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[Serrato]

They need to overhaul combat. In 2D, the combat were fast, dangerous and exiting. Now, it's Z-targeting, waiting for the enemy to show it's weakpoint, strike. While doing that, blocking or dodging it's attacks. Or just strike it until it dies with buttonmash/waving like a crazy.

We need more move, more possibilities of attack and defences. Yes the shield is classic and all, but good lord, it's the same thing since OoT! In SS tough, they added the counter with the shield. For me, that made the game even easier.

For the dungeons, they have to make them difficult! Let us think! Everyone hate the Water Temple on OoT (even if... it's really easy guys, done it at 10 years old without breaking a sweat!). Make them all hard or at least some of them! Isn't a dungeon supposed to protect an artefact, a sealed monster, something? Now it's more a linear room and room building when you get a new item (that you use rarely out of the dungeon except of the classic items like the bow, boomrang and bombs etc.) and then you get to a Boss where, you have to use the Item you got to kill it.

For the items in fact, in LTTP, you NEVER had to use the item you got in the dungeon to beat the boss. All of them are possible to kill with just the sword. The Helmasaur King is the exception, he need either the bombs or the Hammer you get in the dungeon to break his armor. Ganon, needs a secret item to be easily beaten but it's possible to beat him without it.

And the companion... why do I have to have my hand held all the time? If I need help, I'll contact it. No help needed? Rest in my bag!

Edit: Sorry, for the no item on boss, the Boss of the Ice palace need the fire rod from the Dark Forest Palace or the Fire Magic. And the Turtle from Turtle Rock need the Fire rod and the SECRET Ice rod you need to find by exploring the world. Only one hint of it in the game I think. Still, not all bosses right?

 

[MYE]

You're friend is correct. The series is just fine and if the next Zelda is as good as Skyward Sword I will explode with happiness

 

[Chuck Norris]

Set it entirely in a very large town and surrounding fields. Kind of Assassins Creed like, but more personality and uniqueness to the town with tons of secrets. Bring the whole place to life.

 

[Violet_0]

3D Zeldas should be more like Okami. They fixed a lot of zelda issues in that game.

like what? Granted, I've only played the Wii remake and the terrible terrible controls forced me to stop right after the part where you cure the city (halfway through?). The overworld was fine, nothing special really, the dungeons up until the point where I stopped playing were lazy and completely forgettable. Neither the story nor the characters really stood out, but I hear things get pretty weird towards the end.

Who thought swimming for notes was a good idea when the motion controls were not nearly as refined as for fighting?

I might be just about the only person who actually liked that part - not necessarily the note collecting, but the game turning into Mario Galaxy and giving me a huge fishbowl to expore

 

[zroid]

Skyward Sword *was* the overhaul I wanted

 

[MYE]

3D Zeldas should be more like Okami.

Hell no

 

[Midou]

They need to overhaul combat. In 2D, the combat were fast, dangerous and exiting. Now, it's Z-targeting, waiting for the enemy to show it's weakpoint, strike. While doing that, blocking or dodging it's attacks. Or just strike it until it dies with buttonmash/waving like a crazy.

We need more move, more possibilities of attack and defences. Yes the shield is classic and all, but good lord, it's the same thing since OoT! In SS tough, they added the counter with the shield. For me, that made the game even easier.

For the dungeons, they have to make them difficult! Let us think! Everyone hate the Water Temple on OoT (even if... it's really easy guys, done it at 10 years old without breaking a sweat!). Make them all hard or at least some of them! Isn't a dungeon supposed to protect an artefact, a sealed monster, something? Now it's more a linear room and room building when you get a new item (that you use rarely out of the dungeon except of the classic items like the bow, boomrang and bombs etc.) and then you get to a Boss where, you have to use the Item you got to kill it.


And the companion... why do I have to have my hand held all the time? If I need help, I'll contact it. No help needed? Rest in my bag!

I agree with most of this. Dungeons essentially whittle down to 'go to every room until you get boss key, go to boss'. Would be nice if they were more dynamic feeling and less room based. You don't need to sacrifice the puzzles and other components of a classic Zelda dungeon, but an overhaul would benefit them greatly.

Combat wise, honestly, just make it Dark Souls. In terms of actiony games with swords, shields, dodging, blocking, shield bashing, etc, none of them do it better.

 

[Midou]

like what? Granted, I've only played the Wii remake and the terrible terrible controls forced me to stop right after the part where you cure the city (halfway through?). The overworld was fine, nothing special really, the dungeons up until the point where I stopped playing were lazy and completely forgettable. Neither the story nor the characters really stood out, but I hear things get pretty weird towards the end.



I might be just about the only person who actually liked that part - not necessarily the note collecting, but the game turning into Mario Galaxy and giving me a huge fishbowl to expore

I liked that part just fine too, but while the controls work swell for casual swimming, exploring, etc, they do not work well for precision and fast swimming, at all. Collecting all of them and each set all at once with quick timing was not fun at all. That is the sort of wasted potential that plagues that game. For every great idea, there is a tedious execution of how you interact with that idea.

 

[JWong]

They probably use the same formula because it's cheaper on development. If they didn't have the central hub world, they'd need to create a lot more content.

Even something like Dark Souls might be daunting for them.

 

[noffles]

Combat wise, honestly, just make it Dark Souls. In terms of actiony games with swords, shields, dodging, blocking, shield bashing, etc, none of them do it better.

The Legend of Zelda: Backstab Sword.

No thank you.

 

[Espresso]

If Nintendo did away with gimmicks (waggle, blowing) and instruments then maybe I'd be interested in a Zelda title again for the first time since N64.

 

[Goldenroad]

The formula is fine, but they keep screwing up the gameplay by adding gimmicks like the microphone features in the DS games or motion controls in the Wii games. How about just let me use a controller and no gimmicky functions and just play the game with zero frustrations?

 

[JavelinRobin]

As much as I enjoyed Skyward Sword, I thought the disconnected areas took a certain spark out of the game. I felt very confined the whole game. And call me crazy, but I'll take a relatively empty field like Twilight Princess over the sky any day.

As far as a major shakeup, I'd like to see something for sure. But I'd be lying if I knew exactly what that was. I definitely recognize the groove that Zelda falls into these days, but since we only get a new one every four years or so I'm less frustrated with it. Each game has a unique flavor to it.

Although, can we please find something else to climb with besides the Hook/Clawshot? As soon as I saw the grapple points in SS it took a little of mystery away because I knew, "Well, there goes one of the dungeon treasures..."

 

[pargonta]

i need something new and fresh. i've been playing this shit for 25 years, ocarina formula for 15, flip the tables, first person, voicing, i dont give shit. just something.

what i want, is indeed a much more open world 3rd person adventure game at the base. skyrim scale (read: scale)

 

[CambriaRising]

It's time for a reboot. Hand it over to Ninja Theory.

Spoiler

Maybe the combat wouldn't suck as bad

 

[eXistor]

I never got these allegations, Zelda games may be similar in some key areas, but if you think they're all the same you simply haven't played them properly. It's one of the few series that never got stale for me.

That said, the next Zelda needs to go back to having a large interconnected and dense overworld like the 2D ones. That's one aspect I wouldn't mind seeing for every game.

 

[amaron11]

Why not another top-down 2D Zelda game? Nintendo sure loves milking the New Super Mario Bros. line of games, why not a Zelda version?

 

[noffles]

Why not another top-down 2D Zelda game? Nintendo sure loves milking the New Super Mario Bros. line of games, why not a Zelda version?

Because Zelda games actually take time and effort to design.

 

[Into]

They do not need to overhaul everything

They just need to remember that this is supposed to be a fun adventure, the world should be a world and not one giant dungeon with puzzles everywhere, keep the puzzles in dungeons and let us explore a massive world, and not corridors.

Legend of Zelda was one of the first games at the time that was not about a high score or the simple idea of "beating" the game, it was an adventure much like the one Miyamoto would describe he had a child where he ran into the woods and explored stuff.

 

[Persona86]

It's time for a reboot. Hand it over to Ninja Theory.

Spoiler

Maybe the combat wouldn't suck as bad

Better yet hand it over to Platinum Games haha.

Spoiler

not really

 

[Rickenslacker]

I think Zelda absolutely needs an overhaul, maybe ditch the critical path being going from one dungeon to another. When I played LttP for the first time it wasn't because it was a Zelda game, it was because it was a large mysterious game world with lots to discover. I didn't go in expecting a Master Sword, or themed dungeons, or a hookshot and bottles, they just plopped you into it and expected you to roll with it.

No long winded tutorial sections, no sweeping camera pans of every new area you get into, rupees should be a worthwhile thing if they're going to be in 90% of the treasure chests, combat could be more involved or at least punishing. I guess I want something that deviates radically from what has become the status quo, but I have Dark Souls to scratch that itch now.

 

[HolyBaikal]

The problem is, that with long established franchises like Zelda, no matter what you do, you're going to upset quite a few people.

Personally, I'd like a game where you play as someone other than Link, perhaps Zelda or Link's sister, Aryll. As well I would like to see proper villain other than Ganon.

It's not like Zant would have been a horrible final boss. Instead they just made him another weak pawn of Ganondorf.

But doing so would upset a whole lot of fans. But titles like Skyward Sword have thankfully proven otherwise. Than a Zelda game without Ganondorf as an antagonist can work and not overly upset the purists. In fact the very divergent story and antagonist of Skyward Sword are one of the many, many things I love about Skyward Sword.

Now what I'd like for, is to play a Zelda game and save the world with Aryll. A lot of people say that Zelda is the perfect female counterpart to link. And in some ways she is, considering she's a princess and it would turn the tables and make her not a damsel in distress. But in essence, the closest thing to a female link is Aryll.

For a simple Pokemon like method where you can change between a male or female protagonist while not changing the entire story of the game, Aryll would be a perfect female option.

I'd kind of like to see both. One game where you can only play as Zelda and switches the roles of damsel in distress around. One game with the typical, but not overly typical Zelda plot, where you can play as either Link or Aryll, and a game where you play different parts of the story with different characters and save the world together.

 

[CambriaRising]

Better yet hand it over to Platinum Games haha.

Spoiler

not really

Why not? They make better games than the Zelda team.

 

[Kai Dracon]

The series has done a fine job of staying "fresh" for me, and if I were to critique it seriously I would say it does rely heavily on the basic formula: someone's missing, there's 8(ish) dungeons each with a seal/emblem/sage you need, each with a new tool that happens to be required for that specific dungeon.

This is has not been stale for me, but it also could be mixed up more.

However I am in the camp that Skyward Sword is the refresh the series needed, or at least the beginning of it - and remarks from the developers go along with that. SS is where they start experimenting more.

And they did. Tools are now MUCH more integrated with the entire game world, there's a smaller number of them but they're more interesting and complex. Dungeons use everything you've got more often than relying on one tool gimmick.

Game flow is changing, with the dungeon-like overworld between actual dungeons. There were more events between dungeons - ironically, someone many people disliked and considered "filler".

It also began fixing the problem that 3D Zelda games have had relating to action and combat. The 2D games do have a lot of fast action. SS finally has more complex combat in 3D, with more skill and technique involved, with more enemy encounters. Not perfect, but better than all previous 3D Zeldas.

The story is also opened up more with characters becoming more nuanced with more of an inner life. I really appreciated the way Zelda was used, with her own parallel quest that involved more than being a damsel in distress.

As to what Skyward Sword failed to do, that would represent further improvement to the series:

More cohesive overworld, creating a world with more of a civilization than just one town and castle and perhaps a outrider village.

Bring back some of Majora's Mask design philosophy with an unexpected progression structure, perhaps one that encourages replaying the game many times to fully understand it.

Keep improving the combat, creating a more tense sense of danger for Link just by wandering around.

Don't be afraid to mess with dungeon counts and where/when items or tools are acquired, but don't go less than 6 dungeons. 6 dungeons plus an even larger, more open and connected overworld that's as dense and complex as SS could be an idea.

Continue carefully evolving the storytelling; voice acting is acceptable, but keep Link the silent hero. SS's storytelling but in a larger world, with more players, and perhaps a more nuanced villain could work. One thing I appreciated about Twilight Princess, that it deserves credit for, is creating other heroes and explorers in Hyrule for Link to interact with. Expand that part.

But in the end, I'm fine if they keep doing what they're doing.

Edit:

If Nintendo did away with gimmicks (waggle, blowing) and instruments then maybe I'd be interested in a Zelda title again for the first time since N64.

Too bad you missed Skyward Sword. No blowing, and no waggle!

 

[khaaan]

The template set by Skyward Sword can probably be iterated upon for a few games. If they could take Skyward Sword, shorten the tutorial phase, and give it the NPC interactions + sidequests of Majora's Mask/Wind Waker they would have a game that's probably as close to perfect as it's going to be for the current form of the series.

 

[noffles]

Why not? They make better games than the Zelda team.

They make different games too.

 

[CambriaRising]

They make different games too.

You're right, their games are actually fun to play.

Spoiler

Just kidding, sort of.

Regardless, the series needs some new invigoration.

 

[Kouichi]

It doesn't need an overhaul since the games are still great despite the repeated formula. Also, they do add in enough new ideas to keep things fresh. However, I would totally be up for an overhaul. It would be interesting.

 

[HolyBaikal]

Skyward Sword *was* the overhaul I wanted

In many ways that was for me, too.

Not that there isn't a little more I would add to the mix. But as long as they continue making games as uniquely flavored as Skyword Sword, I will be impressed.

By the way, I hate it that I've come across so many ignorant Nintendo haters out there who justify their disinterest in the Zelda franchise because "oh Zelda games are stale and boring and all the same. You do nothing but fight Ganondorf over and over again. Therefor I'm not buying Skyward Sword." Completely obvious of how Ganon is not the final foe in several Zelda games, including Skyward Sword.

It is as if these people only played Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess and refused to look at any other Zelda games. Or never played any Zelda games and chose to make pointless assumptions as a bad excuse to never play a Zelda game.

It is true that Ganondorf is the final enemy perhaps a bit too often. But it's a severe stretch to say all Zelda games have Ganondorf as the final foe.

 

[Pociask]

I think Zelda has become very paint by numbers and predictable, to the detriment of the series.

I think one of the most insightful things I've seen said about the Zelda series was a forum member here who pointed out that Zelda is many different things to different people, and thus literally cannot make everyone happy. Is Zelda a combat game where you use swords, bows, bombs, and boomerangs to fight a variety of enemies? Is it an exploration game, where you explore a vast overworld and find new areas? Is it a collectathon, where you catch bugs and amass rupees? Is it a puzzle game, with an emphasis on movable crates? Is it about the bosses that are at the end of each dungeon? Or the great side quests available?

In the past, Nintendo could make a Zelda that was all of these things to everyone. But now, with limits of budgets and technology, and competition from all sides, it just comes across as a rogue game - jack of all trades, master of none.

Someone else in this thread pointed out all the traditions Zelda has held onto and amassed, and I could not agree more they need to purge that shit. Developing the next one, Nintendo needs to turn it up to a high boil to get rid of every single unnecessary element, and then let it simmer for as long as possible to make the best possible game. My essentials list would be something like Link, Zelda, Ganon, Master Sword, Bow and Arrow, Bombs, Triforce. I would put everything else on the chopping block - bomb bags, dungeons, rupees, a traveling store, companions, instruments, horse riding, etc. I'm not saying get rid of those things - but be willing to get rid of those things.

Edgar Allen Poe asked the writer to question the inclusion of every single sentence. That is what I want Nintendo to do with Zelda. We'll see what happens.

Edit:

More cohesive overworld, creating a world with more of a civilization than just one town and castle and perhaps a outrider village.

For me, this too! I want the game to take place in a living, fleshed out, believable world. But in line with my comment above, I could also see the benefit of returning to the original desolate wasteland approach.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

Zelda needs more story. Not necessarily more dialogue. But imagine the over world has two castles, one for the king and one for Ganon. And throughout the story you get involved in attacking/defending castle.

Before anyone yells far-fetched:
The goblin-like monsters in Skyward Sword had siege equipment.
I think every Zelda game I have played had castle guards/soldiers.
Each dungeon could be to get a faction to join your cause. Completing fire temple brings Gorons to the front lines.

 

[Zarovitch]

More difficult (at least make it an option) with better combat.
I would like to have some kind of mini dungeon hidden everywhere.

 

[Violet_0]

Game flow is changing, with the dungeon-like overworld between actual dungeons. There were more events between dungeons - ironically, someone many people disliked and considered "filler".

because these events are filler, most of them are mandatory to progress and more often than not they are simply not fun. Keep these things minimal so as to not disturb the flow of the game, make them sidequests or better yet think long and hard about whether they add anything to the game at all.

The story is also opened up more with characters becoming more nuanced with more of an inner life. I really appreciated the way Zelda was used, with her own parallel quest that involved more than being a damsel in distress.

I don't see how the characters in this game are in any way more fleshed out than in previous Zelda games (like MM, just to name an example). Zelda played a important role in the story and was actively helping Link throughout the game in both OoT (Shiek) and Wind Waker (Tetra), moreso than she ever did in SS.

 

[Serrato]

It's also true on the tutorial of 2-3 or even 5 hours (TP I see you. GO BACK IN THE CORNER!). Why? Why I cannot start hacking monsters during the prologue? Do We need a reason that take hours to have the sword? And I'm not talking about the Plot Sword, just the first one so we can hack to mobs and have fun. In TP and SS, god It was tedious. Yes I was learning about new characters. Yes, the fluff was nice. The problem? I'm just moving to person to person, doing some useless minigame or bad tutorial.

So... to have a new overhaul, they need to keep the Sword, the Triforce, Link, Zelda and a evil Dude.

The rest? some dungeons before the plot sword?

Retraversal Padding?

Big Overworld with nothing to do in it?

Always the same final boss? (Zant was cool until we learn he is a pawn. Seriously Nintendo? WHY?).

Keep the classic items (Boomrang, Bow, Bombs, Hookshot). Keep out new items that we only use on specific occasions.

Give us temporary tools for those! Yes a item only usable in one dungeon, like the spinner, not a permanent item never used but for some optional items.

Give us a useful companions! Multiple ones? Give abilities? Not just the annoying hey or percentage change of something obvious.

You see my point. I love Zelda. But they need to change it.

 

[kirby_fox]

I think a Zelda with a bit of Assassin's Creed would be interesting. And by that I mean- large towns, riding from one town to another on horseback, creating some different combos for attacking enemies, altering what kind of weapons he has besides just a sword or hammer or net.

Keep everything else from SS and add all that in, and I think it would make a fantastic game.

 

[Captain Smoker]

First Zelda rule: Don't listen to the fans.

 

[HolyBaikal]

I think a Zelda with a bit of Assassin's Creed would be interesting.

If someone hasn't made this mod for Assassin's Creed PC games, they need to.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

First Zelda rule: Don't listen to the fans.

As a fan with lots of opinions and suggestions I totally agree

 

[GiantBreadbug]

The series has done a fine job of staying "fresh" for me, and if I were to critique it seriously I would say it does rely heavily on the basic formula: someone's missing, there's 8(ish) dungeons each with a seal/emblem/sage you need, each with a new tool that happens to be required for that specific dungeon.

This is has not been stale for me, but it also could be mixed up more.

However I am in the camp that Skyward Sword is the refresh the series needed, or at least the beginning of it - and remarks from the developers go along with that. SS is where they start experimenting more.

And they did. Tools are now MUCH more integrated with the entire game world, there's a smaller number of them but they're more interesting and complex. Dungeons use everything you've got more often than relying on one tool gimmick.

Game flow is changing, with the dungeon-like overworld between actual dungeons. There were more events between dungeons - ironically, someone many people disliked and considered "filler".

It also began fixing the problem that 3D Zelda games have had relating to action and combat. The 2D games do have a lot of fast action. SS finally has more complex combat in 3D, with more skill and technique involved, with more enemy encounters. Not perfect, but better than all previous 3D Zeldas.

The story is also opened up more with characters becoming more nuanced with more of an inner life. I really appreciated the way Zelda was used, with her own parallel quest that involved more than being a damsel in distress.

As to what Skyward Sword failed to do, that would represent further improvement to the series:

More cohesive overworld, creating a world with more of a civilization than just one town and castle and perhaps a outrider village.

Bring back some of Majora's Mask design philosophy with an unexpected progression structure, perhaps one that encourages replaying the game many times to fully understand it.

Keep improving the combat, creating a more tense sense of danger for Link just by wandering around.

Don't be afraid to mess with dungeon counts and where/when items or tools are acquired, but don't go less than 6 dungeons. 6 dungeons plus an even larger, more open and connected overworld that's as dense and complex as SS could be an idea.

Continue carefully evolving the storytelling; voice acting is acceptable, but keep Link the silent hero. SS's storytelling but in a larger world, with more players, and perhaps a more nuanced villain could work. One thing I appreciated about Twilight Princess, that it deserves credit for, is creating other heroes and explorers in Hyrule for Link to interact with. Expand that part.

But in the end, I'm fine if they keep doing what they're doing.

Edit:



Too bad you missed Skyward Sword. No blowing, and no waggle!

I think I'm going to compile a book of your posts called:

Wisdom: Nobody Really Pays That Much Attention When You're Right

Because you post truths and they often go unheeded.

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

First Zelda rule: Don't listen to the fans.

Second Zelda rule:
Do I have to repeat myself?
Yes <
No

(Press A)

 

[PKrockin]

It's also true on the tutorial of 2-3 or even 5 hours (TP I see you. GO BACK IN THE CORNER!). Why? Why I cannot start hacking monsters during the prologue? Do We need a reason that take hours to have the sword? And I'm not talking about the Plot Sword, just the first one so we can hack to mobs and have fun. In TP and SS, god It was tedious. Yes I was learning about new characters. Yes, the fluff was nice. The problem? I'm just moving to person to person, doing some useless minigame or bad tutorial.

In Skyward Sword you get the first sword in like 20 minutes and immediately go into a cave to hack up Keese and slimes. And I know it doesn't take 2-3 hours to get to Farin Woods and kill Bokoblins, Deku Babas and Deku Scrubs.

 

[Coinspinner]

What gets tiresome for me when the designers try to make a linear game with the trappings of an open world adventure. I can enjoy either, but decide, dang it.

 

[Violet_0]

What gets tiresome for me when the designers try to make a linear game with the trappings of an open world adventure. I can enjoy either, but decide, dang it.

you're not referring to SS, are you? Because aside from the very disappointing Skyloft, the game is completely linear

 

[Screamapillar]

Zelda needs:

1. Coherent overworld that isn't barren (so not WW, TP, or SS).
2. More challenging and dynamic combat.
3. More of everything to explore.

I would personally love to see them move away from Z-Targeting and come up with something fresh.

You must not have played SS, otherwise you wouldn't have included it in #1.

 

[Goldmund]

I think I'm going to compile a book of your posts called:

Wisdom: Nobody Really Pays That Much Attention When You're Right

Because you post truths and they often go unheeded.

I think it's common knowledge that, whenever Nintendo is concerned, Kajima is right on the money for those who like/love their games.

 

[The Boat]

All of theses complaints are addressed in Skyward Sword.

Precisely. While I think Zelda (and Mario and Metroid) always manages to shake things up, Skyward Sword overhauled a lot of the series usual mechanics. Yet people still complain about them. When I see people complain about the reliance on dungeons, block pushing, key searching, torch lighting or items useless outside of their dungeons I come to the conclusion they completely ignored SS whether they played it or not. The same kind of applies to the barren overworld thing. SS has two overworlds of sorts, the one in the sky is a hub and it's relatively small and has some things to do if you're spending that much time doing nothing on it and getting bored, you're doing something wrong. Then you have the underworld, it's not an overworld in the sense that it's a hub, but it's still the outside world and it's far, far from empty.
EDIT: something I think they could change even if doesn't bother me is that you always go to a dungeon to get this or awaken that. It's a pretty inconsequent thing as I don't care about the objective just the ride, but it would be nice for variety's sake. It didn't feel as big a deal in SS because you have the underworld as well as the dungeons.

 

[Midou]

The Legend of Zelda: Backstab Sword.

No thank you.

Acting like more options is a bad thing. Dark Souls is not defined by back stabs. Its the super accurate combat that I was referring to. Plus all the ways to fight.

Zelda game with Souls combat system would be one of the best combos ever.

 

[Coen]

The problems most people seem to have, were largely addressed in Skyward Sword. The only big gripe I had with that game, was the constant hand holding, but that could for the most part be ignored. The combat I feel was great, most of the regular enemies you really needed to think about before actually waving around your sword. Same goes for the shield, which for once wasn't just a big invincibility button. The overworld had Metroid-like qualities, expanding with every new item Link got and interconnecting without the need for any fast travel system. And instead of just having a large piece of land to ride around in, it was a meticulously designed playing field the like of which I hadn't experienced since Metroid Prime. The story I don't really care for that much, but the last couple of Zelda's all featured a nice little self-contained plot and Skyward Sword even has some strong characterization beyond the main protagonist and antagonist.

Not that Skywayrd Sword isn't without it flaws. The part above the clouds isn't that different from what we're used to, rather boring actually and I feel the entire flying part was grossly underused. And I guess you could argue the game isn't for you if you're just not interested in motion controls. I just can't see how anyone whose put some hours into that game can argue Zelda is formulaic.

 

[EloquentM]

Why not? They make better games than the Zelda team.

Apples to oranges

Edit: I also feel like most of the people here didn't play skyward sword. That was pretty much the biggest change to the formula since WW.

 

[biggersmaller]

The series is very formulaic. It needs an overhaul.

The defense would be that game series X,Y, and Z are also formulaic. That defense is valid as most series are formulaic, it just so happens to be that the Zelda formula no longer appeals to me (and based on how often this comes up, several others).

Not since WW has a Zelda game kept my attention.