Why do Zelda Console games take 5 years to develop.... ?

[Arlo]

mountaindewslave said:

Arlo said:
Because they always build from scratch, and I have NO IDEA why. Why can't we get another Majora's Mask situation? Especially with development costs rising, it makes no sense to reinvent the wheel every time and only release two games per decade.

you say that but wait until a Metroid the Other M situation occurs where a Zelda game gets shot out to the public too early with a stupid concept or mediocre gameplay.... you'll feel differently then!

first and foremost quality matters. people keep mentioning Ocarina of Time to Wind Waker as if that was some mega quick transition period, that was 4 years and recall that the new Zelda game was originally planned to come out in 2015 and unfortunately has been delayed, but it had stuck to plan then it would have been in line with practically every year separation between Zelda's Nintendo has had in the past

I don't think that's an accurate comparison.  Other M was a failure because of its terrible ideas, which I don't think has anything to do with how quickly it was developed.

And I'm not saying they need to rush.  I'm saying they need to use their time wisely.  Say I built a model plane, then wanted to change it.  Instead of putting on a new coat of paint and swapping out some of the parts, I threw it away and built one entirely from scratch, yet in the end it was still the exact same model, only with a new coat of paint and some swapped-out parts.  I could have spent a fraction of the time and basically gotten the same product, or at least a product that I was still happy with.

It's not a sin to use a game's assets more than once.  I don't want a new art style and everything every single time if it means it takes this long to develop.  Majora's Mask came out two years after OOT, and it's amazing.  If this new Zelda came out, then was followed by another using the same engine and style a few years down the line, I would be ecstatic.