Ice Azure said:
MasterV said:
Things have changed over the years, they aren't quite the same, and that they aren't as good as they were back then, but I retain my opinion that things are still good for Nintendo, they crank out great games all the time, and as long as they keep doing the same, taking years to develop a quality game rather than less than a single year, I will remain loyal to them. I do play other consoles and see where Nintendo fails and others succeed, but where Nintendo succeeds and others fail, I stand by them.
I like a good conversation with solid arguments. However, keep in mind this. I buy Zelda and hve expectations. I expect to have sword and be awesome with it. That fortress thing in Wind Waker was not Zelda. It had no place in it, apart from a winking nod from Miyamoto to Kojima. Notice how you say "if you've played it before". If you haven't? Will someone who rarely plays games, buy this expecting Zelda and being forced to do all those menial tasks to get to the damn sword and then have it snatched away? Not like Zelda at all. Still, I can see why you liked it but trust me, many hated it for this part alone.
The thing about islands was that they were like a small rock floating in nothingness. You got on, solved a puzzle and never looked back. No exploration, no action. The sidequests are nice to hav, but they were just that, sidequests. For completionists. What about the main game? That was painfully short and there was one point where it was glaringly obvious a dungeon was removed. I like how you say your favourites are LttP and OoT. Tell me, technology has moved forward. Why haven't Zelda games? Was the jump from OoT to WW as great as that from LttP to OoT? Why is it that only the puzzles get expanded upon and not the overworld or the enemies?
for your next question, why is the currnt Zelda direction a bad thing? Too much reliance on puzzles gives birth to boredom. Sure, puzzles may be nice to figure out...the first time. After that they get boring because you know the solution. Interesting enemies on the other hand who would be dangerous to boot, could be defeated by many more ways and thus be far more interesting. But we've gotten to a point where Spirit Tracks had a dungeon with NO ENEMIES. At all. That was unacceptable and that's where I abandoned it. That example you bring can work very well for my argument. That item was only ever a puzzle-solving and boss-beating thingamajigger. Not a weapon, no use apart from that one, you even say it yourself! "Creative" use for puzzles. Oh joy. Now, think back to LttP (and OoT, but to a lesser extent). You got magic SPELLS. You used them to unleash hell AND open the way forward sometimes. Where did spells go? Where did the different weapons go? Why the FECK do I have to solve a PUZZLE to get to the Master Sword in TP when those two stone guardian statues could be an awesome enemy encounter?
You call it backtracking, I call it exploring. Everyone wants to explore an interesting world. But when that word is uninteresting, why bother? Finding some Heart Containers is barely a reason, as the games have become WAY too easy. The only reason to bother, and I agree, is if you're a completionist. But look at it this way. Other games, like Okami or even Minish Cap (which was developed by Capcom) have bonuses to reward you for perservering, the first has oodles of bonus content, the other has a Sound Test. Why can't Zelda? OoT 3D is a major missed opportunity in this regard, because it could've contained SO much from past videos, early sketches but no. A mediocre port of a game played to death. Thanks.
As for your Mario & Luigi stuff. I agree, but I hav n objection. Those games are great,but you know why? Because they're not passed as actual Mario games, but as Mario PRGs. Play the first one on the SNES, available on VC. It sets the template and people know what to expect from a Mario RPG (Paper or with Luigi). That is, humour and massive expansions upon the Mario world. MUCH more than ANY main Mario game, and this is why it's so interesting to play them. People want to see what other amazing things are there in Mario's magical wonderland. Mario RPGs are good gams bacause the are good SEQUELS, expanding upon the foundations set by their predecessors. Zelda games add something at the cost of something else.
I agree with you on the AW/FE thing, except Shadow Dragon. It was preposterous to ask full price for a game this old (and lacking in comparison even to the GBA games. I was NOT a happy customer). They should've put the sequel in as well, like Ys did.
As fo your last comment (which I've kept) I agree. I still believe they mae some of the best gmes around and thisis why I'll never stop playing their games....well, unless they drop their quality even more (thatis, if they drop to industry standards). Then I'll stop playing modern games altogether
