Wolf Gameplay: the Potential

We all know that Twilight Princess will be the longest, biggest, and hopfully the greatest Zelda game yet. We all know horse combat will rock, we all know that human Link segments will rock, but what about the mysterious Wolf Link segments? That is really my only worry because it will make or break TP. Instead of worring, I decided to make a thread listing the potential that the wolf gameplay holds READ ON->

Howling-
--this could really add a lot to the wolf gameplay and give it a different feel. Chances are, Wolf Link is not as strong and human Link. There may be times where there are too many enemies and they are too powerfull and the only way to survive to to howl for backup from other animals. However, in order for the cry of help to reach other animals, you have to be out in the open or deep in a forest. If you are in lets say a cave or somewhere where you are shut off from the outside world, the howling will not reach other animals and you will have to run away. Going deep in caves or in areas where your howl would not be heard would add a sense of danger and make you think twice before trying to take on big groups of foes which brings me to another topic. . .
Stealth-
-- When you are in areas where back up is just not going to hear your howl, you should be able to use stealth. Hiding, maybe burrowing into the ground to hide or something creative, but a stealth system would be really cool and would add more to the "sense of danger" level that I think that the twilight realm should always have.

fyi, interesting quote from Wiki that probably means nothing but. . .

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Observations of wolf packs suggest that howling occurs most often during the twilight hours

Scent and Digging-
-- Wolves have a much better sense of smell than humans, and stereotypically, dogs, wolves, etc. like to dig with their paws. What if you could use your sense of smell to smell out areas that may have treasure than use your paws to dig when you smell an important spot? Its kind of a mix between treasure hunting in WW and shoveling in AlttP and LA. This idea should be expanded since it seemed pointless in the other games. What about digging and finding a cave? Sense of smell could be used for other things like a radar to find areas you've been to before or finding other animals or food or a place to sleep. the possibilities are endless. You could also maybe have some kind of burrowing power where you and dig into the ground to hide (like explained before) or to be used as like an attack. So basically digging is like the shovel, smelling is like the stone of agany but expanded and improved.

Communication w/ other animals-
-- Other than howling, you could be able to communicate with animals actually, didnt nintendo alread hint that communicating with animals is a major part of the game? From the videos of the Forest Temple shown at E3 2005, we see that the monkeys and Link are communicating which is neat, but why not take it to the next level in your wolf form where you actually get text dialog and know EXACTLY what they want. An example on how this could be cool and add to the gameplay is this:

Monkeys fear human Link. Link transforms into his wolf form. Monkeys now can communicate with wolf Link. Wolf Link (or Midna) explains to monkeys that who Link is and how he can be human or animal. Monkeys no longer fear Link and ask for help. Link goes in his human form and monkeys guide human Link through Forest Temple.

Hunting-
-- this is where I hope nintendo grows up and ditches the kiddy crap. Wolves kill, they are natural born hunters. Then again this is Link we are dealing with, but why not make his personality a bit different when in wolf form, it bit more aggressive. I think hearts should be scarce in the twilight realm. Normal enemies should not drop hearts, you should have to hunt for food instead of chopping up bushes or killing bad guys for hearts in the twilight. This is where stealth could be expanded on. example= hiding in the bushes or behind trees, then as soon as your prey looks away, you jump in and take it out. I seriously think this could crazy fun and would TRUELY make you feel like a wolf.

Vision/hearing-
-- I think we saw a glimps of this in the second and third trailer where the ghosts appear. Im guessing that that is wolf Link's sense of vision. It could be used like the lense of truth in OoT and MM. As for hearing, you could hear other animals cries for help OR maybe even hear whats going on in the outside the twilight realm. . .

Aggression/Combat-
-- When you are in your wolf form, you must feel like an animal. It cant feel the same as human Link or the wold gameplay would be just a gimmick. You have to feel like a wolf, you have to have that anger, that aggressive nature. Combat should feel like a rush of adrenalin (sp?). It should be fast and brutal wolves are NOT friendly when they are going in for a kill, WOLVES ARE BRUTAL! Attacks MUST be brutal! No, Im not saying there has to be blood and guts, but the combat has should stay true to the way wolves fight (though, they usually hunt in packs. . eh links a lone wolf). For attacks, there should be basic attacks using your claws, attacks where you jump on the enemy and do a clawing combo, a finisher move (like Links downthrust) where wolf link bites the neck of the enemy, there sould also be an attack equal to human Links spin attack yet not a spin attack at all to keep the combat feeling different, maybe that burrowing attack. Again, all wolf Links attacks should be fast anf furious! Lets not forget Midna, she should have some cool magic attacks.

Twilight realm MUST feel different-
--dungeons should play much more differently, music should be different, combat and basic game machanics should feel different. When you are playin in the twilight realm as wolf Link, the game should feel different. I already talked about how you should feel like an animal, combat should be different, and etc. (just look above), but it should feel really different to keep the game from getting old. Remember how much different the OoT felt when you were on one side of hyrule then on the other side? Didn't the desert feel completely different than the forest? In ALttP, didn't the dark world feel different than the light world? Im thinking that just in the normal world, different areas should feel different than others, so they have to multiply that by 100 when compairing the Twilight realm to the normal world. I having really talked about dungeons as wolf Link so I'll start here. They should be played completely different. No pushing blocks or stepping of switches, the twilight dungeons should just play differently 1) because wolf Link most likely and hopefully plays much differently than normal Link and 2) 2 different realms should be completely different. I saying that it should almost feel like a completely different game when you are playing in the twilight realm. I should have developed this idea more because reading it over, it came out different than I was thinking.


I could go on and on, but first I would like you here everyone elses ideas. Expand on these ones or thing of completely different ones. Don't forget about Midna (like I did)!

Originally Posted by WinderWake

We all know that Twilight Princess will be the longest, biggest, and hopfully the greatest Zelda game yet. We all know horse combat will rock, we all know that human Link segments will rock, but what about the mysterious Wolf Link segments? That is really my only worry because it will make or break TP. Instead of worring, I decided to make a thread listing the potential that the wolf gameplay holds READ ON->

Howling-
--this could really add a lot to the wolf gameplay and give it a different feel. Chances are, Wolf Link is not as strong and human Link. There may be times where there are too many enemies and they are too powerfull and the only way to survive to to howl for backup from other animals. However, in order for the cry of help to reach other animals, you have to be out in the open or deep in a forest. If you are in lets say a cave or somewhere where you are shut off from the outside world, the howling will not reach other animals and you will have to run away. Going deep in caves or in areas where your howl would not be heard would add a sense of danger and make you think twice before trying to take on big groups of foes which brings me to another topic. . .

Strictly from a realism standpoint that won't work at all, if a wolf howls it's because there are other wolves in the area, which would scare away wildlife, not attract it. .

On top of that, as far as we know Link is only a wolf while in the Twilight realm, whose only inhabitants (barring humans) seem very hostile to Link.

Finally, I'd find it unlikely simply because it would be impossible to balance (why not just howl all the time?), there'd be no way of doing it that didn't look stupid. (A swarm of squirrels runs through the enemies, they flash red and die, gamer thinks "WTF?")

Stealth-

-- When you are in areas where back up is just not going to hear your howl, you should be able to use stealth. Hiding, maybe burrowing into the ground to hide or something creative, but a stealth system would be really cool and would add more to the "sense of danger" level that I think that the twilight realm should always have.

I rather dislike stealth sequences. The forbidden fortress will forever remain one of my most disliked parts of WW.

Anywho, I don't see a lot standing in the way of the concept per see, aside from the fact that it could easily apply to both Link and Wolf Link, so long as it's done by line of sight (Hyrule Castle in OoT, for example.)

(Oh, and wolves do burrow, but not quickly, it certainly wouldn't work for stealth.)

fyi, interesting quote from Wiki that probably means nothing but. . .

A simple coincidence, twilight is when the sun sets, and it makes a nice metaphor for Hyrule during the game.

Scent and Digging-

-- Wolves have a much better sense of smell than humans, and stereotypically, dogs, wolves, etc. like to dig with their paws. What if you could use your sense of smell to smell out areas that may have treasure than use your paws to dig when you smell an important spot? Its kind of a mix between treasure hunting in WW and shoveling in AlttP and LA.

Actually, I really like this idea. Scent could work similar to the stone of agony in WW, your controller rumbles when you're near treasure, and then the A button switches to dig.

This idea should be expanded since it seemed pointless in the other games. What about digging and finding a cave?

Again, not a bad idea at all.

Sense of smell could be used for other things like a radar to find areas you've been to before

How would that work?

or finding other animals or food or a place to sleep.

If Nintendo implements a need for food/sleep (Which I very much hope that they don't, it just gets tedious, and with the faster speed of time in Zelda you'd be doing nothing but) they certainly wouldn't have you hunting down other animals. Besides, would you want to eat anything that lived in the Twilight realm?

the possibilities are endless. You could also maybe have some kind of burrowing power where you and dig into the ground to hide (like explained before) or to be used as like an attack. So basically digging is like the shovel, smelling is like the stone of agony but expanded and improved.

Hiding wouldn't work, but I do like the idea of a built-in shovel.

Communication w/ other animals-

-- Other than howling, you could be able to communicate with animals actually, didnt nintendo alread hint that communicating with animals is a major part of the game? From the videos of the Forest Temple shown at E3 2005, we see that the monkeys and Link are communicating which is neat, but why not take it to the next level in your wolf form where you actually get text dialog and know EXACTLY what they want. An example on how this could be cool and add to the gameplay is this:

Monkeys fear human Link. Link transforms into his wolf form. Monkeys now can communicate with wolf Link. Wolf Link (or Midna) explains to monkeys that who Link is and how he can be human or animal. Monkeys no longer fear Link and ask for help. Link goes in his human form and monkeys guide human Link through Forest Temple.

Ah, that won't work. As far as we know Link is only in wolf form while in the twilight realm (aside from some screenshots/short clips that may or may not show otherwise), and there's certainly no indication that he'll be able to transform at will.

Hunting-

-- this is where I hope nintendo grows up and ditches the kiddy crap. Wolves kill, they are natural born hunters. Then again this is Link we are dealing with, but why not make his personality a bit different when in wolf form, it bit more aggressive. I think hearts should be scarce in the twilight realm. Normal enemies should not drop hearts, you should have to hunt for food instead of chopping up bushes or killing bad guys for hearts in the twilight. This is where stealth could be expanded on. example= hiding in the bushes or behind trees, then as soon as your prey looks away, you jump in and take it out. I seriously think this could crazy fun and would TRUELY make you feel like a wolf.

Nintendo 'grew up' with Ocarina of Time. Anyways, I strongly disagree with this one. I want to be able to watch my friends and family play Zelda, and if it involves the stalking of animals I can safely say that most of them won't play it. See my earlier comment on this for more of why I don't think it'll be in game.

Vision/hearing-

-- I think we saw a glimps of this in the second and third trailer where the ghosts appear. Im guessing that that is wolf Link's sense of vision. It could be used like the lense of truth in OoT and MM. As for hearing, you could hear other animals cries for help OR maybe even hear whats going on in the outside the twilight realm. . .

Wolf Link does seem to gain a lens of truth effect while standing still, which is quite neat. As for the hearing, I don't think you'll be able to hear outside the twilight realm, but you just gave me an idea, it would be quite cool to have Wolf Link hear things differently then normal Link, although it'd have to be done right to not be annoying.

Aggression/Combat-

-- When you are in your wolf form, you must feel like an animal. It cant feel the same as human Link or the wold gameplay would be just a gimmick. You have to feel like a wolf, you have to have that anger, that aggressive nature. Combat should feel like a rush of adrenalin (sp?). It should be fast and brutal wolves are NOT friendly when they are going in for a kill, WOLVES ARE BRUTAL! Attacks MUST be brutal! No, Im not saying there has to be blood and guts, but the combat has should stay true to the way wolves fight (though, they usually hunt in packs. . eh links a lone wolf). For attacks, there should be basic attacks using your claws, attacks where you jump on the enemy and do a clawing combo, a finisher move (like Links downthrust) where wolf link bites the neck of the enemy, there sould also be an attack equal to human Links spin attack yet not a spin attack at all to keep the combat feeling different, maybe that burrowing attack. Again, all wolf Links attacks should be fast anf furious! Lets not forget Midna, she should have some cool magic attacks.

Again, I'm not really for this. Although Link has gotten rather more brutal with his finishing move, I certainly hope that Wolf Link doesn't do anything that you wouldn't expect a Wolfos to do. After all, he's still Link, simply in a new form. I mean, you didn't expect Bunny Link to run away every time he saw an enemy, did you?

Twilight realm MUST feel different-

--dungeons should play much more differently, music should be different, combat and basic game machanics should feel different.

I don't know about game mechanics, or even combat, but I do agree that it should feel different. The screenshots already show that it looks quite different.

When you are playin in the twilight realm as wolf Link, the game should feel different. I already talked about how you should feel like an animal, combat should be different, and etc. (just look above), but it should feel really different to keep the game from getting old. Remember how much different the OoT felt when you were on one side of hyrule then on the other side? Didn't the desert feel completely different than the forest? In ALttP, didn't the dark world feel different than the light world? Im thinking that just in the normal world, different areas should feel different than others, so they have to multiply that by 100 when compairing the Twilight realm to the normal world. I having really talked about dungeons as wolf Link so I'll start here. They should be played completely different. No pushing blocks or stepping of switches, the twilight dungeons should just play differently 1) because wolf Link most likely and hopefully plays much differently than normal Link and 2) 2 different realms should be completely different. I saying that it should almost feel like a completely different game when you are playing in the twilight realm. I should have developed this idea more because reading it over, it came out different than I was thinking.

I wouldn't go so far as making it feel like a different game, you do need cohesion unless it's simply a collection of minigames. But I do agree that the Twilight realm should feel very different.

I´m not writing as much...

Stealth: Well, I´ll love to see some good stealth features while in wolf form, it just seems to fit. I wouldn´t really like that "Dig and Hide" thingy, however. But there could be really good parts with big stealth.

Dig, smell and stuff: I love the idea of having animal-senses, a wolf to be correct. I don´t doubt that they´ll incorporate this. You had some really good ideas, like digging to find a hole, etc. You gave a big point also, in the first trailers, in the scene at the sewers, some ghosts appear, and some greenish odor-like effect. This is surely the "Ultra-wolfy-smell-sense", like the Mask of Sents in MM, you will be able to "see" sents. There are other good points, but i´ll stop there.

And regarding the twilight, i also hope it feels and plays a lot differently than the normal hyrule. Given the freakish effects and... well, being a wolf, I can assume that it will be a lot different.

Originally Posted by WinderWake

To GDwarf:

Animals do exist in the Twilight Realm and Link can communicate with them in his wolf form. It is comfirmed in this video interview with Aonuma. Enjoy!

Ah, I wasn't quite thinking clearly. I knew that Wolf Link could communicate with other animals, and I was fairly certain that he was only a wolf in the twilight realm. I failed to put those together into meaning that there were animals in the twilight realm. My bad.

as the wolf my favorite thing would definately mauling enemys

Hunting-
-- this is where I hope nintendo grows up and ditches the kiddy crap. Wolves kill, they are natural born hunters. Then again this is Link we are dealing with, but why not make his personality a bit different when in wolf form, it bit more aggressive. I think hearts should be scarce in the twilight realm. Normal enemies should not drop hearts, you should have to hunt for food instead of chopping up bushes or killing bad guys for hearts in the twilight. This is where stealth could be expanded on. example= hiding in the bushes or behind trees, then as soon as your prey looks away, you jump in and take it out. I seriously think this could crazy fun and would TRUELY make you feel like a wolf

i completley and utterly aggree the twillight zone shold change people, like a were wolf link definatly hunt for his food, its what wolves do also when in stealth mode i like the idea of hiding in tall grass waiting for the perfect moment when an enemy is dumb enough to come close and then u take him out, also being a wolf should enhance his jumping ability like as a wolf he could jump on a wall bounce off that wall to reach an even higher ledge, that would be sweet

one thing that could happen is that it could be midna that fights instead of wolf link...but I bet she had something like a bow..for the flying creatures..

Originally Posted by GDwarf

Ah, I wasn't quite thinking clearly. I knew that Wolf Link could communicate with other animals, and I was fairly certain that he was only a wolf in the twilight realm. I failed to put those together into meaning that there were animals in the twilight realm. My bad.

In the e3 2006 trailer it shows wolf-link outside of the twiight realm. He's by that water/pond area and it looks like he is warping to the twilight realm because he turns into those little black square pieces that float in the air in the twilight. And if you remember back a little bit, there was a picture of wolf-link in a snowy environment and that was not in the twilight.

So bottom line, wolf-link can exist in normal hyrule.

Hey... i remember that in one part you said:

... I can´t find the quote... but well. You proposed "Smelling things that are outside the twilight", and in the post right there î , Twilight Prince said that wolf Link "Warps to the Twilight". Well, the twilight isn´t other dimension or sorta, you cannot warp to there (nor smell things outside of it), since there is no outside.

Other thing is that, I would like to be able to be the wolf outside of the twilight. Wait... i think that is confirmed, with that final part of the 2006 trailer, and two screenshots. Yay.

Edit: know that i think it, if wolf Link is not warping in that scene... bah, i don´t know. Maybe he´s just warping, but to the twilight realm... I don´t...know... meh!

Originally Posted by MadCucco

Hey... i remember that in one part you said:

... I can´t find the quote... but well. You proposed "Smelling things that are outside the twilight", and in the post right there î , Twilight Prince said that wolf Link "Warps to the Twilight". Well, the twilight isn´t other dimension or sorta, you cannot warp to there (nor smell things outside of it), since there is no outside.

Other thing is that, I would like to be able to be the wolf outside of the twilight. Wait... i think that is confirmed, with that final part of the 2006 trailer, and two screenshots. Yay.

Edit: know that i think it, if wolf Link is not warping in that scene... bah, i don´t know. Maybe he´s just warping, but to the twilight realm... I don´t...know... meh!

Trust me, I am very confident that we will be able to enter the twilight realm, by choice, after we acquire a certain item or complete a certain task. At some point, we will be able to enter the twilight realm at will.

And from what I gathered from various interviews over the years (Lol we've been following this game for such along time), the twilight realm is not another dimension like the dark world in ALLTP. The twilight is more like a disease that is spreading throughout the world and infecting every area that touches. Or the twilight portals show up randomly and the creatures come into Hyrule and attack it? Actually, now that I think about it I really don't know how the whole mecahnic is going to work. This games has been in development for so long now, that everything is subject to change.

Yes, yes... and yes. That´s all what i said in my post.

I never said that we´re not going to be able to enter the twilight by choice, actually I´m sure it will be possible.
I said, that, the twilight is like a "Disease" as you said, and infection, not another dimension.
And... another good point (and a confusing one) is there... the portals. If it is not another dimension... Why the heck does it have PORTALS!!!! Gah... I think we can only wait and see.

Originally Posted by MadCucco

Yes, yes... and yes. That´s all what i said in my post.

I never said that we´re not going to be able to enter the twilight by choice, actually I´m sure it will be possible.
I said, that, the twilight is like a "Disease" as you said, and infection, not another dimension.
And... another good point (and a confusing one) is there... the portals. If it is not another dimension... Why the heck does it have PORTALS!!!! Gah... I think we can only wait and see.

Thats a good point...if it's not another dimension then why does it have portals? I don't know. Maybe it is actually another dimension because it seems that we will be traveling there a lot, by choice, so it has to be another dimension thats taking over the normal world.

Originally Posted by TwilightPrince1

Thats a good point...if it's not another dimension then why does it have portals? I don't know. Maybe it is actually another dimension because it seems that we will be traveling there a lot, by choice, so it has to be another dimension thats taking over the normal world.

The nature of the Twilight realm is still unknown. I think that both assessments, 'alternate dimension' and 'sickness' are correct. It's similar to the Dark World in aLttP, Ganon's master plan there was to spread it over the normal world, until eventually everyone would be in a place ruled by him. I suspect something similar here, The Twilight realm is another dimensions, but it's slowly taking over Hyrule.

I think a good idea would be a "tracking" function. For instance, you smell something that belongs to someone and then something radar-like (or something similar to listening to the music in Lost Woods) can guide you to this person or place.

As for the nature of the Twilight Realm... I would imagine that you guys have it pretty well spot on. Enemies will probably use the portals that you are using to travel between the bleeding worlds, and maybe the ultimate goal is to seal all these portals. I'm making a lot of guesses, though.

Originally Posted by Citizen Insane

I think a good idea would be a "tracking" function. For instance, you smell something that belongs to someone and then something radar-like (or something similar to listening to the music in Lost Woods) can guide you to this person or place.

One of the early trailers hinted something like that. There was a greenish mist that ran through a hallway filled with ghost that resembled a scent trail that you might see in a cartoon. Link was in Wolf form at the time.

It's also been mentioned that hightened senses will prove to play a large part of the wolf experience.

You got a good idea there, Insane. Tracking the smell of things that belong to people, but not just that, there are many possibilities. And not only with this, but with all the senses. The wolf gameplay seems too interesting. Oh my... the twilight madness is comming... I need TP and pronto.

Just go watch trailers and imagine playing the game on your TV. Its so good I can't imagine it.

I... can´t imagine that.

Hey, I came up with something, watching the "new" *Ahem*, screenshots from IGN.

In that screen with the twilight girl (this glowing freeka:http://www.thehylia.com/media/displa...bum=65&pos=294), there is some streange effect present in the air... that white dots. Remember the first tralier, back in 2004? In that part in the sewers. It is all normal, and suddenly, the ghosts appear, and a green "sent" effect.
Do you know what is the similarity between this two scenes? That both have that white dots floating in the air.

So... right know, i´m quite sure that those "super-wolfy-senses", will function this way: This senses will turn on-off (I don´t know if you'll can do it at will, or if it will happen in special circumstances). When it´s on, you´ll can see ghosts, as other normaly-invisible things (I supose), will have super-wolfy-smell (that "sent" thingies), and other things, I suppose (or hope). That´s what I say, I don´t know what you think, but I´m very certain that this will be the way.

Originally Posted by Citizen Insane

I think a good idea would be a "tracking" function. For instance, you smell something that belongs to someone and then something radar-like (or something similar to listening to the music in Lost Woods) can guide you to this person or place.

As for the nature of the Twilight Realm... I would imagine that you guys have it pretty well spot on. Enemies will probably use the portals that you are using to travel between the bleeding worlds, and maybe the ultimate goal is to seal all these portals. I'm making a lot of guesses, though.

Yea, but the portals are in the sky that the enemies drop from so how would we able to reach up that high in the air to use them as well?

And Madcucco, I don't see any white things in the air in that picture? In the twilight, there is black dots that float in the air, not white.

Originally Posted by TwilightPrince1

Yea, but the portals are in the sky that the enemies drop from so how would we able to reach up that high in the air to use them as well?

And Madcucco, I don't see any white things in the air in that picture? In the twilight, there is black dots that float in the air, not white.

We do see Wolf Link warp up into a portal in the sky in the most recent trailer.