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[Cuburt]

Surprising that a YouTuber, especially iJustine, would be getting such a good interview with Miyamoto.

There is some good info beyond just the Zelda talk.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

But ALBW had some of the best dungeons in 2D Zelda history.

Nah Spirit Tracks and Minish Cap had much better dungeons; the obstacles/puzzles were challenging and varied, they introduced new level mechanics, and they actually made a lot of use of their host item and non-host items.
ALBW's dungeons were all brain-dead and forgettable, they were all built around one kind of item (the most "basic" ones at that) and they made repetitive use of the wall merging mechanic.
It's obvious that this had to be done because they couldn't really make complex dungeons without sacrificing the free-roaming nature of the game; Ravio's shop is such a transparent design decision that it's kind of ridiculous.

 

[Dimmle]

Every puzzle had only one possible solution due to the one item at a time item rental system. They pretty much solved themselves. At least in the other games you had options as to what a puzzle's solutions were, not so in ALBW.

I honestly can't remember a single Zelda puzzle with multiple solutions.

 

[MrCaliaztec]

Can't wait to see more in the future!

 

[Muffdraul]

I'm playing Wind Waker HD and it occurred to me how old fashioned the save system is. I was in the Deku tree dungeon or whatever it's called, the second major dungeon in the game. The timer went off signifying my dinner was ready. I wanted to save and shut the game off, but I knew if I did it would be really annoying, because I hadn't found any of the magic cauldron checkpoints yet (there's only one in that dungeon, right outside the boss room.) So I paused the game and suspended the software while I ate and watched a movie. It's no big deal, but it was annoying. When I'm done with a play session I just want to save and shut the game off without losing a bunch of progress.

But I don't like the idea of Zelda turning into a "handheld" style game with bite-sized chunklets of game play. I haven't played ALBW yet...I got it on day 1 and have yet to crack the seal, probably because everything I've read about how they changed the game flow rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I honestly can't remember a single Zelda puzzle with multiple solutions.

All the puzzles have one solution, but the player doesn't know what it is in most games except through examining the puzzle, as your other items could be involved in some way.

In ALBW, you already know the answers before that is ever attempted. What's the answer? Well, are you in the bomb dungeon or the boomerang dungeon?

 

[EloquentM]

Speaking of big worlds I always found it weird how people didn't consider red dead empty. I mean you'd see animals but it wasn't a dense world of npcs and yet no one really complained.

 

[TheMoon]

I hate how the only thing we really know about the game is that the overworld is big. We seriously haven't read/seen ANYTHING else about it.

+ that you can do slow-mo moves during horse combat with your bow
+ that Link is seemingly not some derpy slacker this time
+ that random supes dangerous enemies appear and you might have to actually run away sometimes
+ that there are mysterious stones in his arrows
+ that there will be some form of sea-travel since there is a big remote island with deep water around it
+ that there will be amiibo support (duh)
+ day/night cycle is back
+ that there will probably be random events happen all over the map (inspired by HW)
+ that real horses normally don't run into trees very often

plus a lot of speculative things.

Speaking of big worlds I always found it weird how people didn't consider red dead empty. I mean you'd see animals but it wasn't a dense world of npcs and yet no one really complained.

Because "dead" was in the title. Dead world was expected^^

(for me, riding through the vast plains of nothingness was part of the "reality" of that world, though. it fit"

 

[DizzyCrow]

I really hope Link will have non magical items from the get go, bow, hookshot, bombs and boomerang don't need especialized dungeons and can be used to up the challenge of the dungeons based in other items.

 

[TheDarkTriforce]

If I'm honest, I hope not. A huge world map really just means either you get ubisoft style content over the map, or barren areas. While OoT had large maps at the time, you could get from one side of the overworld to the other easily within... 5 or so minutes (and had to for that eyedrop quest!). Granted, that's not counting the gerudo desert area in OoT.

I much prefer the OoT or even as recently as Link between worlds maps, where functionally you can get from one side to the other in mere minutes, but they still feel large.

Maybe they could make it reallly dense in content, but every other 3d zelda game leads me to believe they can't, and I rather hope it doesn't degrade to Xenoblade style shiny objects and isdequests as "content" to justify the large map.

Please stop to compare Nintendo with Ubisoft

 

[MisterGrey3000]

I honestly can't remember a single Zelda puzzle with multiple solutions.

(correct me if I'm wrong) I think what he/she/they meant is that ALBW's dungeons generally only made use of one item (and usually in the most basic ways); the obstacle design and puzzle design were basically all built around one item which limited the inventiveness, complexity, and variety that occurred in the level design of games like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess.

 

[GRW810]

E3 '15 is going to be sensational just for the Zelda insight. Perfect time in the year to really let loose with details, and I'm not expecting a great deal before then. Maybe some Direct attention.

 

[EloquentM]

+ that you can do slow-mo moves during horse combat with your bow
+ that Link is seemingly not some derpy slacker this time
+ that random supes dangerous enemies appear and you might have to actually run away sometimes
+ that there are mysterious stones in his arrows
+ that there will be some form of sea-travel since there is a big remote island with deep water around it
+ that there will be amiibo support (duh)
+ day/night cycle is back
+ that there will probably be random events happen all over the map (inspired by HW)
+ that real horses normally don't run into trees very often

plus a lot of speculative things.



Because "dead" was in the title. Dead world was expected^^

(for me, riding through the vast plains of nothingness was part of the "reality" of that world, though. it fit"

Lol is that why it's called red dead? Lol go figure

 

[Dimmle]

All the puzzles have one solution, but the player doesn't know what it is in most games except through examining the puzzle, as your other items could be involved in some way.

In ALBW, you already know the answers before that is ever attempted. What's the answer? Well, are you in the bomb dungeon or the boomerang dungeon?

I didn't feel like this was the case in ALBW any more than standard Zelda games, actually. All Zelda games have dungeons that favor their particular item. ALBW's dungeons may have featured the same bias but I can remember feeling that sometimes solutions were less obvious because not every dungeon had a prescribed item. Many rooms required a clever combination of items and wall merging.

I had some problems with ALBW but dungeons didn't leap out as a major weakness. Even if that was the case for many, I'm not sure that these sound bites are cause enough for alarm.

 

[Crossing Eden]

The second this game comes out i'm buying a Wii U, holy fuck that sounds super huge. And with apparently lots and lots of things to do. With one area as big as the whole TP world. Whattttt?

 

[Servbot24]

Eh, it's not great, but I'd still say it's better than the ocean of WW or the sky of SS.

But seeing as the last 3d zelda game I could say "I like this overworld!" is MM, for the same reasons I posted above, I'm not yet hopefu.

SS sucks as well, but you could possibly count the surface sections which I'm sure some people enjoy.

The ocean is fantastic though. Why is it so much better than TP when they were both pretty much barren? Because WW embraced it. It turned open calmness into a theme and executed it brilliantly. The world was beautiful and enchanting. TP wanted to be a grand epic, but was instead a sterile, segmented and soulless conjunction of low res models and textures.

And yeah MM is the best.

 

[TheMoon]

I'm playing Wind Waker HD and it occurred to me how old fashioned the save system is. I was in the Deku tree dungeon or whatever it's called, the second major dungeon in the game. The timer went off signifying my dinner was ready. I wanted to save and shut the game off, but I knew if I did it would be really annoying, because I hadn't found any of the magic cauldron checkpoints yet (there's only one in that dungeon, right outside the boss room.) So I paused the game and suspended the software while I ate and watched a movie. It's no big deal, but it was annoying. When I'm done with a play session I just want to save and shut the game off without losing a bunch of progress.

But I don't like the idea of Zelda turning into a "handheld" style game with bite-sized chunklets of game play. I haven't played ALBW yet...I got it on day 1 and have yet to crack the seal, probably because everything I've read about how they changed the game flow rubs me the wrong way.

You don't lose any progress, you just start from the entrance again. All doors are unlocked, all items are in your possession still. You just have to physically walk back to where you stopped playing in the dungeon which rarely is a big deal since they often spread out into multiple directions anyway.

 

[Shin-Ra]

I enjoyed ALBW but wouldn't want MAIN dungeons that short in an epic full 3D Zelda.

 

[TheMoon]

I enjoyed ALBW but wouldn't want MAIN dungeons that short in an epic full 3D Zelda.

And that's obviously not gonna happen.

 

[MisterHero]

The areas actually versions of Hyrule from different eras. You play the Hero of Time traveling through even more time periods.

-Hyrule from Zelda U
-Zelda U's Golden Land
-Minish Cap Hyrule
-The surface from SS
-Hyrule from OoT
-Hyrule from TP
-Sunken Hyrule from WW
-a remake of Zelda 1/2's maps
-Spirit Tracks Hyrule

Believe

 

[Akhe]

Ohh lord... I...can't...contain...the...HYPE!!

 

[Leafhopper]

I hope there's a dungeon where you can bring Epona.

That hasn't been done yet has it?

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

I haven't played Twilight Princess yet. I've heard the overworld there is 5 times OoT. If that's correct, that world will be huge.

I'm still waiting for a non offscreen video of the footage they showed at the Game Awards, being offscreen I'm quite sure we were missing lots of details and the world wasn't as empty as we felt.

TP overworld was horrendous, it was just a billion hallways connected.

 

[Vena]

I kind of hope this just turns out to be Dark Souls: Zelda or Zelda: Dark Souls. You could play that in small spurts with a goal in mind (get to X bonfire, or farm out X titanite) but with bosses that were threatening and a challenge to move through the "dungeons".

So give me the overworld of Skyrim (with things to do in it), the dungeon of Zelda crossed with the difficult of Dark Souls, the atmosphere of Zelda/Dark Souls, and the challenge of Dark Souls, and we're good to go.

 

[sphinx]

Just give me some incentive to go off the path and I will be all good.

this. if there's a path, put something on it. something useful

container hearts are great for this

 

[TheCongressman1]

That hasn't been done yet has it?

Closest thing would the be the Tower of the Gods in WW, but that was the boat. I actually really liked that.

So, yeah, I'd like Epona in a dungeon.


Here's something that is pretty high on the list for me: dungeons not becoming useless after you clear it the first time. I want to be able to go back and new stuff is happening, even if that just means new enemies and a new piece of treasure.

 

[TheMoon]

I kind of hope this just turns out to be Dark Souls: Zelda or Zelda: Dark Souls. You could play that in small spurts with a goal in mind (get to X bonfire, or farm out X titanite) but with bosses that were threatening and a challenge to move through the "dungeons".

So give me the overworld of Skyrim (with things to do in it), the dungeon of Zelda crossed with the difficult of Dark Souls, the atmosphere of Zelda/Dark Souls, and the challenge of Dark Souls, and we're good to go.

You're gonna be disappointed. Zelda is not gonna be Dark Soulsy.

 

[Alcotholic]

We've seen how big the map is already. I don't know why people are really this surprised. It's Massive and I can imagine it a fraction of the map the size of TP's.

 

[LegendofLex]

I'm playing Wind Waker HD and it occurred to me how old fashioned the save system is. I was in the Deku tree dungeon or whatever it's called, the second major dungeon in the game. The timer went off signifying my dinner was ready. I wanted to save and shut the game off, but I knew if I did it would be really annoying, because I hadn't found any of the magic cauldron checkpoints yet (there's only one in that dungeon, right outside the boss room.)

There are two--the other is in the central room with the suspended treehouse in the center. You need to go slightly out of your way, using the moving tree limbs to ascend to a ledge where you'll find the warp pot.

 

[Vena]

You're gonna be disappointed. Zelda is not gonna be Dark Soulsy.

Zelda 2 was Dark Soulsy.

And I really won't be disappointed either way, I just have a hope for it more than any sort of need. I will take what I get and enjoy it for what it is not what I want it to be... unless its a pile of shit, which I suspect I won't need to worry about.

 

[Valus]

Can't wait to hear something else about this game other than how big it is. Skyrim & DA:I showed me that having large maps isn't always a good thing.

 

[TheCongressman1]

I'm playing Wind Waker HD and it occurred to me how old fashioned the save system is. I was in the Deku tree dungeon or whatever it's called, the second major dungeon in the game. The timer went off signifying my dinner was ready. I wanted to save and shut the game off, but I knew if I did it would be really annoying, because I hadn't found any of the magic cauldron checkpoints yet (there's only one in that dungeon, right outside the boss room.) So I paused the game and suspended the software while I ate and watched a movie. It's no big deal, but it was annoying. When I'm done with a play session I just want to save and shut the game off without losing a bunch of progress.

Yeah, I'd rather have it the other way around. You can save anywhere, and then make the checkpoints respawn points. That adds a lot more challenge without being obnoxious when trying to play in quicker sessions.

You shouldn't be punished for what you do when you aren't playing, only for messing up while actually playing.

 

[Shaanyboi]

They're saying a lot of the right things

 

[Muffdraul]

You don't lose any progress, you just start from the entrance again. All doors are unlocked, all items are in your possession still. You just have to physically walk back to where you stopped playing in the dungeon which rarely is a big deal since they often spread out into multiple directions anyway.

Big deal or not, doors unlocked or not, starting from the entrance again and having to make your way all the way back to where you were is losing progress. There's no technical reason every entrance into every room couldn't serve as a save point. Numerous similar games have done that.

There are two--the other is in the central room with the suspended treehouse in the center. You need to go slightly out of your way, using the moving tree limbs to ascend to a ledge where you'll find the warp pot.

D'oh *facepalm*

 

[-Horizon-]

o3o

That's huge news if it turns out that way. Pun intended.

 

[LegendofLex]

Zelda 2 was Dark Soulsy.

You have it backwards. Dark Souls was Zelda 2-y.

 

[MCN]

Oh god, here we go with the bloody Dark Souls shit again. I'm sick of hearing about Dark bloody Souls. We get it, you like it a scary amount. Stop wanting to make everything Dark Souls. Please.

 

[hiryu64]

Now, with the hardware capabilities of Wii U, we first started by saying if we can take an entire world the size of the world from Twilight Princess, and make that the size of one of the areas in the game.

Zelder Scrolls

 

[LegendofLex]

Oh god, here we go with the bloody Dark Souls shit again. I'm sick of hearing about Dark bloody Souls. We get it, you like it a scary amount. Stop wanting to make everything Dark Souls. Please.

Zelda was like Dark Souls before Dark Souls ever existed.

People who say they want Zelda to be more like Dark Souls are really saying they want Zelda to be more like Zelda, and less like Marvelous.

D'oh *facepalm*

Don't worry, I never found it until someone tasked me with writing a guide for the game.

 

[Twilight Princess]

Ijustine, the hero gaf deserves.

 

[rhandino]

(correct me if I'm wrong) I think what he/she/they meant is that ALBW's dungeons generally only made use of one item (and usually in the most basic ways); the obstacle design and puzzle design were basically all built around one item which limited the inventiveness, complexity, and variety that occurred in the level design of games like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess.

I thought that they put a major focus in the wall merging mechanic than the items used. Most temples need not only a required item (like almost all Zelda games) but also the wall merging (Since that is the power that the developers know the player will always have) and that lead to a puzzles and dungeons that are more fast paced but still fun and rewarding to beat, I think ALBW dungeons were perfect for the portable format.

And don't get me wrong, I really really love the dungeons of TP, SS and WW for their complexity and massive size but for a portable I think more short and focused dungeons hit that sweet spot, at least for me.

 

[Vena]

You have it backwards. Dark Souls was Zelda 2-y.

Fair enough, that is true, lol.

 

[LegendofLex]

I thought that they put a major focus in the wall merging mechanic than the items used. Most temples need not only a required item (like almost all Zelda games) but also the wall merging (Since that is the power that the developers know the player will always have) and that lead to a puzzles and dungeons that are more fast paced but still fun and rewarding to beat, I think ALBW dungeons were perfect for the portable format.

And don't get me wrong, I really really love the dungeons of TP, SS and WW for their complexity and massive size but for a portable I think more short and focused dungeons hit that sweet spot, at least for me.

This guy gets it.

TBH, the one place ALBW fell flat was that it didn't really introduce many threatening combat scenarios. Occasionally I'd run up against a tough boss or mini-boss (or the Lynels on Death Mountain), but common enemy encounters were a joke--they're so slow and have horribly predictable AI. This wasn't a problem I had with LoZ, AoL, or even LttP, LA, and the Oracles games.

Without that added tension and friction, of course the dungeons seemed super relaxed and streamlined. But this is also true of most of the console Zeldas post-TWW.

This is also, incidentally, what I think people want when they look to Dark Souls.

 

[Dorsal Axe]

Seems like Miyamoto is touring Youtube. I wonder how many more interviews we can expect?

The overworld size isn't really a surprise. We've already seen the full map, and it's freaking massive. Good to know that they're working hard to fill it with content. I knew they wouldn't just amplify the usual overworld and call it a day.

I'm playing Wind Waker HD and it occurred to me how old fashioned the save system is.

Just as well we have the save statues nowadays, which IMO is an improvement on the previous system. I thought they were well spaced out in Skyward Sword. A few extra wouldn't go amiss in this new game though.

 

[Kouriozan]

My favorite aspect of Zelda is rewarding exploration like Wind Waker, I expect great stuff.

 

[ASIS]

I swear they better keep this game and over world puzzle based instead of combat based. If they decide to go for the latter I'm going to flip.


But I have faith in Ninty, they are going to pull it off.

 

[threelights]

Well, if they understand what was wrong with other Zelda overworlds (even though I like all of the ones I played =P), then it can only be good.

I wonder if there will be optional dungeons and if they will be as big as normal dungeons...

 

[LegendofLex]

I wonder if there will be optional dungeons and if they will be as big as normal dungeons...

I think optional dungeons would be a great way to offer the kinds of puzzle complexity people seem to be looking for without forcing the main dungeons to rely on some kind of linear progression scheme. As much as I criticize the focus on puzzles for replacing the previous focus on navigation and skill, I think they're very important--but I'd like for them to exist as an extra layer of challenge/exploration, not the only one.

 

[KingSnake]

As I like a lot both TP and WW, I can't wait to see what the world of Zelda U will look like. Give me horse-riding fights.

Edit: as for the dungeons and how to combine the open world with the story and items that you get by unlocking them in different dungeons, they could go for the approach that Lego City Undercover used.

 

[Solid SOAP]

I don't think it would have been too difficult to design the dungeons around more than 1 item. What they could have done is make it so you have to use whatever combination of items are used in the dungeon in order to enter the dungeon. Maybe in some dungeons that would mean only one or two items, but others could have required 3 or 4.

That said, I didn't have a problem with the dungeon design. I remember being stumped many times throughout the game. You could use various items to make certain puzzles easier too.