Zelda Wii: "Structurally different"

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

An interesting quote from Zelda chief Eiji Aonuma is floating around the internet, talking of a structurally different take on the franchise with the next big Wii adventure.

It is something we used to talk about with Mr Miyamoto, and he and I agree that if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give long time Zelda fans a fresh surprise. So we have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time.

I am really hopeful that people will be surprised with the changes we have implemented for this Wii version. I hope that we can show you something at the E3 show next year and it is something we are hopeful will be surprising.

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine

Does this refer to story structure or the specifics of the gameplay? Is the classic three emblems, Master Sword, bits of a bigger emblem structure finally gone? How much more teasing will there be before E3 next year? We've all got our fingers crossed for this one to be brilliant. (So long as it isn't First Person, all is probably well.)

And, yes, I'll bring any more big bits of news from the full Issue 51 interview with Aonuma when it hits next month.

[VideoGameGoddess]

I certainly hope they at least alter that structure. It works, but it's really beginning to get old. I'd like for a complete surprise, but even a slight alteration would be appreciated. ._.

Hopefully we'll get some more hints as time moves on.

[hisak]

Oh ho! That would be very welcome. As trivial as I've found the "Zelda sucks because it uses the same bare-bones structure in every game" complaints to be, it would be a nice breath of fresh air.

...Or I suppose he could mean the overworld. I wouldn't mind a hub-less overworld at all.

[The_Human_Cyborg]

Story progression? Maybe a more open non-linear one?

[Be_yourself]

Story progression? Maybe a more open non-linear one?

i hope so, more freedom would really add to a new zelda...it was only limited in the previous two console zelda's by designer discrestion.  it doesn't need to be 100% non-linear, it just needs to have enough freedom to not feel like there is only one thing at a time to do(TP), or that when one option is closed off because the designers didn't want it(TWW).

[Witless]

If it's First Person, I will eat my shorts.

As far as system goes, I wouldn't mind a different kind of collection system. Maybe instead of collecting emeralds/sage coins, just defeat bosses? What ever happened to that?

I'm not going to speculate anything. I'm just going to wait and see.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

IGN have got Aonuma to explain himself a little more...

We're making efforts regarding the total flow of the Zelda game. So far, the basic flow of the Zelda games is you're exploring a field, you go to a dungeon, you conquer it and return to the field. We're looking at altering that traditional flow. That's all I can share, and I can't say more until E3 next year.

So, how do you go about breaking that flow? Do you scrap the field or the dungeons? It's hard to imagine Zelda without that structure. It's been around since Day One. I'm quite happy to explore fields and dungeons, it was just the rehashing of ALttP's three McGuffins, Master Sword, X more McGuffins that I wanted gone.

There's also something about Motion Plus turning out to be a perfectly natural introduction to the series. No surprises there.

[hisak]

Wait, so it's something even bigger than what we thought? Exciting!

"Recently I have been spending my lunch with other game directors playing over local connection battle in Spirit Tracks. It is very good to do that in order to facilitate better communications between us. I have been partnering with the director of the Spirit Tracks to fight against the director of the new Wii game and yes, recently we have been winning!" - Eiji Aonuma

Wait...if he's not directing it...who is?

[JordAnime]

Probably Daiki Iwamoto, he directed Phantom Hourglass.

As far as the different structure goes, I think it could be good, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how different it is.

[Be_yourself]

Wait, so it's something even bigger than what we thought? Exciting!

"Recently I have been spending my lunch with other game directors playing over local connection battle in Spirit Tracks. It is very good to do that in order to facilitate better communications between us. I have been partnering with the director of the Spirit Tracks to fight against the director of the new Wii game and yes, recently we have been winning!" - Eiji Aonuma

Wait...if he's not directing it...who is?

Why is he fighting with the director of the new Wii game?? and how is he winning? is it a good thing that eiji is winning?

[hisak]

Probably Daiki Iwamoto, he directed Phantom Hourglass.

Why would the director of PH be directing the Wii game, though? And why isn't Aonuma?

I'm quite happy to explore fields and dungeons, it was just the rehashing of ALttP's three McGuffins, Master Sword, X more McGuffins that I wanted gone.

I think that the blurring of the lines between dungeons and overworld (which is what I think he's talking about) would lead to the death of that system. At the very least it wouldn't be quite so blatantly obvious or predictable.

[JordAnime]

I misread the statement.  Perhaps Aonuma was referring to himself in the third person?  :-p  They did say they were getting some new blood on the project so it'll be interesting to see, but I feel like the farther removed from Miyamoto these games get, the worse they tend to be become.

[hisak]

Aonuma is beating himself in Spirit Tracks? Doubt it. It sounds like Miyamoto is having about an equal amount of control over this as he did with Galaxy, so it's fine with me.

Why is he fighting with the director of the new Wii game?? and how is he winning? is it a good thing that eiji is winning?

Like this:

Recently I have been spending my lunch with other game directors playing over local connection battle in Spirit Tracks.

[Be_yourself]

Aonuma is beating himself in Spirit Tracks? Doubt it. It sounds like Miyamoto is having about an equal amount of control over this as he did with Galaxy, so it's fine with me.

Why is he fighting with the director of the new Wii game?? and how is he winning? is it a good thing that eiji is winning?

Like this:

Recently I have been spending my lunch with other game directors playing over local connection battle in Spirit Tracks.

oh....i see...i misunderstood that, i was thinking he was talking about some sort of game development issue they were fighting over...

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

More interview snippets, more teases of what is to come...

Any present Zelda is technically superior. Everything goes faster, more fluid… but to best Ocarina of Time, a great change – comparable to what happened back then - must be introduced. And that’ll be rather complicated.

By George, I think he's got it!

Source

[Be_yourself]

More interview snippets, more teases of what is to come...

Any present Zelda is technically superior. Everything goes faster, more fluid… but to best Ocarina of Time, a great change – comparable to what happened back then - must be introduced. And that’ll be rather complicated.

By George, I think he's got it!

Source

this is very good to hear, i still feel slightly edgy but perhaps thats because they  havn't screamed at the top of their lungs "twilight princess was the worst thing we have ever done, it will never happen again" but i think thats just my odd tick :-)

[JordAnime]

I'd say Majora's Mask is the closest they've gotten to surpassing Ocarina of Time.  I think, perhaps if Majora's Mask had been delayed for release on the Gamecube it'd probably have a stronger legacy in the grand scheme, but as it stands it's hard to really pit against what many consider the greatest game of all time because it's very similar to Ocarina of Time. 

I hope it's good, I mean, I'd love to play a game that's better than the Ocarina of Time, but neither The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess came close.

this is very good to hear, i still feel slightly edgy but perhaps thats because they  havn't screamed at the top of their lungs "twilight princess was the worst thing we have ever done, it will never happen again" but i think thats just my odd tick :-)

Twilight Princess wasn't very good, but The Wind Waker was a lot worse, it was really the turning point for the series as a whole.

[hisak]

Hmm. Well, TWW and TP are both very good games. Yes, they have flaws. TWW had some rather dull portions, and TP wasn't very deep and its level design kind of fell apart toward the end. But looking at those flaws and saying that they were the difference between a good game and a bad game? I disagree. I'd love to have another game as good as TWW or TP. I'm just hoping for more if we're going to have a five year wait.

All of these interviews are getting me pretty excited for the reveal. It seems really early for them to be talking so much about it, especially since they have a new game coming out in two weeks.

[JordAnime]

I'd love to have another game as good as TWW or TP. I'm just hoping for more if we're going to have a five year wait.

If the next Zelda is only as good as The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, I think I'd have lost all hope.  They're good games, like there's nothing broken about them and they're technically masterpieces of their eras but compared to the Nintendo 64 titles, they're just nowhere near as brilliant. 

I'm just hoping for more if we're going to have a five year wait.

There hasn't been five years between a Zelda game since...Ocarina of Time.  At the very least we'll see four years between Zelda Wii and Twilight Princess(and from a development standpoint I think Twilight Princess was probably finished early 2006, perhaps late 2005). 

I'm expecting quite a bit from this one, Mario Galaxy managed to rebound Mario after Sunshine, so if this Zelda game is the Mario Galaxy of Zelda, well, then it may very well surpass Ocarina of Time at a personal level for me.

[hisak]

There hasn't been five years between a Zelda game since...Ocarina of Time.

Yep, and now we might be having another five year wait (between major titles). Which is why I'm also expecting a lot from the game. But if the game had been released last year or the year before, I wouldn't have been disappointed if it was just as good as TWW or TP.