Serenitynow
Member
So I was thinking what games Nintendo would have for the Switch in 2018 and I really believe a 2D Zelda is a strong contender. The last mainline 2D game, A Link Between Worlds, came out all the way back in 2013. There was a spinoff in 2015 in the form of Tri Force Heroes, but that was co-developed by Grezzo and 1-UP so I doubt the entirety of the handheld team was working on that for two years.
Here's pretty much the only official word we have on a new 2D Zelda, courtesy of GameInformer:
So it may be a Switch game and Aonuma wants them to think with an evolved approach to the 2D style. Got it.
As far as what I would like to see, I just want to touch on art style and dungeon progression.
Art Style
To me (and to a lot of people, I believe) A Link Between Worlds had a bit of an ugly art style. I think that led to people saying, when they saw the prototype of Breath of the Wild at GDC, that they wanted the next handheld Zelda to be sprite-based. Well, that and nostalgia:
Since I think it is very unlikely that Nintendo will use sprites, however, I wouldn't mind them using the power of the Switch to make good on the vision they had with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Essentially use the art style and lighting system from The Wind Waker HD in a 2D perspective.
Dungeon Progression
I like where Nintendo is going with the series as far as non-linearity, however I think the dungeons are suffering from it. When you make the dungeons completable in any order, you have no way of knowing where the player has or has not been. For instance, as Mark Brown highlights in his YouTube series Boss Keys, the Swamp Palace in a Link Between Worlds can have puzzles and enemies revolving around the hookshot and of course the 2D mechanic, but can't have anything involving the boomerang, bow, ice rod, fire rod, tornado rod, sand rod, pegasus boots, hammer, or titan's mitt. Compare that to something like the Wind Temple in The Wind Waker, which I believe integrates the iron boots, korok leaf, skull hammer, and hookshot, at least.
Breath of the Wild sort of remedied this problem by involving all of the runes, the Divine Beast's gimmick, and the game's physics and chemistry engines into puzzle solving. Since that might be harder to do in a 2D game, my solution is this: give us items like the runes at the beginning of the game and still have each dungeon contain its own item. That way each dungeon can be solved with a combination of three or four items/powers you have from the start, as well as an item you find half way through the dungeon. That item won't be used in later dungeons, but perhaps it could be used in the overworld. Maybe there's a heart piece under a hook shot marker that you wouldn't be able to reach until you've completed a certain dungeon.
Anyways, what do you hope to see from the next 2D Zelda? How do you think the team could evolve the 2D style like Aonuma wants?
Here's pretty much the only official word we have on a new 2D Zelda, courtesy of GameInformer:
So it may be a Switch game and Aonuma wants them to think with an evolved approach to the 2D style. Got it.
As far as what I would like to see, I just want to touch on art style and dungeon progression.
Art Style
To me (and to a lot of people, I believe) A Link Between Worlds had a bit of an ugly art style. I think that led to people saying, when they saw the prototype of Breath of the Wild at GDC, that they wanted the next handheld Zelda to be sprite-based. Well, that and nostalgia:
Since I think it is very unlikely that Nintendo will use sprites, however, I wouldn't mind them using the power of the Switch to make good on the vision they had with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Essentially use the art style and lighting system from The Wind Waker HD in a 2D perspective.
+
= Most beautiful 2D Zelda yet
Dungeon Progression
I like where Nintendo is going with the series as far as non-linearity, however I think the dungeons are suffering from it. When you make the dungeons completable in any order, you have no way of knowing where the player has or has not been. For instance, as Mark Brown highlights in his YouTube series Boss Keys, the Swamp Palace in a Link Between Worlds can have puzzles and enemies revolving around the hookshot and of course the 2D mechanic, but can't have anything involving the boomerang, bow, ice rod, fire rod, tornado rod, sand rod, pegasus boots, hammer, or titan's mitt. Compare that to something like the Wind Temple in The Wind Waker, which I believe integrates the iron boots, korok leaf, skull hammer, and hookshot, at least.
Breath of the Wild sort of remedied this problem by involving all of the runes, the Divine Beast's gimmick, and the game's physics and chemistry engines into puzzle solving. Since that might be harder to do in a 2D game, my solution is this: give us items like the runes at the beginning of the game and still have each dungeon contain its own item. That way each dungeon can be solved with a combination of three or four items/powers you have from the start, as well as an item you find half way through the dungeon. That item won't be used in later dungeons, but perhaps it could be used in the overworld. Maybe there's a heart piece under a hook shot marker that you wouldn't be able to reach until you've completed a certain dungeon.
Anyways, what do you hope to see from the next 2D Zelda? How do you think the team could evolve the 2D style like Aonuma wants?
