Q&A: Future Timeline Slots, New Nintendo Series, and Hyrule Warriors Anticipation!

Here’s another Q&A for you patient folks.

There was a broad range of questions to choose from — a lot

of them were about Majora’s Mask, and

I’m sure that will be the case until Nintendo makes an announcement. But for

now, you’ll have to make do with these interesting musings.

I’ve been looking forward to doing a Q&A since I joined

the Zelda Informer staff, so you’ve

got editorial writer Francis

Comberti at the helm today. Keep the questions coming!

Ace Major: Is there a

chance to [sic] see Princess Zelda playable?

Francis: I think

there’s a lot of potential there, but I sadly doubt it. We saw Spirit Tracks give Zelda a larger role

than usual in her own legend, but I don’t believe she’ll be given much more

than that, certainly not the protagonist’s mantle. Link and Zelda are not just

characters, they are archetypes, and Nintendo tend not to stray from them. It takes

somebody very brave to dissect gaming tropes and why they may or may not be

relevant anymore, and I think #feministfrequency does a stellar job in her

Damsel in Distress web series (Part One here). After years of one dynamic between Mario and Luigi, Nintendo gave the brother

in green the opportunity for his own adventure, in which he has to save the

usually dependable and heroic Mario. The way games currently stand, if Nintendo

are ever to give Princess Zelda significant playtime, it may only come in the

form of the indomitable Sheik, scouring the land in search of Link and Ganon. Who

could say no to that?

Ziad M. Alsaleh: What

timeline do you guys think the new Zelda will take place in?

Francis: It’s

impossible to say. Everyone will have their own opinions, but I’d love to see

something between Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess. Regardless of where

it ends up, I thought Nintendo were very brave to come out and say that Skyward Sword was the first in the

series so far. There’s something very exciting about being presented with “the

beginning” of a story in a fictional world. Of course, that’s always subject to

change. I think there’s every chance that Eiji Aonuma and/or Shigeru Miyamoto

might mention where Zelda U fits in

their timeline at E3. That’ll really help it to gather momentum. But what I’d

really like them to do with the plot of Zelda

U is use it to instigate a new split in the timeline. At the moment it’s

just Ocarina of Time that has had

that effect so far.

Eduardo Vasconcelos: Doesn’t

Nintendo need more series’ like Zelda and Metroid to conquer the attention of

the so-called hardcore public?

Francis: The

thing that attracted me to Nintendo in the first place was its mascots. And

even though I was a child then, those characters have stayed with me, and helped

maintain my allegiance. But games were different back then. I’m not sure

whether modern gamers want characters to dominate a series of games that they

play. Modern gamers want thrilling story, yes, but they want extraordinary

graphics too. I’m not sure Booker DeWitt or Jodie Holmes will stand the test of

time like Link or Samus Aran have, and I’m not holding out much hope for a new

Nintendo mascot to turn the heads of gamers playing the umpteenth Call of Duty

title. Commercial success inevitably drives executive decisions, but if

Nintendo were really thinking of pulling this rabbit out of the proverbial hat,

they should reveal their new character in a Super Smash Bros. game, and follow

it up with their own title a month or two later. That could create the

necessary buzz.

Frew Weldemariam: Do

you think Zelda U will feature some kind of extra accessory (kind of like the

Wii Motion Plus for Skyward Sword) to increase the overall experience?

Francis: I’d like

to think so. We’ve seen some of what the Wii U controller is capable of, and

I’d love for Zelda U to be the

platform from which more innovative genius is sprung. Like in Super Mario 3D World, it would be great

if the controller screen sporadically opened up small secrets and reveals.

Perhaps Link might obtain an item that will allow alternative gameplay, such as

a telescope or goggles that provides another perspective on things. Maybe holding

the smaller screen up to the television would highlight new areas or secret

caves. I really don’t know otherwise, but I think they’re likely to wow us. I

mean, if you’d said ten years ago that blowing on a controller was going to

actually affect gameplay, I’d have eaten my hat. Good thing nobody predicted

that.

Jose Chamu: What are

your opinions on Hyrule Warriors?

Francis: I’m

undecided as of yet. It won’t play like a traditional Zelda game, but it will have its place in Hylian lore. It’s likely

that if a hero decided to single-handedly storm the kingdom of the antagonist that

a great army would stand in his way, so I like its realism in that sense. I

think it’ll take a few more trailers or gameplay videos to gain more of an

understanding of what the game’s intentions are, but I’m definitely keeping an

open mind. Nintendo don’t attach the Zelda

name to something lightly, so it’s bound to throw in a few surprises yet.

Ian Ray: Why does

Link meet so many girls but never dates any of them?

Francis: Ha! I

like the question. Nintendo obviously aren’t keen on BioWare’s interactive

relationship approach. I think rather than say something obvious like, “he

might be gay” or “the quest is more important to him”, it’s likely that

Nintendo want to keep the possibility of his relationships open to the fans. I’m

sure they’ve seen fan art and read through fan forums in order to gauge

opinions on Zelda, Malon, Saria, Marin, etc. It’s important that Link meets

boys and girls from different lands and backgrounds to further establish his

understanding of the world. But I think it’s great as it is — fans get to

project what they want onto the characters Link encounters, and Nintendo find

new ways to approach the subject. Skyward

Sword did a lovely job of tricking the player into thinking that one of

these relationships might actually exist, and then swiftly took that away from

them. It was brilliant writing. It took twenty-five years of Zelda concepts, and subverted all our

expectations.

That’s the end of this week’s Q&A. Remember, you aren’t

limited to asking us when we ask you on the Facebook page — you can ask us a

Zelda-related question whenever you like!