The "What I would like to see in the next Zelda" Thread 2.0!

Another 2.0 paper that’s just like the sequel, only better. It makes more sense this time, as I have some suggestions the general fan base would actually go for. Also, this proposal is for the game after the one that’s going to be show cased at E3 2010. Now without further ado…

The first thing I want to talk about is story in general. In the past games, we’ve had our typical tale: Gannondorf attacks, Link gets pulled into conflict, Link gets Master Sword, Link kills Gannondorf, lather, rinse, repeat.

Now despite previous gripes that I have, this isn’t a bad thing unless Gannondorf is helplessly tacked onto the end while we groan in annoyance. I say that we need to…reconstruct the premise a little bit. In Wind Waker, he started out as a kid and remained a kid. In Twilight Princess he was in his late teens and remained there. In Ocarina of Time, he started out as a kid and became an adult through time-travel.

Now, I like the transition from kid to adult, but it’s pulled off all wrong in OoT. We immediately go from kid to adult after three dungeons and the change is very abrupt. I think that maybe we could have him get gradually older by completing dungeons. Like when we beat the boss fight and warp out, Link’s model is slightly older, taller, Ect. Ect. After a certain amount of dungeons, Link is a guy in his late teens! The story could focus on that a couple of times that Link is growing up. He’s becoming an adult…which is a part of what Zelda is about.

Now let’s think about what Gannondorf’s role in this is. In the past, he was indirectly involved in some horrid tragedy that affects Link in a way that makes him set out. But I think…what if Gannondorf was directly involved? Yeah, like if he was present while a large group of Bokogoblins raided Link’s village or something. Link sees him, ties him to the attack and he runs off after him, the fate of Link’s loved ones unknown. The reason I say this is because WW Link is the most emotionally vested in defeating Gannondorf. I want to duplicate that, make Link a more real person.

Another thing I want the plot to do is to focus on the role of the Triforce. I mean, it’s clear what it gives Gannondorf and Zelda, but what about Link? Every time he gets it, he stops being a scared little boy…and becomes quite awesome. But what else does it give him? I don’t think it gives him incredible sword experience (sans the secret moves in TP), but I do believe that it gives him incredible balance and agility (sans the flips). I would like to know, really, if bearing the Triforce makes him a Demigod. That’s my pet theory, and I think it’s kind of plausible, really.

Building up on the Gannondorf roles section above, I would like to get a bit more into what Link’s relationship with the people of his village (city block?) is. I liked Orca a lot. I mean…I really liked Orca. I liked all of Outset because I felt a little bit of Link’s connection to them. So, again, I want to see more of that in the next game.

The next thing I want to discuss/talk about is the gaming environment. Now I have…hinted (with the subtlety of a falling city) that I want a futuristic Zelda. I don’t think that could work for the next Zelda game. Maybe for the one after that, but not the next one. Let’s keep the Medieval theme for just a few more games.

But I do, however, want a bigger sense of Hyrule as a nation. Remember in Link’s Adventure (I like that game) when there was lots and lots of towns? I kinda want that. I wanna big Hyrulian continent, and I wanna see where Gannondorf has his massive empire established. I want to see towns that have suffered from Gerudo bandit raids. I wanna see ship ports with ships that really go out into the ocean!

Also, in environment, I have to include a short section on dungeons. Now, the traditional dungeon, go here, beat boss, get item, repeat. Now, I don’t think we should throw that formula away, I just think we should make it harder to see. Like say we head off into the forest, looking for the ‘stock McGuffin item number 2’ we come to a cliff. After circumventing that, we come to another road block, then another, until we finally realize that we’ve been in a dungeon the whole time we’ve been in the forest! The forest is the dungeon! The boss would be in a small pond or something. That’s what I want. I want the dungeon to feel like I’m not in a dungeon (save for a few temples; Those are necessary to maintain the feel of Zelda, I think). That way it feels a whole breath of fresh-air, and a little non-linear. Yeah.

The next thing I want to talk about is graphics. Now don’t get me wrong, I think the graphics in Twilight Princess looked fine. They conveyed all the emotion the creators wanted to convey, but there are a couple things I thought were lacking, and these might just be (they are) nitpicks.

You know the fancy sword moves that Link pulls off? You know that really cool sword twirly-thing that Link does when you press the put-away button at the exact right time after killing a monster? Okay, now how many times did you do it before you got ridiculously tired of it? About six times, huh? Now let’s say…suddenly, when you press the button out of boredom, he did a different twirly thing? Not better, just different? What if the next time he did a different one than the previous one? I’m saying there should be multiple sword twirly animations for Link putting away his sword. Like maybe three or four different ones. Yeah.

Hey, do you remember back in OoT (or maybe just Majora’s Mask) where, if you stood still long enough, Link would kinda practice with his sword? Now flash to WW and TP. He doesn’t do that anymore! He just kicks dirt off of his boots! I want the cooler idle animations back (I know that’s a dumb complaint, but I thought it was pretty cool). I want more of them too…like say Link would sit down and whistle a song or play one on the instrument he has. I think more idle animations would give Link a bit more personality as far as that goes.

Also, I’d like to see where Link keeps all of his items. Like give him a back-pack or something that he takes items out. Get rid of the sword-sheath, that thing doesn’t really make sense. Give Link a buckle on his back instead, thus helping us make sense of how Link puts his sword away. You could also put a quiver on his back, visually showing us where Link keeps his arrows and how many he has left.

Also, have you ever seen an item float above your hand when you 'pick it up'? No. I wanna see Link actually holding the items he takes out of chests for once. But that's just me.

Last thing that I want to see is the actual effects of being wounded. I want to see Link panting after taking a few hits, and gashes and tears in Links armor and tunic when he’s close to death. Might show a bit more when Link is close to death, and it’d be better than that irritating beeping sound that resounds when you’re down to three hearts or lower. And I think it should have a definite effect on how Link behaves as far as animations go. He running could be labored, he could be panting excessively, you know. It’d help me get into the game.

Now for the most important part: The game-play.

Now, I want the games to be much harder. I mean, I want to be dying about 10% more than I normally do in Zelda. The first thing I want to see gone in Zelda is the hearts. No not the twenty hearts that define how much health you have left, I mean the hearts that appear after you cut grass that restore a heart. I want them gone (or turned into a cookie you can get at the village bakery). Because that is factor number one in what makes the games easier: the fact that we can get our health back after a battle by seeking the nearest clump of cut-able grass. Usually, we get three or four of them when we cut grass, which makes it worse. Getting rid of the hearts for good would heighten the priority of health potions and having fairies. I also think fairies should be a lot rarer.

Another thing I want is for the enemies to do a little bit more damage. Without hearts, we shouldn’t make it too much more damage, but enough to make it a priority to not get hit. I also want AI’s to be better so they actually stand a chance, so they know when to flee. And so they know how to fight in close quarters so we’re not utterly wailing upon them…they know how to fight (at least in the later stages in the game, when we know how to fight as well).

Don’t forget that placement has a big effect on how hard individual encounters are! A single well placed enemy could make all the difference of changing a fairly easy encounter to a near impossible one.

But there is something new I want to add. Let’s call it the Armor Mechanic, I think. When you start the game, you have three hearts as per normal. But over the course of the game (before the first boss), you get a piece of armor, like say the chain shirt. That adds a ‘shield’ (working title) underneath the heart meter, which also has four ‘quarters’. Now, this chain shirt stops a quarter of ‘heart damage’ and replaces it with a quarter of ‘shield damage’, dropping a quarter of the shield instead. And throughout Link’s adventure, he’ll find more pieces of armor to go with it (boots, shoulders, gauntlets, a breast plate…) thus adding more shields until we have five.

You may think this is just adding another heart bar. That’s not true. The armor that Link has can only block one shield worth of heart damage before Link actually takes heart damage (or maybe we can make the damage localized depending on area). Maybe the armor can be upgraded to block more heart damage. Maybe. Like all of Link’s armor gets upgraded to a higher quality of steel (or gets made magic by a fairy).

Anyway, another thing I want to talk about is sword fighting. Yeah, the secret moves were cool, but I think Nintendo should emphasize another mechanic. The one that allows Link to change the direction of which way he’s swinging while L targeting (or whatever it is on the Wii). I think Nintendo could use that to let us get around enemies who can block Links attacks, thus adding another dimension to sword combat. I honestly think it can work.

Here’s a quote from a previous paper on the usage of stealth mechanics.

Link is going through a dungeon when he walks into a room. On the floor are two moblins, and above is a door and an archer bokogoblin. After quickly dispatching of the two moblins, Link is faced with a problem. He can’t kill the bokogoblin because he doesn’t have the bow and there’s no ladder up.
Quickly circling around the room as he dodges fire arrows, he finds no way up. Frustrated, he exits the room. He starts to look around when beside the room entrance; he sees a series of ledges.
Curious, he climbs the ledges and comes to a hole in the wall just large enough to crawl through. He climbs in and crawls through it to see where it leads. What he finds is…the ledge he couldn’t get up to earlier due to the lack of a ladder. Link quickly disposes of the bokogoblin and heads through the door.

There, does that help? The only reason I wanted the stealth mechanics back (besides the obvious) was so the designers could really revolutionize dungeon design and layout. They could make a serious death labyrinth with mechanics like these but they chose to ignore them and their dungeons suffered for it. (Snow Peak was still cool though).

You wouldn’t have to have stuck to the shadows, really, because Link is a warrior. He ain’t no pansy, friend. And if you think this would get rid of the purpose of locked doors, they could just switch between the two. Oh, and if you’re still not convinced, I have two words for you: Locked. Chest.

I stand by this suggestion, and with open-ended dungeons, it would be even better than ever!

Something I suggested above in the graphics section is having Link be shown cut, gashed and bleeding. That would also put an emphasis on how necessary health potions are, as opposed to previous games, where I never used them. I instead would be packing dozens of them. Also, I think you should have to pay money to get your armor repaired. That way it’s sparkling new, and we’re better protected for our adventures!

Now for items. I’ve gone through this extensively in previous papers, and you can find my ideas for items here (don’t forget to put a link here), but I’ll rehash them for you, partially because I’ve edited them somewhat.

The first item is the ‘GaleWings’ or something (trying to come up with a better title). This is an actual equipable item, as opposed to the Ooccoo armor that I proposed last time, which had to be equipped like an armor set.

When Link equips the armor, he has a pair of white and gold wings strapped to his arms, and a pair of tail-like things on his boots, as well as an eagle-like metal helmet on his head.

When he jumps off of a ledge and press’s the action button (which I think is universally ‘A’), he starts gliding. When he tips downward, he gains speed, but goes down. When he tips up, he goes up but he loses speed. There’s a bar near the bottom of the screen. When that empties (after about, say, three minutes) the magic making the wings glide runs out of power and he starts dropping. He can still glide, just at a severely changed speed/fall rate ratio (that’s in favor of falling rather than speed) until he sinks to the ground completely.

The next item is, again, a compromise between me and the devoted (crazed) fanbase: The Crossbow. It’s an upgraded version of the bow, one with bolts that travel faster and hit harder, but when you need to reload, you have to press the action key to place a bolt in the chamber, then again to fire (We could have this just be on Link’s back over his back-pack). Can anyone say bomb-bolts?

The second item I want is the…well, no, I just want an additional feature to the Hookshot. Do you recall the grappling hook from WW? I kinda want a function like that. Like you’d be hanging off the ceiling, and then you can start swinging like your on a rope. Chain, rope…not that much different. Oh, and give us the ability to repel off the wall with our Hookshot, like you can with modern mountaineering equipment. Repelling is fun.

Quote edited for the sake of honesty.

Now for the next item that I could think of is the…well, actually, let’s go with the Short Sword, or some-such. He starts out with it at the beginning of his adventure. Since over the course of the story, eventually, Link would get big enough for a bigger sword (like the Master Sword). He’d still be able to use this, but it’d be a faster, alternate weapon. When he gets the Master Sword, this one would be worn on the hip, and the MS on the back.

The last item I could think of is the Fist. I say we toss out the concept that Link can’t attack without a sword and give him fisticuffs. But it’s like really weak, only a three hit combo and little damage. But you can de-equip your sword to use it, so that’s something!

Now, I’m debating with the concept of magic, like say Farore’s Wind. On one hand, it makes sense that Link would have it, as he’s Farore’s chosen Hero and would probably be able to manipulate Farore’s chosen element (wind). On the other hand, I want FW to be completely retooled, and not just something to let us warp in and out and in between dungeons. I suggest upping it’s power and give it more things for us to do, but if it does what I want it to do, than it’ll make the ‘Gale Wings’ (or whatever their called) obsolete because I think we should give that function to FW.

The first capability of FW is, of course, warping. To do this, you simply go to the map screen and select the area you want to warp too. Then you warp to there. Incidentally, you can warp between rooms, but you have to have been to the room first, and you have to have been on the relevant floor (because some rooms transcend floors).

The second capability of FW would be the ability to change the wind’s direction, like WW, but different. Different in the respect that you go to the map screen and select the compass in the bottom left corner of the screen to change the direction of the wind.

The third capability of FW would be the hurricane. When you’re standing around, not ‘L-targeting’ and you activate FW, Link thrusts his fist into the air with his Tri-Force glowing, and a powerful tornado envelops Link, sending everything within Sword distance flying. It will literally pick up enemies and throw them (Iron Knuckles are immune due to their heavy armor, but if you could take that off…) There’s a bar near the bottom of the screen, when that runs out, you can’t Hurricane until it’s full.

The fourth capability is the Gale. While L-targeting, you activate FW. You put your hands forward and with your Tri-force glowing, a surge of wind blows forward, picking the enemy up and thrusting him away from you. Again, there’s a bar down near the center of the screen and when that runs out, you can’t Gale or Hurricane until it’s full (and again, Iron Knuckles are immune due to their heavy armor).

The fifth capability is the exact same thing as the ‘Gale Wings’, you activate it when you jump off a ledge and your gliding in wings made up of green and gold energy. You can hold the button for FW down for a turbo, but that makes the bar at the bottom go away much faster. If it runs out, you drop from the sky, but you can re-activate it to help soften your fall. After using this, the bar comes back slower than if you used Hurricane or Gale.

Those are just ideas, and I’m debating weather or not we want to get rid of the ‘Gale Wings’. I think you should get this as a ‘blessing’ from Farore, instead of when you get the Triforce of Courage. Like say you get the various capabilities by completing something like the Cave of Ordeals and it’s revealed that fairies are disciples of Farore (aka why they help you) and as you complete sections (complete with the most intense mini-bosses you have ever seen) you get capabilities.

But here’s a treat I think would not go awry. Say you’ve beaten Gannondorf in the game, and it gives you the opportunity to start over again, ala Wind Waker. You go “aw what the heck” and go for it. When you start the game…you check your inventory and it turns out that you’ve started with the Triforce of Power. Yes, by beating Gannondorf, you have obtained his most treasured possession.

First capability: When you activate the Triforce of Power without ‘L-targeting’, your weapon bursts into flames. It does more damage and might have increased range. I dunno.

Second capability: When you’re ‘L-targeting’, you can charge up a Fireball and launch it toward and enemy. When it hits, it detonates like a bomb and knocks the enemy back and does damage.

Third Capability: The Triforce can combine with your bombs to create a bomb-mask like effect, except with out the damage to yourself and an increased radius and damage to the enemy. It still takes up a bomb, though.

And say when you’ve done this, Gannondorf has some different dialogue with you as he can sense his triangle and he can’t use magic this time through (he makes up for it with serious awesome sword moves).

And that is all I’ve got. Agree with me on anything? Got your own preferences as to how the next game should be? Post and comment!

Another 2.0 paper that’s just like the sequel, only better. It makes more sense this time, as I have some suggestions the general fan base would actually go for. Also, this proposal is for the game after the one that’s going to be show cased at E3 2010. Now without further ado…

The first thing I want to talk about is story in general. In the past games, we’ve had our typical tale: Gannondorf attacks, Link gets pulled into conflict, Link gets Master Sword, Link kills Gannondorf, lather, rinse, repeat.

Now despite previous gripes that I have, this isn’t a bad thing unless Gannondorf is helplessly tacked onto the end while we groan in annoyance. I say that we need to…reconstruct the premise a little bit. In Wind Waker, he started out as a kid and remained a kid. In Twilight Princess he was in his late teens and remained there. In Ocarina of Time, he started out as a kid and became an adult through time-travel.

Now, I like the transition from kid to adult, but it’s pulled off all wrong in OoT. We immediately go from kid to adult after three dungeons and the change is very abrupt. I think that maybe we could have him get gradually older by completing dungeons. Like when we beat the boss fight and warp out, Link’s model is slightly older, taller, Ect. Ect. After a certain amount of dungeons, Link is a guy in his late teens! The story could focus on that a couple of times that Link is growing up. He’s becoming an adult…which is a part of what Zelda is about.

I have to disagree here. I think OoT's time-travel worked rather well. The way it was set up allowed players to switch back and forth between adult Link and young Link. You could go back and get things you missed this way, not to mention the magic beans you planted as a kid, then rode to a heart piece as an adult. And I rather liked having to switch back and forth at certain points in the game. The way you are suggesting would not have worked for OoT.

However, I could see it working in a future game, which is what you are ultimately implying. It would show Link's growth as he beats dungeon after perilous dungeon.

Now let’s think about what Gannondorf’s role in this is. In the past, he was indirectly involved in some horrid tragedy that affects Link in a way that makes him set out. But I think…what if Gannondorf was directly involved? Yeah, like if he was present while a large group of Bokogoblins raided Link’s village or something. Link sees him, ties him to the attack and he runs off after him, the fate of Link’s loved ones unknown. The reason I say this is because WW Link is the most emotionally vested in defeating Gannondorf. I want to duplicate that, make Link a more real person.

This is a very good idea, one that should not be taken lightly. In some games, such as OoT, Link had no real motive. Instead, he just did what people told him to. Half the time, he didn't even know what was going on, but rather, had it explained to him as he progressed. OoT's plot would have been a lot better (*gasp*) if he had a real reason for doing the things he did, other than someone telling him to do it.

Another thing I want the plot to do is to focus on the role of the Triforce. I mean, it’s clear what it gives Gannondorf and Zelda, but what about Link? Every time he gets it, he stops being a scared little boy…and becomes quite awesome. But what else does it give him? I don’t think it gives him incredible sword experience (sans the secret moves in TP), but I do believe that it gives him incredible balance and agility (sans the flips). I would like to know, really, if bearing the Triforce makes him a Demigod. That’s my pet theory, and I think it’s kind of plausible, really.

I don't know about a Demigod (not that it's necessarily a bad idea), but I do believe that Link's Triforce of Courage should do more than it does. Ganon(dorf) gets power, Zelda becomes knowledgeable, but Link just mostly has it for looks, it seems. The Triforce plays a huge role in Zelda, and is indeed part of what makes Zelda what it is. The fact that Link gets so little from it is irritating in this sense.

Building up on the Gannondorf roles section above, I would like to get a bit more into what Link’s relationship with the people of his village (city block?) is. I liked Orca a lot. I mean…I really liked Orca. I liked all of Outset because I felt a little bit of Link’s connection to them. So, again, I want to see more of that in the next game.

Yet another good point. TP did have this, but a lot of other games didn't. Link's relationship with the village/city/whatever's people plays an important role. It helps us connect with Link, which is a factor in any game you play.

The next thing I want to discuss/talk about is the gaming environment. Now I have…hinted (with the subtlety of a falling city) that I want a futuristic Zelda. I don’t think that could work for the next Zelda game. Maybe for the one after that, but not the next one. Let’s keep the Medieval theme for just a few more games.

One thing I'd like to say about this is that we may end up with a futuristic Zelda in the future. It's possible, especially with the turn TWW/PH/ST are taking. In TWW, we sail the seas with a small boat and a sail. In PH, we get a bigger boat with an engine. And in ST we will be getting a train. These technological advances hint at the possibility of even more technology in future games. However, one thing to note is that it's important the changes stay subtle, and don't take too big a leap, as it gives a smoother transition.

But I do, however, want a bigger sense of Hyrule as a nation. Remember in Link’s Adventure (I like that game) when there was lots and lots of towns? I kinda want that. I wanna big Hyrulian continent, and I wanna see where Gannondorf has his massive empire established. I want to see towns that have suffered from Gerudo bandit raids. I wanna see ship ports with ships that really go out into the ocean!

This is a good point as well. A bigger environment means more exploration and such, which is one of the things I like about Zelda games. Also, the word "empire" is just awesome, so you get kudos!

Also, in environment, I have to include a short section on dungeons. Now, the traditional dungeon, go here, beat boss, get item, repeat. Now, I don’t think we should throw that formula away, I just think we should make it harder to see. Like say we head off into the forest, looking for the ‘stock McGuffin item number 2’ we come to a cliff. After circumventing that, we come to another road block, then another, until we finally realize that we’ve been in a dungeon the whole time we’ve been in the forest! The forest is the dungeon! The boss would be in a small pond or something. That’s what I want. I want the dungeon to feel like I’m not in a dungeon (save for a few temples; Those are necessary to maintain the feel of Zelda, I think). That way it feels a whole breath of fresh-air, and a little non-linear. Yeah.

What I like about this idea is that it would be something new and fresh for both old fans and new fans of Zelda. It would provide new experiences with the Zelda series. I would like it, other fans would likely approve as well.

The next thing I want to talk about is graphics. Now don’t get me wrong, I think the graphics in Twilight Princess looked fine. They conveyed all the emotion the creators wanted to convey, but there are a couple things I thought were lacking, and these might just be (they are) nitpicks.

You know the fancy sword moves that Link pulls off? You know that really cool sword twirly-thing that Link does when you press the put-away button at the exact right time after killing a monster? Okay, now how many times did you do it before you got ridiculously tired of it? About six times, huh? Now let’s say…suddenly, when you press the button out of boredom, he did a different twirly thing? Not better, just different? What if the next time he did a different one than the previous one? I’m saying there should be multiple sword twirly animations for Link putting away his sword. Like maybe three or four different ones. Yeah.

Yup, I've never payed much attention to that, but you propose a good idea. Not only would it give players something new to look at, but it would show that the producers care for Zelda as a game.

Hey, do you remember back in OoT (or maybe just Majora’s Mask) where, if you stood still long enough, Link would kinda practice with his sword? Now flash to WW and TP. He doesn’t do that anymore! He just kicks dirt off of his boots! I want the cooler idle animations back (I know that’s a dumb complaint, but I thought it was pretty cool). I want more of them too…like say Link would sit down and whistle a song or play one on the instrument he has. I think more idle animations would give Link a bit more personality as far as that goes.

I have never noticed this, but what you say rings true. Again, another thing that would show the producers care about Zelda as a game, as well as something to watch when you're, say, looking something up, or explaining something to someone, and Link's just standing there.

Also, I’d like to see where Link keeps all of his items. Like give him a back-pack or something that he takes items out. Get rid of the sword-sheath, that thing doesn’t really make sense. Give Link a buckle on his back instead, thus helping us make sense of how Link puts his sword away. You could also put a quiver on his back, visually showing us where Link keeps his arrows and how many he has left.

This is one thing I'm not so sure about. I've always liked the idea of Link having magical pockets or something. Plus, all that on his back would give a more clustered, crowded feeling to Link. There's simply too much to show. Backpack, quiver, sheath/buckle, and shield would be a lot to draw and animate. I've always been fine with the "cleaner" look Link already has.

Also, have you ever seen an item float above your hand when you 'pick it up'? No. I wanna see Link actually holding the items he takes out of chests for once. But that's just me.

It never mattered much to me, but it would be fun to see that.

Last thing that I want to see is the actual effects of being wounded. I want to see Link panting after taking a few hits, and gashes and tears in Links armor and tunic when he’s close to death. Might show a bit more when Link is close to death, and it’d be better than that irritating beeping sound that resounds when you’re down to three hearts or lower. And I think it should have a definite effect on how Link behaves as far as animations go. He running could be labored, he could be panting excessively, you know. It’d help me get into the game.

I remember a thread on this, or something very similar to this, once. Some scratches, torn clothing, etc. wouldn't hurt at all, and give a more realistic feel to the game.

Now for the most important part: The game-play.

Now, I want the games to be much harder. I mean, I want to be dying about 10% more than I normally do in Zelda. The first thing I want to see gone in Zelda is the hearts. No not the twenty hearts that define how much health you have left, I mean the hearts that appear after you cut grass that restore a heart. I want them gone (or turned into a cookie you can get at the village bakery). Because that is factor number one in what makes the games easier: the fact that we can get our health back after a battle by seeking the nearest clump of cut-able grass. Usually, we get three or four of them when we cut grass, which makes it worse. Getting rid of the hearts for good would heighten the priority of health potions and having fairies. I also think fairies should be a lot rarer.

This is very important. I'll occasionally find myself in a situation where you're needed to put something in a bottle for something-or-other, and all my bottles are already full of fairies, potions, etc. So I have to waste one. That's not only pointless, but shows there's no real priority for these things in the first place. As long as there are pots, grass, skulls, etc. nearby, you're set! This really should have something done about it.

Another thing I want is for the enemies to do a little bit more damage. Without hearts, we shouldn’t make it too much more damage, but enough to make it a priority to not get hit. I also want AI’s to be better so they actually stand a chance, so they know when to flee. And so they know how to fight in close quarters so we’re not utterly wailing upon them…they know how to fight (at least in the later stages in the game, when we know how to fight as well).

Now this is important, as well. Enemies are generally easy. It's a fact of Zelda life. There are a very few exceptions, such as Dark Nuts and Iron Knuckles. The rest, however, require no thought, let alone skill. It gets to the point of pathetic in the later dungeons when you're still sweeping through waves of monsters with no real problem.

Don’t forget that placement has a big effect on how hard individual encounters are! A single well placed enemy could make all the difference of changing a fairly easy encounter to a near impossible one.

Yep. Most monsters you run across are sitting there, waiting to be killed. This is another factor that gets pathetic at later points in the game.

But there is something new I want to add. Let’s call it the Armor Mechanic, I think. When you start the game, you have three hearts as per normal. But over the course of the game (before the first boss), you get a piece of armor, like say the chain shirt. That adds a ‘shield’ (working title) underneath the heart meter, which also has four ‘quarters’. Now, this chain shirt stops a quarter of ‘heart damage’ and replaces it with a quarter of ‘shield damage’, dropping a quarter of the shield instead. And throughout Link’s adventure, he’ll find more pieces of armor to go with it (boots, shoulders, gauntlets, a breast plate…) thus adding more shields until we have five.

You may think this is just adding another heart bar. That’s not true. The armor that Link has can only block one shield worth of heart damage before Link actually takes heart damage (or maybe we can make the damage localized depending on area). Maybe the armor can be upgraded to block more heart damage. Maybe. Like all of Link’s armor gets upgraded to a higher quality of steel (or gets made magic by a fairy).

And I do rather like this idea as well. Let's face it, you face armored monsters every now and again, and have trouble damaging them at times, whereas they can just slice you up with no problem. Well, the armor idea gives those guys a taste of their own medicine, ya?

Anyway, another thing I want to talk about is sword fighting. Yeah, the secret moves were cool, but I think Nintendo should emphasize another mechanic. The one that allows Link to change the direction of which way he’s swinging while L targeting (or whatever it is on the Wii). I think Nintendo could use that to let us get around enemies who can block Links attacks, thus adding another dimension to sword combat. I honestly think it can work.

This is -somewhat- similar to the backstrike in TP, in the sense that you get behind them, but is a good idea nonetheless.

Another thing I must add concerns the sword fighting in general. The Wii has a little something called the Wii remote, and a sensor bar which senses its direction, location, etc. This could easily be applied in the sword fighting. It would give you more control over the sword, as well as make it feel a lot more realistic, and really put you in the game. This would be really awesome, as long as it's done correctly.

Here’s a quote from a previous paper on the usage of stealth mechanics.

Link is going through a dungeon when he walks into a room. On the floor are two moblins, and above is a door and an archer bokogoblin. After quickly dispatching of the two moblins, Link is faced with a problem. He can’t kill the bokogoblin because he doesn’t have the bow and there’s no ladder up.
Quickly circling around the room as he dodges fire arrows, he finds no way up. Frustrated, he exits the room. He starts to look around when beside the room entrance; he sees a series of ledges.
Curious, he climbs the ledges and comes to a hole in the wall just large enough to crawl through. He climbs in and crawls through it to see where it leads. What he finds is…the ledge he couldn’t get up to earlier due to the lack of a ladder. Link quickly disposes of the bokogoblin and heads through the door.

There, does that help? The only reason I wanted the stealth mechanics back (besides the obvious) was so the designers could really revolutionize dungeon design and layout. They could make a serious death labyrinth with mechanics like these but they chose to ignore them and their dungeons suffered for it. (Snow Peak was still cool though).

You wouldn’t have to have stuck to the shadows, really, because Link is a warrior. He ain’t no pansy, friend. And if you think this would get rid of the purpose of locked doors, they could just switch between the two. Oh, and if you’re still not convinced, I have two words for you: Locked. Chest.
I stand by this suggestion, and with open-ended dungeons, it would be even better than ever!

I stand by it as well. Stealth could be really cool in a Zelda game.

Something I suggested above in the graphics section is having Link be shown cut, gashed and bleeding. That would also put an emphasis on how necessary health potions are, as opposed to previous games, where I never used them. I instead would be packing dozens of them. Also, I think you should have to pay money to get your armor repaired. That way it’s sparkling new, and we’re better protected for our adventures!

I like this idea, as should many others. It's been discussed before that there are simply too many rupees and nothing to spend them on. It's really easy to get a surplus of rupees, and then you have the problem of throwing away new money you get needlessly. This would fix that problem, as it would need to be done periodically.

Now for items. I’ve gone through this extensively in previous papers, and you can find my ideas for items here (don’t forget to put a link here), but I’ll rehash them for you, partially because I’ve edited them somewhat.

The first item is the ‘GaleWings’ or something (trying to come up with a better title). This is an actual equipable item, as opposed to the Ooccoo armor that I proposed last time, which had to be equipped like an armor set.

When Link equips the armor, he has a pair of white and gold wings strapped to his arms, and a pair of tail-like things on his boots, as well as an eagle-like metal helmet on his head.

When he jumps off of a ledge and press’s the action button (which I think is universally ‘A’), he starts gliding. When he tips downward, he gains speed, but goes down. When he tips up, he goes up but he loses speed. There’s a bar near the bottom of the screen. When that empties (after about, say, three minutes) the magic making the wings glide runs out of power and he starts dropping. He can still glide, just at a severely changed speed/fall rate ratio (that’s in favor of falling rather than speed) until he sinks to the ground completely.

And this could easily be combined with FW (below). They could be two separate items, easily, and just have one affect the other. So you change the wind direction with FW, then take out the Gale Wings and fly off. Both items could easily be granted by Farore, at different times, or at the same time, depending.

The next item is, again, a compromise between me and the devoted (crazed) fanbase: The Crossbow. It’s an upgraded version of the bow, one with bolts that travel faster and hit harder, but when you need to reload, you have to press the action key to place a bolt in the chamber, then again to fire (We could have this just be on Link’s back over his back-pack). Can anyone say bomb-bolts?

I do like this idea. And, again, it could one day get to the point of a gun (not saying it will/should/shouldn't, just that it might).

The second item I want is the…well, no, I just want an additional feature to the Hookshot. Do you recall the grappling hook from WW? I kinda want a function like that. Like you’d be hanging off the ceiling, and then you can start swinging like your on a rope. Chain, rope…not that much different. Oh, and give us the ability to repel off the wall with our Hookshot, like you can with modern mountaineering equipment. Repelling is fun.
Quote edited for the sake of honesty.

This idea is just awesome. Need more be said?

Now for the next item that I could think of is the…well, actually, let’s go with the Short Sword, or some-such. He starts out with it at the beginning of his adventure. Since over the course of the story, eventually, Link would get big enough for a bigger sword (like the Master Sword). He’d still be able to use this, but it’d be a faster, alternate weapon. When he gets the Master Sword, this one would be worn on the hip, and the MS on the back.

I like this idea as well. This way, you could use the short sword for the trash monsters, and the Master Sword for the serious ones.

The last item I could think of is the Fist. I say we toss out the concept that Link can’t attack without a sword and give him fisticuffs. But it’s like really weak, only a three hit combo and little damage. But you can de-equip your sword to use it, so that’s something!

At this point, this item is kind of useless, in my opinion. Sword > fists really, so why would he have to revert to this, unless he loses his sword, of course?

Now, I’m debating with the concept of magic, like say Farore’s Wind. On one hand, it makes sense that Link would have it, as he’s Farore’s chosen Hero and would probably be able to manipulate Farore’s chosen element (wind). On the other hand, I want FW to be completely retooled, and not just something to let us warp in and out and in between dungeons. I suggest upping it’s power and give it more things for us to do, but if it does what I want it to do, than it’ll make the ‘Gale Wings’ (or whatever their called) obsolete because I think we should give that function to FW.

The first capability of FW is, of course, warping. To do this, you simply go to the map screen and select the area you want to warp too. Then you warp to there. Incidentally, you can warp between rooms, but you have to have been to the room first, and you have to have been on the relevant floor (because some rooms transcend floors).

The second capability of FW would be the ability to change the wind’s direction, like WW, but different. Different in the respect that you go to the map screen and select the compass in the bottom left corner of the screen to change the direction of the wind.

The third capability of FW would be the hurricane. When you’re standing around, not ‘L-targeting’ and you activate FW, Link thrusts his fist into the air with his Tri-Force glowing, and a powerful tornado envelops Link, sending everything within Sword distance flying. It will literally pick up enemies and throw them (Iron Knuckles are immune due to their heavy armor, but if you could take that off…) There’s a bar near the bottom of the screen, when that runs out, you can’t Hurricane until it’s full.

The fourth capability is the Gale. While L-targeting, you activate FW. You put your hands forward and with your Tri-force glowing, a surge of wind blows forward, picking the enemy up and thrusting him away from you. Again, there’s a bar down near the center of the screen and when that runs out, you can’t Gale or Hurricane until it’s full (and again, Iron Knuckles are immune due to their heavy armor).

The fifth capability is the exact same thing as the ‘Gale Wings’, you activate it when you jump off a ledge and your gliding in wings made up of green and gold energy. You can hold the button for FW down for a turbo, but that makes the bar at the bottom go away much faster. If it runs out, you drop from the sky, but you can re-activate it to help soften your fall. After using this, the bar comes back slower than if you used Hurricane or Gale.

And again, a compromise can be made with FW and the Gale Wings, as stated above. It's a good idea, really.

But here’s a treat I think would not go awry. Say you’ve beaten Gannondorf in the game, and it gives you the opportunity to start over again, ala Wind Waker. You go “aw what the heck” and go for it. When you start the game…you check your inventory and it turns out that you’ve started with the Triforce of Power. Yes, by beating Gannondorf, you have obtained his most treasured possession.

First capability: When you activate the Triforce of Power without ‘L-targeting’, your weapon bursts into flames. It does more damage and might have increased range. I dunno.

Second capability: When you’re ‘L-targeting’, you can charge up a Fireball and launch it toward and enemy. When it hits, it detonates like a bomb and knocks the enemy back and does damage.

Third Capability: The Triforce can combine with your bombs to create a bomb-mask like effect, except with out the damage to yourself and an increased radius and damage to the enemy. It still takes up a bomb, though.

The first sounds a lot like what the red fairy in PH (forget name) does when it reaches level two. Nonetheless, I like the idea. It would make Link stronger, and give the Triforce the role it needs in a Zelda game.

And say when you’ve done this, Gannondorf has some different dialogue with you as he can sense his triangle and he can’t use magic this time through (he makes up for it with serious awesome sword moves).

And that is all I’ve got. Agree with me on anything? Got your own preferences as to how the next game should be? Post and comment!

Yet another good idea. Make Ganondorf harder, so that Link has to use his Triforce of Power, and apply good strategy. An alternate ending is good for replayability, in my opinion.

As for my ideas, I really think Nintendo should consider difficulty levels. This way, new gamers and veterans, or hard-core gamers, alike can be happy.

Originally Posted by LinkdOOd110

I have to disagree here. I think OoT's time-travel worked rather well. The way it was set up allowed players to switch back and forth between adult Link and young Link. You could go back and get things you missed this way, not to mention the magic beans you planted as a kid, then rode to a heart piece as an adult. And I rather liked having to switch back and forth at certain points in the game. The way you are suggesting would not have worked for OoT.

However, I could see it working in a future game, which is what you are ultimately implying. It would show Link's growth as he beats dungeon after perilous dungeon.

Perhaps it would've, it might've...it just felt a little awkward to me.

This is a very good idea, one that should not be taken lightly. In some games, such as OoT, Link had no real motive. Instead, he just did what people told him to. Half the time, he didn't even know what was going on, but rather, had it explained to him as he progressed. OoT's plot would have been a lot better (*gasp*) if he had a real reason for doing the things he did, other than someone telling him to do it.

Yes, that's what I felt as well. Sadly, some people like Link's status as an avatar, and that might hinder efforts to get this through. Espescially if they think the secondary characters are annoying.

I don't know about a Demigod (not that it's necessarily a bad idea), but I do believe that Link's Triforce of Courage should do more than it does. Ganon(dorf) gets power, Zelda becomes knowledgeable, but Link just mostly has it for looks, it seems. The Triforce plays a huge role in Zelda, and is indeed part of what makes Zelda what it is. The fact that Link gets so little from it is irritating in this sense.

Extremely irritating. Espescially after TWW's Triforce hunt. I gather all of those pieces, spent so much rupees and what'd I get? A great big stinking load of nothing except a door to the next 'plot area'.

Yet another good point. TP did have this, but a lot of other games didn't. Link's relationship with the village/city/whatever's people plays an important role. It helps us connect with Link, which is a factor in any game you play.

It's a factor in every game you play. It's why I like games with good story over those who don't have a story/don't have a good one.

One thing I'd like to say about this is that we may end up with a futuristic Zelda in the future. It's possible, especially with the turn TWW/PH/ST are taking. In TWW, we sail the seas with a small boat and a sail. In PH, we get a bigger boat with an engine. And in ST we will be getting a train. These technological advances hint at the possibility of even more technology in future games. However, one thing to note is that it's important the changes stay subtle, and don't take too big a leap, as it gives a smoother transition.

Maybe a Futuristic Zelda? Yay! The only problem I see is that the game is going to be hand-held only. I don't like Hand-held.

This is a good point as well. A bigger environment means more exploration and such, which is one of the things I like about Zelda games. Also, the word "empire" is just awesome, so you get kudos!

Kudos is good candy. :p

What I like about this idea is that it would be something new and fresh for both old fans and new fans of Zelda. It would provide new experiences with the Zelda series. I would like it, other fans would likely approve as well.

Yes. Yes indeed, and I think that Nintendo would benifit from it, so there's no reason not to do it.

Yup, I've never payed much attention to that, but you propose a good idea. Not only would it give players something new to look at, but it would show that the producers care for Zelda as a game.


I have never noticed this, but what you say rings true. Again, another thing that would show the producers care about Zelda as a game, as well as something to watch when you're, say, looking something up, or explaining something to someone, and Link's just standing there.

Exactly! I want to care about Link as a person, who gets bored about things just like I do, not just stands there!

This is one thing I'm not so sure about. I've always liked the idea of Link having magical pockets or something. Plus, all that on his back would give a more clustered, crowded feeling to Link. There's simply too much to show. Backpack, quiver, sheath/buckle, and shield would be a lot to draw and animate. I've always been fine with the "cleaner" look Link already has.

Perhaps, but this is one of the less serious suggestions...something I would've liked to see. But I don't think it would be 'super bulged' up from items. Make it a magic back-pack! I just want a clearer sense of where Link get's his items...so that I don't stop every five seconds and wonder weather or not Link has total command over hammer-space.

It never mattered much to me, but it would be fun to see that.

Though I suppose it's a Hylian super-power, making things float when you pick them up. Ilia did the same thing when handing you the whistle she made. I thought it looked touching and rediculous at the same time.

I remember a thread on this, or something very similar to this, once. Some scratches, torn clothing, etc. wouldn't hurt at all, and give a more realistic feel to the game.

I visited said thread. I got the idea from it. Nice to know that the community pitches in on my papers!

This is very important. I'll occasionally find myself in a situation where you're needed to put something in a bottle for something-or-other, and all my bottles are already full of fairies, potions, etc. So I have to waste one. That's not only pointless, but shows there's no real priority for these things in the first place. As long as there are pots, grass, skulls, etc. nearby, you're set! This really should have something done about it.

Yes. And this is something the next Zelda game cannot live without. It needs difficulty to give me something to genually focus on. I'm thinking about these papers while wailing on enemies. And if I have enough time to think a something this size through due to ease in combat, there's a problem. This is what made the Cave of Ordeals so difficult: Very few to no hearts.

Now this is important, as well. Enemies are generally easy. It's a fact of Zelda life. There are a very few exceptions, such as Dark Nuts and Iron Knuckles. The rest, however, require no thought, let alone skill. It gets to the point of pathetic in the later dungeons when you're still sweeping through waves of monsters with no real problem.

Total agreement. I think Zelda life needs a change in this regard...just as long as they don't become NintendoHard.

Yep. Most monsters you run across are sitting there, waiting to be killed. This is another factor that gets pathetic at later points in the game.

Quoted for truth.

And I do rather like this idea as well. Let's face it, you face armored monsters every now and again, and have trouble damaging them at times, whereas they can just slice you up with no problem. Well, the armor idea gives those guys a taste of their own medicine, ya?

It's that line of thinking I support. (Or at least it's one of them).

This is -somewhat- similar to the backstrike in TP, in the sense that you get behind them, but is a good idea nonetheless.

Another thing I must add concerns the sword fighting in general. The Wii has a little something called the Wii remote, and a sensor bar which senses its direction, location, etc. This could easily be applied in the sword fighting. It would give you more control over the sword, as well as make it feel a lot more realistic, and really put you in the game. This would be really awesome, as long as it's done correctly.

Nintendo makes good games. So if this was implimented, they'd do a good job, I think.

I stand by it as well. Stealth could be really cool in a Zelda game.

At least as long as it's being used more and more intuitively than in WW (which is what I'm getting at). That would be cool.

I like this idea, as should many others. It's been discussed before that there are simply too many rupees and nothing to spend them on. It's really easy to get a surplus of rupees, and then you have the problem of throwing away new money you get needlessly. This would fix that problem, as it would need to be done periodically.

Absolutely. I agree with you.

And this could easily be combined with FW (below). They could be two separate items, easily, and just have one affect the other. So you change the wind direction with FW, then take out the Gale Wings and fly off. Both items could easily be granted by Farore, at different times, or at the same time, depending.

Both being granted by Farore? Love it. Awesome.

I do like this idea. And, again, it could one day get to the point of a gun (not saying it will/should/shouldn't, just that it might).

Doing our best to avoid a serious debate like last time, eh? I'm cool with that. We need to be friends. I'm glad you agree, in any case.

This idea is just awesome. Need more be said?

Nothing more need be said. The truth is enough.

I like this idea as well. This way, you could use the short sword for the trash monsters, and the Master Sword for the serious ones.

That's a good idea.

At this point, this item is kind of useless, in my opinion. Sword > fists really, so why would he have to revert to this, unless he loses his sword, of course?

If Link gets captured, he ain't going to have his sword...which is what I was getting at. I should've made that more clear, though. Thanks for helping me catch that.

And again, a compromise can be made with FW and the Gale Wings, as stated above. It's a good idea, really.

And again, I agree. Make them combine-able like Bomb Arrows.

The first sounds a lot like what the red fairy in PH (forget name) does when it reaches level two. Nonetheless, I like the idea. It would make Link stronger, and give the Triforce the role it needs in a Zelda game.

You know, considering the important role that the Triforce has, you'd think that Nintendo would've expanded on it's role and effect on Link before now.

Yet another good idea. Make Ganondorf harder, so that Link has to use his Triforce of Power, and apply good strategy. An alternate ending is good for replayability, in my opinion.

Yes, I think an AE would be good as well.

As for my ideas, I really think Nintendo should consider difficulty levels. This way, new gamers and veterans, or hard-core gamers, alike can be happy.

I meant to put that in the paper myself. Shame I forgot.

I think all these ideas are pretty good. I've actually implemented in one of my ideas (Check sig).

For me, the next thing I want to see is graphics and overworld. The overworld is good for me, when you can just ride around it for the sake of looking the views. Also more cities, and people too.

I also would like more difficulty. More difficult enemies, and more sofisitcated AI. For my idea on AI, it would take reference on Links moves. So if you battle well, the AI for the enemies would be higher. This could prove to be intresting.

Im glad your not developing the next Zelda xD Some ideas are great tho. But some of your ideas are basically trying to change what makes zelda, Zelda. Example floating discovered items

I would like to see the quiver when he is using the bow, but when he isn't I want it to disappear too.

I want to see dungeon design that makes me think. I enjoyed the Water Temple. I enjoyed the first three temples in MM, because they made me think, and I'm more than certain that I'll enjoy the last dungeon.

I want to be stumped. This only happened once, in TP, and it was for the wrong reason.

edited thread title for clarification

Originally Posted by Hombre de Mundo

edited thread title for clarification

Thank you, sir.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by OneTwo

Im glad your not developing the next Zelda xD Some ideas are great tho. But some of your ideas are basically trying to change what makes zelda, Zelda. Example floating discovered items

Oh no, Mr. Pansy Man! The items in Zelda don't float any more! It's not Zelda anymore! It's a cheap lookalike!!!!!!1111!!!11!! Yeah, sure. That's not Zelda anymore than Metroid's gaming mechanics making sense would make it any less Metroid. Dig?

I would like them to bring back the classic 2D sprite game (eg. MC, LTTP,FS) and bring back Vaati and the oracles (Din, Naru and Farore)

Originally Posted by Jehidest Ducks

I would like them to bring back the classic 2D sprite game (eg. MC, LTTP,FS) and bring back Vaati and the oracles (Din, Naru and Farore)

Ummmmm...what?

EDIT: Okay, sure...but only for hand helds.