Beyond simply the “player factor” is the game world itself. While the

integration of gameplay into the world certainly “makes the game,” the

game would not exist without a world to play in in the first place. In Zelda,

Hyrule is the traditional game setting—and the ways in which the

developers present it to us have a tremendous impact on our reception

of the game experience. There are three primary modes in which the game

world itself is created: first and foremost is the art design, the

skeleton for the world that we immediately perceive; second is the

environments, the places and things that we interact with; and the last

and perhaps most important is the storyline, the who, what, and why

that drive us on our quests.

Ocarina‘s game world is a

revolution for its time. Its cast of characters rivaled that of many

full-scale RPGs, its environments were varied and diverse, and its

storyline was among the most compelling of video game history,

achieving a renown that has lasted even now, ten years later. A new Wii Zelda

would need to bring equally impactful changes to the table to gain the

stature that the “greatest game of all time” managed. Unlike the

gameplay most of these changes will have little to do with the hardware

and everything to do with the creative process. As a creative artist

myself, these are my hopes for the future of the franchise.

Art design


One of the most noticeable features of Ocarina of Time was the strong sense of realism. While prior games used blatantly cartoonish sprites and artwork, Ocarina

incorporated a landscape and cast of characters that were as

photorealistic as the hardware would allow. This approach allowed

players to insert themselves more deeply on a mental and emotional

level into Link’s mind as they explored the world around them and

served arguably as the most immersive update the series has yet seen.

The realism avenue left a lasting impression in Zelda fans’ minds—as their reaction to the very first trailers for Twilight Princess

in 2004 indicated. It was certainly more successful than Nintendo’s

other experiment in art design, the “toon shading” style seen in Wind Waker and the Four Sword games. Most fans and newbies to the series will say that they preferred the realistic graphics of Ocarina and its successors than the cel-shaded cartoons of the other games.

What can the Wii Zelda do to entrance audiences as Ocarina of Time did? While I and many others would love to see a toon-shaded game on the Wii, it would seem that realism is the way to go.

WWTunic.jpg

Many Zelda fans would be just as disheartened as Link to see this style return.

Even beyond the 3D environments, Ocarina‘s

colorful characters are among the most timeless in the series’ history.

Many of them have been recycled in future games, such as the Lon Lon

Family, Anju the cucco lady, and most notably the Gerudo King

Ganondorf. The characters in Twilight Princess, many of them

twisted versions of other noteworthy figures—namely Purlo, Tingle’s

doppelganger—hold the same kind of visual charm.

HappyMaskMan.jpg

Remember this guy? He went from a supporting role in Ocarina
of Time
to a starring role in its sequel, Majora’s Mask.

One of Ocarina‘s prime accomplishments—the introduction of the major races of Hyrule—was expanded upon considerably in Twilight Princess. The Zoras are perhaps the best example. Whereas in Ocarina they were all nude and had essentially identical designs, some of those in Twilight wore armor and there were some differences between males and females of the species. The next Zelda

could take this to the next level by adding even more visual

personality to each individual member of the tribe, not just to the

major characters.

Imagine a cast of characters developed with

such care that a sizable number of them are recognizable on sight, from

random people and shopkeepers in the marketplace to the various members

of each tribe, who previously were difficult to distinguish from one

another. We’ve seen examples of vast casts of fleshed-out,

carefully-crafted NPCs in RPGs such as those by Square-Enix, the makers

of Final Fantasy and Star Ocean. This idea has been toyed with in The Wind Waker—every

character had a name, personality, and unique design—and this approach

needs to be undertaken on a wider scale. No more cookie-cutter

townspeople or hordes of stock-image Gorons and Zoras.

If

Nintendo’s philosophy is that everything should add to the overall

player experience, then each element should be fleshed out to its

fullest potential—its cast of characters especially as they are the

players’ primary form of interaction with the world they explore. The

more ambitious RPGs have accomplished this with some consistently since

time immemorial—why not Zelda?

Environments

The world of Hyrule is one of Zelda‘s

most recognizable icons. Hyrulean locales such as Death Mountain, Lake

Hylia, and the Lost Woods all carry a tradition of mystery and majesty.

Players have explored each of their depths to numerous extents, but Ocarina of Time

brought them to life in full 3D in a way not replicated in any other

game to date. Death Mountain was not just the mountain peak to the

north of the world map—now it was an active volcano with a village of

rock-eaters and a temple nestled in its massive crater.

Another of the successes of Ocarina of Time

was its depiction of the change in Hyrule’s climate during the seven

years in which Link rests in the Sacred Realm. Castle Town no longer

exists, destroyed by Ganondorf’s attack, and its citizens have moved to

Kakariko Village and find themselves crammed—we see that several

unrelated characters dwell in the same house. Zora’s Domain is frozen,

having suffered the effects of a vile curse. Monsters now run rampant

in the once-peaceful Kokiri Forest. We saw that Hyrule was adaptable,

that it could change over time.

Twilight Princess took the Hyrule shown in Ocarina and exploded it to epic proportions—its sheer size more than tripled that of Ocarina‘s

world. Hyrule Field was especially telling—it now spanned four large

gameplay regions, all connected by canyon pathways. The game

appropriately labeled its regions as “provinces,” exemplifying how

large Hyrule actually is in a way that Ocarina could not have

accomplished in its time. We also got to explore regions outside of the

Hyrule we know and love—Peak Province to the north and Ordon to the

south.


TPoverworld.jpgSure, it looks great, but does it live up to expectations? Three of the
six so-called “provinces” in Twilight Princess didn’t even
have cities in them.

But at what point does preserving the series’ icon go too far? The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, and Twilight Princess all started off with forest and fire dungeons just like Ocarina of Time, and the pattern has become apparent—and annoying—to many hardcore fans of the series. Twilight Princess, despite promising to have a fuller overworld, featured the same number of settlements as Ocarina,

two of them mostly abandoned. If Hyrule is to appeal to both the casual

player and the hardcore gamer, it needs to evolve further and branch

out into unexplored areas.

The most glaring problem is that

while Hyrule’s field map is large, the lack of settlements within its

domain takes away from the majesty the kingdom supposedly possesses.

After all, how powerful can Hyrule be if it only has two or three real

towns within its jurisdiction? There are plenty of ancient ruins and

temples that give testimony to its legendary legacy, but it is people

that make a country, not buildings. Some may argue that Goron Village

and Zora’s Domain are technically settlements, but we for the most part

do not see the dwellings of their denizens—we only see a bunch of

people walking around inside of a cave.

Here, again, Zelda

could take a leaf from the book of many RPGs, most of which have more

towns than they can handle. A good number of fully developed villages

(seven in total) appeared in The Adventure of Link, and if the new Zelda

were to have a figure somewhere in that ballpark and scattered them

around the main field map it would definitely flesh out the overworld.

Let us see villages subordinate to the King’s rule, let us see

encampments of travelers at the side of the road, and let us learn a

wealth of history of these places as we do in the RPGs.


TotA.gifTales of the Abyss, an RPG for the PS2, had over 14 towns and
settlements. Could we see a world like this in a
Zelda
game someday?

Another problem is that Zelda has departed somewhat from Ocarina‘s

style of crafting bold and looming landmarks in each of the

locales—every village and every dungeon had a unique and recognizable

face. Such highlights include the Kakariko Windmill and the Desert

Colossus in the middle of the Haunted Wasteland. Rather than sticking

to the same plain village or dungeon surroundings, these landmarks

added personality and a sort of true-to-life feel to the game.

Majora’s Mask

took this trend and ran with it, with the Clock Tower marking the

central hub and unprecedented dungeon concepts like a temple in the

middle of the ocean. Wind Waker included some interesting and fresh environments, such as the Tower of the Gods and Forsaken Fortress. Twilight Princess,

on the other hand, while it showed some of the lands outside Hyrule, in

large part stuck to the same-old, been there done that Hyrule formula.

Once again we found ourselves facing fiery volcanoes, mysterious

forests, and zombie-filled crypts. Frankly Zelda fans are sick of continuous rehashes, as the largely negative response to Twilight Princess‘s attempts at fanservice should demonstrate.

I think it is time Zelda

environments once again employed bold, stunning landmarks as a means of

establishing the player’s sense of connection to the Hyrule universe.

Overuse of ancient and abandoned ruins, castles and palaces, or secret

caves in the forests or the mountains or at the bottom of a lake isn’t

going to create a new and interesting experience, at least not for

longtime fans of the series. Give us a wrecked ship on a coastline and

a pirate village surrounding it. Or maybe we could see a treetop

village connected by interlinking branch canopies. Oracle of Ages showed us an underwater Zoran village—a 3D translation would probably be visually stunning.

If the Zelda team is really considering “bold new ideas,” we can hope this will include new and improved world environments. Games like Majora’s Mask pulled it off before—Nintendo’s definitely capable of doing it again.

Storyline


Since the Bombers are generally theorists and story analysts, the Zelda

storyline is obviously something we take very seriously. Our cult-like

devotion to deciphering the mysteries buried within the series’ lore

yearns and craves for well-crafted and constantly refreshed plotlines,

backstories, and the like. As such, most of us love Ocarina of Time

and its consistent storyline, with compelling plot twists that make

sense and a villain who does not fall under the control of a higher

evil. Amidst a series whose recent installments have been plagued by

plotholes, distracting fetch quests, and puppet-villains, Ocarina shines as a beacon in darkness.

The

plot itself speaks to us, too—the idea of a boy raised among a tribe of

children who never grow up having to take the plunge into adulthood

hearkens back to the stories of our youth. Time travel between past and

future, bringing bits of knowledge back and forth and attempting to

influence the course of events, helps us to learn about the

consequences of our actions and their role in the great cosmic game of

life. In this respect, the game forces us to grow up a little bit as

well, whether we realized it when we played the game at eight to ten

years of age or not. We take a time warp into the future alongside Link.

It was the most intricate plot yet undertaken by the Zelda

team. Previously the games had amounted to little more than

accomplishing a goal set out from the beginning, usually to save

Princess Zelda from Ganon’s evil clutches (and if not Ganon, then from

an evil curse or monster). Ocarina of Time was the first title

to establish an underlying sense of doom—Princess Zelda herself was

fairly safe as the game opened, with the threat against the various

denizens of Hyrule instead. Other games have followed the example, most

notably Majora’s Mask with its ominous falling moon. Just when

we thought the world was saved, however, we were surprised to find that

we played right into the villain’s hand, and then we plunged into

Armageddon.

Watching the other characters Link interacted with as a child in Ocarina of Time

mature to adulthood helped foster changes in their disposition and

their motives. No longer was Darunia merely the stern old man,

distrustful of outsiders—he was a stalwart warrior willing to accept

help from his fellow Hyruleans, even those from far away from his

mountains. Princess Ruto was not the stuck-up child players encountered

in Jabu-Jabu’s belly—she was still in love with Link, but her nobility

now joined with a sense of duty and purpose.


Nabooru.jpgThe hot-headed thief, Nabooru, turned out to be the sage of the Spirit Temple.

This was the first time the series ever saw dynamic character development. Previously, in games such as A Link to the Past,

the characters were mostly flat and served only to deliver key clues

and background information to the player or to direct him or her to the

next destination. Ocarina‘s characters existed to entertain and to offer interaction, not just exposition.

Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker

both followed the same philosophy. The former developed its characters

through a serious and dark set of interconnected plotlines. The latter

showed more outrageous changes, such as a rich family and a poor family

literally swapping lives after Link rescued their daughters from

Ganon’s clutches. And who could forget Twilight Princess‘s

Midna, who went from frankly a manipulative b-witch to a kind-hearted

saint who all but sacrificed herself for her people and for those of

the light world.

Ocarina of Time‘s storyline and

characters are timeless, and they remain the most recognizable in the

entire series. The game has three official sequels, more than any other

Zelda title, and has become the main focal point of the series’ “split timeline.” Of the nine new Zelda games released since 1998, all but one—Four Swords for the GameBoy Advance—feature the Gorons, who made their debut in Ocarina. Clearly the game got it right as far as story was concerned.

Other games have done well, but it is clear that the hardcore Zelda fanbase needs more than the most recent and most ambitious title, Twilight Princess,

had to offer in terms of story. The game was chock-full of cool ideas,

like the Twilight Curtain spreading across Hyrule and transforming it

into a twisted otherworld or the undertones of corruption by dark

powers. These elements ultimately fell short of fans’ expectations,

however, whether because of the game’s overhyped release or otherwise.

Again I must point to the examples set by the larger RPGs—Final Fantasy, Tales,

and so on. Each of these has an extraordinary story, clearly the

products of years of hard work and painstaking revision. Many times the

story is largely completed before work on the game has progressed even

to demo stages. Zelda, on the other hand, has built its story

in a reverse way—the gameplay is built from the ground up, and the

story is crafted to fit the gameplay.


Thumbnail image for FFXII.jpgFinal Fantasy XII displayed many intricately-designed and beautiful
environments, and each was full to the brim with
NPCs and sidequests and general storyline
tidbits that made the game world seem that much more real.

Perhaps

the biggest improvement that could be made to the series storyline

would be for Nintendo to abandon this philosophy and instead build

gameplay to fit the story. Instead of programmers and gameplay planners

first developing a system of magic and attempting to incorporate the

magic into the storyline, the magic system could be crafted in

accordance with already-set story concepts. Rather than inventing

dungeon themes before establishing their plot significance, fit the

dungeon theme into the story. Link could travel into the “Deku jungle,”

for example, and the dungeon’s design could be based off of that

environment—complete with vine-swinging and other jungle-based

activities. This way the story cannot be reduced simply to motivation

to complete a series of gameplay tasks—the “dungeon crawl” as gamers

have come to call it, which has plagued Zelda for the last several games.

While Majora’s Mask‘s

storytelling would be difficult to incorporate outside of its cycling

three-day system, its interwoven character relationships are the

best-crafted in the series. Applying the same intricacy to future games

is a must if the Hyrulean society we see next is to be believable to

players. Give us our love triangles, petty thieves to stop from

stealing old ladies’ purses, shops for pawned goods, feuds among

bureaucrats over what to be done about the catastrophes, and the like.

As of Twilight Princess

the story has best shined in fleeting glimmers of excellence, such as

when Renado expresses his annoyance with Telma or when we discover Rusl

injured in his home after he goes after the captured children. Let the

story shine in every scene, not just the small touching moments. What

might Twilight Princess have done to present a better story?

While

most fans loved the Twilight idea, many were disappointed with the way

in which it was pulled off. Most areas were too empty to really feel

the effects. Faron Woods had two residents altogether while under cover

of darkness, and while their fear at the twisted impact of darkness on

the land was done somewhat well this was not enough to impact players

in a meaningful way. The same was true for Kakariko Village, indeed,

Eldin as a whole—it also was too devoid of inhabitants to really set a

tone of fear.

Thumbnail image for Twilight.jpgTwilight Princess‘s dark Twilight Realm had potential to be
deliciously creepy, but did not maximize that prospect.

As

if that were not enough, the threat of Twilight didn’t seem all that

ominous, as those consumed by it were, as Zelda put it, “unaware that

they have become spirits.” In other words, the people often didn’t even

know anything had happened to them. Another prime example of this was

about halfway through the game. Hyrule Castle is encased in a demonic

force field, but the inhabitants of Castle Town don’t appear to pay it

any mind at all. From all this, as far as many players were concerned,

the doom and gloom aspect, which was one of the game’s selling points,

was disappointing at best.

A new Zelda needs a

well-developed, professionally-written story, not a “write it on the

fly” script full of obvious plotholes and subject to constant

“upending” by Miyamoto. Recent Zeldas have suffered too much

from sloppy writing and sloppier translating. While Nintendo’s

philosophy, that the fun factor is the most important element in any

game, should definitely be upheld, that does not mean that story

writing should be given anything less than the best care. While we here

at ZeldaInformer really have no say in the direction the series

storyline will go in terms of plot, we would like Nintendo to at least

put more energy into developing a cohesive tale that fans of all ages

can enjoy than they have with recent iterations.

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