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Is the success of Ocarina of Time ruining or saving the Zelda fanbase? [roundtable]
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So, Chrisbg99 and I were talking last night about Skyward Sword and how I was going to mention in my future review of it how I actually liked Twilight Princess. He told me that contrary to the loudmouths that dislike TP, it was really well-received, it's just the vocal fans that dislike it. But now I'm starting to see people comment with 'TP is the most underrated Zelda game' on videos of the Medley of TP from the 25th Anniversary Soundtrack. And that got me thinking... doesn't this always happen? I mean, every time there is a console Zelda released, we have these fans who say, 'It will never be as good as OoT', and then afterwards, when the next console Zelda releases, it ends up becoming an underdog in a few fans' eyes, and eventually starts to get it's own loving fanbase. It happened with Majora's Mask It happened with Wind Waker and I'm starting to see it happen with Twilight Princess. Then there are the fans that just want the 'next OoT', but really... there won't be another OoT. So those fans' expectations are always shot no matter what you give them. What are your thoughts on this? Reminder: This is about OoT ruining/saving the fanbase, not the franchise. URL to share (right click and copy)
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11/28/11, 04:55 Edited: 11/29/11, 03:30
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Moving my commentary here from another post:
I'm having a very hard time getting into this game, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. Admittedly, I've only just completed the first dungeon, but I'm just not getting drawn into the world like I have with past Zelda games.
The tutorial section felt tedious and drawn out...I find the character designs, (at least some of them), quite ugly, and I've already been forced to use dowsing to complete an overly long fetch quest. It's possible that I am no longer intrigued by the tropes of the Zelda universe...and that makes me sad.
I will say, however, that I am thoroughly enjoying the combat, and the attention that must be paid to land hits against enemies. The first fight against Ghirahim, while ugly from an personally aesthetic standpoint, was very fun!
I'm hoping the combat can get me through the long stretches of tedium, (or that the game picks up speed).
I guess what I'm so surprised by is that Nintendo and Iwata have been touting the length of development and dev team size for this game, (100+ devs for 5+ years), that I was expecting this puppy to be honed to a fine point. Perfect pacing with spot on controls and mechanics, (I can't even control the damn camera while I'm embarking on another random "find 3 of these" quests).
A bit disappointing so far. I will redact if it picks up as I get further into the game.
EDIT: On a side note, the music is AMAZING! You can always count on Mr. Kondo to deliver! |
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@TriforceBunYes! It did make me wonder about the history behind that area! My mind boggled when I heard I had to go to The Temple of Time. It's like WTF happened?? It made me question the entire setting of the game. Note: Only beaten up to the 4th dungeon so this may be way off but....this is speculation based on the nature of the third area: I thought SS was supposed to be the origin game, set before everything else....Yet here we are stumbling around the desertified ruins of Lanayru- A desert & ruins including robots and and an incarnation of the Temple of Time. And this is supposed to have been around even before the early time period the game supposedly takes place in? It doesn't make sense. All this stuff that had happened to Skyloft removing it from Hyrule in the face of demon attack and what haveyou ....not referenced in any previous Zelda game. I know I know, they hadn't known they were going to do this game all those years ago, but this still stretches the limits of credibility.
Enter the whole time travel thing with the Gate of Time. I don't know where that's leading but it opens up a possibility: This game isn't set before the others. It's set in Hyrule's far future. It explains how what we knew as the Temple of Time eventually became a desert. Why we have advanced tech floating around like robots. Skyloft. All the weird nitpicks. But with the use of the Gate of Time, Zelda and Link travel *back* to the very beginning of Hyrule's history....and are responsible for all the elements of 'future' games in the series. The Master Sword, the original establishment of Hyrule, etc etc. I'm not really clear on the details. Of course like I said, I'm probably way off. But this amount of speculation *in game*? That's pretty cool from a storytelling perspective, *and* the game used the environment to do it rather than beating me over the head with exposition. |
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My issue with Zelda's ambiguity is that it's all a dead end. The universe is self-referential, but in a circular way. It's never going to go anywhere, it's never going to do anything other than flirt with itself. Which is fine, in some respects. I don't mind the relationship that Zelda has with Link in any given game. They're different people, it's fine that the relationship is always in limbo.
But with something like references to other Zelda games, time periods, items or locations? For me it falls flat. It's feels like it's there to hint at something bigger or to establish a cohesive universe, but the hints go nowhere and the universe is only as cohesive as it needs to be within any given moment. Gorons and Zoras are there when the designers feel like throwing them in, not when the timeline dictates they should be there. Hyrule is whatever it needs to be at any given time, not necessarily what the story should dictate. Which is fine, within the confines of an individual game. But it could be so much more as a franchise.
For me, all of those callbacks are a perpetual reminder that the only thing that holds the Zeldaverse together are characters with similar names and clothes. Everything else exists in the heads of fans and on a whiteboard at Nintendo HQ. |
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