The next Zelda does NOT need to have "realistic" visuals.

/thread.

No seriously, it doesn't. It doesn't have to be dark like Twilight Princess to sell well. Let's not forget that before that game, the best selling Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, which was very much NOT realistic or dark. It wasn't. It was goofy and fantastical. The "good" characters looked good, the "evil" characters looked evil, and the goofy characters looked goofy. It was aesthetically bright when it needed to be and gloomy when it needed to be. It was dynamic in art direction. Not realistic. Not dark. THAT is why it sold well.

If Nintendo wants the next Zelda to sell the console, they need to make a completely NEW art style that does THAT.

Yes, it was.

It may look goofy today due to its primitive graphics, but as  well as being as realistic as the technology of the time allowed for, that game had skeleton zombies digging up out of the ground at night, a whole race of people imprisoned to be fed to a dragon, and let's not even discuss the fucking Redeads.

Ocarina of Time was dark like Twilight Princess. The two highest selling Zeldas used this approach.

I don't think the audience that would normally avoid touching the Wii U will settle for a dark Zelda game like Twilight Princess. Its violence is too mild compared to Uncharted and Skyrim.

I can see your point about violence against monster. But what about the violence done towards Link or other Hylians? And will Link have the freedom to hurt innoncet Hylians like killing npcs in Skyrims? This is what these gamers expect and want. Having anything less is selling them short and will lose their interest. Twilight Princess is a dark Zelda game but it isn't even a dark and realistic game compared to other darker and realistic adventures games for the Xbox or Playstation. We have to face the fact that Zelda is in the same genre as Skyrin or Uncharted but is limited to milder violence due to its traditional appeal to children and adults. Zelda will not be Zelda anymore if it wants to cater to those gamers.

I don't think i has to be Skyrim violent to attract this crowd, just like Twilight Princess didn't have to be God of War violent to attract the "hardcore" who avoided Wind Waker like the plague.

I'd argue it does in this time where violence in video game is growing even more with better graphics to depict it. Maybe video gamer forumers who appreciate Zelda's mild violence will settle for this darker tone but I don't believe most of the market will. I guess we'll disagree from here.

The only thing that the next Zelda game needs is being a Zelda game lol.

The next Zelda game does'nt need realistic graphics.
But I agree with your argument that the Wii U needs a realistic Zelda for it's preception.

I think something like the E3 tech demo would be great, please not something like Skyrim or Dark Souls, that wouldn't be Zelda. And Ocarina of Time wasn't realistic at all...maybe a more modernized OoT style would be good.

I completely agree with this. The next Zelda should be, visually, like TP.

I love both wind waker and skyward sword art style´s, but I agree. A more realistic Zelda games will do wonders. If anything the zelda demo is gorgeous.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl had a man ripping apart the fabrics of time and space. Pokemon Red and Blue had you fight the redead corpse of a murder mother Pokemon trying to protect her young. Wind Waker had you drive a preparedly thick blade through the skull of a tyrant demon king bent on world domination build through the death and suffering of others. Those aren't remotely dark or realistic games. They're dark moments in bright and stylized games.

It didn't look even remotely realistic "at the time." Goldeneye was realistic "at the time." Perfect Dark was realistic "at the time." Mortal Combat was realistic "at the time." Ocarina of Time was very much not. The ingame polygonal artstyle was meant to replicate, to the most acturate degree, the concept art which was, surprise, fanstastical and cartoony and stylized and very much not dark.

Talon does not look realistic. Link does not look realistic. Saria does not look realistic. That's not technology, it's a deliberate design choice. Ganondorf looks the most "realistic" and the most dark, but firstly he's a villian so he get's a free pass on being dark in an otherwise not dark fantasy game, and two in order for a game to be realistic, it has to be constantly realistic. Just because a few are more real-looking than others, doesn't mean that the whole game is suddenly realistic looking. Sonic 06. Point made.

And on the topic of Twilight Princess, let's not forget that the game was a launch title to Nintendo's most successful console of all time. Also, Ocarina of Time is Zelda's most immortal title. Of couse it's sold so well. It's been remade so many times. Let's see how Wind Waker HD ends up selling at the end of the Wii U and talk then.

Also, Dishonored is a dark and realistic game. Bioshock is a dark and realistic game. Little Inferno is a dark and not realistic game. Fifa 14 is a not dark, yet entirely realistic game. Twilight Princess is not even remotely a dark or realistic game. It's just as "dark" as Sonic Unleashed is. That is, not at all. It has some cool wolfy bits and some creepy atmosperic eyecandy, but most of the game has you chasing boomerang monkeys or talking to little chicken people or battling fantastical monsters like any good action fantasy game would have you do.

And it's not "the technology." Silent Hill: Shattered dementions was both dark and realistic on the same hardware. Resident Evil 4 was done on even more primative hardware. Ask any normal person who doesn't play video games if Twilight Princess looks even remotely dark or realistic. And don't only show them the "spooky" Twili parts, because that's just as accurate as me only showing someone the beautiful scene in Bioshock: Infinite when you first walk into Columbia and asking them if the game looks violent. (Cue face-in-skyhook scene 5 minutes later)

Compare Twilight Princess to Darksiders 2 or Skyrim. Those are dark and/or realistic. Those both have numerous similarities to the Zelda franchise and yet compared to those, Twilight Princess is equivilant to the Teletubbies. Not dark. Not realistic. Teletubbies.