Has Zelda franchise lost its way since Ocarina?
The greatest game in a decade?
(Credit: Nintendo)I have little doubt that at least some Nintendo fans have read that headline and are preparing to unleash comments in support of the Zelda franchise. But before that happens, hear me out.
I'll be the first to admit that I am, quite simply, one of the biggest Zelda fans around. I own the Ocarina of Time soundtrack (the songs are on my iPod), have played every Zelda game since the beginning, and firmly believe that it's the greatest work from Shigeru Miyamoto (yes, I believe it's a better franchise than Mario).
And perhaps that's why I have such strong feelings about the Zelda franchise and where it's headed as of late. See, I've been wanting to write this column for quite some time, but I decided that before I would, I should go back and play every Zelda game to its completion to ensure that my contention--that the franchise has lost its way--is strong.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, I believe it is.
I don't expect every Nintendo fan to agree, and I'm sure some Zelda fans are already upset with what I'm saying. But I'm hoping that you will see this for what it really is: a Zelda lover's hope for the future.
I loved The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was, in my estimation, equal to A Link to the Past in its scope, importance, story, and gameplay. It was a perfect 10 back when it was released in 1998, and it's a perfect 10 now.
I haven't enjoyed subsequent Zelda games as much as I would have liked.
Majora's Mask, which centered on just three days and many masks, simply wasn't as compelling as its prequel. The gameplay was just as good, thanks to being built off the same engine as Ocarina, but its story was not nearly as engrossing. Its focus on minigames and sidequests took me out of the Zelda world and made me feel like it was just another adventure title. It didn't stack up to its predecessor.
Subsequent to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the franchise became a staple on the GameBoy. Oracle of the Seasons and Oracle of the Ages were great. There's no doubt about it. But once again, the linked stories (and the linked ending, for that matter) seemed a little forced.
And then, in what I consider one of the greatest mistakes in the history of the Zelda franchise, Nintendo released Wind Waker for the GameCube in 2003. For those who didn't play it, the game was designed much differently than any other Zelda title and Link, the once well-designed hero, was converted into a cel-shaded mess. The gameplay was still solid, but the story was subpar for a Zelda series (can we ditch the wind and sailboat, please?), and I couldn't get over its design.
Subsequent to that release, I think Nintendo recognized the error of its ways (on the console, at least) and came to its senses with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
The game was undoubtedly the most beautiful Zelda game ever released. But when I finally had the chance to reflect on the game upon its completion, the idea of switching back and forth to a wolf didn't appeal to me all that much. And although the franchise isn't meant to feature stunning audio, I found that the use of the sword-slicing sound emanating from my Wii remote was annoying. I also found myself performing the same hand gestures throughout the game, which got old quickly.
Perhaps more importantly, it didn't provide the same charm, intrigue, or compelling storyline offered in Ocarina of Time. Don't get me wrong, the game was fantastic. But those extra elements and the tacked-on nature of some of the controls took away from an otherwise great title.
What's the point?
So why am I opening up old wounds and reliving the shortcomings of past Zelda games? Last week, Nintendo announced that a new Zelda title, called The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, will be making its way to the Nintendo DS. There's not much known about the title just yet, but what we do know is that it will feature cel-shaded visuals like those in Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass (another one of my least favorites). Link will be traveling around the world in a train and controlling a sidekick.
Like the others I listed above, Spirit Tracks sounds like it will be yet another Zelda title that features something different (and unnecessary) to stand out. Since Ocarina of Time, almost every title in the franchise has had some sort of element added to the gameplay to make it unique. First, it was a mask and a strange time-traveling idea, then it was a "linked" ending, followed by cel shading, the ability to turn into a wolf, and even more cel shading.
It's hard to argue with the success of the Zelda franchise, but I think that Nintendo can learn something from Ocarina of Time that it seems to have forgotten: we don't need tools or forced elements to make us want a Zelda game. We just want the opportunity to control Link in his quest to rid Hyrule of the legions of beasts that plague the villagers and prey on Princess Zelda.
Sure, Ocarina of Time featured an ocarina that gave Link some special powers, but the game wasn't centered around that instrument; it was centered around outstanding gameplay, great visuals, and most importantly, a fantastic story that has yet to be matched in the Zelda universe.
I'm sure that some will make the argument that the Zelda franchise has only gotten better over the years, but I don't believe that it has. Zelda games over the past decade have focused too much on tools and animals, and not enough on what made Zelda great in the first place: its story and its characters.
And while Zelda games, when compared to the rest of the industry, are certainly better (just look at the reviews for backing of that), I don't think that any of the titles following Ocarina of Time were better than their predecessor.
This is just one man's opinion, so take it for what it's worth. But I want Nintendo to look back at its past and realize that tacking on contrived gameplay elements are annoying when a solid story and compelling characters steal the show.
Nowhere is that more evident than in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
I personally think they need to remake Link's Awakening in the likeness of OoT graphics. THAT would be awesome, as the story for Link's Awakening was really interesting, and the characters were really unique.
Honestly, the best thing about the Zelda franchise is that they keep mixing it up, which is necessary considering they keep releasing the same game. If Nintendo had made 8 carbon copies of Ocarina since OoT came out, we'd be very sick of it by now.
Meethinks that you just don't like the look of the "Celda" games, because those are the ones which you seem to dislike the most, while also spending the least amount of time describing.
Spirit Tracks looks especially goofy, I should say, but I'm excited to see another DS Zelda, because Phantom Hourglass was such a winner. Better than Twilight Princess and nearly on par with A Link to the Past.
OoT looks just as cartoony as Wind Waker, when you think of it, and the (S)NES Zeldas don't really have much of a unique style to them. In fact, they're all rather ugly.
But Zelda has always been about gameplay, and Phantom Hourglass especially excels in that department. Now, if only the next Wii Zelda is as well designed as TP and as innovative as PH.
Don, you have a tendency to make two (arguably individually valid) points which contradict each other without realizing that you are arguing with yourself. For example:
"We just want the opportunity to control Link in his quest to rid Hyrule of the legions of beasts that plague the villagers and prey on Princess Zelda."
"a solid story and compelling characters steal the show."
Anyone else find these statements, when taken together, hilarious?
So, by that logic, some new features could be beneficial. Just because nothing they've done impresses you doesn't mean it's not a good idea. At least they keep their new mechanics in the spirit of Zelda games. Look at Sega, adding ridiculously slow/cumbersome mechanics to all their new Sonic games. At least the new mechanics in each Zelda game don't generally ruin the game. In any case, new features and/or play mechanics could make a game revolutionary if done right and you shouldn't dissuade a developer from trying to evolve their product.
On the other hand, I totally agree that story-wise, the Zelda games have dropped off since Ocarina and none of the recent games have had the same meaningfulness. If they could hammer out a decent story, I think the rest would fall into place because clearly they have the gameplay and graphics side of things down.
I will, however, agree that Twilight Princess is definitely the most beautiful-looking Zelda game ever made. It actually looks better if you play the Gamecube version and the annoying sword-slicing noise is not a factor either. :)
My understanding of this article is that we want more character development with a richer story, yes? I couldn't agree more that the last few games have somewhat lacked the "epic" feel. They have been great to play, yet somewhat tedious with their new concepts of turning into a wolf or sailing a ship. I felt like Epona was sorely underused in TP!
In short, I agree with the main idea of this article. Let's take a step back and remember what made Ocarina of Time a perfect 10. The story flowed perfectly and you truly cared about each of the characters and got to know them better as the game progressed.
My idea for a possible new element to add to the franchise - a co-op mode. Why not bring Sariah or Zelda along for the ride? Or perhaps a Goron prince or Zora princess? Perhaps even the Hero of Time and Hero of Wind could fight side-by-side? There are so many new possibilities for gameplay when you must complete the game with another human-controlled character.
I still love Zelda, but seriously, if we're going to build on OOT, let's make it a two-man show!
Try it, but you'll need to have GBA link cables and three GBA's to play multiplayer. Thats the only drawback but it's amazing.
I started to play Twilight, but it just wasn't as compelling. I wasn't drawn in. I found leaving the initial area too much of a pain in the neck and finally I just moved on to something else.
Are you stupid or just deliberately ignorant? Have you even played The Legend of Zelda or Zelda 2? Here, let me bust the story out for you: Link needs to beat Ganon to save Zelda. There's your masterpiece storyline and characterization.
The reason Zelda was such a hit was because of the gameplay, the puzzles, the dungeon crawling, not because I needed to know the motivation behind Link's desire to save up 200 rupee's to purchase the Blue Ring, or the hidden dark past of the poor soul buried where the Magic Sword was being held.
Ocarina of Time was a groundbreaking Event in videogame history. As highly influential as Mario 64 was to the platform genre. So of course, all other titles that come after will have a hard time by comparison. And that will colour peoples opinions to some degree.
Especially when it comes to the realistic vs cel-shading argument.
I have no problems with the cel-shaded look. It's been a while since I've played WW, and I have yet to complete it. But yes, it's not perfect, but I think some of the objection to the look was silly. I mean, they coulda released a 8-bit look for thier latest zelda and it still could be awesome.
I think some, not all of the critics on the cell-shaded looks were a wee bit snobby, and fearful of what thier PS2 & X-BOX graphics junkie mates would think.
Majoras Mask was Awesome, it built upon what was great with OOT, I dunnio, maybe im weird.. but I found it more engaging and involving.
I was consumed with revenge when Majoras told link he 'got rid of' Epona (thinking it was the mafia meaning being implied). And the moment reuiniting the mummified guy and his frightened wee daughter gave glimpses of moments that moved emotion...something that Sony kept baning on about that thier PS2 could do with it's 'emotion engine'.
Then feeling pity for skullkid, and consumed with revenge for him after majoras mask appears to snap his neck (well thats what it looked like, N64 version). So i think, although MM wasnt as ground breaking, it was building upon a great game making it better.
And has everyone forgotten Four Swords for GC??? I was suspicious of a 4player Zelda..until I playeed it.. that was AWESOME. They should release that for DS & wii, making it online multiplayer.
Twilight princess was great, the wii controls takes alot of getting used to, especially after nearly 20yrs of button bashing that became 2nd nature lol.
Let Spirit tracks speak for itself... we'll see if its good or not.
what most of the old games have now is nostalgia. for sure they were the greatest things ever created when the first came out. Now consider some kid brand new to the series playing wind waker first. he'd probably think that was the greatest thing in the world when it game out.
for sure, ocarina of time was fan-freakin'-tastic but the main reason the new games are soooo tarnished in your eyes is because your holding a lighthouse to a candle.
maybe thats not the best way to put it. each game has its feature. OoT was the first with the ocarina and playing of songs. with something like wind waker, it was the boat and cell shading. things is, they are just different. more like holding a candle to a flashlight. both were revolutionary when they came out but it depends what you grew up with.
PS - was the boat really so bad? honestly, it was a little tiresome to sail everywhere but you did it anyway. eventually you get warp points and its no biggy anymore. Kinda like ocarina of time and having to walk everywhere..... until you get epona... then the warp points...... eh??
LOL...
- by lomain April 1, 2009 6:32 PM PDT
- jackoblade, whatever, i hope you die, i do, i do. it's breaks my little heart to hear to say words like that. i'm going to get into that anymore, but i refused to play windwaker for about three years. eventually when i did, i came to decide it's my favorite, and i'm excited for the new ds game! i think the real topic at hand should be where the **** is zelda going with the newer wii title? NEW EVIL, NEW HERO - NO THANKS, ****. it'll probably still be amazing though, hahah
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