TripleM
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Anyone else eagerly looking forward to this? E3 is just over a week away and from what I've heard the game's still planned for release this year.. so it should be in reasonably final stages, unlike anything we've seen in the past so far. Should get to hear a lot more details about it then.

Going to be very interesting to see how the whole new sword control works - it sounds like a pretty drastic change from earlier games, but hopefully it's one that works rather than something that kills the game entirely..

(And the trailer played backwards = awesome.)

roach strangler
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Unfortunately no,

after the over hyped Twilight Princess I kind of lost the will to play Zelda. I think it's only because of the high expectations I have after classics like Majora's mask. I'm not saying I don't like Zelda anymore, I think it looks okay not great though.

What I am looking forward to is Dark Souls, (Keep in mind I finally beat Demon's Souls ) The hype has actually got me.

But who knows maybe I'll be wrong and it might be a great contender for GOTY. We'll see.

TripleM
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That's interesting.. I've only played Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess, and Majora's Mask was definitely my least favourite; I thought Twilight Princess was just as good as Ocarina.

I guess everyone like Majora's Mask because of the amazing amount of sidequests; having played it straight after Ocarina all I could think of was that:

a) Every single temple felt like it was a copy of a temple from Ocarina

b) It was over way too fast.

If Skyward Sword is anything like Twilight Princess I'll be happy anyway

Rat Man
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Looks pretty good! I've always been into Zelda.

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lakibuk
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The series is stagnating since Ocarina, that's for sure. Zelda is so good that it's hard to change something without making the game worse, i guess.

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Rat Man
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But I couldn't have asked for more than Twilight Princess...

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[Last edited by Rat Man at 09-26-2011 06:20 PM]

Snacko
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lakibuk wrote:
The series is stagnating since Ocarina, that's for sure. Zelda is so good that it's hard to change something without making the game worse, i guess.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. With the exception of the portable titles and Twilight Princess (which were amazing in their own right) every single game in the series has messed with the formula in radical and extremely successful ways.

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Banjooie
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Let's have a huge argument about how Wind Waker is terrible because people can't handle how awesome its graphics are.

12th Archivist
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Banjooie wrote:
Let's have a huge argument about how Wind Waker is terrible because people can't handle how awesome its graphics are.

The cel-shading was a novelty (one that I never particularly enjoyed), but the animations were undoubtedly excellent. The graphics of the game got the point across, too, without any confusion.

Therefore, the visual aspect was awesome.

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west.logan
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Glad to see another Majora's Mask fan (most don't seem to like it, I thought its mechanics were brilliant).

I'm looking forward to Skyward Sword, I'm curious to see where they take everything.

Ocarina of Time is a classic and it's hard to beat something like that, but Windwaker and Twilight Princess were both incredible and if OoT hadn't been made we might be singing their praises.

In my personal opinion, Twilight Princess was too empty. There was almost no side quests and a huge overworld with not much but the occasional horseback battle. All very fun but there could have been a whole lot more. *sigh*

As a side note, I believe I have completed every Zelda game to date, except for Spirit Tracks (aside from the CDi and Game&Watch versions). Same for Metroid. Man, I love those series.

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Rat Man
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12th Archivist wrote:
The cel-shading was a novelty (one that I never particularly enjoyed)

Cel-shading is a brilliant invention!

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12th Archivist
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Rat Man wrote:
Cel-shading is a brilliant invention!

It is quite interesting.

I never particularly enjoyed it.

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[Last edited by 12th Archivist at 06-09-2011 07:04 PM]

coppro
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Additionally, I have to say that Wind Waker had vastly superior music to any LoZ title before or since, though Spirit Tracks was very good too.

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[Last edited by coppro at 06-13-2011 05:59 AM]

lakibuk
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Snacko wrote:

lakibuk wrote:
The series is stagnating since Ocarina, that's for sure. Zelda is so good that it's hard to change something without making the game worse, i guess.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. With the exception of the portable titles and Twilight Princess (which were amazing in their own right) every single game in the series has messed with the formula in radical and extremely successful ways.

Pfew, radical is a strong word. Zelda 2 and Ocarina were radical. The other stuff felt like more of the same to me (not to say it was bad).
I want Zelda with hot action like in Uncharted 2 and clever Portal-like puzzles. Plus Team Deathmatch. :-)

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west.logan
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coppro wrote:
Additionally, I have to say that Wind Waker had vastly superior music to any LoZ title before or since, though Spirit Tracks was very good too.

I'm still waiting for a Zelda game to have actual orchestrated music, instead of fancy midis.

But yes, the Windwaker sea, or the demo music still gets me every time. The staff credits were superb. In contrast, I don't even really remember any music from Twilight Princess. It was pretty but rather unmemorable in my opinion.

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TripleM
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west.logan wrote:
I'm still waiting for a Zelda game to have actual orchestrated music, instead of fancy midis.

In other words, Skyward Sword?

west.logan
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Oh, does it? That would be awesome.


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TripleM
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Yup, and it sounds awesome too. See here (if you don't want to see spoilers of the first dungeon - albeit it, minor ones - just listen )

Also, the orchestra themselves at E3 for even better music: http://www.zeldanime.com/?p=2201

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[Last edited by TripleM at 06-15-2011 12:56 AM]

west.logan
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Sounds really good. Almost has a Metroid Prime feel to the music there. I'm looking forward to some of the outdoor themes then

By the way, I ought to share this link, in case people haven't heard of them. Most are so-so but a few are excellent.

http://www.zreomusic.com/

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reyll3
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Snacko wrote:
I'm going to have to disagree with you there. With the exception of the portable titles and Twilight Princess (which were amazing in their own right) every single game in the series has messed with the formula in radical and extremely successful ways.

I didn't like the Phantom Hourglass and Spirit tracks because of their very simple dungeon design.
In my opinion, Minish cap and Oracle of seasons/ages have messed with the formula and are succesful.

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[Last edited by reyll3 at 06-18-2011 01:38 PM]

Snacko
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The Oracle games and Minish Cap definitely both did some cool stuff with the formula. I was just saying that they didn't depart from the Link to the Past archetype as much as the later console games (again, excluding Twilight Princess) did.

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coppro
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Snacko wrote:
The Oracle games and Minish Cap definitely both did some cool stuff with the formula. I was just saying that they didn't depart from the Link to the Past archetype as much as the later console games (again, excluding Twilight Princess) did.

Which games are you talking about? I don't consider "Carry *foo* around the dungeon" to be a very big archetype departure.

Snacko
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The dungeons were largely the same (although Majora's Mask's masks did change this up a little), but the way the world is explored and structured is dramatically different in Majora's Mask (focus on side-quests, three-day structure) and Wind Waker (exploration by sea, retained Majora's Mask focus on sidequests but made them less puzzle based and more exploration based).

All of the major console releases up to TP (The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker) were all fairly distinctive. They do all follow a similar basic structure, but the series has never stagnated.

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west.logan
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To follow up on this thread, all the reviews (except Gamespot) have been glowing, and I think Gamespot must not have configured their controller properly or something. I've found the motion control to be superb and really, really like being able to properly control the direction of a sword now.

Plus, the calibration feature is really nice if you like to play with the Wiimote pointed slightly upward as I do. Simply hold it in what feels like a natural position, press a button and voila! That is now the center of the screen.

Dungeon puzzles and enemies have been spread out into the surrounding areas so you always feel like you're doing something without traversing huge spaces of nothingness (I'm looking at you, Twilight Princess) to get to the fun bits.

It also looks like there are a good bit of side quests, which I really enjoy. This promises to be a long and fun Zelda game.

The music is fantastic (and the game comes with a separate music CD) and the graphics are imaginative and enjoyable. My only complaint would be that they really aren't up to par with today's graphics (it looks Gamecube quality to me) but that's more of a limitation of the Wii and doesn't really detract from gameplay.

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Snacko
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Just finished the fourth dungeon and loving it so far. I don't know why so many people are having problems with the controls, they're fairly intuitive and if the gyroscope gets out of whack it only takes a single button press to correct it.

My only real problem so far is that Skyloft doesn't really feel connected to the rest of the game, but the density of the surface areas, the craftsmanship of the dungeons and the creativity present in every inch of the game makes up for it.

The coolest idea I've come across so far is in the Lanaryu Desert which (minor, non-story spoilers follow)


EDIT: Also, the main theme is Zeldaøs Lullaby backwards.

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[Last edited by Snacko at 01-07-2012 01:12 AM]

west.logan
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I really liked the desert area too for the same reason. Each time I activated a crystal I was just thinking "cool!"

There have been so many fun moments in this game, and the music is just great. I've been taking it really slow, playing only a night or two a week, but just...a pleasure to play. Surprisingly a little harder than Twilight Princess or Wind Waker, in my opinion. Which I think is a good thing.

The only real annoying thing is the hint system, which I wish I could turn off at times (think Navi, only worse). That, and that every time I turn on the game and collect an Amber relic (or other bug/ore) it reminds me again what it is. Even so, definitely one of my favourite gaming experiences in a long time.

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TripleM
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Done.

Right on about 50 hours.

Best game I've played in my life.

That's all

west.logan
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It took me right at about 50 hours to finish everything too (sidequests and all). It really was a fantastic game. Well done. I am hard pressed as to whether it's my favourite game of all time or not. I really, really enjoyed it but I guess time will tell if it's really a classic.

My only quibbles was that the hint system from Fi was far too "helpful" (sometimes I'd just like to figure out things on my own, thank you) and I didn't enjoy being told every time I turned on the system that I'd just picked up an amber relic, blessed butterfly, etc. Picking up a skull in the middle of a battle with a bunch of moblins kind of ruins your momentum...

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Snacko
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Agreed, the hand holding was a bit much. I also wish it was a bit less linear and that there was more to find (particularly in Skyloft), but that's more of a matter of personal preference.

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coppro
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west.logan wrote:
My only quibbles was that the hint system from Fi was far too "helpful" (sometimes I'd just like to figure out things on my own, thank you) and I didn't enjoy being told every time I turned on the system that I'd just picked up an amber relic, blessed butterfly, etc. Picking up a skull in the middle of a battle with a bunch of moblins kind of ruins your momentum...

It could be worse; it could have done what TP did with rupees...