I've been translating parts of the Hyrule Historia book that I have access to via scans on the internet over at Zelda Informer, if anyone is interested. http://forums.zeldainformer.com/thre...slations.8624/
http://zelda-symphony.com/
Second round of the Zelda concert series. Now with more concert locations.
Time to bump this back up for a bit now that I've had time to sit on Skyward Sword and really think about it. Do I still place it as high as I did a month or so ago?
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I've been replaying Twilight Princess lately. Something I haven't touched since it practically came out. It used to be one of the bottom rungs of Zelda games to me because the forced Wolf segments annoyed me, but once you get over that small hump the game becomes more of what I love: AN ADVENTURE GAME.
I love exploration and TP has a lot of that. Something SS clearly did not. A hub world with a few islands and entrances to the surface worlds, (which are pretty linear on their own) does not make for a good adventure game. Linearity ruins a lot in SS. The hand holding and Fi's constant interruptions are bothersome. Skyward Sword's dungeons are also extremely dumbed down compared to previous Zelda games.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the combat, the characters were fun and the story was fairly good; but the rest of the game play is starting to rub me the wrong way now that I've gone back to other Zelda games. I want to stare at the screen for a while as I try to figure out where to go or how to solve the puzzle; SS had none of those moments.
Anyone else feeling that way now?
I have problems with bashing overworld design in Zelda games. I loved the Great Sea, and that was most people's biggest (halfway legitimate, pineapple people who hate cel shading) complaint for Wind Waker. How should we find the world? Who can possibly have an objective measure? The point is that we're exploring it.
I agree about linearity, if there's anything that does upset me about world design, is that it feels like separate levels or stages, rather than one unified world. I felt the same way about Termina. Even if there is an ordered path to most Zelda games, the overworld often conceals that - but not this time. In this case the physical size was bigger than ever, it just felt compacted by the nature of travel.
The dungeons/puzzles were easier than Twilight Princess but harder than Wind Waker. They really, really went out there to design new puzzle mechanics and I have to give them props for that. There were no block puzzle crutches. I was rubbed the wrong way by the "the whole world is a dungeon" approach to design, I would have preferred it if they tightened up the challenges into the actual dungeons. Then again, they would have to make villages and people on the surface so you'd have something to do instead, which would have clashed with the plot they wrote. It's a function of the setting, if not my ideal.
Skyward Sword is not perfect. That's the measure I have to use. But it's the closest they've come since Ocarina of Time.
Not gonna lie. Going back to Wind Waker after playing Skyward Sword had me legitimately stumped as what to do in a dungeon.
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First Zeldagame, and I just finished normal. Spoilers follow.
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Pretty much epic game. Makes me stand between Sonic and Link.
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