Topic: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

[Inccubus]

Nintendo 3DS and 2DS - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Trailer

After watching the latest trailer I have only one question. Is the alternate version of the Master Sword called the Bastard sword? Lol, that was so juvie.

[X]

I hope this new title recaptures what made the first 4 Zelda titles the success stories that they were. I'm looking forward to giving this one a try. My only questions are: when is it coming out and is this a cartridge game or an online download only?

[shelverton.]

I hope this new title recaptures what made the first 4 Zelda titles the success stories that they were. I'm looking forward to giving this one a try. My only questions are: when is it coming out and is this a cartridge game or an online download only?

I think it's out November 22. And it's a retail cartridge release.

My biggest concern with this game is that it's gonna feel too much like A Link to the Past, especially the world. I love ALttP to death, but part of my love for Zelda is exploration. I don't wanna know where everything is already. The dungeons look brand new though.

Also, the art direction is...awful. I don't understand why they chose this look.

[Intersection]

My biggest concern with this game is that it's gonna feel too much like A Link to the Past, especially the world. I love ALttP to death, but part of my love for Zelda is exploration. I don't wanna know where everything is already. The dungeons look brand new though.

It's a direct sequel to ALttP, so that's to be expected. But, as far as I'm concerned, that's far from being a bad thing.
And you certainly won't be losing the exploration element in this package. Even if you know Hyrule by heart, they'll always be introducing something new. And they did mention a new world...

Also, the art direction is...awful. I don't understand why they chose this look.

Looks fine to me. It might not be winning any awards, but it's still unmistakeably Zelda.
And you have to admit that angle brings back some very fond memories. Even more so than what we had on the DS.

We should expecting an excellent game here.

[shelverton.]

Looks fine to me. It might not be winning any awards, but it's still unmistakeably Zelda.
And you have to admit that angle brings back some very fond memories. Even more so than what we had on the DS.

Well, I might have exaggerated a bit. Looking at that new trailer, the characters looks much better up close. I just loved the Wind Waker look. I also loved the look in Twilight Princess. This new look seems a bit generic, or safe maybe. It lacks personality IMO. But I take back the "awful" part.

The game will probably be much better than Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Didn't care for those games (though I feel Spirit Tracks was a better game than Phantom Hourglass).

The way you buy items instead of finding them in dungeons is interesting and should make the game more open. I just hope the rupee collecting aspect of this won't feel too obvious. Hopefully making rupees will be a little more involved than cutting down bushes... Maybe some fun minigames, or treasure hunts!

[X]

The way you buy items instead of finding them in dungeons is interesting and should make the game more open.

We've always been able to do both in pervious games so hearing this makes it sound a bit more limited. Why just only buying stuff this time?

[Intersection]

We've always been able to do both in pervious games so hearing this makes it sound a bit more limited. Why just only buying stuff this time?

They'll be "putting a greater emphasis" on the rupee's purchasing power. That doesn't mean that the game's dungeons will be devoid of your classic special loot. It's only supposed to make the system more balanced.
That said, I don't want to have to go through those money-grinding motions again. Let's hope they have a decent solution.

[shelverton.]

We've always been able to do both in pervious games so hearing this makes it sound a bit more limited. Why just only buying stuff this time?

Well, you'll be able to tackle the dungeond in any order you wish this time, depending on what item you buy. Though I bet you'll be buying them in the order Nintendo wants you to, like, making the hammer cheaper than perhaps the hookshot. At least that's how I picture it. Though grinding early for rupees would let you buy the more expensive stuff early.

One question though: How are the dungeons gonna work with this new system? They can't have dungeons where you need more than one ability at a time. The hammer dungeon cannot have hookshot puzzles, and the hookshot dungeon cannot have hammer puzzles, and so on. Cause the game can't know what dungeon you're going to start with.

Unless it's clear from the start that, for example "this dungeon requires the hammer, bombs and the bow" etcetera.

[X]

It sounds to me that depending on the item you purchase it will allow you to do the dungeon that said item is required for. If this game is using a new type of system for dungeons, etc. then we can't exactly think about it in the conventional sense. In past titles we had no choice but to follow a linear path from one dungeon to the next. This game sounds like it will be up to the player to decide what dungeon he/she wants to go to first. With this reasoning I think the next question is how will the difficulty be handled? It was fairly obvious in past games, but maybe not this one...

[GuyStarwind]

Do you think they'll add in ALttP as an added bonus?

[X]

Do you think they'll add in ALttP as an added bonus?

I would love it more if they did. The GBA version of AlttP had several extra things added to the game over its SNES counterpart. Such as keeping the shovel and actually finding hearts and rupees in the ground other then the treasure field game. They even stuck in Maple the witch as well, lol! Though her character sprite was just a little off when you compare a GBC sprite to a SNES/GBA game.

[shelverton.]

Do you think they'll add in ALttP as an added bonus?

If Nintendo are planning to ever put SNES games on the 3DS Virtual Console, then no. They totally want us to pay separately for that game. Again. Though I haven't heard anything about it. My guess is that IF ALttP is in this game as a bonus, that would probably mean we're never getting SNES games on the VC.

[RichterB]

Speaking as a big Zelda fan who has beaten every game except the two Four Swords games, I'm totally conflicted about this game. It's not making a strong case as a system seller, when it should be.

1.) I agree that the art direction just isn't right. It's passable, but sort of bland, and it's overly bubbly for a title that isn't in the Wind Waker universe. I don't find it appealing to look at.

ALttP had some of the BEST art direction in Zelda, even if the game couldn't show it. If you've forgotten what this era of Zelda looks like, copy and paste the following art links: triforce.org/supernes/link11.jpg & triforce.org/supernes/link12.jpg

A Link Between Worlds started out with a little more mature look, but then Nintendo pared it down in the promo art to better suit its new direction: screwattack.com/sites/default/files/images/News/2013/0804/ChangeLink.jpg

2.) They are playing way too much off the nostalgia of A Link to the Past in design. Yes, there will be twists and nuances galore I'm sure, but it looks like we're playing a remix/reskin of A Link to the Past more than we should. (And yes, ALttP is awesome, but it doesn't need a remake, and we old-schoolers have played it many times). We're going to get three pendants again and awaken the master sword?! I would have preferred they do something new in the overhead style like Oracle of Seasons or The Minish Cap compared to this. Otherwise, I would have liked a game that used Ocarina of Time 3D's graphical assets to make a new concentrated 3D Zelda adventure along the lines of Majora's Mask.

3.) Sketch Link/Painting Link is jarring. It's creative in terms of gameplay, but the visual of it just takes me out of the ALttP era. It feels like an idea that would suit Toon Link much better, and brings to mind the goofiness of Paper Mario.

4.) The item buying system based on rupees, while it offers freedom, also seems to monetize exploration. It's a step in the right direction as far as offering players choices, but the way it seems to be implemented will probably make the adventure feel scripted and limited in a different way. I imagine you'll eventually get the keep the items via the dungeons, and I've heard there will be mini dungeons to get extra rupees... I just don't like the sound of that. It sounds like unnecessary grinding and backtracking versus really open exploration and discoveries. Remember finding the Ice Rod from out of nowhere in ALttP, and you get to keep it? Now that felt like freedom.

5.) All this alternate universe story stuff feels repetitive and uninspired. It feels like Twilight Princess' Twilight Realm meets Oracle of Seasons' Subrosia with the look of the Dark World.

In the end, it will be pretty amazing for newcomers, but it seems to offer mostly nostalgia and hopeful innovations for the future to long-time fans. I'm left with only a casual interest so far.

[X]

Remember finding the Ice Rod from out of nowhere in ALttP, and you get to keep it? Now that felt like freedom.

That i do. I've always gone item hunting prior to doing the first dungeon. The Armos knights get to feel the sting of cold whenever I use this rod.

You make a lot of valid points about this game, however we won't really know just how much of it is a rehash until we can actually try it out. Either way I will buy this title once available. While I did notice that you need the three pendants to release the master sword once more I don't know if you have to collect them in the same way as before. It might be totally different. I can also agree with the art direction. It's leaning too close to the wind waker style which is not the Link of this era. At least their outfits match somewhat if not totally. They should have kept to the AlttP art style or something very similar to it in order to keep with the theme of this particular branch of the series.

[Inccubus]

You guys are being a bit limited in your thinking just tid bit.

IIRC Aonuma said that the dungeons will be designed so that they can be solved in different ways with multiple items.

Also, you can rent or buy the items. So I'm thinking that the rental prices will be cheap and the sale prices pretty high. And if it were up to me I'd make the rental prices the same for all items and the sale prices different based on overall usefulness.

The graphics are meant to emulate ALttP in 3D, I don't see a problem here. The "Decline" timeline wasn't exactly super serious or overly cartoony and I think this is well represented.

The new picture form ability is meant to be jarring, I think. I mean really, what do you expect when you transform into a 2 dimensional state? It should be wierd and jarring. That shit ain't normal and the art direction here conveys that pretty effectively.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about knowing Hyrule like the back of your hand. The game is stated to take place 6 generations after ALttP, that is enough time to realistically expect some changes to have occurred as has been shown in the trailers. Besides if they used a completely different map then people would bitch that it doesn't make sense if this is supposed to be the same Hyrule just a few of hundred years later.

My concern is how they are going to reconcile the master sword being used again if ALttP said outright it never would be used again. My silly little quip in the first post was eluding to the possibility that it might not even really be the master sword at all. But it probably is and this will be the one big glaring plot hole they introduce. I hope not though. It would be cooler to introduce the White Sword and the Magic Sword.

I think there will be a lot more to this than we've seen. I think the story will be interesting and there are sure to be tons of interesting characters in Lorule. Remember, the second world isn't the dark world of ALttP. In some ways it seems to be more akin to Termina.

Oh, and also, I think the entire purpose of this game is to experiment with a more open style of game play since Aonuma said specifically that that is what he wants for the Wii U Zelda.