| bigtakilla said: I can agree to some extent as well. Zelda will have a development group far larger and money far exceeding what Xenoblade X has. That said, Zelda worlds have also been known to be quite barren. Take Windwaker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, ect. It isn't going to seem very ambitious if the world doesn't really feel alive. Seeing that video with the group of horses running in it though gives me hope. That said, how many different species of people are their going to be? There are tons of aliens which are new and intricately weaved into the world of Mira. That also takes quite a bit of ambition. More so than just churning out some more Gerudo, Hylians, ect. It's taking pre existing ideas and putting a new coat of paint on it. The world itself and the inhabitants in it make me believe Xenoblade X is more ambitious. Though at this point we are both only guessing. Also, while online has been confirmed, in what aspect has not. Gameplay? Messages in bottles to share pics and tips like Windwaker? We don't know. Last, as you have said yourself, crafting may be something they do in Zelda U, I think we can safely assume (though it is still just assuming though) that there won't be as many weapons or armor as Xenoblade X. |
Wind Waker's world isn't even remotely barren. There was a ton of shit to do, even in the GCN version. Neither is Skyward Swords, and I hate that game. SS's whole MO was content density. I'd argue that only TP and OoT's worlds are less alive than what is in XC, and those games are commonly criticized for just that. XC isn't even remotely a good example of an alive world. All you to is fight enemies and pick up items. It may as well be just as barren as TP. The way you fight enemies isn't varied or dynamic, and the way you pick up items isn't varied or dynamic. You walk up to a blue diamond and press a button. You walk up to an enemy and enter a battle phase. The only reason those things become interesting is because of context, which is not ambitious at all.
By contrast, the "barren" world of the Wind Waker ala the great sea is filled with a wide variety of different kinds of isles and islands, navy bases, sunken treasue, ghost ships, giant octos, a tsunami god, watch towers, flying fish, battle ships, submarine dungeons, rafts with enemies, sea charts, a chain of shop ships, and a chartable map. All are interacted with in completely different and dynamic ways.
I love XC, and I'm exited for XCX as well, but let's not make it out to be more than it is. The franchise depends a lot on imagination to make up for what it can't do, which is fine because it does that spectacularly, but it isn't even remotely this benchmark in ambition. It's just big. If Zelda is only like Wind Waker when it comes to it's world, it will already be exponentially more ambitious than XCX is in that department. The horse thing isn't even unique to Zelda U. They are just this game's version of the seagulls in Wind Waker. Nothing spectacular or unheard of.
"How many" doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if their are less races. They'll all likely be better animated. Wind Waker had a completely new line of new races. SS did too outside of the Goron. And Minish Cap. Saying that Zelda recycles races is being willingfully ignorant to like half the franchise. Complaining about the reuse of Hylians in Zelda is like complaining about the reuse of Humans/Moms in XC. It's silly and hypocritical. There's no reason to believe, based on what we've seen so far, that there won't be a completely new line of races once again for Zelda U. At this point, only you are only guessing.
We definitely don't know, but we've seen various examples of what it could be. We've seen bottles in WW, duels in ALBW, and obviously TFH. We know for sure that it's going to be a big aspect, as it was labeled next to exploring dungeons when being labeled by importance. It could be many things, and I see little reason not to use these examples, especially the idea of playing as multiple Links, in speculation of what this could be. Putting them all together makes the whole thing seem very Dark Soulsian/Chalice Dungeon-like. I can easily see something like this being in Zelda U, and that would definitely match the ambition of XCX. Remember, when the game was first revealed, no one could have predicted just how multiplayer driven it was. Zelda U told us before the game was even announced.
And again, quantity doesn't matter. Quality does. XB and XCX only uses crafting to effect dry numerical stats. In Zelda, not only is the process of getting the materials more dynamic thanks to the very nature of the gameplay, but the results of crafting are more dynamic too, effecting the way you interact with enemies as well as the world in a complex and substantial way. SS being the gold standard example of this. Less variety than XCX, but the results were far more meaningful than anything you'll likely craft in XCX.
