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Aonuma wants Zelda Wii U to "hold its own" vs. Hyrule Warriors in terms of cutscenes

As our time draws to an end, do you have any closing thoughts?

Aonuma: Looking at the comments on Miiverse regarding Hyrule Warriors, it’s been great to see a lot of positive feedback. But one of the things that leaves me with rather complicated feelings is that people are saying, “Oh wow, I really love the cutscenes in this game! This is better than the stuff Nintendo does!” Of course, that leaves me a little conflicted, and gives me a mission now to make sure that the new Zelda game that I’m working on can hold its own in that aspect against Hyrule Warriors!

Also part of a larger interview on Hyrule Warriors. Really interested to see how far they go with it.
 
From what I seen, nearly like every 3D Zelda game has better cutscenes than HW.
Maybe not in term of realisation, but in term of atmosphere and feeling... definitely.
 
I thought the cutscenes in Skyward Sword were great, the Zelda U teaser was really good too. They just need good voice work
I haven't seen the HW cutscenes yet,but they must be pretty good if fans say they are better than previous games
 

Tookay

Member
Good I'm glad it appears that this one will still feature a story.

Not that there was any reason to doubt but I know some fans are clamoring for it.

Most Zeldas have been enhanced by it.
 
I just hope this means the game will have a story on par with SS or TP, at least in terms of presence, as the story in ALBW while much more enjoyable on my second run through the game, will not cut it in a 3D Zelda.

Voice acting for everyone except Link with optional textboxes is necessary if they are going to implement cutscenes.

I wouldn't say it's necessary, but if it were to happen I'd prefer the characters just refereed to Link as "Link" as anything else like "hero", "you", "swordsman", or the worst a gap in speaking; is impersonal and immediately breaks immersion every single time it happens. Plus I mean his name is "Link" so I don't see why it'd be such a big deal.

Also I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I wouldn't mind it if Link talked. I mean the Hero's Shade is Link and the HS had a ton of text boxes, so yeah. I also wouldn't mind if they got rid of the ability to rename Link, as again there's already been games where that's happened and it wasn't a big deal. Ultimately though I realize that a lot of people probably don't want this, so I'm not really yearning for it, but it'd be nice.
 

StormKing

Member
Voice acting for everyone except Link with optional textboxes is necessary if they are going to implement cutscenes.
 
Haven't seen how much is cutscenes in HW, but in terms of quality? Yes shoot for that, but I really hope quantity isn't a factor. Focus on making the gameplay fun.
 
Going to echo some other people and agree that the cutscenes in Skyward Sword were already really well-done.

No, they weren't overly flashy, but they were quiet, and powerful... a mood that suits Zelda really well, I think.
 

Blues1990

Member
I just hope the story doesn't bog down the gameplay, but it complements it. I'm all for a good yarn for my games, but not when I would rather be exploring a cool, challenging dungeon instead of listening to some nobody yak about how he had lost all of his sheep and you need to find them.
 

Sayter

Member
If the final Zelda U is as good looking in realtime as the teaser they showed at E3 then he doesn't need to worry about how great the cutscenes should look.
 
Aonuma should know better than to listen to people on miiverse.

Zelda U to have the best water.

BoQzLqdCYAAtmkJ.jpg:large
 

Lunar15

Member
The E3 one was pretty fantastic and Skyward Sword had some amazing ones, so I think this one is a no brainer.

However, I think there's a ton of irony in Aonuma being envious and nervous about Hyrule Warriors. I mean, really?
 
The cutscenes in Skyward Sword were fine, but less of them would be nice. Make them the best they can be, but reduce the number, so they're more special and have to matter more. Then, everyone wins!
 
I hope it dosen't reach a level where I place the controller and wait like THAT game
you know yourself game Damn it your a game and not a movie
 

ReyVGM

Member
Welp, Zelda Wii U will be another Other M, with Link questioning his existence or something.

Joking.
 

Volotaire

Member
Although I did like the cutscenes and the production value in Skyward Sword and other Zelda games (especially Wind Waker HD), I would like them to try an implement story through discovery and exploration i.e. discovering story points in the game world through exploring optional caves/dungeons or NPC's like Majora's Mask. Perhaps they could scale back on cutscenes and improve on these interactions. I think trying to implement in game story scenes instead of cutscenes could also help immersion, like Half Life. Not to say I don't want cutscenes altogether, I for one enjoy the Zelda lore and story. It's a hard balance to get right if they are trying to attempt this 'open world' game between story and non linearity.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I wonder if he just means technical quality and production. The Hyrule Warriors scenes have great models, facial animations, body language, etc. In other words Aonuma wouldn't want the mainline Zelda game to have cut scenes that look worse than a spin-off game by an outside developer.
 

Volotaire

Member
I wonder if he just means technical quality and production. The Hyrule Warriors scenes have great models, facial animations, body language, etc. In other words Aonuma wouldn't want the mainline Zelda game to have cut scenes that look worse than a spin-off game by an outside developer.

It could be just this, but even then, looking at the Zelda U trailer and Wind Waker, he shouldn't have too much to worry about.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
Interesting. Large open world, but with lots of cutscenes? I wonder how they'll guide you down the right path to see them in the right order. Skyrim had no cutscenes.
 

Shion

Member
Cut-scenes are a waste of time, effort and money.

There are much more important things in need of improvement.

Although I did like the cutscenes and the production value in Skyward Sword and other Zelda games (especially Wind Waker HD), I would like them to try an implement story through discovery and exploration i.e. discovering story points in the game world through exploring optional caves/dungeons or NPC's like Majora's Mask. Perhaps they could scale back on cutscenes and improve on these interactions. I think trying to implement in game story scenes instead of cutscenes could also help immersion, like Half Life. Not to say I don't want cutscenes altogether, I for one enjoy the Zelda lore and story. It's a hard balance to get right if they are trying to attempt this 'open world' game between story and non linearity.
This guy gets it.
 

Volotaire

Member
Interesting. Large open world, but with lots of cutscenes? I wonder how they'll guide you down the right path to see them in the right order. Skyrim had no cutscenes.

Perhaps it will be dynamic i.e. when completing the number of dungeons/dungeon to get the cutscene, it will play in that place, no matter the surroundings or order you complete the game in. Wind Waker HD
has this partly (well to a very small extent) when getting the placing the three orbs. The cutscene will play for the Tower of Gods to rise no matter which order you placed the three orbs in. You gain a view of Link looking at it from whichever island you last placed the orb (although they're all similar).
 

Neff

Member
I wonder if he just means technical quality and production. The Hyrule Warriors scenes have great models, facial animations, body language, etc. In other words Aonuma wouldn't want the mainline Zelda game to have cut scenes that look worse than a spin-off game by an outside developer.

No doubt both, but probably more the latter. Although Nintendo is no slouch when it comes to cutscenes, especially in post-OoT Zelda.
 

ReyVGM

Member
Although I did like the cutscenes and the production value in Skyward Sword and other Zelda games (especially Wind Waker HD), I would like them to try an implement story through discovery and exploration i.e. discovering story points in the game world through exploring optional caves/dungeons or NPC's like Majora's Mask. Perhaps they could scale back on cutscenes and improve on these interactions. I think trying to implement in game story scenes instead of cutscenes could also help immersion, like Half Life. Not to say I don't want cutscenes altogether, I for one enjoy the Zelda lore and story. It's a hard balance to get right if they are trying to attempt this 'open world' game between story and non linearity.

A million times this!
 

Mory Dunz

Member
People want...less cutscenes?

What?

Whatever dialogue they do isn't going to disappear.

So it'd be just text after text after text with Link & (Whoever) standing there with no movement or expression. Like an old school RPG.

That's what people want...?
 
People want...less cutscenes?

What?

Whatever dialogue they do isn't going to disappear.

So it'd be just text after text after text with Link & (Whoever) standing there with no movement or expression. Like an old school RPG.

That's what people want...?

I think people want less dialogue and cutscenes overall, and more story through environments and gameplay. NPCs can have dialogue, but I think people want the plot-related dialogue kept to a minimum.

At least that's what I want.
 

oti

Banned
The cutscenes in Hyrule Warriors do look pretty and it's quite a novel feeling to get a new cutscenes after most of the missions. But I liked the Skyward Sword cutscenes better. Better direction, music and so on. The "dotdotdot" sound really feels out of place in HD cutscenes though.
 
People want...less cutscenes?

What?

Whatever dialogue they do isn't going to disappear.

So it'd be just text after text after text with Link & (Whoever) standing there with no movement or expression. Like an old school RPG.

That's what people want...?
If they're going to insist on avoiding voice acting they should lower the "cinematic" value of the cutscenes. Skyward Sword's elaborate pantomiming ventriloquist characters were distracting. Either get voice acting and continue in that direction or pull back on the cinematics. Zelda's currently trying to have its cake and eat it too and it's not working as far as I'm concerned.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
I think people want less dialogue and cutscenes overall, and more story through environments and gameplay. NPCs can have dialogue, but I think people want the plot-related dialogue kept to a minimum.

At least that's what I want.

But some people want a more story driven Zelda that will compete with the TLOUs for the Best Writing/ Best Story awards, and more fleshed out characters that make you feel, which would require more dialogue.

And some just want to pick up a sword and go.

Not picking on you specifically, just pointing out how it's impossible to win for Zelda.

If they're going to insist on avoiding voice acting they should lower the "cinematic" value of the cutscenes. Skyward Sword's elaborate pantomiming ventriloquist characters were distracting. Either get voice acting and continue in that direction or pull back on the cinematics. Zelda's currently trying to have its cake and eat it too and it's not working as far as I'm concerned.

This makes sense. I don't mind either way for voice acting. But it does seem like they're doing everything but it. However, if there's no VA, I actually prefer the mouthing and movement as opposed to nothing.
 
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