Thanks to Santiago for this week’s topic!
As pretty much everyone here knows, the new Zelda game was shown off in a fancy gameplay trailer this E3. Yes, you read that right. The trailer that was shown was actual gameplay. It surprised the heck out of me, as it was so smooth it looked like a CG trailer. The way the horse spooked, according to my resident horse expert, was spot on to the way a real horse freaks out. It sounds like the team at Nintendo has spent a lot of time making this game perfect as they can.
However, there are apparently quite a few people unhappy with the trailer that was shown. You may be thinking to yourself “why?! It was so good! What could possibly be wrong?”. Select others of you may be thinking “Of course we were! Who wouldn’t be furious!?”
Well don’t any of you worry. Doctor Zorpix is here, and he’s gonna make you feel alright! (If you agree with me…)
What’s the issue?
Alright alright, I’ll stop being cryptic and tell you what this all is about. A lot of people are unhappy with the art style this game seems to be using. So per the norm, a week after the game has been announced, with only one trailer, people are swearing up and down this game is going to be terrible.
As much as I’d love their genie powers to be able to see the future, I don’t have that ability. So today, we’re just going to look at it from my simplistic “analytic” perspective. Sorry about that, soothsayers.
Alright, but in all seriousness, I can kind of understand where this hatred is coming from. Honestly, I felt a little disappointed in this display at first. Once I saw it in motion though, all my doubts faded. It looks like a beautiful and magical fantasy land that I can’t wait to explore.
I understand
Look, I get that some of you guys wanted a “realistic” Zelda again. The E3 demo left all of us drooling last year. Seeing such a high definition and detailed view of Link’s magical world was just breathtaking. Like most tech demos, nothing on the Wii U has even come close to looking as good as that video (as far as I’m aware) so it really shouldn’t have come out as so much of a shock.
Still, they could’ve gone the Twilight Princess route and it would’ve looked just fine. However, I think this game started development really early in the Wii U’s lifespan, and they didn’t want to try pushing its power too much. When you start to make a game this big try to look as realistic as possible, it becomes harder and harder to keep glitches and such from rearing their ugly heads.
Nintendo isn’t a company who thinks graphics first. They think gameplay first, and build around that. They could’ve spent a lot of their time working on graphics and making it look amazing, but that’s not how they make games. They focus on what’s fun, and what would be cool to experience. The graphics, the story, and even the IP are all determined by those first decisions.
History repeats itself
This is also kind of a case of history repeating itself. Remember the gamecube’s Zelda tech demo? For those who don’t, let me show you.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEF9Utdu-L0]
So, people were shown this tech demo, and then they were given Wind Waker. That’s quite a jump. However, I know the video quality is kinda bad, but the graphics themselves haven’t aged anywhere near as well as Wind Waker’s have. Wind Waker for the gamecube still looks bright and crisp, with no terrible imperfections. This demo just doesn’t look very good… I think Wind Waker was the right choice for Nintendo, and I feel like they’re making the right choice again.
I don’t care
Honestly, Link could be a capybara riding a unicorn shooting rainbows at enemies. As long as it has the official Nintendo seal and is titled “The Legend of Zelda”, I don’t care what it looks like. It’s enough to know that it’s a Zelda game, and I’m going to have a blast with it.
What do you guys think? Does the art style really irk you, or are you a fan of this smoother style? I’ve already stated my opinions, but I want to know what you think!
Miiverse and Zorpix
I promised these videos a long time ago, but now it’s finally time to show them! Here are some of my Mario Kart replays!
This was me and my friends Andy and Mikey playing! Such an upset at the end!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DyOC4WuLo8]
There I go, hopping across the finish line!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGXNtSg2a8]
Me and my girlfriend’s second race. We were still learning the ropes!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DyOC4WuLo8]
I absolutely destroyed Rosalina on that one jump where I used the horn. It took a while to get the perfect shot in the replay camera!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHkhTEWYxC4]
Wrapping up
If you do happen to have any suggestions for next week’s topic, any questions about the content I wrote, or just wanna say hey, feel free to sound off below! If you really feel inclined, you can mosey on over to my Twitter, Facebook, or Miiverse account.
I’m slowing down accepting friend requests on the Wii U. I’ll still accept a few here and there, but I have to start cutting down. I went from 10 to 50 friends in a day. Thank you so much for the support!
Hope you’re all having a great summer!
