The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Has Been Unveiled and it is Glorious

This trailer made me cry.

Ok, I wasn’t sobbing, but I was pretty watery by the end. Going into this E3, all I really wanted was a proper trailer for the new Zelda in the spirit of the excellent trailers we got for Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, complete with the title reveal at the end. I got my wish and then some. That opening dialogue, those vistas, that music, that pace…that simple and beautiful logo. This trailer alone is probably one of the most beautiful things Nintendo has ever created.

But what of the day’s worth of footage Nintendo Treehouse Live showed after a very frustrating Pokemon interruption? While I’m a bit bummed that Nintendo spoiled the opening of Breath of the Wild, I can see why they started there as they wanted to establish how much freedom the game gives the player right from the get-go. While watching that initial trailer and this early footage, I was in awe. There’s nothing quite like the first in-depth look at a new Zelda game. I’ve been telling people that Breath of the Wild looks like the Zelda game of my dreams and I mean that quite literally. Ever since I got huge into this series back around 2003, I’ve longed for a 3D Zelda game with a vast, open, colorful landscape to discover, something akin to the 2D Zelda games more faithfully translated to 3D than Ocarina of Time’s hub and surrounding, boxed areas. Over the years I have only seen such an experience in my dreams, but during this past week I’ve seen such a game in my waking life. As much as I love OoT and many of the Zelda games that are based on its model, finally 3D Zelda has broken free from its shackles.

Breath of the Wild looks incredible and I mean both visuals-wise and otherwise. I love the art direction, which is directly influenced by Japanese animation (more than ever before anyway). It immediately brings to mind the sort of colorful, old-school anime look that the early Zelda games’ concept art had, which is what I have always wanted a 3D Zelda game to look like. It’s hard to describe just how exciting this really is, but suffice to they are finally delivering a Zelda game that actually captures this:

And maybe this:

I love how alive the world seems. What a joy it is to have an organic, natural world in a Zelda game again after Skyward Sword’s static sandboxes, and more organic than ever before this time. A lengthy day and night cycle complete with time of day, wind swirling through the flowered grass and the trees, insects scattering when one cuts the grass, a frog leaping away from beneath an overturned rock, a boar grazing in a grove of trees, shifting weather, and so on. I love the worn, rustic look of ruins that seem naturally weathered into the fabric of the world, vines and moss wrapping around them. I love the freedom right from the start of the game and even though it’s a bit on the nose, I couldn’t help but smile at the old man right at the start as well. I also love that there’s no chatty partner for the first time in a 3D Zelda game. I never thought we’d get another 3D Zelda game like this; I never thought we’d get another Nintendo game like this. This kind of tutorial-less, free adventure that focuses on discovery and the joy of play. When Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said that this game was being heavily-influenced by the original Legend of Zelda, I didn’t think he meant it this literally, and that the game would even go beyond the original’s level of freedom perhaps. Apparently you can go straight to the final boss right at the beginning of the game if you choose to (you will likely get slaughtered though, I assume). I didn’t think it was possible for the Nintendo of today to create this game; it’s surreal.

The amazing thing about Breath of the Wild is that it seems to be delivering the experience that I feared to hope too much for, in numerous ways. Apparently this adventure is not going to feature an overt narrative that is force-fed to the player, but rather more minimalist storytelling that is unveiled at one’s own pace as they discover more and more of the world around them and try to discover the significance of moss-covered mechanoids and ominous purple clouds swirling around a distant castle. Clearly the Zelda team has been reading my diary.

Then during the Treehouse Live footage, Ganon gets name-dropped by a Sheikah monk like nothing, without even a word of acknowledgement from the staff playing the game. Again, it seems something else I feared to hope for is happening. Ganon isn’t a big secret this time around and it would seem there’s not going to be some pawn out there serving him or trying to resurrect him. Ganon is just a part of the world; a distant, ominous threat that you know you’ll have to face one day. But while Ganon may not be a secret, he does seem to be a mystery. Or maybe I should say it seems to be a mystery. I didn’t watch all of the Treehouse Live footage to avoid seeing too much and I know this information is out there, but I’ve unwittingly stumbled upon some narrative details involving Ganon’s role this time and it all sounds incredibly interesting and I’m just loving everything I’m hearing in this regard. The game seems to be doing something new and interesting with Ganon which I think is a very smart idea if they’re going to insist on continuing to use the character.

While it certainly seems that Breath of the Wild is catering to my wildest Zelda dreams for the most part and even going beyond them, I’m actually not enamored with everything I’ve learned of the game. I became a bit worried when I got my first look at the game’s “Shrines of Trials”, which there are reportedly over one-hundred of in the game. While I love the idea of tons of mini-dungeons to discover and explore hidden throughout the world, I’m not sure these “Trial Shrines” are really the form I want such a concept to take. Just the name makes me nervous: that word, “Trial.” One of my biggest issues with the last 3D console Zelda game, Skyward Sword, (spoilers if you’ve yet to play it) was that the entire game was basically an elaborate series of tests or “trials” designed by the Goddess Hylia and other spiritual figures in order for the hero to “prove” that he was worthy. In other words, it felt like a thinly veiled video game, instead of an organic adventure. I always prefer Zelda when it’s chiefly just a kid going out on an adventure to save the world rather than “the great hero chosen by the gods destiny blah blah blah” rhetoric constantly being shoved in my face; I don’t mind a little talk of destiny, but Skyward Sword took that stuff to a nauseating level. While almost everything I’ve seen about Breath of the Wild seems to be following the former model, the Shrines seem to speak to the latter. I’m going to be extremely disappointed if the narrative in Breath of the Wild ends up revolving around another contrived errand of the Goddess Hylia, in a literal sense at least, who is also mentioned by name within these Shrines.

So the narrative context of these places worries me, but what’s more is each Shrine seems to be a Portal-esque “test chamber” of sorts devoted to a single mechanic. The three Shrines I’ve seen also all looked the same aesthetically. Before I go further I want to say that I am completely in love with the mix of nature and high-technology in Breath of the Wild and the whole “high-tech” motif is something the series has been steadily heading towards since The Wind Waker’s Tower of the Gods (which was also designed as a trial for the hero, notably). Appropriately, the original Zelda was also originally planned to have sci-fi themes. The atmosphere in the Shrines seems interesting and the few mechanics I saw within them look nothing short of genius, but the way that they seem to be obvious “levels” rather than more natural spaces, their very samey aesthetics, and their contrived nature worry me. Ideally, what I’d like from an open world Zelda is caverns and more organic ruins and dungeons to explore out in the world. I want this to feel like a true adventure, not a series of “Trials by the Goddess”. I’m worried that these shrines will become too routine and static a concept. I think of The Wind Waker and how every island held a different secret, about the wide variety of caves and little mini-dungeons to explore and how I never quite knew what I was going to find. Ideally, I’d want this game to be something akin to that. To be clear though, I only saw three Shrines out of over one-hundred, so the concept could surprise me and end up being something I dig. Also, the Nintendo staff did confirm that there will be more traditional dungeons in addition to the Shrines. I’m guessing these dungeons won’t be as easy to access as the Shrines, but I’m hoping the player can still come across them naturally in the world (I’d love if it was just like the original Zelda though and you could just come across a dungeon and enter it, but I’m guessing that is largely what the Shrines are here for).

The only other thing I want to say about the exploration in the game is that the best reward for exploration for me is not always just finding more stuff. It’s great that it seems these physical rewards are possibly going to be better than they’ve ever been in a Zelda game in Breath of the Wild, but I’m hoping for even richer rewards such as interesting piece of architecture, a beautiful sight, a bit of lore, and so on. From what I’ve seen, it seems these kinds of rewards will largely be present, but I’ll probably be a bit disappointed if the game’s world is going to be Skyward Sword-ish in the way that there are only simply little pockets and nooks hidden around filled with treasure and the only larger “caves” and mini-dungeons to find are the Shrines.

I’m also hoping that the enemy variety is better than in Skyward Sword and the presence of “Stal-Bokoblins” instead of proper Stalfos (so far) worries me. I also have mixed feelings about the stamina meter being back (I at least wish it was off to the side of the screen instead of constantly hovering next to Link; it worked just fine this way in Shadow of the Colossus, Nintendo) and I also have conflicted feelings about the increased presence of RPG elements like enemy health bars and hit points and different stats for weapons. It should be noted that SS Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi is returning to direct Breath of the Wild (he also directed the fantastic Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages and The Minish Cap, among other things) and Eiji Aonuma has said that they wanted to “make a better Skyward Sword” with Breath of the Wild and that the game is “like an evolved or expanded version”. This could be worrisome or exciting, depending on how one looks at it (and also depending on one’s feelings on SS, which I don’t hate, by the way). Ultimately, I think taking some of the good bits of SS and melding them with a design philosophy inspired by the original Legend of Zelda could produce a truly spectacular game, so I’m going to be optimistic. At the very least, the fact that the Treehouse team made a point to reiterate that item description flavor text doesn’t repeat ad nauseam in Breath of the Wild gives me hope and shows that perhaps the Zelda team are paying attention to all the little annoyances that occasionally bog down the Zelda games.

Ok, so those are my fears and my worries, but let’s get back to what looks great, and a lot of what has me excited about this game is in the details. The animation looks more fluid than any 3D Zelda before. I love the cooking mechanic. I love that hearts are no longer found in grass, pots, rocks, skulls, your shoe, and everything else in Hyrule, and that the only way to restore health is by eating. I love that you can make campfires. I love how you need to dress for the weather and how they are making an effort to have more realistic biomes. Having to dress for the environment is one of those subtly brilliant things that I’ve never seen a fantasy adventure game do before. While on the note of clothing, I love that you can change it, and that there are such a wide variety of weapons and items to find. I love all the “realism” and survival elements mixed with more fantastical “video gamey” elements (the cooking is a great example of this). This is actually something that Zelda has always done well, but Breath of the Wild looks to be taking this idea further than ever before. I love how there’s a crouch button and how instead of just the obligatory one-and-done Zelda stealth mission we’re so familiar with at this point, stealth is now an option throughout the game. On that note, I love the variety in how you can approach enemy encounters. The combat looks slick, ditching hit and miss motion controls and building on the combat of pre-Skyward Sword titles while adding a ton of new mechanics (I’m a bit mixed on the weird slow-mo super attacks though, but whatever). The combat looks like it has that patented Zelda feel as well; that satisfaction and that mechanical polish. I also love how unforgiving the game seems and how the world actually seems dangerous. There are bosses out in the overworld! You can climb any sheer cliff! Koroks are back (and they fit in this world so well)! I love how they’re approaching sound design and music in the game as well, and the ambient music and environmental noise sounds engrossing from what I’ve heard. In terms of the more traditional compositions, well I already mentioned how the music in the trailer made me cry, didn’t I? And there’s voice acting, a little bit at least, and it ain’t half bad either. You can cut down trees. You can hunt or not hunt. You can do an all vegetarian run. You can do a naked run.

You can jump. MANUALLY. In a 3D Zelda game.

Mind-blowing.

I’m sure Breath of the Wild is going to be polarizing to at least some degree just like any other Zelda game. I’m already seeing the inevitable comments of “the world is so empty!” and “tons of other games have already done this!” Of course, the open world, non-linear design also won’t be for everyone, especially those that have become Zelda fans with many of the more recent games in the series. And just a million other things. To briefly address the two common gripes I listed above: from what I’ve seen so far, no, the world does not look “empty” and in terms of there being people and towns, they were not shown in the E3 footage to keep the game’s mystery intact, which I appreciate. I’m also someone who appreciates “down time” in games, time to take in the world, the scope, the atmosphere. I’d rather not have every single square inch stuffed with treasure chests and monsters constantly hounding me. What’s more important to me than filling everything with stuff is how organic and alive the world feels, and Breath of the Wild looks to be doing a pretty good job so far. Riding Epona across a vast, “empty” field, grass blowing in the wind and the sun setting in the distance, may be a moment that seems empty to some, but it is very “full” to me. For some more context, many call The Wind Waker’s world “empty” but I think it balanced down time with tons of secrets and places to explore wonderfully, if not perfectly. In terms of the whole “tons of other games have already done this” thing, forgive me if this comes across as fanboyish, but the difference is that we haven’t seen Zelda do this, and seeing as how the original Zelda game was one of the central progenitors of the whole open world design, it’s about damn time. Zelda is unique; there are plenty of action-adventure games but there’s nothing else out there quite like Zelda. Sure, I get it, there is a deluge of 3D open world video games right now, and there are also plenty of games with similar mechanics to some of the ones that this new game is introducing, but Breath of the Wild is marrying this kind of design and these kinds of mechanics with the essence of Zelda. This is another reason why I love the game’s art direction; there aren’t any other games out there, especially open world ones, that look quite like it or have its kind of vibe.

Ultimately, I have a few misgivings about Breath of the Wild, but I keep reminding myself that I’ve only seen a tiny of portion of the game and there is still so much unknown, which makes me very, very excited. That is perhaps my favorite aspect to the game of all: the mystery. I love the sense of mystery and discovery that seems to be present in the world, which reminds me of why I was so first entranced by this series so long ago. People are theorizing and speculating and there’s much intrigue surrounding the game. I love this and I really hope Nintendo’s marketing department can stay true to keeping this mystery intact leading up to the game’s release. I’m going to try my best to avoid everything anyway, but it’d be nice if that were easier to do. The game’s official website spurs us to “Travel across fields, through forests and to mountain peaks as you discover what has become of the ruined kingdom of Hyrule…” and that that’s all I really need to hear to get pumped. Sign me up. I’m in. I shouldn’t expect Breath of the Wild to do everything I personally want and I’m not sure I’d even want it to. Ultimately, it seems to doing so much right in my book while also going beyond and surprising me and doing its own thing. It looks like it’s going back to the series’ roots while also being something new and different, and that sounds like a fantastic combination. It’s simply a stunning-looking game and it’s just so much fun thinking about, discussing, and anticipating a new console 3D Zelda in full force again.

Why I’m (Mostly) Completely Fine with Yet Another Delay for Zelda

Official new artwork of Link from the new Zelda, released by Nintendo

So the new Legend of Zelda game has been hit with yet another delay and this time I’m actually a bit surprised, as I fully expected the game to launch this holiday alongside the NX, Nintendo’s next console/thing/enigma. Oh but that’s the thing: NX has now been announced for a March 2017 launch, defying just about every prediction on the internet that it would launch at the end of this year. First off, I just want to say that I’m glad and a bit relieved that the NX isn’t coming out this year. I’m not exactly thrilled that the Wii U’s life is getting cut short and I definitely don’t think the hardware and its games get enough credit, but at least the Wii U gets one more full year. Furthermore, I don’t have to be tempted to buy not one, but two new consoles this year (the other being the PS4 so I can play The Last Guardian). Likewise, I’m also totally fine with waiting just a little while longer for Zelda, which is very likely to launch alongside the NX in March.

With just about every game delay comes some amount of negativity, but I understand if this one stings in particular for some people. It is the second delay for a promising entry in one of the most beloved video game series of all time, and Nintendo’s commitment for ultra-secrecy with the latest Zelda has left many fans scratching their heads, at this points perhaps wondering what it even is they’re looking forward to anymore. What’s more, it’s now been nearly five years since the last major console Zelda game, Skyward Sword, was released. The waiting, even for just a drop of information about this new game, is very real, but when it comes to video games these days, I’m a very patient person. There are way too many intriguing games out there right now as it is, and more are coming out throughout the year. Nevermind a giant backlog of games I own and haven’t started and my recent desire to go back and replay several older Zelda games. I haven’t even finished Twilight Princess HD, for crying out loud! I am not, in any way, in dire need of this new Zelda game at the moment, which I will want to free my schedule for and really sink my teeth into when I finally get my hands on it. Also, Nintendo’s announcement that the new Zelda will be the primary focus at this year’s E3 and indeed the only playable game on the show floor (in a wacky and surprising bit of news) should help to at least give fans something to make the wait easier (or perhaps even more difficult), and makes me nervous about just how much I’ll be able stick to my “media blackout” plan for this game.

Typically when I hear of a delay for a game I’m anticipating, I simply shrug my shoulders, nod my head, and think, “Ok; I’ll play it when it’s ready.” In fact, it typically makes me even more excited for the game, because at least I know the developers really care about what they’re making and are working hard, and that hopefully the game will be all the better for the extra development time. Of course, delays don’t always signify something positive and might even hint that a game might be in trouble or lost at sea. When it comes to Zelda though, I know how dedicated its developers are and how much love and energy they pour into these games, and since this new Zelda looks to be especially ambitious, I choose to be optimistic.

I’ve heard some speculate that the game is simply being held back in order to launch it simultaneously on the NX, or likely have it be a launch title for the console, and while the official word is that the delay is to “improve the quality” of the game, this speculated reason still might very well be another reason, perhaps even the main reason, for the delay. At the very least, the extra development time might largely be for successfully porting the game to NX. This whole situation is also of course similar to what happened with the original Twilight Princess back when it was delayed from 2005 into 2006, culminating in it being a launch title for the Wii as well as a swansong for the GameCube. I understand why some would be peeved if the game could be released on Wii U by year’s end with an NX version released later, and if this were the case, it might have been good practice for Nintendo to reward the people that bought a Wii U, and especially if they bought one specifically to play the new Zelda, by letting them get the game earlier than NX adopters. Despite this and despite me preferring one version of the new Zelda and not another Twilight Princess situation (especially if they do something extremely asinine like mirror the entire world in the game), I’m ultimately still fine with the delay even if the reason is nothing more than to have a simultaneous launch on Wii U and NX, for a few reasons.

Skyward Sword released exclusively for the Wii at the end of 2011 when the Wii U had already been revealed and was known to be releasing in a year. While the game sold very well when it first launched and was critically very well-received, it ultimately wasn’t very commercially successful in the long run and many people simply overlooked it as they looked ahead to the next console generation or otherwise just weren’t paying attention to their Wiis anymore in the largely barren final months of the console’s life. Nintendo doesn’t want to repeat this; they want Zelda to be successful, they want the NX to be successful, and seeing as how Zelda is, ya know, kind of something that I really dig and since Nintendo is one of my favorite developers, I want these things to be successful too. Holding Zelda back for a simultaneous launch on NX and Wii U is smart for a number of reasons: it would be a great launch title for NX, similar to Twilight Princess, not having it come out on Wii U earlier will mean that the game isn’t old news at that point, and finally if the game does launch in March 2017 or around that time, it won’t be competing with all of the other big holiday releases at the end of 2016. I want this new Zelda game to be successful and I want all the hard work its team is putting into it to be rewarded. I’ve seen enough great games fade into obscurity and neglect on the Wii U (*cough*TropicalFreeze*cough*Pikmin3*AHEM*) to be happy that at least the next big Zelda game will hopefully get the attention that I hope it will ultimately deserve, even if it means the slightly disappointing truth that the Wii U will never have had its own fully exclusive Zelda game.

Besides all this, it’s just kind of nice that we’ll probably be getting the next big Zelda in the spring instead of the holiday season. The last time a new major console Zelda game released in the spring, and in March to boot, was The Wind Waker in 2003, at least in North America. While it’s always a good time to go on an adventure with Link, The Legend of Zelda has largely always seemed like an experience very suited to the spring season for me; the air is warm, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and it’s just the ideal time to go on an adventure clothed in the green of fields, or in this upcoming game’s case, the blue of skies.

Nintendo Rant: Too Much Mario (and thoughts on today’s Nintendo Direct)

Nintendo is one of my favorite video game developers. Like many others, I grew up with Nintendo. I played Mario and Kirby games feverishly when I was a little kid and even though I didn’t get into many of Nintendo’s other popular series like Zelda and Metroid until I was a teenager, they have still been an integral part of my upbringing. Zelda even went on to become my most beloved series of all time. Almost half of my recent list of my top 100 favorite video games of all time were Nintendo-developed games. This rant is born out of love and admiration, and not hate.

I’ve been becoming increasingly frustrated with Nintendo over the past couple of years. A developer that had once offered a wide variety of unique and creative experiences seems to be turning into nothing more than a Mario machine. What do I mean? The end of 2011 saw the release of two new games in the Mario series, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. This was fine. Off the top of my head, I don’t think we’d had a big Mario release since Super Mario Galaxy 2 in mid-2010, and we were due for a shiny new Mario platformer on a handheld system. Usually Nintendo spaces out their main franchise entries and has traditionally offered a fair variety in releases this way. So I was surprised the see Nintendo release four more new Mario games in 2012 (again, these numbers are all off the top of my head, but while there could be even more Mario games, I know there are at least as many as I say), two of these being New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U. Another of these releases was Paper Mario: Sticker Star. We hadn’t had a Paper Mario game in a while, and Mario’s RPG outings are usually stellar experiences, so this release was at least fairly exciting. So after all these games, I was sure that Nintendo would finally give Mario a break in 2013 and we’d start seeing some variety. Well, I guess I was right in one way, as Nintendo is putting the spotlight on Mario’s brother Luigi this year, billing 2013 as “The Year of Luigi.” Now, when I talk about “Mario” games, I’m including all games in the core Mario universe (I'm excluding Donkey Kong and WarioWare games as I feel they're distinct enough). So far this year, Nintendo has released Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and announced: New Super Luigi U (downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U that Nintendo is billing as almost like a completely new game), Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Party for 3DS, a new Yoshi’s Island game for 3DS, a new Yoshi platformer for Wii U, a new Mario platformer for Wii U, a new Mario Kart for Wii U, and has plans to release a new Mario vs. Donkey Kong title. Oh wait, I forgot Mario Golf: World Tour for 3DS. That’s TEN new Mario universe games. In the midst of this massive milking of the mustachioed Mario, Nintendo is releasing a few other notable first-party games that I’ll get to later, but by and large Nintendo is lately less about offering a nice variety of unique content, but rather a nice variety of Mario content. I realize that Nintendo is a business and that Mario games sell, but it’s almost like Nintendo is just saying: “Screw it, let’s just stick with Mario and make billions.” If nothing else, I can safely say I’m sick of Mario at this point.

TOO. MUCH. MARIO.

Yes, Nintendo has been recycling the same franchises for years, but the thing is Nintendo has traditionally reinvented these games over and over again and by my estimation has generally provided unique new experiences with each new iteration of its popular franchises. Also, these iterations have traditionally been spaced out and have had a lot of thought and effort put into them. Remember how the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (in USA at least), Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, and really every main Mario platformer up to and including the Galaxy games offered a brand new, unique experience? Think of how wild and creative Super Mario Bros. 3 was when it first came out, or how Super Mario 64 revolutionized 3D gaming, or the different flavor Super Mario Sunshine offered, or how Galaxy sent Mario into space and all the crazy levels we got along with it. Remember how exciting it was when the original New Super Mario Bros. came out? Finally, after all these years, a brand new 2D-style Mario that offered a fresh take on a familiar formula. Then New Super Mario Bros. Wii came out and it was pretty good, and it offered multiplayer, but it was strikingly similar to the DS original. Then remember when New Super Mario Bros. 2 came out and it was…the same thing? Then remember when New Super Mario Bros. U came out a couple months after that and, while it offered the most unique world aesthetics in the New series to date and some new abilities, it was basically the same experience again? Yeah…. Even Super Mario 3D Land, while vastly more original than the New Super Mario Bros. games, seemed to offer very familiar aesthetics, enemies, world themes, etc. and seemed to pull familiar elements from the Galaxy games while throwing in some Super Mario Bros. 3 nostalgia to boot. Speaking of Super Mario Bros. 3 nostalgia…yes Nintendo, that game is brilliant, and yes, I remember it. In fact, it’s my favorite Mario game, but that does not mean that I want to keep playing rehashes of its aesthetics and presentation for the rest of time. The return of the raccoon tail in 3D Land was nice, but its inclusion in New Super Mario Bros. 2 was just redundant. You see, the raccoon tail in the latter game isn’t even that useful as most levels aren’t even designed around its flight capabilities. The raccoon tail was cool in Mario 3 because every level was designed in such a way that using the raccoon tail to fly around almost always led to secrets and rewards. This trend of including elements in games for the sake of nostalgia is one of Nintendo’s current design philosophies. Yoshi was cool is Super Mario World because the game was designed around him, with every level taking advantage of his many abilities. Yoshi was not cool in New Super Mario Bros. Wii because he was only playable in like four levels. Nintendo is just throwing these elements in the games as if to say: “Hey, you love Yoshi, right? Guess what, here’s Yoshi! Buy this game!” Other elements that seem randomly tossed into the newer games like the Reznor bosses from Super Mario World being in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and areas being named after food in New Super Mario Bros. U are just pointless callbacks to Super Mario World, but where as these elements made sense in that game’s context (Reznors are dinosaur enemies in Mario World’s Dinosaur Land and the areas are named after food in World because the game is designed around a dinosaur that eats everything), they just don’t make any sense in the context of the new games and are clearly just there for fan-service. Besides all this, the New Super Mario Bros. series recycles the same music, enemies, world themes (and even world order as it seems like it’s part of Nintendo’s religion to always have the second world be a desert world), and overall design of: level, level, mid-world tower, level, level, end of world castle, fight with Koopa Kid from game to game. It seems with New Super Luigi U, Nintendo has decided to not even both creating a “new” game in the series at all, but is simply just doing a DLC thing by changing all the levels on New Super Mario Bros. U’s map into new ones. Maybe this approach is best, as the series is basically just a bunch of DLC sold as new games anyway. Stepping away from the Mario platformer games, a new Mario and Luigi RPG is cool and those games are usually very creative, but the thing is this is the fourth game in that series and it’s coming right on the heels of another Mario RPG: Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I love the Mario RPG games, and these games are usually much more open to trying surprising new things with Mario’s world than the core series, but releasing these games so close together, and in the midst of so many other Mario games has weakened my interest in them as well.

New Super Mario Bros.: Bonus points if you can tell me which game is which

So saying all this, after sitting through the now expected line-up of Mario games during today’s Nintendo Direct, I was naturally a bit disappointed by its content, but its later portions actually picked my interest up a bit. Hands down the most unexpected announcement from the presentation for me was that Nintendo is finally, finally releasing EarthBound on their virtual console service in North America. After years of hearing about this quirky and acclaimed classic, I’m finally going to get to play it without having to pay 300$ for a SNES cartridge on ebay (and yes the cartridge alone can go for that much, although perhaps now it will drop in price). So bravo on that end Nintendo. Next, getting a North American release date for the 3DS eShop release of the Zelda Oracle games, two criminally overlooked classics and two of my favorite games in the series, was nice. Next up, hearing that Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, the unfortunately-named, yet gorgeous-looking 3DS RPG from Square Enix is also coming to the States was also exciting news for me. So darn it Nintendo, if you aren’t severely disappointing me with all the Mario, you ended up getting me excited by the end (granted, by some old games coming to the VC and another game getting localized, but still). And this all leads to of course the reveal of a new Zelda game for 3DS.

FINALLY.

I’ve been waiting for this one, and I knew we were due for an original handheld Zelda title soon since we haven’t seen one since 2009’s Spirit Tracks. There have been a lot of rumors about Majora’s Mask getting the remake treatment, but there was also talk a while back about Shigeru Miyamoto wanting to revisit A Link to the Past with a remake. Ultimately, we were told that Zelda’s developers wanted to tackle an original Zelda adventure on 3DS first before any more remakes. Well, I guess that was kind of true. Sort of. Reggie revealed that the new game for 3DS is not quite a remake, but doesn’t seem like an entirely original game either. It’s this odd pseudo-remake of A Link to the Past, that features a familiar overhead view and art design, but with new 3D graphics, and even the same world from A Link to the Past. Now, I don’t just mean the game takes place in Hyrule again, but it literally appears to be taking place in the same map from the SNES classic. To say my feelings on this new game are “mixed” is the absolute best way to put it. On the one hand, the game looks beautiful and the 3D depth effect looks fantastic for this bird’s-eye-view type of game (if not a little gimmicky in some parts of the trailer, like Link leaping up out of the screen when he changes dungeon floors and bone projectiles flying up at the screen when Link blocks them). Speaking of the “bird’s-eye-view”, I’m thrilled that Nintendo is not abandoning this classic design, as I was a bit worried we’d seen the last of it after Ocarina of Time 3D made a stunning debut on 3DS. The overhead-view style of Zelda is still a design that I greatly enjoy and I’m glad it’s not dying just yet. The purist in me is also loving the retro look of Link, as I’ve always preferred the older designs of the character (not to mention Link as a child) to the newer ones seen in games like Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. The new “Link turning into a drawing on the wall” gimmick looks cool and the dungeon design looks nice too. But…I can’t help but be disappointed. You see, I had high hopes for Zelda 3DS because while the console Zelda games always seem to feel the need (with exceptions of course) to dredge Hyrule back up with Master Sword, Ganon, Kakariko Village and Death Mountain in tow, the series’ handheld entries have traditionally been more focused on taking Link to exciting new lands to face off against exciting new enemies. But this new game seems to be the complete opposite of that. For the first time in the series, it seems that Link will be exploring the same map from a previous title, which, while it remains to be seen just how similar it all will be, is very disappointing for me because one of the most exciting aspects of any new Zelda game, and adventure game in general, is exploring a brand new world. Sure, we’ve been to Hyrule countless times before (personally, I feel Hyrule needs a break and part of me wishes The Wind Waker permanently retired it), but at least it’s always a new version of Hyrule with a new map layout. Even Twilight Princess’s Hyrule, which was basically “Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule, but let’s make everything bigger!”, was at least still a new map to explore. I’m extremely familiar with A Link to the Past’s overworld, in fact, I’ve been exploring it for the past ten or so years since I first played the game and in the many, many times I’ve revisited it. The dungeons in the game, we are told, will at least be brand new…but the dungeon shown in the trailer reminds me greatly of the Tower of Hera in ALttP and also seems to share the same boss. So maybe the game is going to feature similar dungeons as well, just with drastic redesigns. A Link to the Past is a classic, it’s a wonderful game, but as I said with Mario 3 above, that doesn’t mean I want to return to its world in a new game. I’d prefer something new and equally as special. Now, it’s worth saying that unlike the New Super Mario Bros. series and their constant Mario 3/Mario World referencing, I don’t think this new Zelda game is fan-service. Most fans seemed to be clamoring more for a Majora’s Mask 3DS remake (a title which would be nice, but isn’t necessary and I’d still prefer an original game) and I think that Miyamoto basically just wanted to do a ALttP remake, and the Zelda team wanted to make something new, and this game is sort of compromise or the result of all this. But instead of this odd pseudo-remake/sequel hybrid, I’d rather have either a straight-up remake of A Link to the Past or what I really wanted, a brand new adventure. In a straight remake, obviously the recycled world and game concepts wouldn’t bother me for obvious reasons, and a fresh, completely new game is always great, but to have a sort of new experience with the same world and presentation as a previous game is just sort of half-exciting for me. I’m still going to get the game, and I have no doubt that it’ll be another polished, well-designed Zelda game, but I have to say…I’ve never been more mixed about a Zelda reveal. Regardless of how I felt about the end products, I was incredibly stoked for Twilight Princess, thrilled to have a sequel to The Wind Waker in Phantom Hourglass, intrigued and amused by Spirit Tracks’ train, and elated to see the vibrant and ambitious reveal of Skyward Sword…but like with the upcoming The Wind Waker HD remake, I’m cautiously excited for this new 3DS Zelda.

Looks good, but how original will it be?

                But maybe Nintendo doesn’t care that I have the overworld in A Link to the Past memorized, maybe they don’t care that I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 3 a gajillion times and the New Super Mario Bros. games will just never be as special to me, because maybe Nintendo isn’t making games for me anymore. Maybe they’re making these games for a new generation that’s never played the classics, and New Super Mario Bros. U is their first Mario game. But the thing is, even if that’s true, I’m still allowed to be disappointed in Nintendo and expect more of them. Here’s why: the main reason Nintendo’s current foray into endless Mario milking is so disappointing to me is because I know they can do so much better. I just recently got around to playing through the original Pikmin and Pikmin 2, and I’m currently playing through Kid Icarus: Uprising on 3DS. Kid Icarus: Uprising is so full of personality and features such a charming, unique world that hasn’t been seen for the last 25 years, and the game is such a genre-shift from its predecessors that it’s basically a new IP, and it just reminds me that when Nintendo really puts their heart into it, they are one of the most creative and talented developers in the industry. The Pikmin games are also fiercely unique and creative and unlike anything I’ve ever played or experienced. The best moments in the latest Zelda game for Wii, Skyward Sword, also demonstrate a developer that is no stranger to creative and imaginative new game design. And I know it’s part of the Mario parade I criticized earlier, but it’s nice to see Luigi’s Mansion get a new game as the original was another one of Nintendo’s most creative and unexpected experiences. And although I haven’t played it myself yet, I hear Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is a pretty great display of Nintendo’s charm and creativity. Nintendo also released a new addition to Fire Emblem recently which I hear is brilliant and we’re also getting Pikmin 3 later this year. And while these games are sequels, they are sequels to rare Nintendo franchises, and great ones might I add, and they add some much-needed variety to Nintendo’s line-up. So with all this said, it’s clear that Nintendo still has it in them to harness that creativity that put them on the map in the old days and create wonderfully-designed new games. They have the potential to do so much more. But it seems like these days, they are more focused on offering up unique ways to control games than focusing their attention on the game experiences themselves and are also mostly interested in making new Mario games. Now, even though I praised some of Nintendo’s newer games above, there are still problems I have with Nintendo’s current design philosophies, mainly in the way of not-so-subtle hand-holding, and I also have more to say about Nintendo’s focus on new controls and the like instead of focusing on what really matters: the content of the games themselves. I’ve ranted long enough though, so maybe these will be the topics of another rant.

 

Above: Creativity

                For now, I just want to end by saying that Nintendo has created some of the most memorable, atmospheric, fun, and well-designed video games I’ve ever played. Super Mario Bros. 3. Super Metroid. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Pikmin. Kirby’s Dream Land. The list goes on. Nintendo still has the potential to make new fantastic memories. It just greatly disappoints me to see them squandering this potential.