Q and A: Majora’s Mask 3D, Zelda in Space, and ALBW Help

Our Q and A this week features four of our esteemed staff answering your questions.

Miguel Bernardo Olmedo Morell comes back for his second stint along with Christina Zaeske and Fernando Trejos. Of course, this group is joined by yours truly. This week we have a wide range of questions, from Majora’s Mask 3D all the way to the idea of Zelda in space. Heck, we even touch on Zelda movies and help a fan out with his struggles in A Link Between Worlds. What are you waiting for?

Mark

Brown: When’s

Majora’s Mask 3DS coming out???

Miguel: If I had to bet, I’d say this holiday season. It would make so

much sense to have such an anticipated title come out over Christmas, when

everyone’s wondering what to buy. It would make the perfect gift for every

Zelda gamer. If not, I’d say either at

the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015.

Christina: It’s coming out in my dreams.

Fernando: When? We don’t really know if it will. I, for one, am pretty sure

that it will come out someday. We don’t know for sure, of course, and there is

still the slight possibility that we’ll get a Wii U remake, which I don’t see

as very likely. But it’s pretty safe to assume that there will be a remake

soon, possibly one that will be announced during E3 of this year. It will

probably take very little time to make, maybe as little as two months.

I’m still an advocate for the Wii U version

though.

Majora’s Mask is a very atmospheric game, one that would be best

experienced on a console. As a handheld title, some new players would mute the

game, play it in a car or on a train, or just casually while watching TV. It’s

a great game, my favorite of all time, and if newcomers take it too lightly,

Majora’s Mask would lose too much of its charm.

Nate: These are my least favorite kinds of questions to answer, because

reality is that your guess is as good as ours. I do think Miguel may be jumping

the gun expecting anything this holiday season. With

Hyrule Warriors and Zelda U

in the pipeline, I just don’t see this game being a focus for them right now. I

feel that the game will come out eventually, so we can rest easy with that.

Matthew

Lawson: Will we ever get a direct sequel to

Skyward Sword? One where it shows

how Groose becomes Ganondorf?

Miguel:

Hahaha, I was really expecting Groose to become

Ganondorf too. Awesome as it would be, I really doubt that will happen.

The game ended on a very cheerful note, and he is a really likable character,

so it is unlikely they will trample those happy memories just to turn that

whole beautiful ending into a tragedy. As to whether

Skyward Sword will receive a sequel at all… Sure, I think that

would be likely, although I wouldn’t expect it too soon.

Christina: Though it would be cool, I don’t think this will happen any time

soon, because

Skyward Sword was only

released three years ago. However, maybe in around ten years or so we could

possibly see something like it, hopefully with the Groosenator as well.

Fernando: Sadly, I don’t really think so. Skyward Sword was the start of the

entire series, and in its ending, established a whole new society, a whole new

kingdom, one that’s best left untouched. Link and Zelda are (hopefully)

together now, and they’ve started a new life with Groose and Impa and everyone

they have left; a new evil suddenly looming over the world would, to me, feel

kind of cheap and forced. It’s best to be left to our own speculation.

Nate: I would love to entertain your thought process Matthew, but I feel

like I fall right in line with my fellow staff members. We aren’t sure that Groose

ever really did become Ganondorf to begin with, though I won’t deny the resemblance.

Reality in situations like this is that past designs likely inspired current

character concepts and they never intended for any direct connection. We may get

a

Skyward Sword sequel someday, but I

wouldn’t count on anything resembling the direct origin story of Ganondorf,

especially in connection with Groose.

Thom

Johnson: Will Link ever go to space?

Miguel:

I seriously doubt it. Sure, Mario did in the Super Mario Galaxy saga, but that

franchise is usually less restrained as to the setting of its games.

Unfortunately, I think

Spirit Tracks

had the most daring setting we are going to see in a Zelda game, unless the team behind those games decides to get

really experimental at some point.

Christina: YES. Link must go to space. This is the only thing that I now want

to see in life. Link in space.

Fernando: I’d personally be very interested in one game that portrays a futuristic Hyrule.

That being said, I do think it would have

to be very tricky to make. Too many things would have to be changed or

sacrificed for Link to go into space, and I feel that some of the series

staples we’ve loved for years would have to go. I don’t mean things like

Ganondorf and Hyrule, of course, I’m referring to the wondrous fantasy of the

games, the magical world we’ve all been accustomed to. I’d hate for the game to

be too futuristic, for dumb gimmicks like a “Mecha-Ganon” of sorts, and to have

to change our ways to think about puzzles. I’d hate it if we got a gun item, or

some kind of a mechanical bow, which would destroy one of the biggest charms of

the series.

Will the game ever exist? Yes, probably. There’s

even a small chance that

Zelda U will

be that game, though I wouldn’t bet on it. I just hope they do it right.

Nate: I would love to see them try it, but Zelda isn’t really that type of series, given its roots in high

fantasy. It is wholly possibly but not that likely. I just can’t seem to wrap

my mind around this possibility.

Antonio

Codrea: Should the next

Zelda be like an Elder Scrolls game?

Miguel: Certainly there will be some Elder

Scrolls

elements present in Zelda

for Wii U, such as an open

world

similar to the first The Legend

of Zelda

that encourages a less linear playing experience, but Aonuma has

been very clear when he stated

this

game was not inspired by

Skyrim.

In my opinion, drawing too much from such a different franchise would only

impoverish the

Zelda experience,

which always feels so unique.

Christina: I believe so because currently it seems that the fan base wants a

more realistic and edgy type

Zelda versus what we saw in Skyward Sword and so

on. I myself want to see this just because it would be cool to see our beloved

characters look almost alive. However for some, they think the opposite.

Fernando: Depends on exactly what you mean by “like an Elder Scrolls game.”

I would love to see an open world, to the

expanse of that of

Oblivion or Skyrim, but I’d much rather maintain a smaller

world if it meant for a bigger concentration of awesome;

Majora’s Mask, as an

example, is built on side quests, though obviously lesser in quantity than those

of

Morrowind or Daggerfal, yet, to me, they felt much more inspired and heartfelt.

I would love to see “guilds,” of sorts, but I wouldn’t want too much of a

detraction from the main story and collectibles. I also wouldn’t stand for some

of the more realistic aspects of

Elder Scrolls; Can you imagine the timeline

confusions that would stem from Link being able to choose his own bride?

I want a game like

Elder Scrolls, but just

in terms of its scope. I don’t want to play like that kind of an RPG. And there

are some aspects that I think would be better taken from, say,

Fallout; off the

top of my head, I would love for a system of choices as intricate as that.

Nate: Honestly, no. Not because I dislike the game, but because if you

want to play an

Elder Scrolls game… you can just go play one of those games. I

know the most often talked about element people desire is the open world, but

the

Zelda series has had that since the very first game, so it doesn’t really

need to draw inspiration from another franchise for that. That doesn’t mean I

don’t want to see some evolution in the series, just that I don’t know that it

would be fair to really compare the series together. I would rather the next

title follow its own path.

Darrin

Walter Harr II: Do you think Nintendo is going to release more side games like

Hyrule Warriors and profit from them?

Miguel: It wouldn’t be the first time this happens. Let’s not forget about

the crossover

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem,

which already opened the gates for titles like

Hyrule Warriors. And there’s the arcade Mario Kart where you can play as Pac-man… So that’s definitely an

option.

Christina: I’m sure they will in the future, just not to the point that Mario has been leased out. They will do

the occasional spin-off every few years or so as Nintendo gets more comfortable

with allowing games like

Hyrule Warriors

to be made and so on.

Fernando: Yes, absolutely. Especially after the roaring success of Link’s

Crossbow Training

, and the prospective success that Hyrule Warriors will bring

to the table. I don’t necessarily think that any companies will be allowed a

shot at a real, canonical, main-series

Zelda game—we might get another Capcom

game someday, and hopefully Retro will get to try it out—but these off-shoots

are fun and make a lot of money for the company. There’s no way to go wrong

with this.

Nate: Most definitely. Nintendo has talked at length about being more

open with their IP when licensing it and while that may apply to some phone

applications,

Hyrule Warriors is

living proof they also meant for this to extend into third party games.

Assuming it sells decently well, which it likely will, I could see them using

it as proving ground to allow future endeavors like this. It might be neat to

see a more full blown puzzle game as an example that expands upon the initial

concepts presented in

Tetra’s Trackers.

Robert

Gamez: Do you ever think Link will die in game, and it will have to be up to someone else to take hold of the Triforce of Courage?

Miguel: This theory is quite in line with an

article I posted some time ago

. I didn’t contemplate exactly this idea, but

I did talk about a game without Link—having someone else bear the Triforce of

Courage would certainly seem like the natural thing to do in that situation.

I’d love to see a game like that, although I think the chances for that to

happen are really slim.

Christina: This would definitely take years

and years to actually happen, and even with time I’m not so sure we’d really

see something like this. Though it is a very intriguing concept that would be

awesome to see, Nintendo might deem it a little to risky because of how the fan

base might react. It seems they could have possibly tested the reactions to

Link dying because of what we saw in the manga and the third time-line, which

are both in

Hyrule Historia. However, for now I think we’ll be seeing a lot of

Link.

Fernando: As with pretty much any other

question asked here, I would love to see how this would turn out. A

Zelda game

without Link is good, but a

Zelda game where Link dies would be even better.

The public and fan reception would be either excellent or absolutely terrible,

but I’m sure the game would be exceptional. It would make for one of those

oddball titles, a really introspective and existential game, kind of like

Majora’s Mask or Link’s Awakening; and as I’ve stated in the past, I love both

of those.

The story would be phenomenal, and I can

imagine where they would try to fit it into the timeline. There’s not much else

left to say; I am immeasurably excited

to see what they would do with this and how, and would be very, very interested

in what I believe to be what would become one of the greatest

Zelda games of

all time.

Will they ever actually go through with it?

Maybe once or twice in the next twenty or thirty years; I really do not know, of course. I hope they’re wise enough to experiment with the idea.

Nate: I could argue they already did this partially;

we just didn’t experience it as players. The downfall timeline is based upon

Link failing during his battle with Ganon/dorf in the adult timeline spawned

from

Ocarina of Time. I could argue

that Link was killed, even if we are unsure that he did die. So, I could say we

have seen the result of such an event. The problem being that the game wasn’t

built around that concept, and while others have hinted at how Link may have

died already, it is never experienced by the player and I don’t think we ever

will experience it. Link is one of their flagship characters. It would be like

trying to base a

Mario game where he

dies. It just isn’t something Nintendo is likely considering. Personally

though, I’ve always wanted a game where Link dies, but more so as a sacrificial

lamb. That being that he had to die to save the world.

Kate

Laver: How do you think the world would receive a

Legend of Zelda movie?

Miguel:

Depends on the quality. This saga has the potential

to produce a movie that would become an instant classic and a critic and fan

favorite, although, given the trajectory video game-based movies usually take,

we probably couldn’t expect much quality. There’s also the fact that

regardless of how good the movie was, people would still have extreme

reactions—if it was marvelous, some purists would still rage about how untrue

it is to the video game experience. Whereas, even if it was really bad, some

people would recreate the

Super Mario

Bros.

movie phenomenon and transform it into a cult hit. You just never

know.

Christina: I like this question a lot. Really a lot. The fan base would at first

go crazy and freak out and be completely ecstatic. But as time goes on of

course, there’ll be those people who will look for anything negative they can

find or make up about it. Then the controversy will spark among the fan base and

life will be insane for a while. The demographic that knows nothing about the

game and has no idea what the movie is about might just think that it looks

cool and they’ll go and see it just for the heck of it, or others will choose

not to see it just because it’s about something they aren’t familiar with.

Fernando: It really depends on who makes it, and how it is made. The way we

imagine it, any

Zelda movie would be cheesy and dumb, kind of like the many,

many fan films made over the course of the past decade.

I would love to see a movie based around

Majora’s Mask: an artsy movie, one

that’s much more based around the real heart and meaning of the characters,

rather than the save-the-world plot, which would be seen as cheesy by the

general public.

It just really depends on who makes it and

how it turns out. Even if good, there’s a chance the world would see it as disgusting.

If too mainstream, the world would love it, but the fans would be pissed.

Nate: I think it would be received about as well as any other video game

to movie adaption: Not good and likely appealing to but a few. If you look at

the history of video game to movie adaptions, very few of them have even been

remotely passable, with the

Resident Evil

and arguably the Tomb Raider series

being small sample sized exceptions. An animated film may go over slightly

better, but even then the same old stuff fans complain about with the series

itself would crop up again. Like anything, done well it will appeal to many,

but done poorly and it will piss the whole fan base off. Reality is: I always

felt movie adaptions were best made to try and draw in audiences that have no

idea what the game is that the movie is based upon. That way they grab an

audience with no expectations and can focus on crafting a great movie first and

foremost.

Mathew

Bo Mross: How do I get to the Sand Temple in

A Link Between Worlds?

We’re going to forgo the usual explanations

here and get right down to it. Straight out of our

A Link

Between Worlds Walkthrough

:

• You will need

  the Sand Rod, obtainable after the Thieve’s Hideout Dungeon.

• Head south of

  Link’s house and then Southwest.

• You’ll find a

  Rift on a cliff’s wall by head left. Go inside to Lorule.

• Head SouthWest

  and then north, past the save point, to a set of two Rifts on two small

  mountains.

• Enter the

  right Rift to

  Hyrule and head south and up the stairs.

• Use the Sand

  Rod to create a path going left to

  the pillar with the Red Rupee on top.

• Continue

  further left and merge with the wall and head left and inside the Rift.

• Take the

  bottom path to the right of the Rift and you’ll reach another Rift leading you

  to

  Hyrule.

• Use the Sand

  Rod to cross from pillar to pillar to reach and merge with the left wall and

  head right to the other end of the gap.

• Continue north to a save point and use the

  sand rod to create a path to the Desert Palace.

Jöe

Dempsey: What would you think of a

Majora’s Mask 3DS remake, with extended

play?

Miguel: As a proponent of Operation Moonfall myself, I would love to see Majora’s Mask 3D, as

I have argued to a great extent

. I don’t know how I would feel about extended play,

though. I’d probably love more a sequel with very similar controls and

mechanics than an extension of the story we know, as, from my point of view, it

is perfect just the way it is. Of course, if this extended play was of really

good quality and didn’t impoverish the original experience, maybe I could learn

to love it.

Christina: A Majora’s Mask 3DS remake with extended play? My life would be

complete! All I would need after that is Majora’s mask itself.

Fernando: I’ve already voiced my opinions on the remake, so I’ll just focus

on the inevitable question of extended play.

I’d be completely open to the idea of the

game being tweaked just a bit; after all, who wouldn’t mind the streamlining of

a few side quests, the clarity of a few puzzles improved (for example, the

quests necessary to enter the Great Bay Temple), maybe even a new mask or two, and

the time paradox of the bank being improved just a little bit.

That being said, I wouldn’t enjoy big

changes to the game being made. By big changes, I am referring to things like a

new dungeon or a whole new series of side quests, new characters relevant to the

whole story, new areas outside of Ikana, Great Bay, Snowhead, and Woodfall. I’d

rather the game be left intact as the wonderful masterpiece that it is, and

those ideas be reused for a sequel in the future.

Nate: To me, extended play is always welcome, but not inherently

necessary. Extended play gives a huge reason for series veterans to pick up a

copy, but you always run the risk of ruining some of the spirit in the original

version. Reality is that I would love for some additional content, but maybe

save it for a

Master Quest like mode that is completely optional.

Justin

White: How much did you cry when you realized that

MM3D will never, ever, EVER,

be made?

Breaking trends again, we’ll forgo the

formalities of everyone responding, given that the response was all practically

in agreement. Essentially, we all believe it is still going to be remade, and

those that think otherwise are free to do so. The odd thing is that this

question actually originated from a fan on Operation Moonfall. Could it be that

even they are starting to waver? Patience is a virtue for a reason my friends.