Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Will Depart From Conventions

[roseofbattle]

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Will Depart From Conventions

Nintendo is reconsidering the traditional new item convention in the next Zelda title, A Link Between Worlds.

Anyone who's played a Zelda game knows you toil through a dungeon, receive a new item, and then use it to solve the dungeon's puzzles. This tradition will be challenged in the next Zelda handheld game, Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata disclosed details on the in-game shop featuring new character Ravio, initially teased in a screenshot producer Eiji Aonuma posted in the Miiverse community board.

The majority of weapons, including the hookshot, hammer, boomerang, and many others, are available right from the beginning of the game in Ravio's shop via a rental fee. The order you take each dungeon is up to you. This departure from linearity could make some old Nintendo fans groan, but it offers a new way to take on dungeons. Hopefully there will be multiple ways to clear dungeons, allowing for more creativity in the player.

"I hope you enjoy the flexibility provided by this unique Zelda adventure," Iwata said in today's Nintendo Direct.

Both new and old characters will appear in A Link Between Worlds. Gameplay footage featured Zelda, of course, and also new characters such as Hilda and Irene, who appears to be a witch.

Iwata also addressed speculation over Ravio, who many Nintendo fans on the community board believed looks similar to the character Nabbit in New Super Mario Bros. U. Iwata said they look similar, but they have nothing to do with each other.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will launch in North America on the 3DS on Nov. 22.

Source: Nintendo Direct [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8khWAH13fg]

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[thiosk]

I like it. One can get in and dabble.

Typically zelda games grind to a halt for me when I hit some difficult obstacle, and its the rare link game that kept me playing through one of those moments. I forget which one it was in a link to the past... maybe the water dungeon in the dark world?

i hate water levels.

would have loved to just trade in a couple items and try a different one instead.

 

[Vivi22]

A Zelda game trying something new? That's unexpected.

 

[Brian Tams]

Nice strategy. Use the handheld to test the waters and, if its a success, implement it in the next major titles.

I don't like the idea of a rental fee, though. I prefer to keep my items.

 

[Covarr]

Finally, a new Mega Man game on the 3DS.

P.S. Thanks

 

[rofltehcat]

Interesting. Will I be able to just take all the items with me instead for micro transactions to avoid not being able to get past certain obstacles and requiring me to backtrack to the shop, possibly also requiring rubies farming for the lending fee?
Because this is what it sounds like this might end in...

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I don't like the idea of a rental fee, though. I prefer to keep my items.

I'm with this. I like the idea of being able to switch up the dungeon order, but I don't want to give up my item as soon as I'm done. Hopefully they'll make it so you can eventually keep the item.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I think it will be an interesting idea, it kind of like the Megaman game I played on the Gameboy. While each of the enemies weapons were effective against a certain type (making you play the levels in a certain order) but each bosses can still be killed right from the start with no upgrades.

 

[Vivi22]

A Zelda game trying something new? That's unexpected.

Because Ocarina of Time totally had Skyward Sword's motion controls, amirite?

Because motion controls actually add anything of value to a game, amirite?

 

[Brian Tams]

A Zelda game trying something new? That's unexpected.

Because Ocarina of Time totally had Skyward Sword's motion controls, amirite?

Because motion controls actually add anything of value to a game, amirite?

You do understand that it was still attempting something new, right?

 

[darkhallwaygames]

This will lead to one of two things:

1) Zelda fans bitching about how Nintendo has changed too much and how this plays nothing like a Zelda game and is the worst entry in the franchise.

Or

2) Gamers ***** that Nintendo isn't doing enough new stuff, and is just rehashing the same ideas, and how this is exactly the same as every other game in the Zelda franchise.

As someone who frequents zelda forums I can say that both of these thing will happen simultaneously.

 

[Vivi22]

A Zelda game trying something new? That's unexpected.

Because Ocarina of Time totally had Skyward Sword's motion controls, amirite?

Because motion controls actually add anything of value to a game, amirite?

In Skyward Sword's case they actually did, but that's neither here nor there. Whether you enjoyed them or not, Skyward Sword's 1:1 controls were a new gaming idea, not just to the series but to gaming in general. It's therefore a perfect example of a Zelda game trying something new. Just like Wind Waker trying a new artstyle. Or Majora's Mask trying to a new time travel mechanic. Or Ocarina trying a new Z-targeting mechanic. Or LTTP trying a new Light World/Dark World setting.

By all means, don't let me stop your grumbling though.

Skyward Sword didn't invent 1:1 motion control, wasn't the first game to implement them, and regardless of how you controlled the game, how much did they actually change the Zelda formula with Skyward Sword? I stand by my statements, and motion control is, as it always has been, a detriment to gaming.

 

[mailh20]

I hope we can keep the items. renting feels less powerful as owning. I want to scour a dungeon so i can get the tool that will continue my quest not to get some rent a center capons

 

[Shadowstar38]

When it comes to doing something new, this weapon thing doesn't sound like that much of a deal. At least conceptually. I'd need to see the rest of the game.

 

[Veylon]

In the original Legend of Zelda, the dungeons could be tackled out of order. Except for the necessity of going to 3 before 4 and 2 before 7, it was very open. I cringe a little at the "rental" bit, though. It sounds like it'd be a pain to be going back and forth until exactly the right combination of gear is hit upon, especially when each experiment has a cost to it. You just know that at some point you're going to be out grinding for rupees so that you can take another shot at the current challenge.

Maybe if there was some kind of wear-and-tear penalty that made up the majority of the cost, so that if you bring back some unneeded item in mint condition, the rent is only a pittance? That might help so that the necessary trial-and-error isn't punished.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I rather enjoyed the sequence breaking in A Link to the Past.
Sure, some of the dungeons were pretty much hard coded to be done in a certain order (the first three), but you didn't need some wonky ass glitch or a Game Genie to do most of the others out of order as long as you were observant.

This doesn't seem like a bad idea to emulate, though I admit it sounds like it might take a bit of the fun of actually finding some of those items in the dungeon out of the game.
As long as they make up for it with clever and fun level design, I'll have no complaints.