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[Late Stage Marxist]

Is it just me or do the colours look a little bland. The art style seems to be taking cues from Four Swords Adventures and Wind Waker, but it just doesn't appear to have the vivid colour pallettes we've already experienced with A Link To The Past. It looks almost like a Genesis game. I realize that this game isn't supposed to come out until 2005, but I wonder if the sprites are all set in stone at this point....

Colours and sprites aside, I'll be getting this game at release.

 

[gofreak]

It does seem like they've put it through a "make-it-pastel" filter, doesn't it? But I imagine that's the look they're aiming for. Some of those shots aren't so hot, but some look great imo.

 

[Scrow]

looks fine to me... *shrugs*

Maybe they've used lighter colours because of lighting issues with the original GBA?

 

[GDJustin]

I like MC's art more...

 

[Teddman]

I thought the graphics looked more or less comparable to the GBA version of Link to the Past when I played Minish Cap at E3, though I don't really dig the way the Link sprite looks in it (compare the two in the pics above). His head is too big and he's showing too much blonde "poof" hairdo.

My reservations about Minish Cap are more in the gameplay... I'm just tired of the same old "give Link a new item and name the game after it" motif. Can we lose the two parallel worlds already, this time it's big/small.

And the gimmick about collecting kinstones and combining them with those of other NPC's is rather lame. Wow, I just merged together two halves of a crystal--and it caused a treasure chest to pop up in the woods halfway across the world map? Very arbitrary feeling.

 

[jooey]

maybe it'll have a brightless option like link to the past.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

I guess they're just gunning for a colour theme and sticking to it. I wouldn't mind a more varied palette, though.

Teddman: I actually haven't read any previews of the game up to this point. I'm not too concerned about the series being repetitive at this point, because the flip-side is that it could otherwise be a departure from the series such as Mario Sunshine was to Mario 64, or Yoshi's Island to Super Mario World. Games I thought strayed too far from what made the predecessors successful in the first place (SMW and SM64 being much more "pick up and play" type games).

 

[Deg]

the new one looks better

 

[Socreges]

I know what you're talking about. The colours seem lighter and somewhat washed-out. MC is also more cartooney. I still think it's a very good looking game, though.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

One thing I do like about the way Minish Cap looks is that the edges seem a lot more smooth, while LTTP is much more rough and pixellated.

 

[Deg]

With ALTTP you can tell theyy are working on less space. MC also has some 3d esque effects.

 

[shibbs]

I like MCs art look more, i looks fresh compared to lttp.

 

[Shiggy]

I think the look of Magical Hood is better, because it's more coulourful and there are more details.

 

[Mama Smurf]

It's been changed to Magical Hood rather than Minish Cap in Europe I believe, don't know if it'll happen in the US too.

My reservations about Minish Cap are more in the gameplay... I'm just tired of the same old "give Link a new item and name the game after it" motif. Can we lose the two parallel worlds already, this time it's big/small.

Ok, it's not like it matters if they name the game after the main new item or not. the item's still going to be there. And I can't believe you could argue about Link getting new items every game.

I could understand the parallel world complaint (just about, I personally love it) as you're often going over very similar areas in each world, but you can't use that complaint here. They aren't parallel worlds at all, you're shrinking and entering areas you can't go in when large. So I don't understand what you're getting at here at all, they're just new areas.

 

[Jacobi]

I really like MC's look

 

[TheGreenGiant]

ARE YOU BLIND?

Seriously, I thought LOZ ALTP looked desaturated when I played it on the GBA. Minish cap on the other hand seems to really be using the palette range and the first time I saw screns I was like.."whoa contrasty.. nice"

As for design/art... MC > ALTP but then, so many years has passed. The minish cap looks a good way to introduce gameplay evolution to the portable zelda series. I just hope for my/our sake that the cap doesn't do a navi/MP by offering too many comments/hints on how to beat the bosses/solve puzzles.

 

[RazzleDazzleRB]

When I first saw the screenshots I thought it looked really green. It seems every screenshot has a greenish tint to it.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

It's been changed to Magical Hood rather than Minish Cap in Europe I believe, don't know if it'll happen in the US too.

God no. :O Magical Hood sounds like a condom or something. The MC name is way better.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Actually I don't like either name much. I've heard people pronounce Minish like mine-ish, as if it has something to do with working down a mine or something.

I agree though when it comes to which one is more saturated. LTTP looks really poor next to MC/MH in that way at least.

 

[Teddman]

Ok, it's not like it matters if they name the game after the main new item or not. the item's still going to be there. And I can't believe you could argue about Link getting new items every game.

It's the naming of the game directly after the new item. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Wind Waker, etc. How about centering on something new besides some item? Earlier games in the series like Adventure of Link, Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening did that.

I could understand the parallel world complaint (just about, I personally love it) as you're often going over very similar areas in each world, but you can't use that complaint here. They aren't parallel worlds at all, you're shrinking and entering areas you can't go in when large. So I don't understand what you're getting at here at all, they're just new areas.

No, they are parallel worlds. You have the small world of the Minish people and the large world of regular Link, and the areas DO overlap. If you've played the demo, often you are going over the exact same ground, the size of Link just changes so you can enter small knotholes, cross rivers, etc. In dungeons, the Minish Cap item was just a means for Link to get past certain hurdles (small doors require small Link, but you can't cross a river unless he's big, etc.)

Yeah, that's never been done before... Except in Ocarina of time, when Link was older or younger and couldn't go certain places when he was one or the other (like the Bottom of the Well, you had to be smaller, younger Link). Or in Majora's Mask, when he had to wear certain masks to change his form and get to areas... Or in Oracles of Seasons/Ages, where it had to be a certain season or time for you to enter areas. Or in Link to the Past, where the Underworld allowed a slightly different map and allowed you to enter new areas. It's all about changing phase or a dimension, and I just think that dynamic is getting a bit old in the series.

 

[Mama Smurf]

It's the naming of the game directly after the new item. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Wind Waker, etc. How about centering on something new besides some item? Earlier games in the series like Adventure of Link, Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening did that.

I don't see how it has anything to do with your worries regarding gameplay then. Seems to me it's just something which annoys you on about the series, but not on a gameplay level.

No, they are parallel worlds. You have the small world of the Minish people and the large world of regular Link, and the areas DO overlap. If you've played the demo, often you are going over the exact same ground, the size of Link just changes so you can enter small knotholes, cross rivers, etc. In dungeons, the Minish Cap item was just a means for Link to get past certain hurdles (small doors require small Link, but you can't cross a river unless he's big, etc.)

Yeah, that's never been done before... Except in Ocarina of time, when Link was older or younger and couldn't go certain places when he was one or the other (like the Bottom of the Well, you had to be smaller, younger Link). Or in Majora's Mask, when he had to wear certain masks to change his form and get to areas... Or in Oracles of Seasons/Ages, where it had to be a certain season or time for you to enter areas. Or in Link to the Past, where the Underworld allowed a slightly different map and allowed you to enter new areas. It's all about changing phase or a dimension, and I just think that dynamic is getting a bit old in the series.

Alright, I apolgize, though I do blame the impressions I've read of the game from E3. Having not been able to play it myself, they all made it sound like you shrink, go into a small crack in a log or something, and have a whole new area to play around in inside the log.

Actually, now that I say that...it still sounds a bit like that from your description. In fact, you use MM as an example of a dark world/light world style gameplay! That's not right at all. What does it matter if he's changing his form to access other areas, whether through a mask or shrinking? That doesn't make it the same area replicated, like in a dark/light world scenario. It simply makes it like any other item you'd use to access an otherwise unreachable area.

*withdraws apology*

 

[Teddman]

The bottom line is that it felt been there, done that to me for the Zelda series. Once again Link is passing through a dimension of some sort, it's just getting old. Whether it be seasons, old/young Link, overworld/underworld, or now big/small Link.

Perhaps the best way to describe it would be a duality.

I am tired of the Zelda series being preoccupied with a dual nature of Link or of the world his quest takes place in. You'll probably love it regardless, but I just couldn't muster up much enthusiasm for the game after playing the demo.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Well seeing as neither MM, nor WW had that duality, it seems to me you're getting tired of something which isn't always there.

I haven't played 4 Swords, so I don't know if that has a duality theme, but even if it does it means 2 of the last 3 (original) Zelda games released didn't feature the theme.

Looking back I don't remember Link's Awakening having anything like that either (I could be wrong, it's been a long time since I played it) and I really don't know about Adventure of Link, I've never been able to stand playing it for very long.

 

[MetatronM]

Am I missing something here? At least in the pics posted in this thread, Minish Cap's colors are FAR more vivid and saturated than ALttP's. I mean, it's not even close.

 

[Teddman]

Mama Smurf, I never said every game in the series had that duality... but many have. If I complained that I was getting tired of Ganon as the main enemy, would you say that's invalid and cite Link's Awakening, Adventure of Link, or Majora's Mask?

 

[Mama Smurf]

I would say it's part of what makes Zelda Zelda, but it's nice that things get mixed up every now and then.

 

[jarrod]

It's the naming of the game directly after the new item. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Wind Waker, etc. How about centering on something new besides some item? Earlier games in the series like Adventure of Link, Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening did that.

Majora's Mask and Orcale of Ages/Seasons weren't ingame items for Link. Also ALTTP and LA were really Triforce of the Gods and The Dreaming Island respectively... are you simply advocating liberal translations then?

 

[AssMan]

Capcom should've made Minish Cap cel shaded on GCN.=\

 

[buck naked]

You can argue technicalities, but what Teddman really saying is true. Look at the first three Zelda's and then at Ocarina, Oracle Seasons/Ages, and Wind Waker. Nintendo have traded progression for uniformity.

Look at the action/RPG twist of Zelda 2 or Majora's Mask's quirkiness. Even though some people don't like them, to others they're the favorites of the franchise. As long as Nintendo (and Capcom) keep using this formula, the types of challenges they offer us will be repetitive.

 

[Teddman]

Majora's Mask and Orcale of Ages/Seasons weren't ingame items for Link. Also ALTTP and LA were really Triforce of the Gods and The Dreaming Island respectively... are you simply advocating liberal translations then?

I'm advocating centering on something besides a new item and naming the game for it, yes. So Majora's Mask wasn't technically Link's item, but the gameplay was about changing masks, and the Oracle games were about changing times & seasons. Those games were named for new items, which had their counterparts in Link's repertoire.

Why not make Zelda a playable character? Make a traditional Zelda RPG? Have a plot that sees Link and Ganon forced to form an unlikely alliance, whereupon the gamer could control Ganon for once? That would be true progress and invention with the franchise.

Look at all the different genres the Mario series has spanned. Zelda has been comparably very narrow in focus and gameplay style. Now I'm not asking for Zelda Kart or Zelda Golf, but a bit of a departure in style and mechanics would be welcome.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Uhm, we most have different definitions of desaturated and bland, cause that would be Lttp. MC is a lot more detailed, saturated and colorfull than any screens of lttp.

Art style changed, but for the better imo, some environments reminds me of M&L superstar saga.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Why not make Zelda a playable character? Make a traditional Zelda RPG? Have a plot that sees Link and Ganon forced to form an unlikely alliance, whereupon the gamer could control Ganon for once? That would be true progress and invention with the franchise.

Clearly we have very different opinions here (as if that wasn't obvious from early on in the thread). Most of those ideas sound awful to me, things I would really despise to see in the Zelda franchise. But then I'm the guy who's quite happy for the same story to be retold in different weays every other game so long as the games in between are different, so we're very different.

I wouldn't mind a Zelda RPG though. As long as it was clear it's a side project (perhaps give it to Intelligent Systems or someone) and not part of the main series, I think it'd be quite good.

 

[Gattsu25]

Am I missing something here? At least in the pics posted in this thread, Minish Cap's colors are FAR more vivid and saturated than ALttP's. I mean, it's not even close.

agreed. are you guys THAT blind from nostalgia? EACH pic from Minish Cap looks FAAR more colourful than the LttP pic next to it

 

[Gattsu25]

Look with your eyes and not with your skewed memories:

Vivid Colors and a very distinc contrast!

MUCH less saturated and with a far lower contrast in colors

 

[Ranger X]

Yep, colors are alot better in Mimish Cap!

 

[hirokazu]

them screenshots look perfectly fine to me, its more vivid than LttP, yet its not saturated to the point that it be ugly...

on the other hand, those LttP screenshots posted have that odd washed out look at many other GBA screenshots have, though they don't look quite that bad on the system itself.

 

[Bog]

Judging from the replies, I'm pretty sure a lot of you people don't even know what saturated, and thus desaturated, mean.

 

[Mejilan]

Looks fantastic to me.

 

[Takuan]

I'm with pretty much everyone else here. MC > * ! Can't wait to play this.

 

[Eric-GCA]

Played the game at E3, and its definately my number 1 anticipated GBA game. And I think the look is just perfect, color's look all right to me.

 

[belgurdo]

I'm advocating centering on something besides a new item and naming the game for it, yes. So Majora's Mask wasn't technically Link's item, but the gameplay was about changing masks, and the Oracle games were about changing times & seasons. Those games were named for new items, which had their counterparts in Link's repertoire.

Why not make Zelda a playable character? Make a traditional Zelda RPG? Have a plot that sees Link and Ganon forced to form an unlikely alliance, whereupon the gamer could control Ganon for once? That would be true progress and invention with the franchise.

Look at all the different genres the Mario series has spanned. Zelda has been comparably very narrow in focus and gameplay style. Now I'm not asking for Zelda Kart or Zelda Golf, but a bit of a departure in style and mechanics would be welcome.

Yeah, I want some changes in Zelda too. I got tired of playing LttP years ago, so why can't fans and Nintendo move on? MM was a nice step in the right direction but it wasn't enough

 

[DDayton]

I'm advocating centering on something besides a new item and naming the game for it, yes. So Majora's Mask wasn't technically Link's item, but the gameplay was about changing masks, and the Oracle games were about changing times & seasons. Those games were named for new items, which had their counterparts in Link's repertoire.
.

Not to be petty, but the oracles were characters in the Oracle games. Din is the oracle of seasons, and Nayru is the oracle of ages. If you wanted to really stretch the issue, the mask of the Majora is (for all intents and purposes) an independent creature in Majora's Mask.

I see your point, though... you want descriptive titles which highlight the point of the game, not just a simple reference to a power, item, or character, as in the case of Wind Waker, Adventure of Link, Majora's Mask, and Oracle of Ages.

(Personally, I think the old silly trend was the need to put "Link" into every title, and the new trend is to make the title more descriptive of how the game or story is presented to Link.)

 

[DJ Demon J]

I thought the graphics looked more or less comparable to the GBA version of Link to the Past when I played Minish Cap at E3, though I don't really dig the way the Link sprite looks in it (compare the two in the pics above). His head is too big and he's showing too much blonde "poof" hairdo.

My reservations about Minish Cap are more in the gameplay... I'm just tired of the same old "give Link a new item and name the game after it" motif. Can we lose the two parallel worlds already, this time it's big/small.

And the gimmick about collecting kinstones and combining them with those of other NPC's is rather lame. Wow, I just merged together two halves of a crystal--and it caused a treasure chest to pop up in the woods halfway across the world map? Very arbitrary feeling.

It took you this long to realize the gimmicks and repetitive gameplay in Nintendo's games? Indeed Nintendo weaves powerful magicks over people.

 

[Kobun Heat]

I didn't play the big/small levels at E3; the one I played had the giant barrel and the leaf that you had to push along the water. From just that little bit there seemed to be a lot of new ideas for gameplay... so in any case Minish definitely won't be a retread of old ground.

 

[DSN2K]

if only Nintendo had not made that stupid first GBA.

 

[AniHawk]

I'm advocating centering on something besides a new item and naming the game for it, yes. So Majora's Mask wasn't technically Link's item, but the gameplay was about changing masks, and the Oracle games were about changing times & seasons. Those games were named for new items, which had their counterparts in Link's repertoire.

I agree that the names could be a lot better sounding. I think the only really good name in the series was Link's Awakening. Ocarina of Time could have been called Hero of Time, and made more sense (and sound a lot less silly). MM, TWW, and Oracles are all characters/entities in the game though as well as the two former being items. I hope the next one uses a better name than "Harp of the Fairies" or something.

Why not make Zelda a playable character?

I don't know how the fuck Zelda would control as a playable character. She's too proper to have fun with, in my opinion. Now, if you meant Zelda as Sheik or another type of alter ego where she can fight alongside Link, that would be cool. It's a misconception though that the main character should be called Zelda since it's the name of the series (it's explained in one of the games).

Make a traditional Zelda RPG?

Oh fuck no. I think Action RPG is as far as I'd be willing to go, or maybe like Tales of.

Have a plot that sees Link and Ganon forced to form an unlikely alliance, whereupon the gamer could control Ganon for once? That would be true progress and invention with the franchise.

Look at all the different genres the Mario series has spanned. Zelda has been comparably very narrow in focus and gameplay style. Now I'm not asking for Zelda Kart or Zelda Golf, but a bit of a departure in style and mechanics would be welcome.

Well I don't think you'll get that by being able to control Ganondorf or Zelda. I think there'd have to be some maturity in the Zelda universe as a whole for it to change and feel different. That's why I'm so interested in the next console Zelda. Where most every other game has Link becoming a hero, and a man, none have gone beyond that step.

 

[SD-Ness]

Minish Cap and Four Swords are much more vivid and lively...

The LttP screens look glazed. Especially the dungeon one.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Minish Cap and Four Swords are much more vivid and lively...

The LttP screens look glazed. Especially the dungeon one.

 

[Catchpenny]

I hope San Andreas introduces some new gameplay elements as well. The combat should be KOTOR style, since everyone loved the combat engine from that game. Also, armor upgrades should work like the shields in Halo. Oooh, and maybe you could go around playing a mini-game of cards that have the faces of various NPCs!

Playable prostitutes should be in, too. That would add a lot to the game.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I hope San Andreas introduces some new gameplay elements as well. The combat should be KOTOR style, since everyone loved the combat engine from that game. Also, armor upgrades should work like the shields in Halo. Oooh, and maybe you could go around playing a mini-game of cards that have the faces of various NPCs!

Playable prostitutes should be in, too. That would add a lot to the game.

What the...