Behind the Rupees: GDC Trailer

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of lord-of-shadow's BtR article, GDC Trailer.

I'd like to copy what I had put in the Comments area, and add another comment in the middle of it:

It's hard for ANY game to be perfect, even a Zelda game.

I think this is an appropriate article, considering our high expectations of LOZGC. I think it's better that we're brought back down to earth now before the game comes out than for us to be disappointed come Christmas. Hype, as much as we want to do it, can be a bad thing sometimes, especially when the game is released and it falls short of the standards of near-perfection that we set.
Shoot, chances are some of those flaws l-o-s mentioned will be fixed by the release date.

I commend you for writing that article l-o-s, it was very informative.

Of course, Zelda still owns all and I still can't wait for the release of the game.

Alright, let’s get this ornery nit-pick out of the way first:
Grey is not synonymous with bland and can indeed be stylistic. I present Schindler’s List as evidence and rest my case. However, whether or not grey is a desirable style for a Zelda game is arguable. Regardless grey and bland is never a good thing, and I have to agree with you on Hyrule Field. But Nintendo has to have learned lessons from Wind Waker. There’s no way they’d recreate the great sea, except this time with ‘grass.’ Right? And the enemies? I agree there too, especially that spider. I don’t know, seeing the realistic spider and not a skulltulla or a tectite or whatnot... it just felt awkward and out of place, it was really the only disappointing feature I notice when I watched the trailer for the first time giddy with fanboy anticipation, and remains my least favorite part in the trailer.

Wow, I can’t keep on track can I... ok... back to grey. I thought grey coupled with more defined, possibly even exaggerated, lighting effects, was one of the more stylistic elements to the game. Much portrayed environmental design was relatively bland based off geography alone. Without dramatic lighting I think many of the scenes would have been boring, adding too much color would have minimized this effect, and I’m not so sure color would have improved the setting. It would have in Hyrule field, but for the sake of immersion and verisimilitude, you can’t go drastically changing the color scheme just because you’ve left the woods and are now in a big field.

And I couldn’t disagree with you more on the scene with Doshin (I like Doshin better than “giant” or “statue” or “that mossy thing”... so basically I’m stealing the name...hope you don’t mind ) . I suppose it probably boils down to our disagreement on dramatic lighting because I think this scene is absolutely gorgeous, probably my favorite in the trailer... yes actually, I just watched the trailer thru again, it is my favorite scene. There’s just something so fantastical and magnificent about that sun-drenched room, hidden in the deepest part of the forest (that’s my unfounded guess ). And boy are you looking mighty fine today Doshin, let’s hope your more than just a statue, because I’d sure be disappointed to not see you roaming this sacred sector of the forest that you have sworn to protect. Gliding about, feet dissolving into the ground from which you draw your essence. Oh yes, Doshin, I have high hopes for you, you better not disappoint.

Ahem, that was a little strange, my apologies. Anywho, excellent article, it’s nice to see a critical eye analyze the trailer (even if I disagree with some of the criticism )

The first trailer showed off a more epic feel to Zelda than what I was used to. I liked it. Alot.

However, the game honestly looks just as vibrant as OoT was. Sure, it's not nearly as stylish or vibrant as WW, but few games are. When I heard the game wasn't going to be Cel-shaded I instantly knew it wouldn't be as vibrant as most games in the series.

The comment about the light bloom....hmm. Only one sreen kind of has a light bloom overkill. Light-bloom is usually used as a technique to hide bad textures and make the ploygon count look higher than what it is (think Prince of Persia.).

L-O-S appearantly really wants a Zelda game with open forests and non-linear enviroments unlike those found in OoT. From what I see here, this game looks to be the first in the series to have enviroments like that. The areas in this game look extremly open and exotic.

We can't forget that neither of the trailers displayed anything civilized. We've seen no towns, no other people, no houses, just Link fighting enemies. Because of that I think that we've yet to see the true atmosphere of this game.

About the enemies...

I chuckled when I read the comments about the Spider. I agree that the design is a little bland. I couldn't care less however. The skulltuals in the n64 games, altough truely stylish is design, were just not spider like at all. They came down on invisible strands of web, sat there, then revealed their weak spot and would occasionally knock you down with a spin. That doesn't sound anything like what you would expect a spider enemy to do. So while I agree that the spider in the trailer was generic looking, I'm happy to see a REAL spider enemy in Zelda at least.

The stalfos in the trailer. They looked fine to me. The only time I didn't find the stalfos to be generic skeleton warriors was in WW. I saw nothing unique about them in no other game. That said, it doesn't suprise me at all that the stalfos in this game look exactly like what they are.

We can't forget the moblin like enemy seen in the first trailer. It looks to fight just like the moblins did in WW....but, hey, the design for it is great at least.

GOHMA RETURNS!....Again. I REALLY like the way this Gohma looks which is like an update of the orginal gohma. Just look:



I never have my hopes to high for any game. I know this game will have flaws. They might just be minor flaws, but flaws still. No game is without flaw.

I know for a fact that come the end of the year, a number of the members her at ZU will find themselves *****ing about the game.

Me? I'm not worried. I've got a great deal of enjoyment out of every Zelda game.

I don't have a huge analysis of the trailer, but oh, well.

I personally like the darker look, although it's probably just the trailers that make it seem dark. I also like the LotR feeling this seems to have.

I think the enemies look good so far, but that's just me. That spider everyone's talking about doesn't make me think about Skulltullas or Tektites. I think that Zelda II's Deelers are back.

-IANVS

All the enemies in the trailor and screenshots seem much bigger than link.

This new upcoming Zelda does look pretty lifeless and boring in many scenes, while it looks colourful and more Zelda-like in other scenes.

I must admit I look forward to play this game, but it seems to have copied OoT. I'm willing to bet my Gamecube that we'll see plenty of things from OoT, such as the Lens of Truth and, as we already have seen, the Hylian shield. What next, the Hookshot and the Megaton Hammer? Anyone else starting to see the pattern with 3D Zelda games? They're all copying Ocarina of Time.

Still, the game isn't released yet, so I can't draw all these conclusions yet.

Now, time to discuss Shadow's article.

Speaking of lighting... That's quite the overkill there. Light bloom is bad. I'm very sorry to see that Nintendo has discovered it, and the fact that they decided to use it in Zelda of all things is even worse. I hope they tune that down a bit for the release.

I disagree. I like that, and besides I think the camera just happened to face the brightest part of the light/forest, and the camera won't zoom out as much as in that screenshot. There won't be any trouble with that.

And notice the little clumps of grass on the side. How much do you want to bet that we'll be able to slice those up? Actually, they look pretty scrawny to me. I don't think that slicing those insignificant little pieces of plant will pack the same sort of satisfaction that the ones in the 2D games, or the Wind Waker, did. Sad, really. Or maybe I'm just being way to nitpicky, take your pick.

I think you're being too nitpicky, it's just plants. I believe we'll see many sorts of plants and trees to cut down, not just one kind.

Some of those textures look pretty bad, though that is true of the game as a whole

Depends on which textures you mean... I think 85-90% of that screenshot has delicious textures. I don't think we should expect this game to be extremely good looking in terms of graphics, the Gamecube isn't that strong. Whatever, the graphics of a game rarely matter to me when I play it.

has anyone noticed that for most parts of the trailer Link seems to be fighting the undead

i like this new zelda style more than the others

I like this new look as well, but I think that they are going overboard with this new "dark" theme. Zelda games have never been so dark, this one looks kind off depressing because of this "dark" idea they are going after.

I agree on some things about the article, but definitely not all of them.

First of all, the graphics are what every zelda fan has wanted for a long time, and i haven't seen such detailed graphics in any game before.But then again i do see things i don't like, Like some textures that, no matter how many times i watch the trailer, seem a little simple to me.Some of the enemies do look very simple in design but not in detail, like the Ghoma,for example its an incredibly SPIDER, NOT a Ghoma, since the Ghoma in OOT looked a lot more unique,having only two legs, some kind of tail where tha eggs came out and all.........The jumping skulltula wasn't a skulltula, it was another simple looking spider which, if i'm not wrong had two big green eyes.

The Stalfos also look very simple to me, they're not like that ones in OOT and WW which had helmets, METAL SHIELDS, skirts, and more armor, but that might be just another type of Stalfo and there could be one that is some kind of army Stalfo, but Ooh well...time will tell.....................But other enemies do look great like the keeses, the dead boars, the green armo, deku babas, the baboon etc........

about the game being darker, that's stupid, because there could and probably will be nice and warm looking places like a town or a farm................it's just a trailer,there is still a lot more to show from the game, we have to wait for more, and, it is NINTENDO rebember? Mushroom kingdom, Yoshi...............

In the end, the game looks amazing but nintendo should still fix some minor things in the graphics, and if they don't, it'll still look amazing and i'm still gonna buy it.

Good article. Well done l_o_s maybe a bit more indepth talk about things such as triforce symbols but apart from that excellent. I liked the way you got opinionated but at the same time were willing to accept the other side of the argument. Big PLus Point For me. Well done on becoming a full member of B_T_R.

now about that one shot of where link is in the woods with the creature and the lense flare from the sun is so bright you can't see. there was a phrase in the analysis saying that they thought that he was either carrying a plant or a plant further on in the scene. but if you watch the trailer again you would notice that it's actually part of his hand. i'm guessing that it's some sort of tree like creature used as a guide for link at the least. what do you people think?

You're the only people on the internet that have issues with that trailer. Congrats.

A nicely done article lord-of-shadows. You were able to point out afew good topics of the trailer. I truly am hoping Nintendo will protray the game's "lighter side" during the E3 event. I'm not worried about the game being too dark, after seeing the cat scene in the trailer. Again good writing l-o-s.

Originally Posted by balohna

You're the only people on the internet that have issues with that trailer. Congrats.

Your point? What is that even supposed to mean? To be honest, it's good to see that SOMEBODY has issues with it.

^^^ agreed. if you have issues then you wont be let down if the final game doesnt quite live up to what you thought it would