Wind Waker Situation Could Happen Again On Wii U

[Tom Goldman]

Wind Waker Situation Could Happen Again On Wii U

The pretty E3 Legend of Zelda demo for the Wii U was just that, a demo.

Nintendo brought a Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110924-E3-Wii-U] fighting a giant spider. A hint of things to come? Not necessarily.

Similar to the Legend of Zelda GameCube demo that Nintendo showed off in 2000, featuring a realistic Link going up against Ganondorf, the Wii U Legend of Zelda demo is also just a tech demo. The 2000 showing is notorious for having turned into the cel-shaded Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker [http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Wind-Waker-Gamecube/dp/7100027950/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1309799438&sr=1-2], much to the chagrin of people that were expecting a different graphical style.

Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed the news to Wired, comparing the Wii U demo to the GameCube demo. "You probably remember that when we introduced the GameCube, we showed a somewhat realistic Zelda demo," he said. "And what we actually created was the cel-shaded Wind Waker. So when we show a graphic demo, people think, 'Oh, this is what the next Zelda will look like,' but that's not necessarily the case."

Aonuma added that we might not even see the functionality of having the menu screen on the Wii U controller while the gameplay is on the TV, also shown at E3. He said that for Zelda on Wii U, he'd like to do things "more surprising than that."

Wind Waker sequel on Wii U confirmed? As someone that didn't mind the cel-shading at all, sure, why not? Cel-shaded Link is cute.

Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/07/wii-u-mario-zelda/all/1]


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[Stall]

And this is a bad thing how? Windwaker is easily the best LoZ game of recent memory. I'd love to see a new Zelda that takes a radically different approach in terms of art direction than TP, which was barely different than OoT in terms of art direction (well, it was barely different from OoT in terms of everything except for the extreme linearity, to be honest).

This might end up working out for the best. Hopefully we get a really new, bold LoZ game on the WiiU, instead of a rehash of OoT like TP was. Even a WW sequel might be pretty cool.

 

[Rakor]

I like the cell shading. Cell shading is a fine notion.

A) Yeah it looks cartoony, but zelda is a cartoony game. It fits
B) You can make things real pretty without burning all your discspace on the intricacies of a small flower on a field.
C) I liked the boat.
D) I guess some of the art design is kinda dependent on the protagonist at the time: Young link cartoony, older link more realistic.

 

[AceOfSpades3571]

Prepare for the inevitable "hurr cartuney grafix meens fur babbys durr" crowd to moan about this. I personally would like to see a full game with the WiiU tech demo style, but I don't mind as long as the game is fun.

 

[Tiswas]

How is this news? Nintendo have been saying it was a Tech Demo the whole time. Hell. They even said at E3 'These are not actual games. Just to show off what the Wii U can do'

 

[internetzealot1]

Don't tell me that the 1:1 swordfighting isn't going to be in the WiiU Zelda...

 

[Jumwa]

Wind Waker was one of the best Zelda titles to be made, and had a lovely style all its own. I'd trust they'd be more original than to just copy it.

 

[Archemetis]

Didn't Wind Waker turn out to be really good though?

I guess LoZ fans have nothing to worry about.

Not that I've ever heard of a case of a LoZ fan being disappointed by a game in the frnachise...

Well, when I ignore the things I heard about Crossbow training anyway...


Moar On Topic!

Personally, dispite my lack of engagement in the LoZ franchise (I've played about two hours of OoT and PHG each) I'm much more interested in the cartoony visuals that Wind Waker, Hourglass and Spirit Tracks brought with them.

It's understandable that in Todays gaming culture fans will sprout mighty nerdalicious hard-ons for realistic visuals and lighting and what-have-yous.

But I yearn for the more simplistic, IT's why I've really enjoyed games recently like Okamiden, Ghost Trick and Spiral Knights.

Games that are either daring enough to make a stance visually to represent the games main features (Okami) or games that don't blow the whole budget on graphics and leave nothing for beautifully polished gameplay mechanics (Ghost Trick)

[sub]I'd come up for one about Spiral Knights, but honestly I just think it's adorable, also the fact that Ian Mcconville of Machall and ThreePanelSoul is the lead artist behind it all doesn't hurt.[/sub]

I think what I'm getting at here is, I'd much rather they went with simple graphics and polished mechanics over Pretty as hell but handles like shit.

Of course, saying that Twilight Princess looked pretty (for the time) and worked pretty good. So maybe There's nothing to worry about at all really?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I loved the cell shading.

Now the sailing, on the other hand....

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

As a Wind Waker fan...

I'd prefer it.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

Wind Waker was a fantastic game, so by all means, go ahead Nintendo. Besides give me style over realism any day.

 

[theultimateend]

So after 12 ish posts we've established this is a non issue. Shall it proceed this way for another few pages?

Tune in to find out!

(I too liked Wind Waker, stayed up for 24 hours once I had it)

 

[TheLazyGeek]

*Reads title*

And this would be bad, how? I would kill for a full-on WW sequel.

Just not on the WiiU.

 

[Canadish]

The Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda, and I was one of the ones that was angry because I wanted to have that sword fight with Ganon. (Spoiler: You do get it. And it's better then Twilight Princess.)

One thing I'll say for both Wind Waker and Ocarina/Mask is that the graphics are timeless. They've aged very well. I hope the new style they go for does as well.

 

[Sean951]

We already have several trailers for Skyward Sword, before and after the tech demo. I'd be amazed if people acted surprised that it wasn't the same style.

For the record, I also REALLY liked Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. WW started to give us special attacks, and TP made them required for some fights, and allowed their use to be entirely dictated by the player, which I enjoyed. I also liked how the graphics added to the games, TP was a bit darker, so they went with more realism, while WW was more light hearted with it's humor and story, and they both were the better for it.

 

[Twilight.falls]

I don't think a Windwaker sequel will happen, what with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks already filling that in.

Hell, the entire premise of Spirit Tracks is that Link and Zelda from Windwaker found a new land, named it New Hyrule, and their descendants are living there now.

 

[Black Watch]

As long as it is a fun Zelda game, I could careless about the art style. If anything, the art style helped me out though the game when I would get stuck (Link's massive eyes would wonder towards objects of interest).

 

[Roofstone]

I prefer cell shading over the ultra graphics we usualy get.. It makes me feel more welcomed by the game. : )