so I'd be down for that. I didn't really like how running along walls felt like in Darksiders II, a very Zelda like game, but if they could make it work in Zelda, I'd be down.

No, I'm not advocating turning Zelda into PoP or Mario. What I AM advocating, is letting the player jump. To ME at least, it made Zelda II and Link's Awakening all the more unique, memorable, and most importantly, fun.

You could jump in Minish Cap too, so I get where you're coming from. Minish Cap also had Roc's Cape. With that, you could glide after you jumped. I always imagined that working like flying does in Journey, so again, I REALLY want Roc's Cape in this Zelda. Limited flight would open up Zelda even more than jumping would.

5. While we're on the subject of Zelda II, bring back the "rpg-lite" feature, where you actually gain some kind of experience points from destroying enemies, and can actually gain some mild stats, build up some magic abilities, whatever. It would also just be another old-but-new comeback feature that I'd really like to see, and would really "shake things up", as far as the 3D Zelda formula goes.

Eh... I always felt that weapon upgrades where an okay substitute for RPG features like that. I really like RPG's, but I like how the focus in Zelda is more on technical skill than character growth, since it's an action game.

6. Give us a huge Hyrule, with a big Castle Town, but also lots of towns and villages. Yes, bring back versions of old favorites like Kakariko, but also give us a bunch of NEW towns, or hell, bring back some of the town names from Zelda II as well.

I'm down. While I actually prefer the one core town set up of games like ALttP, ALBW, MC, SS, and MM, I also love Pokemon because they do exactly what you're describing.

7. Leave Ganondorf out of it, I agree. But bring back classic Ganon. I'm not AGAINST a totally new villain, sans Ganon, but I'd also love to see the return of the REAL Ganon. The evil wizard boss from the old games. The big nosed, red-haired guy with the glare? He's okay, but he gets kinda old. Let's see a cool, mysterious, imposing cloaked wizard, with some real dark magic powers again.

YES!!!! While I'd rather a new villian, the only way I could tolerate Ganon is if they brought him back as the big, ugly, pig motherfucker he was always meant to be, or the cloaked wizard Ganon. Or both. Please, both.

8. Dungeons are cool, let's have some really unique, fresh, organic dungeon designs. But let's also have a lot to do, including major areas of the game, that are NOT in castles or caverns or somehow otherwise separate dungeon-type-places. In my opinion, mix the best dungeon/world design elements from TP and SS, but improve them both. Make sure the entire land seems very organic and connected. Don't make me backtrack like crazy, but also allow me to explore a world that is worth exploring, adventure around on my own, with plenty of hidden shit to find.

I'm not sure if what you're asking for here is possible. SS and TP form their worlds and dungeons in ways that are in total opposition from each other. Like, the way compact and dense way SS's overworld is designed doesn't allow for the vast, open expanses found in TP. And you wouldn't be able to ride a horse. There's platforming, climbing, and ropeswinging in that game, remember? All things that Epona can't do. Also, you'd bump into shit all the time.

And bring back the varied/unique bosses from TP. SS had many good points, but it's bosses, for the most part, weren't one of them. Having to fight the same two guys over and over, with only a couple others peppered in between, was kind of lame. TP had some genuinely great, epic boss battles, I thought. And no, when I say "epic", I don't mean "hard". Balls hard does not = good to me. I like a challenge. I don't need to die 100 times. I thought TP's difficulty level was fine, and what's more, I appreciated the diversity in the dungeons and bosses.

I thought TP was dumb easy, but that's an issue of not being able to choose a difficulty. I enjoy challenging games that punish me. I agree on how shitty most of the bosses where in SS, though. That being said, Koloktos houses the greatest boss fights (and one of the best dungeons) in a Zelda game. And I hate the whip. But yeah, a lot of TP's boss battles were truely epic, and I'd much rather future bosses err to that side, as well as Koloktos and Puppet Ganon from Wind Waker.

I could think of other stuff. But those are the main points I'd touch on, as far as what I'd love to see in my "Dream Zelda" game.

Comments in italics.