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[Jackano]

Hopefully that means "You won't be playing the game from a mini map, following bright markers that pretty much just say: go to this place and do one of these 4 tasks/missions types"

Yeah, filling the world with tidious variations of mini-games will not be either my thing.
Except if the variations are consistent enough, and the number of missions/mini-game types sufficient too.
I will also love if they take inspiration from... BS Zelda and micro-manage online some events. Go to that hidden cave this week there is new stuff and enemies than appeared, etc.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Chances that it won't actually be open world in any real form at all seem very high.

"open world" in the sense that the big field in Ocarina of Time was an "open world" maybe.

 

[brandonh83]

I know the design is immensely popular right now, but it's just not my cup of tea.
I like tighter, better-designed experiences. Sandboxes bore me, there usually isn't enough regard/consequence to keep my interest. And it makes story telling and lore building more difficult.

Man, this right here. Zelda is a mix of great game design and exploration. Having senselessly large open worlds doesn't scream Zelda to me, it screams "we want to be other things that are more popular." The best thing about this is that it will still obviously have some very large environments. Skyward Sword had large environments with plenty to do in them but people didn't like the more linear approach. I thought it was pretty great and kept the game moving in a neat direction; after all, in most Zelda games you're still more or less directed in a certain way with boundaries so it didn't feel that much different to me at all.

To me it felt better than Twilight Princess, which had a very large overworld but the juicy stuff was actually in the connected environments and dungeons. Skyward's sky was largely empty, but it contained Skyloft which was extremely dense and mostly acted as a hub to the connected environments anyway. If Zelda can have bigger worlds but still maintain that focus, that's great, but it doesn't need to sacrifice its game design for the sake of size and pandering to mainstream jank.

 

[thisisvlad]

ITT we derive meaning from the translated English words in an interview for which we have little context of the speaker (in terms of tone, body language. etc) or the translator (in terms of how they chose to translate: literally, poetically, metaphorically, etc)

 

[Asd202]

Okay...

 

[Astral/H3X]

I quite liked Skyward Sword, Fi and the Sky aside, so I hope they use some of that "dungeon like overworld" in the areas immediately leading into the dungeons. And I'm REALLY hoping it's an improvement on ALBW's formula, as I absolutely loved that game.

 

[phanphare]

good

open world games are a drag

 

[Get_crazy]

This quote doesn't mean anything and yet so many people jumps to conclusion. It really is up to your interpretation.

 

[JDSN]

That means no open-world in Aunomaspeak.

 

[Arttemis]

This has the opposite effect on me. The concept of open world has lead to a system where all you have are just a copy and past design just a minor change in scenery. We need less GTA and Ubisoft type open world games and I am glad Nintendo isn't going down the low hanging fruit route.

I find it crazy to compare GTA and Ubisoft worlds, let alone refer to the work put into Rockstar's worlds as 'the low hanging fruit route'. GTA is typically navigatable without the need of a minimap due to its areas having such variety and design... where as Ubisoft changes color pallets and/or architecture from area to area. An open world Zelda with the detail and scale of GTA5 would be remarkable.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

Make it like Wind Waker, but on the land. That's good enough for me.

 

[Volotaire]

Except Skyward Sword was very linear going back to old areas just felt like backtracking. The verity of areas felt small, compared to a game like Dark Souls or Metriod Prime. The level design wasn't interconnected like those games either.

True, which is why I used the phrase 'played with the idea'. I fully agree with you, it was half implemented and was not as effective as it should have been. Part of me wonders why they closed off the ground world areas and didn't interconnect the sky and world. Perhaps it was technical limitations.

I quite liked Skyward Sword, Fi and the Sky aside, so I hope they use some of that "dungeon like overworld" in the areas immediately leading into the dungeons. And I'm REALLY hoping it's an improvement on ALBW's formula, as I absolutely loved that game.

I hope the whole world is a dungeon. Where the lines are so blurred between dungeons and the world that dungeons like the Forest Temple are in fact just a forest you visit in the world. No separate area or loading times, it's just there.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Then what the fuck were they hyping it up for?



This.

smh the statement is so vague i dont even know how you made up your mind. Stuff like this proves some of yall just WANT to be pissed

 

[Mariolee]

Chances that it won't actually be open world in any real form at all seem very high.

"open world" in the sense that the big field in Ocarina of Time was an "open world" maybe.

They seemed to make a big deal during the introduction of Zelda U at E3 this year that this would be more like the original Legend of Zelda which points to this being very different from Ocarina of Time's type of open world.

 

[fabricated backlash]

If they plan on avoiding an open world that is nothing more than empty space to pad out game length like it is in Skyrim, or Watch Dogs, then that's fine with me.

Open world design too often means: Big game world with shit to do in it.

If they plan on designing the world with gameplay systems in mind first then I couldn't be happier.

 

[jett]

He probably means it won't be a GTA-like sandbox. Although that's something anyone could've guessed.

 

[MrBadger]

He's really said nothing, but I'm going to interpret it as "it won't be a hiking simulator like Skyrim".

 

[Haunted]

I think we'll see zones with loading screens, not a "one-piece" overworld that's streamed in as you go.

 

[Piers]

So it will be a Zelda game then.

LOL, first post slams that nail.
He did mention, though, about the philosophy of how in an open-world, dungeons and things are approached from all angles as opposed to Zelda's limiting enter/exit routine.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

so it will be a Zelda game no problem then

 

[chadboban]

Probably just means you won't be able to kill and do anything you want to almost every NPC like you can in other open world games like GTA or Skyrim. I still believe they'll make the world big and open like they said.

 

[brandonh83]

True, which is why I used the phrase 'played with the idea'. I fully agree with you, it was half implemented and was not as effective as it should have been. Part of me wonders why they closed off the ground world areas and didn't interconnect the sky and world. Perhaps it was technical limitations.

Story reasons mainly. No one from Skyloft had ever been to the ground world, it was undiscovered territory and he goes to find Zelda. That was his sole mission. He was on a set path; running amok wouldn't have made much sense. Sure, the context of the story may have been built around this overall design direction, but they (story and design) worked together very well, and the environments that you visit were still pretty big and had plenty of secrets.

I liked slowly "unlocking" each area as the game went on, and by the end you've got a pretty sizable game world. I thought it was a wonderfully designed game.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I don't mind the overworld size to much, I thought it was fine in Twilight Princess, but they should at least add more side quests or optional dungeons to make it not feel so barren.

I don't need a world as big in GTA or Skyrim in Zelda.

 

[Huh?]

From the other thread;



I have been terribly burned by putting too much trust in Aonuma before. I don't think he can pull this off without having some kind of newfound respect for the original Legend of Zelda (which is the kind of open world it seems he's talking about), which I sadly highly doubt given his past comments on the game.

There are parts of Zelda 1's exploration gameplay that are worse than any Zelda game. Burning down every tree and blowing up every wall in a given map square on the off chance there's a secret there isn't fun exploration in the slightest, it's tedious busy-work.


Also, count me among those who didn't want Zelda to be Skyrim or GTA in Hyrule. I'm glad they're not just making a same old open world game that happens to have the Triforce and a green tunic in it.

 

[brandonh83]

I do hope they bring back the snowy environments. That's the one thing I missed in Skyward. That art direction in a snowy environment would have been gorgeous, and since Zelda U looks a lot like Skyward, they have another chance to do this.

 

[Maebe]

That comment says absolutely nothing, lol. Okay.

 

[Volotaire]

Story reasons mainly. No one from Skyloft had ever been to the ground world, it was undiscovered territory and he goes to find Zelda. That was his sole mission. He was on a set path; running amok wouldn't have made much sense. Sure, the context of the story may have been built around this overall design direction, but they (story and design) worked together very well, and the environments that you visit were still pretty big and had plenty of secrets.

I liked slowly "unlocking" each area as the game went on, and by the end you've got a pretty sizable game world.

But story is always developed after gameplay and design in Zelda or Nintendo games. I think there is no doubt they would have just adapted the story to the gameplay involved (like they have done in past Zelda games), and that's why I think it was a conscious design decision or limitation.

The environments were large, but some such as Eldin Volcano didn't allow you to explore in the first part up the volcano because Fi wouldn't let you. It doesn't matter if you had a limited time to explore, this was the same as in OoT. It's just annoying to prevent the player to stop exploring these areas. Moreover, the places to explore and discover in these areas were poor compared to other Zelda games i.e. mini dungeons or optional item rewards. The secrets, in my opinion, were poor outside the upgrade system and some of the Skyloft quests.

 

[TRI Mike]

It's good if it's not a GTA/Elder Scrolls thing but if it's too traditional, it'll be a bummer.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

a few days ago I watched video interview for NO MAN'S SKY where the director said you could leave your ship on one side of the planet and walk straight for a very long time and eventually you would have walked around the planet to get to your ship again.


I wish for a Zelda that will do this someday not just a map loop but a globe kind of feel, like a Mario Galaxy planet but to a scale that takes a long travel time

 

[JKBii]

My hype initially lead me to think this might be a Zelda that was different enough to actually be interesting to me. The more I hear Aonuma talk, the more I realize it's probably just going to be more of the same. Which, y'know, is good for the people who are already Zelda fans. But bad if they want to expand the base.

He is probably going to expand on the way A Link Between Worlds worked, where you can complete dungeons in whatever order you want. Contrast that with GTA/Skyrim, where there is only one main "next step" you can take unless you want to do a side quest.

Is that not exciting?

 

[Shiggie]

awesome, that sounds great actually. People could possibly experience different story lines.

 

[BeatResetsTheWorld]

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm certainly not going to overreact to this incredibly vague and short statement. I'm still going to wait and see

It's like this. We saw a big field in the E3 demo. We saw far off locations, and Aonuma saying we can go wherever we see, which is already a huge change for me, especially as the fields didn't look like the empty type we saw in TP

 

[megabytecr]

current open world games have a world full with detail and great characters, sometimes a great story, but the gameplay meh, too repetitive, almost always I am found to be bored to death and not wanting to continue playing.

I am not a crazy fan for Zelda, I am enjoying the WW HD, hope this delivers.

 

[MisterHero]

Link's not going to beat the crap out of random strangers

 

[Fou-Lu]

I hate Aonuma's vague quotes, and I hate what it does to this forum even more. I know it's tough to key down reactions for any form of Zelda news whatsoever though. I have taken a wait and see attitude.

 

[Shojx]

I'm actually not looking for Zelda to be open world in the same way that GTA or Skyrim are.

So if this comment could be interpreted as him saying Zelda U will have its own unique take on an open world experience, that's fine by me.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Well, that could mean just about anything.

.

 

[pinkurocket]

This could really mean a lot of things. I have faith.

 

[brandonh83]

But story is always developed after gameplay and design in Zelda or Nintendo games. I think there is no doubt they would have just adapted the story to the gameplay involved (like they have done in past Zelda games), and that's why I think it was a conscious design decision or limitation.

The environments were large, but some such as Eldin Volcano didn't allow you to explore in the first part up the volcano because Fi wouldn't let you. It doesn't matter if you had a limited time to explore, this was the same as in OoT. It's just annoying to prevent the player to stop exploring these areas. Moreover, the places to explore and discover in these areas were poor compared to other Zelda games i.e. mini dungeons or optional item rewards. The secrets, in my opinion, were poor outside the upgrade system and some of the Skyloft quests.

To each his own! Was just commenting on why it worked for me. I loved the areas. You're right that most of the secrets were superficial, but I still thought they were somewhat useful as a lot of them were for upgrading purposes. Still, while playing Skyward I felt I was either trying to find my way through an environment, trying to find my way through the many fantastic dungeons (seriously some of the best in the series IMO), looking for stuff, or simply enjoying the sights.

 

[takriel]

I'm interested in their concept of an open world. But after Skyward Sword, I'm not expecting much in terms of exploration tbh.

 

[sublimit]

Well, that could mean just about anything.

Yup.Aonuma is doing this a lot lately (being vague.)

 

[Empty]

hard to glean much from that, but i don't want zelda to lose its crafted feel in favour of the content tourism of the big western open world games

 

[AmyS]

All I'm hoping for is a world that larger than Twilight Princess, but not too large, not like Skyrim, at least some non-linearity and more life than TP had.

I loved Wind Waker on GameCube / Wii and what I've played of Wind Waker HD, however I was really dismayed with Skyward Sword's world.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Probably like Darksiders 2

 

[Servbot24]

Good. Open world games are almost always soulless turds, and there's no way Nintendo could come close to pulling it off first try. It's one of the main reasons I had low expectations for Zelda U, my fears are now lessened.

 

[Arc Christelle]

Now it's getting interesting.

 

[Technoweirdo]

Time travel, ALttP style, only in a 3D world. My guess.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I'm very worried they're going to fuck up dungeons again after everyone loved LBW's halfassed easy dungeons.

 

[Hiltz]

Here's Aonuma's statement from the E3 Zelda trailer:

Last year, I said revisiting the conventions of the Zelda series would be the theme for our new Zelda game for WiiU. However, before I get into that, let me talk about something that I needed to help me realize this ambition. In fact, it is something that we wanted to do for a long time in the Legend of Zelda series, and so, development began with this as our focus. In the earlier releases of Legend of Zelda games, players got to explore a wide areas scrolling up, down, left and right. However, after the games transitioned to 3D, and the hardware continued to evolve, it became harder to create that feel of being in a vast world.

For example, in Wind Waker, we used various techniques to create a wide world where you could freely explore many isolated islands, but it was very hard to create one large world where everything felt connected. We had to design small, valued areas with a defined entrance and exit, and putting them all together made it feel like you were playing in a large world, but you still couldn't cut through the boundaries wherever you like to explore that world. Today, I would like to talk to everyone about the latest Zelda game for Wii U, but first, please take a look at how the Wii U game looks like on screen. This is the new world of Zelda, it's quite a vast world, isn't it ? You can even reach those mountains in the distance if you walk far enough.

We couldn't create such a wide world like this in the past. As far as what you can do with such a vast field to explore, as soon as those boundaries are removed, it means you can enter any area from any direction, so the puzzle-solving in this game begins the moment the player starts to think about where they want to go, how they will get there, and what they will do when they arrive. This is a clean break from conventions of past games in the Zelda series, where you had to follow a set path and play through the scenario in the right order. I believe this departure will create opportunities for new gameplay that have not been experienced in previous Zelda games. As you can see, and as you know from the Zelda series, the world in these games can be quite peaceful, however, it is a Zelda game after all, so strong enemies will certainly appear even in this setting. Powerful enemies appearing in such a peaceful world is one of the defining features of the Zelda series.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Make it like Wind Waker, but on the land. That's good enough for me.

So extremely boring overworld to travel?