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[Vampirolol]

BTW, I am pretty sure that the next time we will see this game will be at the NX unveiling event/direct, and the trailer for the NX version will be the story one I think. Who knows if we will ever see the Wii U version anymore before release.

I feel like this too. September it is.

 

[Neoxon]

No. This is a Treehouse localization.

NOE did Xeno, TLS, and PT because NOA didn't want to.

Then that's a rather solid British accent.

 

[TheMoon]

Then that's a rather solid British accent.

You do realize that people with British accents can live (or work) in other places than just Britain?

 

[AniHawk]

I'm hoping Zelda's stepped-up her disguise game.

...or he's a part of Ganondorf.

...or he's hobo Daphnes and/or a descent thereof.

...or sage owl dude.

Phew.

thinking he's daphnes, hoping he's ganondorf

 

[KevinCow]

300k views more to become Nintendo's most popular Youtube video.

EVER.

Why is the 2DS reveal video their current most viewed video on Youtube, anyway? That's really weird.

 

[Dmax3901]

thinking he's daphnes, hoping he's ganondorf

That'd be very Sauron, I like it.

 

[Kissenkopf]

You do realize that people with British accents can live (or work) in other places than just Britain?

Ha! That's impossible.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Explain. I want to know what you define as 'this', most of all. Not to say that this game represents some sort of marked advance where physics and AI are concerned - it certainly doesn't. However, there's something to be said for the execution, the gameplay-mechanic centric design of this open world, and the interconnectedness of its individual elements - which I've not seen equaled in any open-world RPG I can recall. Genuinely, the closest thing that comes to mind is MGSV, a game that's noted for its reactivity and its mechanical interplay (the latter of which is what has me making the comparison).

It's the little things that change what this game 'is' relative to other open world RPGs. I've never played an open-world RPG where I can encounter a ravine and just... chop down a tree, or drag a metal door over, to make a bridge myself. Or where I can actually use the spreading of fire as an active gameplay mechanic beyond burning my enemies out of cover. Or where I can snowboard down a hill, to pick up speed, so that I can glide across vast distances. Or where I can throw a rusty sword at an enemy during a rainstorm, have him pick it up in favor of his lame little club, and watch as he's struck by lightning. Or where I can beat bosses to death, by grabbing a large metal object with a magnet, and slapping the everloving shit out of them with it from afar. Or where I can shoot an enemy with an arrow from stealth, and leave it confused and angry toward someone else. The thing that I'm excited about most of all is that this game takes the 'journeyman' aspect of open world RPGs and endeavors to make it intrinsically fun and engaging throughout. In any other established open world franchise, a map this size would probably turn me off, but based on what I've seen of Zelda, I can envision myself having shitloads of fun just surviving and traversing that world, before I even consider things like combat or puzzles.

Metal Gear V is not the closest. It surpasses what we have seen of the Zelda so far. Downright incredible you could make that statement. It's a disservice to the achievement that game is to say it's surpassed by a demo that people got to play a couple of days. Not to mention it was made to run across a variety of hardware platforms in mind, ones from the last generation with 1/4 or (1/2 depending on your criteria) of the Wii U's memory even. Memory is really important for games of large scale.

And that's the thing, people focus in specific stuff that makes sense on the Zelda world to say how innovative and above everything else is. Of course Snake won't be shield surfing or using an axe to chop down a tree, just like Link won't be dropping from an Helicopter guns blazing to strom an enemy base or directing an air strike.

Some things took more priority in Zelda while other things in different games. There are multiple examples:

Enemy AI and behavior is far more complex in Metal Gear, while Zelda has a fire simulation in place. Metal Gear has Mother Base which is a very complex simulation system on itself. Far Cry 2 had the Malaria System, vehicular degradation and repair and a Faction System influenced by player choice. GTA IV had the Euphoria Physcis system that governed all characters within the world and generated procedural animations.

Everyone of those systems gave a sense of uniqueness to each of those games.

This level of Physics interactions within this level of polish is basically unheard of. Most games may only do a couple of these things. Trine's Physics puzzles come to mind and are highly praised. Stealth mechanics are also nothing new, though audio meters generally aren't particularly common outside the dedicated Stealth Genre with forerunners such as Thief, usually it's closer to a more binary state in action adventure. Environmental effects also usually don't have a significant impact on the gameplay outside damage and atmosphere with the occasional game using a sandstorm increasing stealth and changing visibility. In Zelda when it simply rains, your combat options (and that of your enemies), ability to cook, ability to climb all are impacted in a meaningful manner.

Edit: Most notably, the Climbing mechanics are heads and shoulders above most of the industry only (to my knowledge) exceeded by systems in SoTC and Grow Home that are dedicated to these mechanics in climbing.

See my above response to Hughe Succeeed with also applies to your post. And about the higlighted part, i think it's been conditioned by the level of "polish qualifier". So it's basically subjective, you might see something more complex but then you could disqualify it because it's not polished enough. Not saying you did btw. XD

The audio meter is mostly a ginmick in it's use so far, going by the demo. And with the level of complexity of the stealth system we have seen, maybe unnecesary, this could or couldn't change with the final game.

A question not pertinent to our discussion. The lighting hitting a metal object, i' ve seen someone at the trehouse mention it, but that was never showcased at E3. Correct?

 

[EatChildren]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

 

[Burny]

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U.

You mean Breath of the Wild? As for NX exclusivity, that would probably just mean the underlining physics processing and game systems were shackled by slightly less, but still outdated hardware. Who's honestly expecting Nintendo to deliver a competitive system in terms of hardware anymore? ;p

Hey, we'll get there. Six or seven years down the road maybe. ^^ Or maybe - at some point - the new school of Nintendo programmers will be fed up with working on horrendously outdated harware and request better things for their new games.

 

[James Scott]

Nate Bihldorff had an interview with GameXplain and he shared a few details.
You guys probably heard that the footage from the trailer was Aonuma playing it, but he shared more. They considered naming the game Sheikah Slate or after the story, but they decided that Breath of the Wild suited the game better. Nate says the game has a "great story" so I'd hope that means there's quite a bit we haven't seen yet.
Also, in a separate interview Miyamoto mentioned that at least one reason for the delay is that the physics engine was taking some time, maybe it was what Aonuma mentioned when they had a new idea?

 

[DecoReturns]

Nate Bihldorff had an interview with GameXplain and he shared a few details.
You guys probably heard that the footage from the trailer was Aonuma playing it, but he shared more. They considered naming the game Sheikah Slate or after the story, but they decided that Breath of the Wild suited the game better. Nate says the game has a "great story" so I'd hope that means there's quite a bit we haven't seen yet.

They broke conventions by not naming Sheikah Slate. Every 3D Zelda game is named after the important item.


I really like Breath of the Wild as the title.

 

[Teuoxton]

They broke conventions by not naming Sheikah Slate. Every 3D Zelda game is named after the important item.


I really like Breath of the Wild as the title.

I don't think Midna counts as an item. I guess since you use her abilities a bunch it might be a technicality. Also a Link Between Worlds isn't a specific item either right?

 

[TheMoon]

Nate Bihldorff had an interview with GameXplain and he shared a few details.
You guys probably heard that the footage from the trailer was Aonuma playing it, but he shared more. They considered naming the game Sheikah Slate or after the story, but they decided that Breath of the Wild suited the game better. Nate says the game has a "great story" so I'd hope that means there's quite a bit we haven't seen yet.
Also, in a separate interview Miyamoto mentioned that at least one reason for the delay is that the physics engine was taking some time, maybe it was what Aonuma mentioned when they had a new idea?

Why not just link to the sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sYTaru5RhA (Katie Wilson w/ Bill & Nate)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFdfmR29Ew (GameXplain w/ Nate - doesn't actually say they wanted to call it literally "Sheikah Slate")
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/06...-breath-of-the-wild-is-coming-to-wii-u-and-nx (Miyamoto mentioning the physics)

 

[DecoReturns]

I don't think Midna counts as an item. I guess since you use her abilities a bunch it might be a technicality. Also a Link Between Worlds isn't a specific item either right?

I meant main console games.

Also wolf link and Midna were the gimmick in my opinion. But yeah I forgot about this game.

 

[TheMoon]

I don't think Midna counts as an item. I guess since you use her abilities a bunch it might be a technicality. Also a Link Between Worlds isn't a specific item either right?

Yea there's more Zelda games not named after items there. What Nate mentions there is they usually refer to a story beat (Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Twilight Princess, A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes) or a key item (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, The Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, Four Swords Adventures [this one kinda fits into both categories]). It's the first time since Zelda II that they use a sort of meta-reference as the title (Adventure of Link / Breath of the Wild).

 

[MuchoMalo]

You mean Breath of the Wild? As for NX exclusivity, that would probably just mean the underlining physics processing and game systems were shackled by slightly less, but still outdated hardware. Who's honestly expecting Nintendo to deliver a competitive system in terms of hardware anymore? ;p

Hey, we'll get there. Six or seven years down the road maybe. ^^ Or maybe - at some point - the new school of Nintendo programmers will be fed up with working on horrendously outdated harware and request better things for their new games.

Well, technically based on what we know NX's hardware won't be outdated, but rather lower-end. It could still be competitive with Xbone though, as that hasn't been explicitly ruled out by anyone. In fact, we've heard that the CPU is faster than Xbone's so CPU-based physics would have had higher potential than PS4/Xbone.

You need to remember that it's not like Nintendo just goes, "You see these consoles right here? We have to be much weaker than them. Why? Just because!"

 

[TrueBlue]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

I do wonder if - assuming everything goes well - Breath of the Wild will be remembered less for mechanics introduced and more for the level of cohesiveness with which all these separate elements are bound together.

That's not to say BOTW isn't doing anything original, and there's a lot more to see, but it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Excited as fuck.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

wild......wild

and I agree

 

[Dmax3901]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

I'm definitely not ignorant enough to suggest Nintendo are the first developer to make an open-world game, but all those other open world games you listed (I've played most of them) do/did not excite me in same way as BotW. The very fact that the only other open world game to similarly utilise fire is Far Cry (and I would argue that it doesn't utilise it meaningfully), is why I'm so excited about BotW. It's taken all those things our imaginations went wild with when first introduced to open world games, and delivered on them.

I get that contemporary entries are building upon what came before, but franchises like The Elder Scrolls have been around for decades now with multiple entries, each one being more similar to the last. BotW, while simple in some regards, seems to be hugely complex when compared to a lot of the other big open world titles.

The hype surrounding it in the last week (the Wii U is essentially a dead console remember) goes to show how much people appreciate innovation in a stagnant genre.

Don't really know if I have an overall point here, I guess basically yes I agree that predecessors are predecessors, but at the same time those same games have stagnated for some time now, and it seems funny that good old colourful, kiddy Nintendo are the ones to spice things up.

 

[NuKERxyz]

Was wondering, was the Demo 30fps or 60fps?

 

[James Scott]

Was wondering, was the Demo 30fps or 60fps?

The Wii U version was the only one demoed, it's 30fps with some drops in the heavily wooded areas. No word on NX

 

[TheMoon]

Was wondering, was the Demo 30fps or 60fps?

3D Zelda is always 30fps. You didn't even need to interview anyone from Nintendo to know that was gonna be the case here too.

I can already tell you the NX version will be 30fps, too, regardless of how strong or weak the hardware is.

 

[Ulysses 31]

3D Zelda is always 30fps.

A Link between Worlds disagrees. >.>

And so do the N64 ones. <.<

 

[MuchoMalo]

A Link between Worlds disagrees. >.>

That's not 3D Zelda in the sense he meant.

 

[TheMoon]

What Malo said, obviously.

ALBW/TFH are 2D games just like NSMB is a 2D game. Running in a 3D engine using polygons doesn't factor into this.

 

[James Scott]

A Link between Worlds disagrees. >.>

And so do the N64 ones. <.<

LBW isn't a 3D Zelda despite being stereoscopic.

 

[atbigelow]

What Malo said, obviously.

ALBW/TFH are 2D games just like NSMB is a 2D game. Running in a 3D engine using polygons doesn't factor into this.

Right, so not 2D. Because yes using an engine for meshes counts. ALBW even does camera rotations and other "3D" effects. Gameplay on a 2D plane makes them 2.5D.

 

[Meffer]

I don't think Midna counts as an item. I guess since you use her abilities a bunch it might be a technicality. Also a Link Between Worlds isn't a specific item either right?

Breath of the Wild is a concept or the state of nature compared to every previous subtitle.

 

[Always-honest]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

Same here. Well said.

 

[Meffer]

I love how the Sheikah Slate itself is pretty much a tablet or smartphone. It has all the functionality of them. It's a GPS, it has a camera, it can even receive new applications.
I want a Sheikah Slate cover for my phone.

 

[ReyVGM]

Someone was asking in one of the Zelda threads if someone that's set to play the game at the Nintendo store could put a pin on Death Mountain and then open the map to see how far away it is, well here's a video of a guy that did it. It's around the 7-8 minute mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAm5E9N6Rio

 

[atr0cious]

The whole interwoven game systems and physics engine to cohesively blend player control with open world dynamics is very impressive and exactly what open world Zelda should be. And there's not a lot of games like it. But it does a fairly huge disservice to other open world titles that have paved the ground for years before Breath of the Wind to deny their similar, if somewhat less comprehensive, accomplishments in making the open world an interactive toybox. The execution might be different, and the focus may emphasise action and combat over puzzling, but many developers have done wonderful large scale physics driven game design in an open world environment. The Just Cause series in particular does a phenomenal job, even if the focus is action, of empowering the player with a "limitless freedom" set of game systems, tools, and abilities where going where you want and how is entirely up to you. There are moments in Just Cause 3, which isn't even the fan favourite, where the diversity of weapons and vehicles, along with tools like the grappler, can make for some outrageous takeovers of dictator territory where it's entirely up to you how crazy you wish to implement your strategy. Titles like Crackdown, Infamous, and Prototype empower with mobility and verticality. Far Cry 2 did the fire system almost a decade ago. And The Elder Scrolls really shouldn't be discounted either. Keep in mind that with the latter, particularly in Morrowind, players were cooking up all kinds of crazy spells and enchantments to supplement their exploration and combat. Oblivion did some interesting things with the AI too. And rarely did these listed games bottleneck or force you to play a particular way. You were given tools, and encouraged to use them however you see fit.

Hell, Minecraft is an absolutely superb example of this too, and I'd go as far as to say the modern culture of Minecraft and the freedom of play and experimentation with game systems it encourages has directly influenced Zelda. It may not be physics driven, but the interactivity is there.

I do think what Nintendo is doing with Breath of the Wind is its own unique and impressive beast. So much so I wish it was NX exclusive so the underlining physics processing and game systems weren't shackled by the heinously outdated CPU and RAM ceilings beating at the heart of the Wii U. I'm overwhelmingly surprised at how this game is nothing like what I expected or predicted or even thought it could be, yet is exactly what I want. I generally sit in the "I'm very positive about almost every Zelda game" camp, but I'm far more excited for Breath of the Wind than I'd expected.

But yeah. It's not the only open world game that has done the things it is doing, even if its predecessors haven't had as much focus or scope. But that's what makes them predecessors. Developers have paved the 3D open world landscape long before Nintendo, and so it's only natural to see some per game system crossovers.

So what you're saying is breath of the wild is the last of us of open world games.

 

[TheMoon]

Right, so not 2D. Because yes using an engine for meshes counts. ALBW even does camera rotations and other "3D" effects. Gameplay on a 2D plane makes them 2.5D.

........... it's still a 2D game in reference to the topic. Look at what the question was about.

Someone was asking in one of the Zelda threads if someone that's set to play the game at the Nintendo store could put a pin on Death Mountain and then open the map to see how far away it is, well here's a video of a guy that did it. It's around the 7-8 minute mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAm5E9N6Rio

It's also in the GX video, done with various locations.

https://youtu.be/7PFdfmR29Ew?t=788

 

[Burny]

Well, technically based on what we know NX's hardware won't be outdated, but rather lower-end. It could still be competitive with Xbone though, as that hasn't been explicitly ruled out by anyone. In fact, we've heard that the CPU is faster than Xbone's so CPU-based physics would have had higher potential than PS4/Xbone.

You need to remember that it's not like Nintendo just goes, "You see these consoles right here? We have to be much weaker than them. Why? Just because!"

No, since the Wii, they go: "Which is the cheapest mass producable hardware supporting our next console's gimmick that we can get away with?"


As for being slightly above, below, right on or in between the XBone and PS4 - It doesn't matter at all. Those are three year old systems, soon to be updated to the "Neo" and "Scorpio". Systems that, at least in theory, support rendering games in 4k rather than 1080p, which was far too often not even possible ont he XBone, so being on par with that wouldn't exactly be a flattering feature of the NX. Those 2013 systems do not represent state of the art hardware anymore, and any minor difference in computational capabilities between the NX and those in either direction and in any of the relevant parameters won't change a thing about that. If the NX was on par with the Scorpio or Neo, then we'd be talking.

Not that I complain about it, because I can get my high end fix anytime on the PC. If the new Zelda delivers and renders in 1080p on the NX, it'll be the reason for me to own a NX and to play it above all the graphic whoring miracles available on any other platform. But one has to keep this in mind when it comes to the last ten years of Nintendo hardware: They're at least one generation behind. At the very least the game design in BotW is catching up a bit on the last decade of western game development.

 

[DecoReturns]

The only thing I'm gonna need to get use to is Link bring Right handed.

I've never played a game where's he's not left handed. Not a big deal, but I'm use to seeing link left handed.

He was right handed in the Wii Zelda games right?

 

[TheMoon]

The only thing I'm gonna need to get use to is Link bring Right handed.

I've never played a game where's he's not left handed. Not a big deal, but I'm use to seeing link left handed.

He was right handed in the Wii Zelda games right?

Yes.

 

[Triforce141]

Oh boy, the reveal trailer is almost Nintendo of America's most viewed video on their channel, right behind the 2DS' reveal.

 

[DecoReturns]

Oh boy, the reveal trailer is almost Nintendo of America's most viewed video on their channel, right behind the 2DS' reveal.

One overwhelming negative and the other overwhelming Positive.
That's the Nintendo I know.



2DS didn't deserve all that hate it got

 

[JaseMath]

Dreadhawks better be in this game or I'll be FURIOUS.

And the foxes with the boomerang's better be it as well or I'll be double FURIOUS.

Spoiler

Seriously, though. These enemies are awesome. plz Nintendo

 

[AcademicSaucer]

I don't think Midna counts as an item. I guess since you use her abilities a bunch it might be a technicality. Also a Link Between Worlds isn't a specific item either right?

Zelda is the twilight princess

 

[Henkka]

Just realized that the first trailer actually said "2015" at the end. I guess developing simultaneously for NX delayed it, but it's crazy to think this was at some point intended for release in 2015.

 

[Green Mamba]

Dreadhawks better be in this game or I'll be FURIOUS.

These fucking bird guys. You get to the Great Palace and you finally think you've seen everything and are prepared to take on anything the game throws your way and then these fucking bird guys come out jumping at you at a million miles an hour.

 

[Triforce141]

2DS didn't deserve all that hate it got

I'd buy a New2DS with the power of the N3DS and form factor of the 2DS on the spot.

 

[JaseMath]

Mistake post. Sorry.

 

[ciD_Vain]

I wonder if we'll get some form of the skyward strike here.

 

[JaseMath]

These fucking bird guys. You get to the Great Palace and you finally think you've seen everything and are prepared to take on anything the game throws your way and then these fucking bird guys come out jumping at you at a million miles an hour.

Amazing, right? Just the idea of a bird in suit of armor literally gave me nightmares. I would love to see this enemy updated.

 

[wrowa]

Zelda is the twilight princess

What makes you think that? The Sages directly refer to Midna as the Twilight Princess.

 

[Servbot24]

Explain. I want to know what you define as 'this', most of all. Not to say that this game represents some sort of marked advance where physics and AI are concerned - it certainly doesn't. However, there's something to be said for the execution, the gameplay-mechanic centric design of this open world, and the interconnectedness of its individual elements - which I've not seen equaled in any open-world RPG I can recall. Genuinely, the closest thing that comes to mind is MGSV, a game that's noted for its reactivity and its mechanical interplay (the latter of which is what has me making the comparison).

It's the little things that change what this game 'is' relative to other open world RPGs. I've never played an open-world RPG where I can encounter a ravine and just... chop down a tree, or drag a metal door over, to make a bridge myself. Or where I can actually use the spreading of fire as an active gameplay mechanic beyond burning my enemies out of cover. Or where I can snowboard down a hill, to pick up speed, so that I can glide across vast distances. Or where I can throw a rusty sword at an enemy during a rainstorm, have him pick it up in favor of his lame little club, and watch as he's struck by lightning. Or where I can beat bosses to death, by grabbing a large metal object with a magnet, and slapping the everloving shit out of them with it from afar. Or where I can shoot an enemy with an arrow from stealth, and leave it confused and angry toward someone else. The thing that I'm excited about most of all is that this game takes the 'journeyman' aspect of open world RPGs and endeavors to make it intrinsically fun and engaging throughout. In any other established open world franchise, a map this size would probably turn me off, but based on what I've seen of Zelda, I can envision myself having shitloads of fun just surviving and traversing that world, before I even consider things like combat or puzzles.

Plus I really appreciate how this game takes elements found in traditionally much more complex games and endeavors to make them more intuitive and more relevant to the core gameplay experience. As someone who traditionally eats up survival games, just seeing demo players drop flint and firewood on the ground, to strike them with a metal object and make a campfire appear, makes me giddy. Not to mention things like temperature serving as active gameplay mechanics, which I enjoy, but which I also tend to have to mod into games to begin with. And cooking, and climbing, and weapon degradation (being able to destroy spent weapons by just throwing them at enemies for critical damage is fkn boss), etc.

I don't question that this game has the Nintendo charm that many non-Nintendo games lack. All the cute animations, hidden secrets, etc are awesome and are things I would rather have in a game than perfect physics. I also don't question that this is the first game ever to combine different elements in this specific way, because... well this is the only game that is this specific game.

My point is that the technology here is not particularly advanced in any way, shape or form (which the original post I replied to seemed to convey). You can go back to 1998 for physics-based puzzles (Half-Life, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are earlier ones I don't know about). In terms of open worlds, I usually think open world games are terrible so I'm not going to defend them as a whole (games like Dragon Age and Shadow of Mordor are outright bad), but I'll steal the example you used of MGSV. The animations and the directness of the gameplay are certainly more advanced than Zelda, and in my opinion just as artful. I'm no great judge of AI, but sequences such as "Fire is near enemy > enemy has wooden object > Enemy lights wooden object with the fire" are certainly not in any way advanced - they're simply charming. And of course, being endearing and charming and fun is a million times more important than being advanced. I'm simply saying to not confuse the two.

I point this out due to my concern that Nintendo fans can sometimes live in a very secluded bubble, where Nintendo is supposedly the only company that cares about gameplay and charm. In truth, these qualities are quite common, but are just not mixed with Nintendo's specific recipe. If you like Nintendo's flavor the best that is certainly valid, but don't be deluded into thinking it's revolutionary on any level - it's just a bit different. And that's fine.

 

[Tomeru]

Is the game world randomly generated?