Should the next Zelda be based around in-game decisons?

I've been thinking of something which would totally change the Zelda series for a little while and I had this little idea: What would Zelda be like if you could make decisions which would affect the way the game turned out in the end? What if even a small little decision, like whether or not to help some NPC out could change the course of the entire storyline?

What if, judging on the decisions made, Link or Zelda could even turn evil? What if Ganon/Vaati or whoever the enemy was turned good? What if they joined forces? I think this would be an awesome idea to implement!

Just the ability to choose what you wanted to do next and have some surprise in the storyline would be a welcome change from the 'do X amount of dungeons, get master sword, do X amount of dungeons, kill Ganon' format that is always implemented?

I know that some of you will say that it's a rip off of Star Wars KOTOR or whatever, but I think it would be really cool if the next game had this in it.

Instead of just saying YES or NO to a question, and having to choose YES in the end anyway for the story to progress, the story should set off in a totally new direction. Of course, if you didn't like the path you were on, you could always make choices to change the game back to how it was originally, albeit not with the same exact storyline/reaction, as you would still be disliked by some for your prior choices.

The temples/dungeons/sidequests that you encountered would differ with every choice as well, as would the items/powers that were attained, although if the right choices were made you could still do them all anyway. After the game is completed, a new type of play mode would be unlocked, where a new character was the focus, and depending on the choices made in the Link version, that storyline would be different as well.

Of course, the game would have to be completed and challenged a number of times in order to truly accomplish everything. That, however, may be the thing which many people want from a Zelda game. Instead of never being able to progress past the final dungeon, many more things would be able to be done afterwards to tie up loose ends and to unlock new things.

What does everyone think of this idea???

Well I'd prefer first of all to have new characters in a new land but I like the idea of things turning out based on the choices you make, kind of like those books y'know? The ones where you choose a path and turn to that page in a way. It would make the game pretty unique but there would have to be a certain limit on what happens because the possibilities would be pretty huge but in the end it would be cool to see the progression of the people you meet and the game you play.

I'd like to see maybe Link change aswell based on what happens but it's most likely been done somewhere before but it's a neat idea. I don't know if it would happen though, I'm sure they would want everyone to have the exact same Zelda experience but who knows.

It's called "When you are the hero" I think.
Anyways it would be a cool game but let's not have 48 different endings now. 3 or 4 is enough...

I doubt Nintendo would do it any time soon, but that would be interesting. I agree with alexome12- only a few different endings are needed- one good, one not so evil, one not so good, one evil ending would suffice.

Horrible idea.

Nintendo would never do this, for starters it is too much like Fable. Next, it would mess with the timeline. Plus, this would destroy a lot of the fan base. If they wanted to go and chose in-game decisions, they'd go play Fable. You probably didn't put much thought into this.

I've been thinking of something which would totally change the Zelda series for a little while and I had this little idea: What would Zelda be like if you could make decisions which would affect the way the game turned out in the end? What if even a small little decision, like whether or not to help some NPC out could change the course of the entire storyline?

What if, judging on the decisions made, Link or Zelda could even turn evil? What if Ganon/Vaati or whoever the enemy was turned good? What if they joined forces? I think this would be an awesome idea to implement!

Just the ability to choose what you wanted to do next and have some surprise in the storyline would be a welcome change from the 'do X amount of dungeons, get master sword, do X amount of dungeons, kill Ganon' format that is always implemented?

I know that some of you will say that it's a rip off of Star Wars KOTOR or whatever, but I think it would be really cool if the next game had this in it.

Instead of just saying YES or NO to a question, and having to choose YES in the end anyway for the story to progress, the story should set off in a totally new direction. Of course, if you didn't like the path you were on, you could always make choices to change the game back to how it was originally, albeit not with the same exact storyline/reaction, as you would still be disliked by some for your prior choices.

The temples/dungeons/sidequests that you encountered would differ with every choice as well, as would the items/powers that were attained, although if the right choices were made you could still do them all anyway. After the game is completed, a new type of play mode would be unlocked, where a new character was the focus, and depending on the choices made in the Link version, that storyline would be different as well.

Of course, the game would have to be completed and challenged a number of times in order to truly accomplish everything. That, however, may be the thing which many people want from a Zelda game. Instead of never being able to progress past the final dungeon, many more things would be able to be done afterwards to tie up loose ends and to unlock new things.

What does everyone think of this idea???

Well this idea sounds familiar.....it sounds like Fable to me,not that Ur idea is wrong...I honestly think its a great idea because thats like opening a new chapter in Zelda..You are rite about the player choosing yes or no all the time
I think its about time we guide our own faith...just thinking about it makes me anxious..I personaly think thats a great Idea man...hands down..Hope you can come up with more ideas man...Feel free to share...

Yes, I have been wanting this in a zelda game for a while, like in ages/seasons but larger scale.

I'd love to have a system like that, in games like Metal Gear, Tales of Symphonia etc, you can make a decision from a range of choices and achieve some changes in the storyline especially the ending. In the new Zelda, you could be tasked with dilemmas like choosing to save what seems like a dodgy person from death or even whether to break into a hideout of some sort using force or to sneak your way in. But then again, this could possibly make the game more RPG like but in argument, it more help to create a more invovling feel with the game itself as Link is more dependent on you to progress.

Originally Posted by Smeezette

Horrible idea.

Nintendo would never do this, for starters it is too much like Fable. Next, it would mess with the timeline. Plus, this would destroy a lot of the fan base. If they wanted to go and chose in-game decisions, they'd go play Fable. You probably didn't put much thought into this.

I put heaps of thought into this actually... It was just an idea.

It wouldn't mess with the timeline if it was at the end, or if it led to different timelines, like OoT did.

How can you vouch for what the rest of the Zelda community would think???
Why would they go play Fable? It's not the same as Zelda. The game would be Zelda, not a knock off of Fable. Just because a game has a similar idea/format to another game doesn't make it identical to that game. Does that mean that people who play KOTOR should just play Fable instead because you can make decisions in it as well? These two games are different in every single way except that they share this one common thing. That's what this game would be to Fable as well, thanks.

i think that is a great idea because knowing what is going 2 happen is annoying once you have finished a game once so you know what is ahead, but maybe still have the same bosses so it would make it a ittle easier for beginners

Originally Posted by Matty0828

I put heaps of thought into this actually... It was just an idea.

It wouldn't mess with the timeline if it was at the end, or if it led to different timelines, like OoT did.

How can you vouch for what the rest of the Zelda community would think???
Why would they go play Fable? It's not the same as Zelda. The game would be Zelda, not a knock off of Fable. Just because a game has a similar idea/format to another game doesn't make it identical to that game. Does that mean that people who play KOTOR should just play Fable instead because you can make decisions in it as well? These two games are different in every single way except that they share this one common thing. That's what this game would be to Fable as well, thanks.

That it is a very good idea and saying that sort of stuff is not very nice at all

Have you got a better idea????

Originally Posted by Matty0828

It wouldn't mess with the timeline if it was at the end, or if it led to different timelines, like OoT did.

Exactly what we wanted: more timelines...<_< We already have 2 used timelines, and some more that are unused.

I think that Nintendo will develop some kind of MMORPG set in Hyrule. Which isn't (or isn't considered) canon.

I, however, hope they give Colin a spinoff game, it would be nice to have a hero that isn't completly sure of himself, and really changes from wannabe-Link to hero in the game.

I wouldnt mind a Collin Spinoff.

Also if done right this could easily be a Zelda game. Nothing to drastic that could change everything. Maybe if you do some things first and somethings last you get to skip a dungeon.

But as long as its not to drastic and such, it would be fun.

I actually like that idea about the decisions you make base the games storyline. It gives you more freedom and personality. Good post

I like the idea. It does sound a bit like Fable, but Fable lacked that Nintendo flair that's in any given Zelda game. I wouldn't mind seeing something like this incorporated so you would end up with different items and thus have to solve the temple puzzles in different ways. It's hard for me to come up with an example of this off the top of my head... howabout instead of getting Iron Boots to stick to magnetized walls, you get some sort of claw that lets you climb walls? Then you'd have to use the megaton hammer to push down heavy things, and the claw could be used as some sort of combat item.

Yeah, this would only work with an incredible amount of thought put into it.

I very much like idea of the player's decisions actually mattering: WE are supposed to be Link, isn't that the point? If he was a real person, like us, he'd be able to make decisions: whether to fight or not, whether to join evil or fight it, which girl he likes. Stuff like that.
I know it may not be a popular opinion, but the timeline thing shouldn't matter. A hero arises and fights evil, it's timeless. And ideally if we were truly Link, we should be able to make the decisions, not know ahead of time what the outcome is, for example in like WW. That's the problem with timelines.

I think they did implement this idea quite a bit in MM, for example, whether you do stuff in the Anju/Kafei sidequest: the ending on day 3 will be different for each option. It would be cool if different endings were possible.

And if Zelda were to become more like, for instance Fable, would that necessarily be a bad thing? By putting aspects of it into a game, without changing the Zelda feel...they'd draw in players from the Fables fanbase as well as the Zelda fans. That would mean increased sales for Nintendo.
In that idea: TSA from the Hylia put up an interesting idea: "Hyrule Moon", a sort of Harvest Moon/Zelda cross-over. I think that's brilliant. If they want to draw in more female gamers, make the relationship aspect interactive. Make our decisions count. It doesn't have to be a huge part of the game...but stuff like that would please some gamers, and making options would satisfy everyone.