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[deltatheta]

By the way, the OP needs to be updated. I made an error when transcribing the first answer, which changes the meaning quite a bit.

I think your misquote here is misleading. They said:

Now with the hardware capabilities of the Wii U, what we did was we first started by saying well let's see what we can do if we take an entire world the size of the world from Twilight Princess and just try to make that as one area on the game.

They're talking about making TP's entire world one continuous area, not saying that it's one area of the map. He's saying the map is now one area instead of many. If anything he's saying the entire world of Zelda Wii U is comparable to the size of TP's world, or at least that's the size they started from.

 

[BY2K]

Zelda Wii U is not the size of TP, that's for damn sure. But yes what he probably meant is they took the TP map and made it one big map with zero loading to test things out.

Map is still freaking huge.

 

[Lunar15]

Didn't TP's map already have no loading?

 

[deltatheta]

Didn't TP's map already have no loading?

Yep but it did that by having long corridors so that you can't see two areas at once. The new area loaded while you were in the corridor.

 

[kittens]

Ah damn, I usually don't like when non-mobile games are designed like this. If they want to make it easier to pick up and play, just let us save anywhere and pick up from that spot later.

 

[BY2K]

Some parts of the TP map had loading. Primarily when crossing from one province to another.

 

[Ninjimbo]

Am I the only one who literally likes every Zelda?
I like some entries more than others, but I don't hate or dislike any of them.


I mean, every Zelda-fan has a different opinion, someone hates Twilight Princess, someone loves Twilight Princess, someone hates Skyward Sword, someone likes it more, so it's really hard to please everyone.


The good part about Zelda, for me, is that they try new things with every entry and I don't know a single other franchise where the developers have to balls to pull a Wind Waker after Majora's Mask, etc. I appreciate this and that's why I look forward to the next entry, doesn't matter what they come up with.

I'm with you. The Zelda U gameplay trailer thread actually has a lot of people with similar opinions talking about the series, so we're not a hopeless bunch. We've kept things civil.

The only game I come close to disliking is the original NES game and that's only because it's dated. I can go back and play old games, but going back to the NES games and the design trends of that era is simply asking for too much from me.

 

[jmizzal]

Nice more Zelda WiiU info

 

[leroidys]

I read smilebit wii u.



Then I got sad

 

[TheMoon]

The Legend of Zelda U |OT| Skyrim Sword

I will slap the shit out of the OP who feels the need to make a dumb Skyrim reference for the OT subtitle. Ugh.

 

[Fuchs]

I will slap the shit out of the OP who feels the need to make a dumb Skyrim reference for the OT subtitle. Ugh.

How about The Legend of Zelda U |OT| Slowmo arrow to the knee?

Spoiler

Okay, I'll show myself out...

 

[TheMoon]

How about The Legend of Zelda U |OT| Slowmo arrow to the knee?

Spoiler

Okay, I'll show myself out...

I threw my shoe after you but it missed...

 

[Danneee]

I'm happy if I can mark spots on the map to return to when I have the appropriate item.
I'm happier if is isn't so very obvious what item to use everywhere.

 

[Lyude77]

Am I the only one who literally likes every Zelda?
I like some entries more than others, but I don't hate or dislike any of them.


I mean, every Zelda-fan has a different opinion, someone hates Twilight Princess, someone loves Twilight Princess, someone hates Skyward Sword, someone likes it more, so it's really hard to please everyone.


The good part about Zelda, for me, is that they try new things with every entry and I don't know a single other franchise where the developers have to balls to pull a Wind Waker after Majora's Mask, etc. I appreciate this and that's why I look forward to the next entry, doesn't matter what they come up with.

I hate Spirit Tracks but like every other Zelda - does that count as liking every entry?

 

[Lernaean]

This game has all the potential to be one of the best Zeldas ever made. I can't wait.

 

[Soriku]

That sounds awesome, but I hope Nintendo can pull it off.

Twilight princess is pretty big, not as big as most open world games now but pretty big. It was also dead. Big dead expanses that were boring to look at and boring to travel through.

I'm skeptical Nintendo can create a world that is big but still charming and feels hand crafted. Majora's Mask is my favorite 3D Zelda and it unsurprisingly features less open space than other 3D Zelda games. I'll take crammed with character over big, beautiful, bland expanses.

Pretty sure a few areas in Xenoblade were bigger than TP's entire overworld. Although Xenoblade didn't have puzzles scattered around.

 

[TheMoon]

I hate Spirit Tracks but like every other Zelda - does that count as liking every entry?

Begone, evil spirit!

Pretty sure a few areas in Xenoblade were bigger than TP's entire overworld. Although Xenoblade didn't have puzzles scattered around.

The whole Gaur Plains area, just going by memory, felt at least as big if not bigger than the entire TP overworld (I'm replaying TP right now).

 

[victreeb3l]

Am I the only one who literally likes every Zelda?
I like some entries more than others, but I don't hate or dislike any of them.


I mean, every Zelda-fan has a different opinion, someone hates Twilight Princess, someone loves Twilight Princess, someone hates Skyward Sword, someone likes it more, so it's really hard to please everyone.


The good part about Zelda, for me, is that they try new things with every entry and I don't know a single other franchise where the developers have to balls to pull a Wind Waker after Majora's Mask, etc. I appreciate this and that's why I look forward to the next entry, doesn't matter what they come up with.

Yeah same. I've never played a "bad" Zelda game. Some were better than others but this franchise has had nothing but quality entries. I dont think the CDi games count.

 

[jonno394]

The whole Gaur Plains area, just going by memory, felt at least as big if not bigger than the entire TP overworld (I'm replaying TP right now).

Gaur Plains is definitely big but in no way is it bigger than the whole TP map. I think the important word here though is "feels" as I'll definitely agree that the Gaur Plains felt like a huge world probably because of all the sights and sounds along the way versus TPs world which was rather barren and offered no real reason to snoop in to ever nook and cranny.

 

[FreedomFighter]

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.

Ocarina of Time overworld was huge in 1998 but it is tiny now. And Miyamoto is selling the size of this overworld in Zelda Wii U short by saying it's as big a Twilight Princess' segments put together. It looks MUCH larger than that.

Unless I am misunderstanding this and just ONE area among MANY are the size of Twilight Princess overworld.

EDIT: sounds like I did misunderstand!

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.

Game comes out in a year, man. Don't know why they would be expected to spill all the beans already.

Well, Nintendo did create Xenoblade Chronicles that has even bigger areas but they all feel hand crafted and incredible lively thanks to animal life and also the grass, also they rewarded exploration with exp, money and breathtaking vistas (The moment you reach one of the secret areas of Gaur Plains, my god!)

This.

I don't understand when people say TP was empty. There were always different enemies to kill along the away, and the horseback battles were awesome. Maybe the secret areas were limited, that is different from being barren.

I don't understand this either. I asked for examples of what a "full" overworld looked like in the other Zelda Wii U thread and no one answered me.

guys skyrim is a big game

this zelda must be exactly like skyrim

wow nintendo why are you making skyrim lololol

lol indeed. This non-sequiturs are all over the thread.

It'd be hard to believe that, after having an incredible track record for their Wii U games, that they would mess up HERE, with what is arguably the Wii U's most important game.

Maybe after Smash Bros.

Yeah, I don't know why people are so skeptical now. Zelda is too important and Nintendo doesn't mess up their franchises. Even oddball experiments (Super Paper Mario, Yoshi's Story, etc) turn out alright. Nintendo is not going to screw up Zelda.

 

[FreedomFighter]

The Legend of Zelda U |OT| Skyrim Sword

Just stop, lol

 

[TheMoon]

Gaur Plains is definitely big but in no way is it bigger than the whole TP map. I think the important word here though is "feels" as I'll definitely agree that the Gaur Plains felt like a huge world probably because of all the sights and sounds along the way versus TPs world which was rather barren and offered no real reason to snoop in to ever nook and cranny.

Gaur Plains not only has the width and length of TP's world but it also has height and depth to take into account. There's that big lake under the bridge, then there's the windy cave that ends up back on top on the second area. In TP the only big areas are the desert and Lake Hylia, both with basically nothing in them aside from one or two spots on the fringes (that cave by the lake and that challenge arena in the desert) whereas Gaur Plains also has lots of hidden paths you can discover. Maybe it barely matches up, maybe the boring stretches of Hyrule Field fill it out a bit to make both come close.

 

[Peltz]

I feel like that's always been Zelda's MO, though. You could just do one thing at a time. Zelda's always kind of been pick up and play, except for maybe like, in dungeons.

Exactly. This is the hallmark of the series since LTTP. Nothing new, here. Every Zelda can be enjoyed in both bite-sized chunks and/or long gaming sessions.

 

[Ramenman]

He's implying here that one of the areas of the Zelda Wii U map is as big as the entire map of Twilight Princess.

Madness, if true.

No, he's implying the whole map is as big as Twilight Princess, BUT in a single unsegmented area.

So basically, what you said, but there's only 1 area, not several, so "one of the" areas doesn't really make sense.

At least that's what I understand, and I think makes the most sense regarding the context of his comment.

 

[jonno394]

Gaur Plains not only has the width and length of TP's world but it also has height and depth to take into account. There's that big lake under the bridge, then there's the windy cave that ends up back on top on the second area. In TP the only big areas are the desert and Lake Hylia, both with basically nothing in them aside from one or two spots on the fringes (that cave by the lake and that challenge arena in the desert) whereas Gaur Plains also has lots of hidden paths you can discover. Maybe it barely matches up, maybe the boring stretches of Hyrule Field fill it out a bit to make both come close.

That's what I was trying to imply with my post, the fact you want to explore and their are things to see makes Gaur plains feel as big, if not bigger that the corridors and empty world of TP, but I still very much doubt it is the same area.

 

[BY2K]

No, he's implying the whole map is as big as Twilight Princess, BUT in a single unsegmented area.

So basically, what you said, but there's only 1 area, not several, so "one of the" areas doesn't really make sense.

At least that's what I understand, and I think makes the most sense regarding the context of his comment.

The quote was wrong when I said that, what he's actually saying is the first thing they did when they started working on this is take the map of Twilight Princess and made it one with no loading whatsoever.

It has nothing to do with the map size of Zelda Wii U.

 

[mantidor]

Really? Because they've been making the same mistakes since WW imo, and a lot of those were magnifications of issues already starting to crop up in OoT (which was more understandable because it broke so much new ground). Maybe they should look at earlier Zelda games, which already provided a more sensible template than increasing the distance between everything.

I disagree, they were in the right path with WW, hardware limitations and having to rush a deadline prevented the game from truly shining, but the elements were there. Unfortunately the ridiculous backlash to the artstyle was interpreted as backlash to the design itself and they took the only step backwards in the history of the franchise with TP, which was simply trying to replicate OoT's design in a bigger scale. Every subsequent Zelda game including handhelds have aimed for an expansive world full of stuff to do. Aonuma has also mentioned in interviews how this new huge world would allow them to think of dungeons in a different ways and how you can approach them in different directions. We saw a glimpse of that with the overworld of SS, and ALBW has dungeons that also integrate with the overworld. Everything they've said, and done with recent games, indicate the complete opposite of a skyrim game, except for the huge world. They aren't going to just increase the distance of everything.

 

[Cave Johnson]

As always, it heavily depends on the content of those side things.

I don't want Zelda to be the next Assassin's Creed Factory game where there's a million collectathons and boring busywork and it mostly serves as filler as you try to spend the awkwardly long time just trying to get to the destinations you actually want to go.

This is very precarious ground they're on, I hope they succeed but after some of their past few Zelda experiments I'm going to be a bit more cautious the entire lead up to this game.

If Nintendo actually go down this path, from a Zelda game no less, would meant the end of progressive gameplay design as we know it. Nintendo has never shied away from experiments, sometimes they don't resonate well but nothing as close as forsaking their core philosophy.

Ubisoft is the antithesis of Nintendo, creatively bankrupt, filler oriented and mechanically inept designed on exploiting user experiences rather than build upon it. I simply refuse to believe the company that defined the modern control scheme, defining how 3D games work and creating some of the most polished games in existence will walk down the Ubi-path. They simply are two diametrically opposed in quality and design. The idea that they would do that... I. just. cannot.

 

[BY2K]

Nintendo makes good content. They can come up with ways to fill the overworld that won't be Ubisoft-style.

 

[Lunar15]

Nintendo makes good content. They can come up with ways to fill the overworld that won't be Ubisoft-style.

Skyward Sword makes me feel confident in that. Aonuma said that SS was essentially step one in filling out objectives between dungeons. They just didn't have the know-how or hardware power to put it in a big, open world.

 

[Aostia]

Nintendo makes good content. They can come up with ways to fill the overworld that won't be Ubisoft-style.

I agree with you, but all this "free roaming huge overworld" talk as the unique (so far, obviously) selling point is not touching my chords
I mean, I like Zelda exploration, but I especially love Zelda dungeon/environment interaction.
I loved Xenoblade huge overworld, but it's "emptiness" (in terms of environmental exploration) would be disappointing for Zelda, imho.
I hope they will show us something else the next time (some story tidbits? some dungeon?). so far I'm more excited by the GPS gamepad function than about the exploration per sè

 

[BY2K]

I wonder how long is that "one long, big dungeon" Miyamoto mentioned really is, if that's in the game at all.

 

[DizzyCrow]

So the whining went from "empty, barren world with nothing to do" to "Ubisoft padding shit", I wonder what's next.

 

[Scrawnton]

So the whining went from "empty, barren world with nothing to do" to "Ubisoft padding shit", I wonder what's next.

Whining about no voice acting is next. I bet there is no voice acting.

But if we do get voice acting people will whine for dialogue trees and multiple endings.

 

[Lunar15]

I agree with you, but all this "free roaming huge overworld" talk as the unique (so far, obviously) selling point is not touching my chords
I mean, I like Zelda exploration, but I especially love Zelda dungeon/environment interaction.
I loved Xenoblade huge overworld, but it's "emptiness" (in terms of environmental exploration) would be disappointing for Zelda, imho.
I hope they will show us something else the next time (some story tidbits? some dungeon?). so far I'm more excited by the GPS gamepad function than about the exploration per sè

I feel like you and I are on the same page. I think our fears will be alleviated by some good ol' fashioned dungeon footage.

 

[ReyVGM]

There's never been a Zelda game without warping.

Zelda 2 didn't have any. Neither did any of the Four Swords games.

 

[rhandino]

Talking about Xenoblade Chronicles... I remember one area in Gaur Plains that leads to the first secret area. It's a road that has spider eggs along the way and then

Spoiler

at the end you reach some kind of altar at the border of a cliff and in the center some items, if you go near the altar from the cliff emerges a big ass spider to challenge you

so this make me think about the part Aonuma says about big enemies appearing in peacefull vistas.

God, I hope the game has Unique Enemies like in Xenoblade... those were so much fun but I won't get hyped and going to put check on crazy expectations, that make me love so much Skyward Sword.

 

[JamesSteve]

Ijustine is gorgeous ....and the new Zelda too ofcourse.

 

[DeaviL]

Honestly, i just need to know what instrument we'll be playing this time.

Spoiler

I need to know

 

[jblank83]

During the previous demo, they flat out stated the world is huge, that it would take 5 minutes to run (on a horse) over to where they wanted to go (the tower) in the area they were showing, and that area of the world was just a small part of the entire world.

 

[zeldablue]

If Nintendo actually go down this path, from a Zelda game no less, would meant the end of progressive gameplay design as we know it. Nintendo has never shied away from experiments, sometimes they don't resonate well but nothing as close as forsaking their core philosophy.

Ubisoft is the antithesis of Nintendo, creatively bankrupt, filler oriented and mechanically inept designed on exploiting user experiences rather than build upon it. I simply refuse to believe the company that defined the modern control scheme, defining how 3D games work and creating some of the most polished games in existence will walk down the Ubi-path. They simply are two diametrically opposed in quality and design. The idea that they would do that... I. just. cannot.

They said it wouldn't be open world in the way that western studios call open world.

I'm assuming it'll just be Zelda, except huge and with more directions to go in. And hopefully more content as well. Even if the overworld fails, there will always be dungeons.