Zelda U Footage: The Reaction – Good, Bad, and the Ugly

Nintendo shocked us all last night by bringing Zelda U to The Game Awards show last night, capping off the night and making fans across the Internet explode in excitement. Here we are the next day, and many of us have had time to ponder what we saw. Sit on the information, dissect it, and properly react. Initial reactions from myself and many staff were, “wow, can’t believe they are actually showing it.”
Now that we’ve had several hours to sleep on it, do we (and conversely you) feel the same? Was the showing good… or a hot mess?

Obviously everything is subjective in these cases — I can even make solid arguments for why it was a good showing and why it was bad. First, here’s what you had to say:

The Good

“It’s funny how many developers showed teases, logos and cinematic shorts, but few gameplay elements. But with Nintendo, we saw people PLAYING the actual game, commenting what’s new, the game extension, etc. They showed, once again, how real games are done. Thank you, Nintendo!” – Adrian Brown

“i love how the new zelda is blurring the lines between TP-style and WW-style. showing that the series is above arbitrary dichotomies between ‘cartoonish’ and ‘realistic.’ zelda is zelda, zelda is legend, nintendo rules and i am one excited gamer!!!” – Obi wan hvutti

“This looks amazing….I’m not even mad it wasn’t a new trailer. Just showing a clip of that HUGE overworld assures me that this game is going to be awesome. Dare I even say, the greatest Zelda game yet?” – David Giordano

“how come no one is talking about how you can control the camera with the right stick???? we can finally aim skillfully. if possible I will never use z-targeting on enemies, I will snipe punkass moblins, I will jump out from behind a bush and quick scope bowshot all you bitchmade octoroks.” – the Great Cornholio

“I’m doing my happy dance!!”

– Anonymous

The Bad

“Oh my god, I never thought that this is going to happen!

But I am not sure about how to feel about it. Sure, it was Zelda U…

But the world looks so damn EMPTY. 10 times worse than TP. Also, the animations are pretty unnatural and not convincing. The E3 showing was way better!

This is why sometimes, it is better to NOT show unfinished stuff!” – MightyNicM

“Right handed Link. Unless this is a SS sequel, or integrates the Wiimote Plus, which I’m about 99.99% sure it won’t, there’s no reason to have Link be a righty. Him being a lefty is one of the traits that lets me connect to him as a character better, as I really feel like Link is ME, as I’m also left handed.” – Schwartz Ichenbachen

“I dont wanna spend time watching auto-dodging horse.

If traveling is important, then traveling should be an art.

I cross my fingers.” – Frikk Adrian Jarl

The Ugly

“It looks so lame… landscape is empty… the impact from an normal arrow is way too much…

Hypetrain derailed…” – H4ru0

“Probably one of the most boring gameplay preview videos I’ve ever seen.” – Lee Daniel Schofield

“Hyrule Warriors looks more fun. I don’t think I can go back to playing as just Link after I’ve controlled the majesty that is Princess Ruto & Midna 😀 Might give this one a miss.” – Andrew Roby

Obviously in the grand scheme of things, there really isn’t a wrong way to view what we saw. We are all going to feel how we feel and say what we say. I’ll give you a brief glimpse into my thoughts:

Overall I enjoyed what we saw, but I am still left craving a true trailer. I love seeing gameplay, the open world, night and day cycles, the map, horse combat… the list goes on. Still, it’s been showings and we have yet to see Link do any sword combat, off horse combat, anything related to dungeons, story, or character growth. These things all highly interest me and we haven’t seen it. We also haven’t seen a lot of true combat situations. Now, at this point I don’t expect to see much. They have a full year to hype the game, another E3, and probably a couple Nintendo Directs to fill out. Still, it’s been a rather interesting reveal and follow-up for the game, and it’s debatable if it is the right move. Still no trailer, actual gameplay, but no direct feed of true gameplay.

Odd choices, but I love the vastness and beauty of the world, but I won’t say it’s empty. Until I can get direct feed footage and see the world without them cutting away in the video several times, I can’t really make that assumption. Also there seemed to be a lack of shadows – likely still working on the lighting system. I like what I have seen, but i understand why it may just be “meh” for some. Feel free to flesh out your thoughts below!