Heroine of Time
Rest in peace, Paris Caper...
I figured I'd throw out my own opinions on each of these. I agree with everything in the list, but all of it needs to be seriously refined.
The Stamina Gauge, for instance. There seemed to be a lot of debates on this thread about it. I know most people didn't like the Stamina Gauge, but I thought it was a nice change for once. As others have said, I really felt it added to the realism. I never once had a problem with sprinting or climbing vines. The only time I ever got annoyed by it was when battling the Imprisoned, but that was likely because of my own incapability when fighting him. I actually went as far as buying a Stamina Potion for that battle...
I thought it was a great limit on the Spin Attacks – though I wanted to ask why everyone's using TP as an example; was it different in the GC version? I found it really hard to perform Spin Attacks on the Wii, and there was definitely some kind of limit on them.
If the Stamina Gauge is implemented again, then it probably shouldn't be used on Block Puzzles, because it was kind of frustrating to have to stop when pushing them. Fortunately, block puzzles weren't nearly as common as they were in previous games; I think I even remember someone initally saying they intended to take out block puzzles entirely. Oh, and while I'm talking about it, I loved the idea someone had of being able to upgrade your Stamina.
As for storytelling, I agree wholeheartedly. The cinematic cutscenes were great and made the game much more emotional. One thing I have to say, though, is that they MUST add in some way to skip them like in TP. Not skipping them AFTER you've watched them on a file, but always, any time you want.
They should also keep and perhaps improve on the way that there were different responses depending on how you answered characters – I thought that interaction was very enjoyable, and it made me want to replay the game again to see different possibilities. Two big moments that come to mind are the Cawlin's Letter sidequest and the Peatrice sidequest. They should use similar tactics used in those sidequests for actual story moments. I think this would fix some of the linearity problems that people complain about, too; maybe one temple can be done in a different order depending on what you do.
One of the few things that I might disagree with slightly on this list is the returning to previous dungeons/areas. I didn't particularly like going into Skyview again, but I thought that returning to the different regions in the overworld was done well, considering that there was something brand new every time. I suppose Skyview wasn't bad, either, but I would have rather had a new dungeon. Not to mention that the entire reason for going there felt rather pointless; maybe if the return had a larger role in the story rather than "Get the Water Dragon some water", I wouldn't have minded so much. Like... maybe Ghirahim or Zelda had been spotted there. Or something.
Upgrade System wasn't very prominent in SS, but I think that if they improved it then it might be a nice thing to have in future titles. I also disagree with whoever was saying that it was too easy or something to that extent – I literally had to go out of my way and collect Ancient Flowers just to get the Beetle upgrade, because I really wanted the speed boost. I also had to collect Ornamental Skulls at some point, because I guess the game just hates me and decided that Bokoblins weren't going to drop ANY until I went and looked for them.
And I've gone back both times I played the game to collect Tumbleweeds.
Finally, Wii MotionPlus. Yes. Enough said.
The Stamina Gauge, for instance. There seemed to be a lot of debates on this thread about it. I know most people didn't like the Stamina Gauge, but I thought it was a nice change for once. As others have said, I really felt it added to the realism. I never once had a problem with sprinting or climbing vines. The only time I ever got annoyed by it was when battling the Imprisoned, but that was likely because of my own incapability when fighting him. I actually went as far as buying a Stamina Potion for that battle...
I thought it was a great limit on the Spin Attacks – though I wanted to ask why everyone's using TP as an example; was it different in the GC version? I found it really hard to perform Spin Attacks on the Wii, and there was definitely some kind of limit on them.
If the Stamina Gauge is implemented again, then it probably shouldn't be used on Block Puzzles, because it was kind of frustrating to have to stop when pushing them. Fortunately, block puzzles weren't nearly as common as they were in previous games; I think I even remember someone initally saying they intended to take out block puzzles entirely. Oh, and while I'm talking about it, I loved the idea someone had of being able to upgrade your Stamina.
As for storytelling, I agree wholeheartedly. The cinematic cutscenes were great and made the game much more emotional. One thing I have to say, though, is that they MUST add in some way to skip them like in TP. Not skipping them AFTER you've watched them on a file, but always, any time you want.
They should also keep and perhaps improve on the way that there were different responses depending on how you answered characters – I thought that interaction was very enjoyable, and it made me want to replay the game again to see different possibilities. Two big moments that come to mind are the Cawlin's Letter sidequest and the Peatrice sidequest. They should use similar tactics used in those sidequests for actual story moments. I think this would fix some of the linearity problems that people complain about, too; maybe one temple can be done in a different order depending on what you do.
One of the few things that I might disagree with slightly on this list is the returning to previous dungeons/areas. I didn't particularly like going into Skyview again, but I thought that returning to the different regions in the overworld was done well, considering that there was something brand new every time. I suppose Skyview wasn't bad, either, but I would have rather had a new dungeon. Not to mention that the entire reason for going there felt rather pointless; maybe if the return had a larger role in the story rather than "Get the Water Dragon some water", I wouldn't have minded so much. Like... maybe Ghirahim or Zelda had been spotted there. Or something.
Upgrade System wasn't very prominent in SS, but I think that if they improved it then it might be a nice thing to have in future titles. I also disagree with whoever was saying that it was too easy or something to that extent – I literally had to go out of my way and collect Ancient Flowers just to get the Beetle upgrade, because I really wanted the speed boost. I also had to collect Ornamental Skulls at some point, because I guess the game just hates me and decided that Bokoblins weren't going to drop ANY until I went and looked for them.
And I've gone back both times I played the game to collect Tumbleweeds.Finally, Wii MotionPlus. Yes. Enough said.
. In Wii, the "shing" was added because spin attack is far easier to do in Wii than GC. Personally think that limiting the spin attack is stupid. Realistic, but stupid.
