With E3 less than a week away Zelda fans are wetting themselves in anticipation over Nintendo’s press conference. At E3 with year Nintendo has promised to give us the first shred of real information about the game since they released a piece of art at least year’s E3.
With rumors running amuck every fan has their own ideas for what Nintendo needs to and should incorporate into what could be the most revolutionary Legend of Zelda game since the release of The Ocarina of Time. And like everybody out there, we too have our own beliefs on what Zelda Wii should be like.
What We Know About Zelda Wii
As previously stated, little is currently known about the upcoming Legend of Zelda title for the Nintendo Wii. What we do know however is that the game will use the Wii motion Plus and that the Wiimote will most likely be used for combat in a much more influential way than the Twilight Princess Wii port. Interviews and quotes from Zelda developers have also hinted that Zelda Wii will ‘be the end of Zelda as we know it.’
So we know next to nothing about Zelda Wii which leads us to our next point.
What Should Zelda Wii Be Like?
A large percentage of the Legend of Zelda community would love to see Nintendo make another Zelda game that is comparable to The Ocarina of Time. After all, The Ocarina of Time was and still is one of the highest reviewed games of all time. However, in this writers personal opinion, Nintendo should make Zelda Wii more like The Wind Waker.
Though The Wind Waker receives mixed feedback from Zelda fans, it is one of the best games in the series in my opinion, for a variety of reasons.
Graphics
The Wind Waker’s cartoony vibrant graphics are probably one of the biggest reasons that many fans were turned off from the game. Nintendo had previously showcased a Game Cube capability demo that portrayed a much more realistic Legend of Zelda, which led fans to believe that a game was in the works that would be darker and more realistic than ever before. However, Nintendo shocked fans around the world when The Wind Waker was first shown in his cell shaded cartoon glory that would later be dubbed ‘celda.’
But Like it or not, The Wind Waker was one of the most beautiful and graphically rich games released for the Nintendo Game Cube. By using the cell shaded technology Nintendo was able to capture the world and Link’s expressions in ways never possible beforehand. Even today the graphics of the Wind Waker stand out as being absolutely gorgeous.
So what am I getting at? Do I want Nintendo to release another home console cartoony Zelda game? Well personally yes I do but that is not my point. My point is that Nintendo just needs to look outside the box again and deliver the unexpected. We were all expecting a realistic Legend of Zelda title but instead we got the rich and vibrant Wind Waker. In my opinion that is one of the best qualities of Nintendo, the ability to always surprise their fans.
We would all get our realistic Zelda with Twilight Princess so patience is key here. What Nintendo needs to do is release a game so graphically astonishing that it will surpass our first 3D experience of Ocarina of Time, surpass the beautiful and colorful world of The Wind Waker, and surpass the detailed and realistic world of Twilight Princess. I have heard from many fans that they would like Nintendo to reuse the Twilight Princess graphics. In my opinion they should not. Keep it fresh and keep it innovative as always. Give us another surprise like we got with The Wind Waker.
Music
Though music is often not considered to be a vital part of the gaming experience, with the Zelda series it is. The quality of a game’s musical compositions are not often mentioned in gaming reviews. Graphics and game-play of course steal the spotlight, but thankfully Nintendo has generally had a great track list to go with the Legend of Zelda games.
Once again, in my personal opinion, the musical score of The Wind Waker was the best in the series. From the Title Screen to the Overworld, and to Outset Island, all of the songs in The Wind Waker were fantastic. Nothing can ruin an experience quicker than a god awful song in the background that makes you wonder ‘what were they thinking?’ The Wind Waker managed to avoid that scenario and provide gamers with an uplifting Irish blend sound to all of the songs that perfectly conveyed the atmosphere.
A commonly agreed idea across the Zelda community is that Nintendo should give us a fully orchestrated musical experience. I myself would love to hear this myself, as I thought the music in Twilight Princess was a tad bit of a let down, but whatever the case, a brilliant track of songs like the one from The Wind Waker would add another piece of the puzzle to Zelda Wii.
Bring Back the Great Sea
No, I am just kidding about this one. However, in all honesty the Great Sea was one of the best things ever to happen to the Zelda Overworld. A common complaint about The Ocarina of Time is the vast nothingness that is Hyrule Field. There is literally next to nothing to do in Hyrule Field in The Ocarina of Time and just a tad bit more in Twilight Princess. The Great Sea from the Wind Waker however was wide open and filled with treasures and islands to explore.
Now many of you are probably remember how long it took to sail across the Great Sea and again how devoid of enemies the Great Sea often was. That was a problem with me as well, but Nintendo can take the best of it and add on to make one spectacular overworld. The Wind Waker’s Great Sea was a 7 X 7 quadrant overworld. Each coordinate of the sea had an unique island of its own waiting to be explored. Scattered throughout the sea was also a variety of things to find and explore. There was treasure to be fished up, submarines Link could enter, watch towers to climb, and much much more.
So while I do not want to see another water-based Zelda adventure, I would like Nintendo to take the aspects of the Great Sea that made it so much fun to explore and use that to make an even better Hyrule that can keep fans drawn in and entertained.
The Plot
Perhaps the best part of The Wind Waker was its often puzzling plot that opened up a huge time-line debate in the Zelda community. The prologue of the game explains that all of Hyrule was flooded because the great Hero did not appear when evil threatened the land. But why not? Where was this hero, who we can all presume was supposed to be Link?
The story of The Wind Waker is filled with interesting questions like this. Why did the water-based Zoras possibly evolve into the flying race of the Ritos? Why didn’t the gods just stop Ganon instead of flooding the entire world?In fact, the very creation of The Wind Waker has led to the split time-line theory for the Legend of Zelda series. After Ocarina of Time there are now two paths of events that take place with games fitting onto one path or the other.
What also made this story so great is that you start the game off as an unsuspecting boy who is just trying to celebrate his birthday with his family, but a twist in events forces Link into an adventure that would later save the world from the evil Ganondorf once again.
If you haven’t caught on yet, the plot of The Wind Waker got fans speculating and kept them guessing. An to reiterate that is what Nintendo does best and perhaps that is why fans are so drawn into the Zelda series. The story and premise itself is shrouded in mystery which leads to a a greater fan base. In the Zelda community there is a large amount of time-line theorists, many who take it very seriously, because of Nintendo’s ability to capture its fans imaginations and to keep us guessing.
So for Zelda Wii, the plot needs to be like The Wind Waker’s. The plot should be well developed but at the same time leave it open to the fans to come up with their own ideas on the concepts. Zelda is after all just a legend. And legends are interpreted in different ways by different people and Nintendo needs to keep it that way.
Wrapping Things Up Here
Nintendo’s best Zelda games are those which revolutionize the series in some imaginative way and in my opinion The Wind Waker did that the best. The Wind Waker was an overall masterpiece and one of the best games in the series. The mysterious plot, risky but beautiful graphics, amazing music, and the exploration based overworld helps to make The Wind Waker as extraordinary as it is.
If Nintendo can take the elements of the Wind Waker, that made it so great, and apply those concepts to the upcoming Legend of Zelda title for the Wii, then we will have ourselves one of the, if not the, greatest Zelda games ever made.
