So. I recently sunk 60 hours into Saints Row: The Third + all DLC on PC -- AWESOME GAME. Prior to that, I played through Demon's Souls -- ALSO AWESOME. Somewhere along the way, I got nostalgic for Zelda, distant to me now like an alienated stepfather.
It got me thinking:
When Zelda goes HD, it needs to be an open world title like the NES original. Right from the start, you can wander off in any direction. Scattered around the world are, oh, let's say 16 dungeons. Some you see in the distance, like a tower on a hill, and the trick is getting there. Others, you stumble upon by accident: a hole in the ground gives way to tunnels; tunnels to caves; caves to the entrance of an underground temple.
You can tackle the dungeons in any order, at any time. This is possible because you start the game with a half-dozen items that form the basic puzzle-solving "vocabulary" of every dungeon. So right from the start you have your sword, shield, bow, bombs, boomerang, hookshot and lantern. But each dungeon also has its own special item to collect. Since you should be able to tackle the dungeons in any order you wish, the special item in each dungeon should NOT be required for the puzzles in any of the other dungeons... but it would still get use beyond its host dungeon in the form of the overworld, where certain nooks and crannies can only be accessed by using that item. The final dungeon, accessible once you've completed all of the others, could also make use of every item, since you'd have them all by that point.
So with that it's possible to do any of the dungeons, in any order. The dungeons can still have their own compelling mechanics, their own compelling plots, uncovered once you arrive there and meet the locals. But now there's a true sense of exploration and adventure...
Meanwhile, you have bustling towns, driven by time cycles. Let's say, oh, seven days in a week, with the key NPCs doing different things each day in that period, before looping back to the start of the cycle... unless you attempt their sidequests and send their routines branching off in different paths. This would bring back some of the "living world" of Majora's Mask, a game that did the same thing but with three days in one town and a "clean slate" mechanic via time travel. It'd also hopefully bring back some of that game's whimsy and wonder, with a gaggle of weird and charming characters.
And make the game brutally difficult on its default difficulty. Provide an "easy mode" for the casuals, but keep the default difficulty tough. In addition, start the game with a question: "Have you played a Zelda game before?" Select "Yes," and the game says, "You can access a tutorial at any time from the Start menu," before skipping straight to the main game. GAF would select "Yes" and be spared any Fi-style withering of the soul... But should GAF suffer amnesia and forget how to play, the tutorial would be just a button press away.
Personally, I think the above would really revive the series for me. It has the three elements I want back in the series: 1) EXPLORATION/ADVENTURE, 2) A LIVING WORLD, and 3) BEING TREATED LIKE AN EXPERIENCED GAMER. (All-caps for thread skimmers.)
Also, I wouldn't mind Zelda games copying Demon's Souls online layer: Summon helpful phantoms in the form of multi-colored Links via the Four Sword! Have your game invaded by malicious players in the form of Shadow Link! Leave helpful or hindering messages in the game world for others to find! And so on...
So GAF... Time for a routine "WHAT WE WANT IN ZELDA" chat.
UPDATE: Looks like I may be getting something like what I wanted after all. From the Nintendo Direct on Jan. 23, 2013:
It got me thinking:
When Zelda goes HD, it needs to be an open world title like the NES original. Right from the start, you can wander off in any direction. Scattered around the world are, oh, let's say 16 dungeons. Some you see in the distance, like a tower on a hill, and the trick is getting there. Others, you stumble upon by accident: a hole in the ground gives way to tunnels; tunnels to caves; caves to the entrance of an underground temple.
You can tackle the dungeons in any order, at any time. This is possible because you start the game with a half-dozen items that form the basic puzzle-solving "vocabulary" of every dungeon. So right from the start you have your sword, shield, bow, bombs, boomerang, hookshot and lantern. But each dungeon also has its own special item to collect. Since you should be able to tackle the dungeons in any order you wish, the special item in each dungeon should NOT be required for the puzzles in any of the other dungeons... but it would still get use beyond its host dungeon in the form of the overworld, where certain nooks and crannies can only be accessed by using that item. The final dungeon, accessible once you've completed all of the others, could also make use of every item, since you'd have them all by that point.
So with that it's possible to do any of the dungeons, in any order. The dungeons can still have their own compelling mechanics, their own compelling plots, uncovered once you arrive there and meet the locals. But now there's a true sense of exploration and adventure...
Meanwhile, you have bustling towns, driven by time cycles. Let's say, oh, seven days in a week, with the key NPCs doing different things each day in that period, before looping back to the start of the cycle... unless you attempt their sidequests and send their routines branching off in different paths. This would bring back some of the "living world" of Majora's Mask, a game that did the same thing but with three days in one town and a "clean slate" mechanic via time travel. It'd also hopefully bring back some of that game's whimsy and wonder, with a gaggle of weird and charming characters.
And make the game brutally difficult on its default difficulty. Provide an "easy mode" for the casuals, but keep the default difficulty tough. In addition, start the game with a question: "Have you played a Zelda game before?" Select "Yes," and the game says, "You can access a tutorial at any time from the Start menu," before skipping straight to the main game. GAF would select "Yes" and be spared any Fi-style withering of the soul... But should GAF suffer amnesia and forget how to play, the tutorial would be just a button press away.
Personally, I think the above would really revive the series for me. It has the three elements I want back in the series: 1) EXPLORATION/ADVENTURE, 2) A LIVING WORLD, and 3) BEING TREATED LIKE AN EXPERIENCED GAMER. (All-caps for thread skimmers.)
Also, I wouldn't mind Zelda games copying Demon's Souls online layer: Summon helpful phantoms in the form of multi-colored Links via the Four Sword! Have your game invaded by malicious players in the form of Shadow Link! Leave helpful or hindering messages in the game world for others to find! And so on...
So GAF... Time for a routine "WHAT WE WANT IN ZELDA" chat.
UPDATE: Looks like I may be getting something like what I wanted after all. From the Nintendo Direct on Jan. 23, 2013: