Gaming Zelda Fans Come Hither...

That's cool and all, but it potentially sounds tedious. I would hate to be knee deep in a dungeon to realize that I need a specific item, backtrack to the beginning of the dungeon, travel all the way to the item shop, hope I have enough rupees to buy/rent what I need, travel all the way back to the dungeon, fight all the enemies again that have probably re-spawned to get back to the room where I needed the item. God help if the next room requires the use of a different item that I don't have and have to travel again. I don't mean to sound like a negative Nancy, but if there's a lot of backtracking then that's going to be monotonous.

 

Non-linearity sounds great! I've always felt that Ocarina of Time should have had non-linear dungeon selection after acquiring the Master Sword or at least after the Forest Temple. The first time I played OoT I got stuck in Lord Jabu-Jabu's Belly, and between that and it being the most boring and bland dungeon in the game, I left the game alone for a bit and later let a friend borrow it. Oddly enough he continued on my save file instead of starting his own. Imagine my mixture of frustration and excitement when I found out that Link had become an adult! A combination of my friend having completed part of the Forest and Fire Temples and myself having missed the various cutscenes and dialogue post-Master Sword left me with the impression that the dungeon selection was non-linear for quite a while. Yes, I was pretty confused. It's been years, so don't hold me to this, but I think I didn't actually finish the Forest Temple until after I beat the Fire, Water, and Spirit Temples. So I guess there is some room for flexibility, but it would require you to beat parts of certain dungeons in order to gain access to others. In any case, the feeling that I wasn't steered towards a particularly dungeon sequence was wonderful. That in combination with the multitude of side-quests in OoT left me with the feeling that I was truly experience an open world, even if I wasn't.

Now I want to go read about Ocarina of Time sequence-breaking.

 

In ALTTP, after beating the first temple in the Dark World and getting the Hammer, I would immediately go to level 4 to get Titan's Mitt so I could lift the black rocks, upgrade my Lvl 2 sword to Lvl 3, and get the bird for faster travel (I don't think you need the Mitt for the bird, but anyway, I went right to Kakariko Village as soon as I could when in the Dark World.)

My point being, I'm not against sequence-breaking, nor am I against re-visiting, but I AM against backtracking just for the sake of backtracking.

 

Love the art showing the events of ALTTP!

 

That would be helpful. For example maybe needing the hammer to bang the spikes down in the Dark World before entering said dungeon where you'll need the hammer to smash the faces that boost you up to the next level.

 

I'm up to Ganon's Castle in Ocarina 3D now. The updated graphics have been a real treat. Link's character model in particular is much more well-animated and fluid-looking in motion. Probably one of the best parts about it for me is being able to see all of the characters depicted much closer to their original art designs. The frame rate seems faster in places like the Water Temple, although I did see it drop in some spots elsewhere, such as cutting a bunch of grass at once with the magic spin attack. The 3D effect does enhance the experience in some places and gives a better impression of depth and the geometry but playing with the slider set on the max level was painful to my eyes. I spent some time playing with the slider halfway up and it wasn't painful but the screen becomes a blurry mess if you try to use to use it in conjunction with the motion aiming option for certain items. Ultimately I've spent at least 80% of my playtime with the 3D effect off. It would be interesting to fight some the bosses again in boss challenge mode with the 3D on though.

Controlling Link has been a pretty good experience thus far. During the first couple of hours I was a bit clumsy due to the 3DS' tiny buttons but after the Deku Tree I was doing just fine. Movement with the circle pad has been great, even if it seems that you loose a little bit of the precision when it comes to regulating Link's speed. The touchscreen now allows for an extra item to be equipped compared to the 64 version, with two touchscreen slots available on the right-hand side of the screen. I have to admit that I was bit confused as to whether the developers expected me to make use of the touchscreen interface with the stylus or my thumb. The stylus option seems to be particularly cumbersome for the original 3DS model, with the stylus slot fitted on the top of the 3DS, which makes retrieving it during gameplay while the screen is folded out something of a nuisance. While probably less of an issue with the 3DS XL model, as the stylus slot is back on the side of the system, using it with the original 3DS was simply too slow and cumbersome for the most of the game. You may be able to get buy with using the stylus only for the first few dungeons, but as you attempt later temples that require you to frequently use several items you'll probably find that your progress has slowed considerably.

The only real instances in which using the touchscreen became a problem is with the first-person view/Navi button. Since you have to be L-targeting to get Navi's advice for dealing with enemies, and the Navi button is on the top left of the touchscreen, if you reach for it with your left thumb you have to briefly let go of the circle pad, which could put you in danger, if only for a moment. It may seem minor, but it's something that I never had to deal with on the N64 or GameCube versions and at times can make combat seem a bit more clunky. I often used my right index finger to hit the Navi button if I needed to keep moving and strafing but it still felt awkward enough.

Motion aiming is nice option to have, especially on some of the target shooting mini-games. I had an easier time with rupee shooting this way, a fair compromise for the possible less-than-ideal circumstances of mobile gaming. To reiterate an earlier point, it's nearly impossible to use the motion aiming with the 3D set on the maximum level at the same time.

Also, I could be wrong, but I think you move faster under water with the Iron Boots equipped in this version. Either that or it just feels faster because the better frame rate in most of those sections.

 

Not stopping to change the wind by simply equipping the Swift Sail looks awesome.
http://www.ign.com/wikis/the-legend-of-zelda-wind-waker/Swift_Sail

 

New LBW trailer.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/10/11/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-new-evil-trailer

Spoiler

Lorule? Seriously?

 

I like the artwork for Princess Hilda, the similarities and differences with Princess Zelda. Though its not the first time we've had multiple Princesses I think, but it continues the equal and opposite of Hyrule and the newly named Lorule. Still not sure if that's a good name or not.

 

Hilda and Zelda are beautiful, and I love how they're pallet swaps.

 

Random thought:

Hyrule is underwater in Wind Waker. Does that make the world above the water Lorule? There are upside Triforce symbols on the doors.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/_...images/c/ce/Link's_House_(The_Wind_Waker).png

 

Okay... I caved... I got the eShop digital copy of The Wind Waker and it looks gorgeous. Part of me wished they had pushed things further with it but then there might be too many complaints... oh well, still early (Forsaken Fortress) but going to enjoy it.

About the upside down Triforce on Link's door, I thought that was odd when I was playing it. Wonder if it is connected or not with ALBW... but there has been some talk about Majora's Mask...

 

Hope this comes to America, currently announced for Europe

 

The2ndQuest

Something we've been waiting fall has finally been revealed..




EDIT: Pretty much what TiniTinyTony had posted, got in just before I.

EDIT 2: GAME UK will also get this exclusive preorder bonus...

I hope but somehow I doubt it will come to Australia, especially when it is a lil over 1 month away from release.

 

It seems like all the Zelda fans are screaming for a Majora's Mask remake. I don't get it. I felt very rushed when playing it and that made me enjoy it less. Zelda games are about exploration and I hated being so close to getting to an object just to have to reset the days before dying. Collecting all the masks was more way more frustrating than the GameCube version of Wind Waker when assembling the Triforce. Also, once you get all the masks it makes the final boss not even a challenge. Lastly, I also remember getting very frustrated controlling Goron Link, and to a lesser extent, Zora Link. I digress.

So Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has said:

“I see many of you have been asking about a remake of Majora's Mask for Nintendo 3DS. It's nice to see such a strong response to this title and we haven't forgotten about Link's adventures in that world. If you play A Link Between Worlds, you may better understand what I mean by that.”​

​

Anyone have any thoughts on the possible connection? I'm not sure how they will connect it because ALBW is a "sequel" to ALTTP which is part of the "Hero is Defeated" timeline while MM is part of the child era of the "Hero is Successful" timeline.

 

Some light on the subject?

Spoiler: potential spoiler from screenshot

It looks like Majora's Mask is featured in the game... we don't know of it's function or if it is just a decoration.

 

Maybe instead of a remake, Nintendo is working on a new Zelda game for 3DS that will incorporate the mask and in the "Hero is Defeated" timeline, Link will have to remove the evil from it since he wasn't alive to do it in that timeline.