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[MoonFrog]

An Iwata Asks for this game would be So. Fucking. Good. :/

Yes. That was my core content for Nintendo information. I loved reading about what went into the design decisions, the goofy anecdotes, the overall design philosophies, etc.

Iwata Asks was the best games journalism out there, and it was a company product. Such a weird thing.

 

[Speely]

By getting monolithsoft's help, the ones who developed to xenoblades that were simultaneously huge, yet had surprisingly tight level design

Fair point. I am sure this helped a ton. Seems like they put together a dream team for BotW. This is seemingly (from previews/review) the kind of game I have wanted forever... And it's ZELDA.

 

[The perfect Dark]

By getting monolithsoft's help, the ones who developed to xenoblades that were simultaneously huge, yet had surprisingly tight level design

I didn't like Xenoblade at all. It's a mystery to me how anyone can love this game but that's okay. Different tastes, this game just wasn't for me.
I love monolithsoft though and I can see why they're such a great developer.

 

[What The Forest Taught Me]

Yes. That was my core content for Nintendo information. I loved reading about what went into the design decisions, the goofy anecdotes, the overall design philosophies, etc.

Iwata Asks was the best games journalism out there, and it was a company product. Such a weird thing.

Those were, by and large, excellent segments. I wonder if Koizumi will head up a continuation of the series, but just under a different name?

 

[jchap]

 

[Makai]

From the article it looks like The Witness was one of the western games that Eiji played. Lasers shoot from defeated divine beasts to the castle.

 

[Dr.Hadji]

What? No, that's fucking ridiculous.

I say Botwuh.

Lol. Well, I'm from Texas so I put a little twang on it.

 

[Neoleo2143]

Deleted For Spoilers.

 

[Majmun]

By getting monolithsoft's help, the ones who developed to xenoblades that were simultaneously huge, yet had surprisingly tight level design

Oh, didn't know about that.

Xenoblade is one of my favorite games from last gen, and that's thanks to its world and exploration.

 

[FirewalkR]

Zelda 10 and Horizon 9. I was already going to buy Horizon but now I'm also gonna buy a Switch. Well... I was bound to anyway.

 

[LinkSlayer64]

Not entirely. 3D action games often have a target lock you can toggle but Zelda has a press-and -hold approach not many other games use AFAIK.

I'm pretty sure in most Zeldas you could swap between hold vs 1 press. I used to use 1 press z target lock on, now I use hold.

 

[papercan55]

Not entirely. 3D action games often have a target lock you can toggle but Zelda has a press-and -hold approach not many other games use AFAIK.

this is not true at all, zelda has always given you both options.

 

[Majmun]

Zelda 10 and Horizon 9. I was already going to buy Horizon but now I'm also gonna buy a Switch. Well... I was bound to anyway.

I'm really tempted as well.

But I'm even skipping Horizon for now. Still busy playing Yakuza 0 and RE7. Nier is next. Afterwards Horizon and Mass Effect.

Then it depends if the Switch is in supply, maybe I'll get one just to play Zelda.

And then finish Zelda in time for Persona 5

2017 is crazy. Wish I had more time.

 

[Servbot24]

That's like... The Holy Grail. How does a developer even accomplish something like that? It boggles the mind. Magic.

I have no idea. If it's true I can't wait to play. I had figured solving this problem with open worlds was many years away.

 

[Nickle]

Spoiler

Also the Dungeons reward you with new Hella Broken Runes that fundamentally alter the game but are balanced through extremely long cooldowns. Yep, this is Morrowind as hell. Love when games power you up to god level for the final Boss. ZoE2 was so cool in this regard.

Please don't post spoilers here

 

[sora87]

Does asda still stock edge? When does it normally go out?

 

[balgajo]

Please don't post spoilers here

That was close. I only read 4 words.

 

[kizmah]

When is this issue out on Readly?

 

[jonjonaug]

That's like... The Holy Grail. How does a developer even accomplish something like that? It boggles the mind. Magic.

Xenoblade level designers helped with the development of the game. If you've played Xenoblade X it's obvious if you watch trailers.

 

[oti]

An Iwata Asks for this game would be So. Fucking. Good. :/

There's a GDC talk coming up. I've got the feeling there will be a lot of discussion about game design when this game comes out.

 

[Brazil]

End of the year games are cookie cutter crap compared to what comes out at the start of the year lately.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

My god parts of this thread are shitty. The review thread next week gonna be like

 

[Kambing]

Within one week of one another, a juggernaut franchise is born and we may get the magnum opus of the Zelda series. In March. 2017 looks to be a defining year!

 

[Servbot24]

Xenoblade level designers helped with the development of the game. If you've played Xenoblade X it's obvious if you watch trailers.

Ooooh. Huh. Not to hate on XCX too much, but if that's the level of design we're talking about, I'm gonna have to question that critic's claim of this finally being a good open world.

 

[Rodin]

Ooooh. Huh. Not to hate on XCX too much, but if that's the level of design we're talking about, I'm gonna have to question that critic's claim of this finally being a good open world.

What are you talking about. Mira is the best designed open world ever and i can only hope this comes close in terms of level design. Beating it would be a dream come true.

Btw, same applies to Bionis' areas. Monolithsoft are just that good at giving giant fields a tight level design with tons of verticality and complexity.

 

[KingBroly]

Within one week of one another, a juggernaut franchise is born and we may get the magnum opus of the Zelda series. In March. 2017 looks to be a defining year!

I feel like Zelda might have a chance at sucking all of the energy out of the room here, but Switch might help with that.

 

[Neoleo2143]

Ooooh. Huh. Not to hate on XCX too much, but if that's the level of design we're talking about, I'm gonna have to question that critic's claim of this finally being a good open world.

Let me put it more specifically. It's probably the quality of Noctilum's level design applied to the entire game.

 

[pixellated_man]

Conclusion of the Horizon Zero Dawn review :

"Horizon: Zero Dawn is an enormous, ambitious curveball from the studio behind the promising but perennially flawed Killzone series. In Aloy, the game introduces an enchanting protagonist and sets her on a remarkable adventure that steers clear of rote sci-fi. It takes place in one of the most beguiling game worlds in recent memory, and the whole thing is paced with the kind of deep, grin-inducing combat befitting a dedicated brawler. While the dialogue doesn't always strike the right tone, and some ill-judged boss battles later on can feel more like a slog than pleasure, Guerrillas vision for an open world RPG never imposes on your time or runs out of fresh ideas. Horizon emerges as a graceful, intoxicating and often surprising adventure"

This review totally blows away any lingering doubts about the game that I had. Gonna try and play it as close to release as possible as opposed to how I normally do it - wait for the game to hit under £15.

 

[Vitacat]

Have BOTW and HZD preordered.

That BOTW score/review is pretty crazy. Nintendo still has the goods.

 

[Abelard]

At this point we should have a dedicated Zelda v. Horizon thread, otherwise the proxy war will continue to be fought in threads mentioning either of these games.

 

[MoonFrog]

At this point we should have a dedicated Zelda v. Horizon thread, otherwise the proxy war will continue to be fought in threads mentioning either of these games.

We did at one point.

 

[moltonasty]

From the article it looks like The Witness was one of the western games that Eiji played. Lasers shoot from defeated divine beasts to the castle.

 

[Neoleo2143]

At this point we should have a dedicated Zelda v. Horizon thread, otherwise the proxy war will continue to be fought in threads mentioning either of these games.

I already made that thread. Turned into a shit show in the end, but the write up I did helped solidify my impressions of both games.

 

[watershed]

Even though its very different than BOTW, my favorite sandbox world is SOTC. It was almost completely empty but beautiful and I enjoyed exploring every empty corner of it. I wonder if Edge is right and BOTW's world is like an all time best for people who love to explore a sandbox world but also want the world to be naturalistic.

 

[MoonFrog]

From the article it looks like The Witness was one of the western games that Eiji played. Lasers shoot from defeated divine beasts to the castle.

Hope he did. There are some damn good western puzzle games that I'd love Zelda/Metroid to look at.

 

[GregLombardi]

We don't need a Zelda vs. Horizon fight. We can have sex with both games and make sweet videogame babies. Horizon - Graphics. Zelda - Gameplay. It's all good. I would have those babies.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Reviews only matter if I agree with them.

 

[MoonFrog]

We don't need a Zelda vs. Horizon fight. We can have sex with both games and make sweet videogame babies. Horizon - Graphics. Zelda - Gameplay. It's all good. I would have those babies.

While I agree with your first sentence, I think Horizon was being praised for its gameplay too. Idk didn't follow it closely as it just isn't on my radar for reasons mostly unrelated to its own particularities.

 

[MoonFrog]

Reviews only matter if I agree with them.

Is that I indexical or is it that they only matter if you, ShockingAlberto agree with them.

 

[Caelus]

We don't need a Zelda vs. Horizon fight. We can have sex with both games and make sweet videogame babies. Horizon - Graphics. Zelda - Gameplay. It's all good. I would have those babies.

That feels reductive. Horizon has good gameplay and Zelda has good art design.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Is that I indexical or is it that they only matter if you, ShockingAlberto agree with them.

Yes

 

[Cleve]

That feels reductive. Horizon has good gameplay and Zelda has good art design.

Yep. We're lucky to get two great games back to back. I'm super excited to find the time to play both. It's not a pissing contest.

 

[Pif]

Maybe Miyamoto really could have made Halo?

What set Halo apart was that it was a good online-enabled FPS on a console.

Not because it was a revolutionary marvel nobody did before. Anyone outside of indies with low budgets could have done Halo.

 

[Plinko]

From the article it looks like The Witness was one of the western games that Eiji played. Lasers shoot from defeated divine beasts to the castle.

I sincerely hope so. That game was amazing.

 

[PancakeBurglar]

Ooooh. Huh. Not to hate on XCX too much, but if that's the level of design we're talking about, I'm gonna have to question that critic's claim of this finally being a good open world.

Umm what? Xenoblade and Xenoblade X have both fantastic level design. Exciting eye catching landscapes with tightly designed worlds that you not only explore horizontally but also vertically. Xenoblade has excellent exploration and Zelda seems to be taking on many of the best aspects of that series regarding world design while injecting its own DNA and a bunch new interactive mechanics.

 

[brandonh83]

It's frankly embarrassing how seriously some people take review scores and how they accept them as fact. People are already calling this a masterpiece and game of the generation. I thought people learned their lesson with Skyward Sword.

The critics were spot-on with Skyward Sword though. What lesson am I learning here

It's weird that you say that people are accepting it as fact when all that's actually happening is that, where Nintendo damn near consistently makes great Zelda games (many people feel this way, gamers and critics alike) on top of the game indeed looking extremely good and impressions being wildly positive that few people are having a hard time buying a great review score.

 

[Blastoise]

This is very good.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

What set Halo apart was that it was a good online-enabled FPS on a console.

Not because it was a revolutionary marvel nobody did before. Anyone outside of indies with low budgets could have done Halo.

that's a little reductive though, I'd say. Halo was 'a good online enabled FPS on a console' because it was designed extremely well around controller play. Its controls were amazing for its time, the slow and controlled nature of its gameplay went a long way in making this analog controlled console shooter both accessible and competitive with its PC bretherin of the time, and it boasted an impressive local multiplayer suite heads and shoulders above its competition, to boot. Halo is a treasure and it didn't just happen by accident. I respect Miyamoto, he's an excellent designer, but I don't buy that he could have just designed Halo specifically as successfully as Halo: CE turned out, if only he had the technical acumen.

 

[SomTervo]

If you read the magazine you'll know that this has been addressed by them many times.

Basically a 10 from Edge used to mean that it was 'revolutionary'. That was literally the word they used on the scoring scale. This was the scale they used to use:

1 - disastrous 2 - appalling 3 - severely flawed 4 - disappointing 5 - average 6 - competent 7 - distinguished 8 - excellent 9 - astounding 10 - revolutionary

Then, one issue, the scale changed to this deeply tongue in cheek list:

1=one 2=two 3=three, 4=four, 5=five etc

The 'revolutionary' tag had become an albatross around Edge's neck. It was easy to define games like Mario 64 and Ocarina as revolutionary because of the jump to 3D but as time progressed and gaming became more about evolution and polishing well established concepts in 3D, the term revolutionary started seeming restrictive. Amazing, generation defining games were coming and going without getting a 10 because they couldn't honestly be classed as a 'revolution'.

Basically the increased number of tens isn't an accident. They still wanted the score to be seen as significant, but they also wanted to be able to give it out more often and for it to stop seeming like it had to completely revolutionise the gaming landscape in ways that are increasingly rare as the industry matures.

You can argue whether this is a good move or not but I think ultimately they were just fed up of the grandiose nature of the criteria for a ten that had been established. Now I'd see it more as a 'best in genre' or 'one of the games of a generation' award rather than 'this will change gaming forever' award.

This is a great post, thanks.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Just finished the waypoint podcast about this game and comparing it to horizon, and man.


I mean....damn...this game, incredible, he said some poignant ass things about this game and how its just different from other open world games