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.

Unravel Was Made For Me

Released on my birthday, Unravel is some kind of miraculous cosmic gift. Rarely is there a work of art so tailor-made for me, so informed by my own passions and imagination, so uncanny in the way that it keenly reflects the inner workings of my heart.

On paper, Unravel is a physics-based puzzle-platformer that stars Yarny, a tiny sentient creature made out of a single strand of red yarn, but to me it’s an incarnation of my inner childhood. As a child, one of my favorite games to play was “little character explores big world”* (*unofficial name I just came up with). Using some kind of avatar, usually a small plastic toy of some sort (the character was never really important; it could have been anything from a tiny plastic triceratops to Hamm, the piggy bank from Toy Story), I would use my imagination to transform the ordinary world around me into something extraordinary; or perhaps even more accurately, into “levels” informed by my video game-fueled brain. The Christmas tree would turn into a labyrinthine forest, the snow bank into a great mountain, the gravel walkway of my grandfather’s house into...something. It’s one of the prime reasons I loved Playmobil as a kid and making construction sites with it in my living room and backyard. It’s why I love Toy Story, The Borrowers, Pikmin, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. For as long as I can remember, I have been completely infatuated with the idea of little people inhabiting our big world, and with transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Unravel is all that. Like, that’s what this game is. It’s the epitome of that theme and it’s my childhood imagination turned into a game. It’s me. But there’s more. This is a game made by people who not only understand the beauty of nature, but the beauty of detail. Nature is not just beautiful in the obvious ways, the sunsets and the distant mountain ranges, but in so many other more subtle ways: the puddle nestled in a dirt road, the hidden grottoes full of spiders and critters beneath mossy tree stumps, the way grass grows around a forgotten boot…Unravel puts a magnifying glass on our world to find the wonders that we take for granted lying right under our noses, all around us.

 
It’s not just nature that Unravel and I find beautiful though, but rust and metal as well; even the “ugly” parts of the world are beautiful. I was surprised by the amount of industrial locales in the game, something that I feel the Pikmin series is lacking in. One level has Yarny traversing an old railroad bridge on a cliffside, its fence clamped with locks inscribed with the initials of lovers. Another sees them visiting a snow-covered junkyard filled with overturned rusted hunks of automobiles. This latter area is probably one of the most beautiful environments I’ve ever seen in a game. Wait, no, that’s not accurate…this whole game is one of the most beautiful environments I’ve ever seen in a game. The photorealistic visuals are so lifelike at times that I often had to sit back and marvel at the fact that I was interacting with this world. Yarny themselves only heightens this believability, as watching the lovingly crafted little character’s detailed animations and the way they interact with the world around them makes Unravel often feel less like a video game and more like a window into Yarny’s world. Every single location is also crammed with detail: a hedgehog bumbling through the tall grass in the background, a snake slithering through Yarny’s path, some deer grazing in the distance; the tiniest weed and mushroom is brought to life in loving detail. Then there are the grander moments, like a moose suddenly stomping through a marsh, its comparative immenseness giving the whole proceeding a delightful and magnificent sense of place and scale. Complementing all this is a beautiful dynamic soundtrack that smoothly transitions throughout a level, from slower pieces in more relaxing scenarios to higher tempo ones in tense, frantic moments.

Thematically, atmospherically, and tonally Unravel hits all the right notes, but its level design also speaks to me as well. Unravel is a side-scrolling platformer, one of my favorite genres. Something that many of my favorite platformers share in common is great context, a world that feels like a living, breathing place, that has reasons for its obstacles and goes to painstaking detail to tell a story of sorts through its level design. Unravel’s level design is borderline poetic in this regard. These aren’t levels; they’re real environments that Yarny has to travel through. The “puzzles” in the game are all merely a means to an end and they are all made of components that occur naturally in the world. They merely involve using yarn to manipulate the environment in some way so Yarny can move forward. The way Unravel turns apples bobbing in a puddle, waves rolling beneath a wooden pier, and snow-covered tree branches into level design is utter genius. Nothing feels out of place here. The game’s singular yarn mechanic is novel, creative, and put to excellent use throughout the journey, and puzzles often have a logic to them that requires real-world thinking instead of abstract “video gamey” thinking.

My other favorite video game genre is adventure, and first and foremost that is exactly what Unravel is. It starts out as a peaceful stroll through nature, but Yarny soon finds themselves leaping through tree branches, stumbling down into caves, being chased by guinea pigs, lassoing fish in a miniature boat, and running through a frost-covered field while crows try to carry them off. The game displays not only the beautiful, joyful side of life, but the dark and gruesome side as well when peaceful meadows transition into rainy toxic wastes. The amount of horrific ways Yarny can lose their life really surprised me, from falling into a trash compactor to being mauled by cockroaches. This is another reason why I love the numerous industrial areas in the game, as the construction sites and machines that Yarny is forced to tumble through provide an interesting contrast to the more pristine natural locales. I love industrial themes almost as much as natural ones, and Unravel delivers on both fronts. The ever-present danger and tradeoff between calm moments and harrowing ones makes Unravel a well-rounded journey, an odyssey of sorts, and one that could take place in your backyard.

Does Unravel have flaws? Yes. For one thing, while I love the minimalist approach to narrative and think it was absolutely the right way to go for this game, I do think some narrative context could have been better weaved into the experience. Each level plays out like a separate vignette of sorts and while there might be an overarching narrative I’m just not really seeing here, the narrative seems a bit disconnected and scattered. I like the idea of Yarny encountering the memories of humans throughout the places they travel in and piecing those memories together, but I question whether a more focused, personal story would have worked better than the game seemingly being a story of humanity as a whole. The chapters involving environmental decay by human hands particularly stuck out, not because a man vs. nature theme doesn’t seem appropriate here, but because it just came out of nowhere and doesn’t fit in with the more family and relationship-driven stories that Yarny encounters in the other levels. What I appreciate about Unravel though is that, similar to other minimalist masterpieces like Shadow of the Colossus and Journey, it never falls into pretentious, heavy-handed territory. The focus here is on the experience and the narrative is really whatever you make of it; but even open-ended narrative can have some kind of focus and I think Unravel’s lack of one does hurt the game’s emotional punch and keeps it from striking the same kind of sublime balance that those aforementioned works achieve. In other words, the level designs in Unravel have great context, but the context of Yarny’s journey itself is unclear.

Perhaps that’s ok though, because Unravel captures the spirit of a little character running through our big world so well, and brings its world to life in such stunning detail, that the experience is captivating nonetheless. Unravel is not only a brilliant concept for a game, but a game that was clearly made with love and passion.  Passion for nature. Passion for art. Passion for video games. Passion for every fiber that makes up this experience. At the end of the day, I can’t help but love Unravel. It feels very personal to me. It is just too entwined in what inspires me creatively and imaginarily. It’s simply a lovely, lovely game, and I thank Martin Sahlin and his team from the bottom of my heart for giving me this wonderful birthday gift.

Gone Home (Spoilers)

Gone Home is a strangely personal experience. Maybe it’s the nostalgic sense of place: an American family’s home in the mid-90s, which was the golden age of my childhood. A palace full of VHS tapes, music tapes, Nintendo tapes, and gaudy colorful school folders and highlighters. There are references to Harrison Ford, Street Fighter, and those little black label message thingies. Or maybe it’s the way the main character, Sam (not to be confused with the player character, Katie) reminds me of myself. No, I’m not a teenage girl, but I was once a shy kid in high school, who frequently imagined my own characters and stories and who still has old doodles and school assignments scattered around. I also had a high school teacher who encouraged my creative writing and I ended up going to college for it. Maybe it’s other small details: the reference to one of my favorite films, Pulp Fiction, or spotting a host of books I studied in school and have fond memories of in Sam’s bedroom (Frankenstein, Treasure Island, Jane Austen’s Emma…), or that Janice Greenbriar has the same birthdate as my own mother…or perhaps Gone Home would have just felt personal anyway, even without all this, because it’s just an intimate experience by nature. When I first walked into the empty foyer of the Greenbriar home, it was just another location in a video game, but by the time I approached Sam’s journal in the attic, after opening drawers, reading letters, listening to music, picking up crumpled manuscripts, finding secret notes under the bed, looking at newspaper clippings, looking at photos, and otherwise immersing myself in a lived-in, inhabited space, I felt like I knew the Greenbriars intimately and they felt like a family as real as my own. Like Sam could have been someone I went to high school with and I just never knew about everything she was going through.

It’s this sense of discovering a family, of discovering people, via the traces of themselves and their experiences that adorn their home that makes Gone Home special. Not just learning about Sam’s experiences and her relationship with Lonnie, which is the crux of the narrative, but learning about the marital problems of her parents, the affair her mother almost had, and her father’s struggles as an author of a series of bizarre JFK time travel novels. These people feel real, and I feel like I know them personally even though I never actually met any of them face to face in the game. Especially Sam, whose characterization felt so tangible (and the music that accompanies her diary is so perfectly matched) that I couldn’t help but tear up every time she sighed or expressed her frustrations and dreams.

Ironically, the only member of the Greenbriar family I learned next to nothing about is Katie, the one who I literally stepped into the shoes of. I learn she traveled around Europe and she occasionally has some reaction text to certain objects in the house (“Gosh, Sam” she says when discovering her sister’s issue of “Gentleman” magazine, the magazine for men, and “Oh, barf” when finding a condom in her parent’s bedroom dresser), but the only personality trait I really glean from her is that she is the “straightedge” Greenbriar child: the athlete, the scholar, the “responsible” one. In other words, pretty boring. One of the funniest moments in the game comes from discovering a Sex Ed assignment in one of Sam’s school folders in which she took a hilarious amount of creative liberty with a rather simple assignment (“See Me!” was the grade she got from her teacher in bright red letters). Then later on I discovered Katie’s own take on the same assignment, which of course was done perfectly and properly and got a bright red “check plus”. But I suppose it’s unfair to call Katie boring, because I’m sure that if I had the opportunity to rummage through her own stuff (still packed away in boxes in the guest room of the Greenbriar’s new home, which was to be her room when got back from Europe), I would find a three-dimensional person with her own struggles and experiences. Gone Home makes it clear that it’s not about Katie though, but rather her family and principally her younger sister, Sam.

Sam is one of the most richly drawn people I’ve seen in a video game (or, sorry, I guess I should say in an “interactive exploration finding and reading stuff emotion story simulation experience”). I hesitate to call her a “character” because she seems so real and authentic. Her voice actress does an excellent job but Sam’s personality also shines through in the pieces of herself she’s left lying around her house: in the scattered chapters in the ongoing tale of Captain Allegra and her First Mate, in her Street Fighter cheat codes lying on her bedroom floor (repeatedly crossed-out and revised), in her angry note to her parents chastising them for not letting her go out with Lonnie in the city, in her aforementioned unique take on schoolwork and the various scraps and doodles and letters that all in all paint a very vivid portrait of a human being. Gone Home does a wonderful job of setting up a series of mini-narratives that get told through pieces of the Greenbriar’s life around their home (would Danny ever get his Nintendo tape back??) and I enjoyed following all of these, but of course the narrative I was most invested in was that of Sam and Lonnie. This is where Gone Home is also just a sweet story of young romance, one that treats Sam’s homosexuality not like a twist or a discovery, but rather a given, natural fact of her life, while still managing to address the very real issues of what it means to be a gay teenager in high school (especially in the mid-90s). This is a story that moves, but also aims to inspire empathy for a life experience that some might regard as foreign and strange. A story that might make some people realize that a gay relationship is in fact not these things, but just as relatable and human as any other romance.

That is the key word: Gone Home struck me in how human it felt. It shines a lens on one family’s, and one girl’s, personal struggles, it promotes empathy for our neighbors, for our friends, for complete strangers, for those we might regard as pariahs; it reminds us that we are all human and that we all go through shit. Speaking more personally, it allowed me, a straight man, to empathize with a gay young woman and the pain of dealing with disrespectful parents and peers; the fact that I have so much in common with Sam made it all the more easy to relate to her. I can relate to being shy around people I like (seeing that “gold star” around someone but not knowing how to talk to them), and so much of what Sam experiences and says and writes and does reminds me of myself and my own experiences, I can’t help but easily put myself in her shoes. Perhaps it is because of all this that I really did not want to enter the attic at the end of game. I felt a connection with Sam and I wanted her story to have a happy ending, but the more the game went on, the more I got the idea that the diary that I’d been hearing throughout the experience was Sam’s last words, and I was afraid of what I’d find up there. When all I found was an empty sleeping bag accompanied by a final, joyful diary entry from Sam about how Lonnie decided she couldn’t live without her and the two ran off together, I was ecstatic. A surprise happy ending, a joyful outcome when I expected a grim one, is one of my favorite discoveries in fiction, and Gone Home’s conclusion left me in happy tears.

Gone Home is the kind of experience I’ve been wanting to play for a long time. It’s simple and really nothing extraordinary, but that’s exactly what makes it special for a video game in a medium where interactive experiences so often feel the need to couple extraordinary circumstances with their pathos. In Gone Home, there are no monsters (or more specifically, no ghosts), no combat, no big dire mystery or circumstance. Why is the Greenbriar home mysteriously empty and seemingly abandoned and what happened to Sam? The big, dark, earth-shattering answer: Mrs. and Mr. Greenbriar are off at couples counseling and Sam ran off with the love of her life. I’ve played a lot of games before where much of what I do is walk around and read stuff that fleshes out a world or a narrative, but I respect Gone Home’s restraint in not shoehorning unnecessary violence or fantasy elements into its plot, and still managing to keep me interested in its characters and story through compelling writing, voice acting, and world building. This is just a patient, grounded, human experience and I appreciate it for that. There is still much room for growth when it comes to interactive narrative, and Gone Home is only one of many unique ways in which the interactive medium can deliver an interesting experience, but for now I wouldn’t mind seeing more games like Gone Home. Relaxed experiences where a character simply walks around, talks to people, look at objects, perhaps finds clues and solves a mystery…or maybe just talks to a friend, buys a hot dog, watches a sunset…stuff besides slaying monsters, going on adventures, and saving the world, stuff that doesn’t need violence or combat or even esoteric puzzle solving (as compelling, and often emotional in their own right, as those experiences can be). Of course, this kind of experience can still involve an intriguing mystery or something fantastical, but the point is that a video game can still be something compelling without shoving ten hours of gunplay in-between low-key narrative exploration sections (leers slowly in the direction of BioShock Infinite). I don’t blame someone for criticizing Gone Home’s narrative as being too small, but I think that the game is quite revolutionary for being a video game that is just about exploring a family’s home and learning about their lives. I also think it’s just wonderful that something like Gone Home and something like Shovel Knight can both exist in the same medium, or at least under the hazy umbrella term of “interactive experiences”, and I think this is a testament to the power, potential, and overall amazingness of this medium.

The Beautiful Bliss That is Mario Kart 8

I am not a Mario Kart fan. I had a lot of fun playing Mario Kart: Double Dash!! with friends back in the day and Mario Kart DS was a welcome companion when I was sick one time, but otherwise my experience with the series is limited and I’ve never harbored the fond attachment to it that many seem to have. I wasn’t even going to get Mario Kart 8 and was more than ready to write it off as just another installment in one of Nintendo’s redundant “cash cow franchises”, but I was lured in by its glossy exterior and the hype surrounding it. I do not regret my weakness for a microsecond. I love Mario Kart 8. Like, I really love it. I was playing it recently and in the middle of a race, I just started thinking about how I couldn’t believe how good this game is. The impeccable visual polish and sheer joy my eyes and brain receive from looking at this game and seeing it in motion, the ultra-refined mechanics and control, the energetic orchestrated soundtrack…this is an unbelievably delightful experience.

Mario Kart 8 is not only my favorite Mario Kart game but very likely my favorite racing game of all time. Granted, I’ve never been huge into racing games but I’ve still played and enjoyed a decent handful over the years. I think what I really love about Mario Kart 8 is that the focus is on mastering its slick racing mechanics; nailing drifts, ebbing and flowing through each winding turn, and coming out on top if you play each gorgeous track with skill. The other “Mario Kart-ish” elements of the game, chiefly items, mix things up a bit and throw an interesting curveball into the racing action, but they don’t seem to be the focus in MK8. Mario Kart 8 is a slick and speedy racing experience first and foremost. Turtle shells and banana peels are merely complementary factors here. Some people might hate this. I love it.

I love MK8 for its tight, no, perfect mechanics and sublime sense of control, not only over my kart racer but over the race itself. I don’t think I’ve ever played another game with a more fluid, exhilarating, and joyous sense of movement. I lean with each turn in particularly intense races, and I can almost feel each drift and boost. While it can be stressful at times, and this is all part of the fun, it also becomes a Zen-like trance of an experience when I get into the zone, zipping and zooming along as my heart thumps and my fingers pivot as I flow through each track. It’s pure wonder.

I often harp on about how mechanics and gameplay are not the one most important element of a video game experience and how I’ve gotten more and more frustrated over the years as Nintendo increasingly sacrifices other creative elements in the name of placing “gameplay” on a holy pedestal. While I absolutely still stand by these sentiments, I’ve also never said that mechanics, gameplay, “game feel”…or whatever you want to call it isn’t important in many experiences, and damn when Nintendo nail it they really nail it. An expertly-crafted gameplay system like the one in Mario Kart 8 can be a moving experience to behold all on its own, but this perfect feel ties in with a game that is stunning to look at, one of the most richly vibrant and beautiful I’ve ever played. Its environments are as imaginative as they are detailed as they explode with color and personality.  It is candy for the eyes in every way. No, that’s not good enough. It’s a dessert at a high-class restaurant for your retinas. And the music. It’s jazzy and jubilant and magical. Just listen to this. And this. And this! All of this ties together in a splendid ribbon that is simply euphoric.

Call this a late review for Mario Kart 8 (though if you’re looking for critique, look elsewhere), call it whatever. I’ve recently gone back to the game after not playing it for a while to finish up some Grand Prix stuff I hadn’t done yet (mainly 200cc, which is a surprisingly excellent addition that is wildly wacky and exhilarating) and as I once again raced across the slick rainbow roads of the Mushroom World as Rosalina on her speedy Jet Bike, I reflected on how much I love this experience. I never expected this title to become one of my favorite Nintendo games of all time, and just games in general. It is genuine, delightful surprise. I love this video game and I’m telling you, if you haven’t experienced it yet, find some way to nestle your hands into a Wii U GamePad and feel the beautiful bliss that is Mario Kart 8.

Changes I’d Like to See in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

Another Ze-make announced, another leak confirmed. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD is on its way to Wii U next spring, and I’m personally hoping that a Wolf Link and Midna amiibo isn’t the only novelty this new version will be boasting. At first glance, the visual makeover TP is getting seems to pale in comparison to the transformation that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker underwent with its HD counterpart, but upon closer inspection, the visuals have certainly been cleaned up to a large degree and it looks like the game will be boasting at least much sharper textures if not entirely redone ones. TWWHD looks so notably beautiful in this modern day and age simply because its art is much better suited to the HD remaster treatment and has aged so gracefully, and Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma alluded to that very notion around the time of the HD remaster’s release. The lighting changes and added bloom also had a purpose when implemented in TWWHD, which was to capture the mood of the bright, sunny ocean setting, whereas TPHD may not have any use for similar drastic alterations. Similar to TWWHD, TPHD will not be a full remake like the 3DS Zelda remakes, but rather an HD remaster with hopefully a few tweaks here and there. Whereas my love and respect for the original experiences that The Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask provide made me wary of the changes being made to those games for their reintroductions, I don’t have the same kind of fondness for Twilight Princess and I’ll happily welcome some changes to TP that might differentiate it from the original and smooth out the experience.

I’ve thought up some alterations that I think have a realistic chance of being applied to TPHD. Again, this isn’t a full remake, so I don’t expect anything to the extent of the changes in Majora’s Mask 3D, for example. With this in mind, thinking up this list was a bit tricky because even though it sits at the lower end of my personal Zelda totem pole, Twilight Princess is actually a very polished game and there aren’t actually that many basic changes I can think to make. Most of my major quantifiable issues with Twilight Princess (and trust me, there are a lot) are baked into the DNA of the game and not the kind of thing you can just twist with a wrench a few times like Nintendo did with some aspects of The Wind Waker. That said, here are some of the tweaks I’d happily welcome when I experience this new version of Twilight Princess next spring.

GamePad Functionality

I’ll get the obvious one out of the way first, and going by the currently available screenshots and footage of the game, this stuff is all but totally confirmed anyway. It seems the game’s primary control scheme will be the GamePad, and so I fully expect the same kind of wonderfully-implemented functionality that TWWHD saw to be on display here: things like inventory and map management being on the second screen and gyroscopic aiming, which is honestly perfect because the motion-controlled aiming of the Wii version of Twilight Princess is the only aspect of that version I prefer to the otherwise superior GameCube release, so the HD version is poised to be the definitive version for me control-wise (although nothing quite beats the feel of the GameCube controller for me). As a side note, I’m very pleased to see that the HD version is being modeled after the GameCube version’s world map, so no mirror-world here like in the Wii version. Since I am far, far more familiar with the GameCube version (and also other factors like the world’s layout being more consistent with past Zelda games and also containing Hylian text that is based on the English alphabet and that is very readable if it’s not mirrored), I’m perfectly fine with this just being the way the game is, but an ability to swap between the mirror map and the standard one would be fine as well.

Camera and Miiverse Functionality

Taking another nod from The Wind Waker HD (there’s going to be a lot of that here), it’d be great if the Picto Box was introduced to Twilight Princess for this HD version (it was absent in the original game) and some kind of similar Miiverse functionality was also implemented. There’s no figurine quest or anything of the like in TP, but I’d still love to be able to photograph characters and scenery in TP’s world and share them on Miiverse (of course, I can also just do that by taking screenshots with the Home Button). Twilight Princess is actually fairly steeped in lore if you’re a hardcore fan of the series like me, and there’s a fair amount of food for theorizing in the game, so being able to share discoveries and discuss them online would be neat. Of course, if something akin to the figurine quest or maybe just the ability to photograph people and monsters in the world and get a short bio on them could be implemented, that would be most welcome. Twilight Princess is really lacking in any kind of feature like that compared to the other 3D Zelda games, so this remaster would be the perfect opportunity to remedy that and flesh out the game’s world. Even if nothing this ambitious is added, TP still has some of the most interesting architecture and lore in the series and the sharper textures will make studying features like the designs on the walls of the Temple of Time and the aforementioned readable Hylian text throughout the game a new pleasure, and being able to snap, save, and share some pictographs would make this even more enjoyable.

Refine Wolf Link

This is perhaps a more ambitious hope. Link’s wolf form may be the most underdeveloped “unique mechanic” in the entire Zelda series and it seems like an afterthought added to the game in order to give Twilight Princess a big unique feature to make it stand-out from other Zelda titles, something that it otherwise lacks. While overhauling Wolf Link entirely would call for a redesign of the whole game and is obviously not what I would expect, I think some minor tweaks here and there could at least make dashing around and fighting as the clunky lug a smoother experience. Instead of having to constantly hammer a button to make the otherwise sluggish beast dash in short bursts, just having the option to press or hold down a button once to run would be grand. Perhaps an even better choice might be to handle wolf-running the way it works in the far superior wolf simulator, Okami, where Wolf Link would start out at a measured gait and then gradually burst into a full sprint if the analog stick contained to be held forward. Also, please for the love of Din smooth out wolf combat, so enemies don’t fall down after one strike and invulnerably lie there for half a day before getting up and letting Link chew on them again. Whenever I play the original game, I have to resort to using Midna’s charge-up one hit kill attack in every single combat encounter in wolf form because fighting the normal way is just so bloody tedious.

Besides just overall touching up the way Wolf Link feels to play, maybe the bug-hunting sections where the beast gets the most action could be streamlined somehow as well. While I don’t hate these sections, mainly because of the atmosphere present in them, I find them far more tiresome personally than the Triforce shard hunt in The Wind Waker (which I never actually found tiresome at all, but I can see why people don’t like it), so if they tweaked that for TWWHD, maybe they can find a way to make some changes here. I’m not saying that the two sections are really all that equitable, just that they are both oft-maligned aspects of their respective games. I’m not exactly sure how they could alter the bug-hunting parts to make them feel less like a chore, and to be fair it would probably be harder to do than the rather simple and clever way they tweaked the Triforce hunt, but perhaps just something as simple as shortening them somehow to make the whole affair less drawn out so I can get back to dungeon-crawling and sword-slashing as human Link would be acceptable.

Rupees are so Annoying in this Game

You can never fit them in your tiny wallet. Link puts them back into a chest when he can’t hold them (which, again, is always), so a closed chest remains, forever mocking you and possibly even confusing you on a dungeon map. And of course, the game just loves to tell you how much each of these suckers is worth. Again. And again. And again. Every time you turn on the game. How to fix this? First off, just have a huge wallet from the start like in A Link Between Worlds (and swap out the wallet upgrade prizes from Agitha with some heart pieces or something; they did this kind of “reward-swapping” in TWWHD in some areas so there’s no reason it can’t be done here). At the very least increase the max number of rupees Link can hold; I’ve never understood why the largest wallet in TP can still only hold one-thousand rupees (not to mention you’re likely to get the largest wallet late in the game if at all) when Majora’s Mask had a freakin’ bank and The Wind Waker’s rupee max was five-thousand, especially considering just how many rupees Link finds in Twilight Princess. Next, ditch the “rupee saving” mechanic, or at least mark an already-opened rupee chest on the map with a rupee symbol. Finally, and obviously, for the love of Farore just get rid of the rupee reminders. I KNOW HOW MUCH A BLUE RUPEE IS WORTH DAMMIT. 

Seriously, this game and its rupees.

Selective Redone/Orchestrated Music

Taking yet more inspiration from The Wind Waker’s HD remaster, it would be great if selected tracks from Twilight Princess’s score were remastered and in some cases orchestrated. I’m not asking for the entire soundtrack to be redone, but merely given a similar treatment as in TWWHD, with selected songs being redone and in TPHD’s case, hopefully orchestrated. I’m not someone who believes all music in the Zelda series should be orchestrated and I firmly believe digital music (and other forms of music) still has a place, but Twilight Princess perhaps more than any other Zelda game begs to have a large portion of its soundtrack orchestrated, especially the (and I use this word properly) epic Hyrule Field theme (which already has an official orchestral version out there, so there’s really no excuse not to include at least that version or if not, do a new version).

Better Difficulty Balance

Twilight Princess has a great variety of fierce-looking beasties. Unfortunately, rarely do they ever pose an actual threat to the incredibly overpowered Link. Now, personally I don’t play Zelda games for difficulty, but some level of challenge and real opposition in the hero’s quest is appreciated, especially in regards to bosses. Twilight Princess has some wonderful dungeons and along with these tantalizing labyrinths are some very memorable boss encounters. But they’re all piss easy. Mainly this has to do with the strategy involved in taking them down often being pathetically obvious and extremely formulaic. It’s sometimes tough to really feel like a hero when these massive creatures’ menacing appearance is so betrayed by how easily Link stomps on them. With this in mind, I don’t expect completely redesigned encounters like in Majora’s Mask 3D (hopefully if that were the case, they’d be more well thought-out than in that game though), but I think monsters, bosses, and obstacles dealing a bit more damage to Link would go a long way. Of course, this probably won’t happen and the developers will likely just slap a “hero mode” on TPHD and call it a day, which is fine, but it’d be nice if there was something in-between “barely any challenge at all” and “hero mode”. For all its pretense of being “edgy” and “dark”, TP is one of the easiest and least threatening games in the series, so a little more difficulty might at least be in keeping with what the game is going for. And for Nayru’s sake, please take out the hearts and fairies in the final battle’s arena; Skyward Sword got it right in this regard.

Other Assorted Changes

Some other assorted changes I wouldn’t mind seeing: acquire the Horse Call item earlier or make Horse Grass way more common; perhaps too much to ask, but some smoother animations on characters, especially facial animations and especially Link’s facial animations; make the Magic Armor worth a damn or replace it with a better secret item as a reward for what is essentially TP’s only substantial side-quest (that’s not a collectathon at least); and lastly don’t restrict Link’s movement and actions indoors. This last one is something that started in Twilight Princess and continued in Skyward Sword and it is one of my biggest pet peeves about “modern Zelda”. Please get rid of it; it is so awkward and jarring and hurts the sense of freedom that is part of what makes Zelda games special.

I’ll end with just one more hope I have for Twilight Princess HD, which is, largely unlike its original release, I hope it surprises me. Whether it’s a brand new feature or area added, or just some unexpected and clever changes or additions that I hadn’t thought of, I hope there’s something in here that catches me off guard, in a good way. I’ve played through the original Twilight Princess a lot (the GameCube version, particularly), and speaking as someone who doesn’t care too much about the integrity of the original experience, something to mix things up would definitely be appreciated on my part.