Skyward Sword Breaks New Ground With Upgradeable Gear

[KimonoBoxFox]

Some Japanese git in Nintendo had jumper cables attached to his brain, and came up with new ideas, people!

This is groundbreaking news! We should all be cheering and asking the Lord to send a revival!

Maybe Mario will change color schemes with Yoshi, next game, or Starfox will take on the elements of a First Person Shooter/Fallout-esque RPG!

EDIT: To elaborate, the addition of upgrading elements (as opposed to puzzle-thematic treasures doled out one-per-dungeon) feels gimmicky, out of place, and aimed to generate hype in order to produce revenue. Zelda is way past its heyday, along with just about any IP Nintendo has squirted out short of Pikmin.

 

[rickynumber24]

Take my money! Take it!! Take it and hurry up!
Ahem. That being said, Link's pockets are like a portal to another dimension. Otherwise, how else does he fit all that stuff in there?

Link's tunic was tailored by Timelords.

OT: This is interesting, but it doesn't sound too much different from the upgrade systems in A Link To The Past and Majora's Mask.

I think Majora's Mask is definitely the better comparison. The @#$%ing Gilded Sword took an entire day cycle just to do the fetch quests for. (It was worth it, though...)

 

[Genixma]

*clears throat* You require more minerals.
Not enough vespane gas!
Upgrade Finished!

 

[GodofCider]

If I'm not mistaken, a handheld version of Zelda from a while back offered a similar 'upgrade' system for equipment; unfortunately I am unable to recall the name of the game I am thinking of.

That said, to all those wondering, it's rather obvious as to what's happening with links 'overstuffed pockets'. That is, Navi has a magical bag wherein she stores all of your items. ^_^

 

[Gerhardt]

He said that this was also true of Link's flying beetle device

Link's flying beetle device

Link's Flying Beetle Device...

That is all I got out of that article, and damnit, I'm going to give Nintendo more of my money now...

 

[droppingpenny]

So now it's becoming more of an RPG than an adventure-puzzle game. That's fine. I can live with that. Better yet if they meld the two into a wonderful union.

Nope it is still a puzzle game, just with upgradable gear which is only upgradable in a puzzle like manner. To have a Zelda RPG would actually require effort...

 

[mjc0961]

It could be interesting. Or it could be the same kind of completely obnoxious grindy shit you see in MMOs and RPGs. Hopefully it is not the latter, because that would really suck.

 

[RolandOfGilead]

So Zelda has gone from action adventure to action rpg?
I wouldn't call it ground-breaking, exactly.

 

[Silva]

Wait for it... after this: Zelda: The MMO.

I called it first! I was the first to be terrified by my own notion!

Let's hope that collecting materials doesn't become grindy. For people like me who are obsessed with getting gear to its max possible strength the moment we get it, this could be more of a curse than a boon.

We should also still be able to feel awesome with basic gear, just not AS awesome as with better gear. A lot of games that have hefty upgrade systems have the drawback of making you feel like a weakling at the start. It would be a loss after Twilight Princess' feeling of "Oh wow, I just killed 30 dudes and flourished my sword. I'm epic!"

We NEED to feel epic in these games now that most of us who started playing the series earlier on are much older.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

some poeple are saying would be a grind t get but maybe it will be just like rupees.
you always seem to have full wallet of rupees with absolutely no use what so ever by the end of the any way. so there might as well be a use for them
materials if done right it won't be a grind. seem sort of like that loot system(Joy Pendant and golden fethers) in wind waker except the loot is actually sounds more useful and hopefully it will be fun. in fact it could be as plentiful as rupees

to be technical get a upgrade for exchange of materials has been done before. you did need 10 Knight's Crests(aka materials) to learn Hurricane Spin from orca in wind waker. but not the extent there claiming though

then again it fail to. as a pessimist i must sort expect it to fail but who know what will happen

To everyone saying:
"I better not have to be collecting stuff to upgrade lol"

Did you guys forget Wind Waker? Collecting those Hero Crests and the skull necklaces and butterfly pendants (I don't actually remember what they were >.<) was tedious, but we all did it, and it was fun. I see no reason why this would be any different. Like others have mentioned already, We all get to a point where we are just sitting an max rupees. I only bought the Magic Armor in Twilight Princess because I needed to unload my money counter. Then I used it to lower my money count AGAIN to open up the money chests. I hated the idea of having unopened chests in dungeons that giving me an option to waste money was a godsend.

You all know you don't really hate it, but you just don't fully agree because it is kinda different (even though it is not really any different).

I say "Awesome." and "Can't wait."

i can't say it will a game awesome bit it could be. i am still skeptical of the motion controls though. would it be comfortable for the whole game (assuming it works) is the real question? if it does not work then i would not be surprised

but Nintendo has not made a zelda game that i hated(yet). i still have to play the ds zelda games, adventure of link, Four Swords Adventures for the game cube, the multi player four sword game in the gba link to the past(never had another person to play that mode with), Ocarina of Time 3D(which does not count since it's just a stupid remake with minor improvements and other added crap i could care less about), and obviously skyword sword before i could verify this.

 

[Crelda]

I hope that this system is more side quest like. Where maybe only a couple of upgrades are necessary to finish the game and is integrated into the story to teach you about the system and the other upgrades will either make you better at defeating enemies or allow you to reach more places where there are treasures.
Think along the lines of hookshot upgrade to longshot to allow you to reach a target that is far away and their is a chest now accessible that was previously inaccessible. I think that would add an nice extra layer to the optional item collection.
It would be pretty poor if each item only had one upgrade too... if at all.

 

[Zechnophobe]

Just so long as we aren't grinding Moblins for 'moblin spleens' to give the master sword +1% crit chance or something.

This could work, but the details are really needed for it to not sound like some sort of filler content. I mean, one of the staples of Zelda has been a good mix of high granularity (rupee's, ammo) rewards, and low granularity (Heart pieces, new gear) rewards. As long as this fits within that model, I won't object.

 

[Zechnophobe]

To everyone saying:
"I better not have to be collecting stuff to upgrade lol"

Did you guys forget Wind Waker? Collecting those Hero Crests and the skull necklaces and butterfly pendants (I don't actually remember what they were >.<) was tedious, but we all did it, and it was fun. I see no reason why this would be any different. Like others have mentioned already, We all get to a point where we are just sitting an max rupees. I only bought the Magic Armor in Twilight Princess because I needed to unload my money counter. Then I used it to lower my money count AGAIN to open up the money chests. I hated the idea of having unopened chests in dungeons that giving me an option to waste money was a godsend.

You all know you don't really hate it, but you just don't fully agree because it is kinda different (even though it is not really any different).

I say "Awesome." and "Can't wait."

The Rupee mail was an incredibly good idea. It made finding rupee's more meaningful, and FELT like a powerful item to have at your disposal.

The stuff from wind-waker was a good use of medium grade rewards, and would be fine seeing something like that again. I don't recall having to go far outside the 'path' of the game, but it game me a little extra something to look forward to during fights. If they keep a similar model, I'll be happy.

In this day and age though, it is hard to not have a momentary paranoid episode whenever it sounds like a developer is yawnifying a great game though.

Either way, likely not to make or break the game. Even though I 100% detested sailing around on that stupid boat for hours on end in Wind Waker, at the very least it didn't ruin the game simply because they added one bad thing.

Honestly, the only thing I'm really hoping for Skyward sword... is a challenge. Remember when Zelda games were sorta hard? I don't even mean like Super hard... just maybe require me to reload once... somewhere?

 

[bob1052]

However, a system where the player has to collect materials and cash to make the improvements is something quite new for the series, and could be rather interesting.

You mean exactly what was in Majora's Mask more than a decade ago?

 

[Epona]

To everyone saying:
"I better not have to be collecting stuff to upgrade lol"

Did you guys forget Wind Waker? Collecting those Hero Crests and the skull necklaces and butterfly pendants (I don't actually remember what they were >.<) was tedious, but we all did it, and it was fun. I see no reason why this would be any different. Like others have mentioned already, We all get to a point where we are just sitting an max rupees. I only bought the Magic Armor in Twilight Princess because I needed to unload my money counter. Then I used it to lower my money count AGAIN to open up the money chests. I hated the idea of having unopened chests in dungeons that giving me an option to waste money was a godsend.

You all know you don't really hate it, but you just don't fully agree because it is kinda different (even though it is not really any different).

I say "Awesome." and "Can't wait."

Thanks for telling us what we think.

Actually, I didn't go out of my way to collect gold feathers and other collectibles. If I had them, I traded them in for the prize but otherwise I didn't care.

Ya know, using the Magic Armor was just wasteful and the game may as well have let you waste rupees by throwing out the ones you couldn't hold like previous games. That whole "I can't carry that many rupees so I'll leave it here" was bad design as was the Magic Armor eating rupees. Magic Armor shoc but of course, that didn't make the final cut of TP.

You know what would be better? Not having to wuld eat magiaste rupees at all. Why not let us carry as many rupees as we can gather? Why the limit?

Ya know, when I play Wind Waker or TP on the Gamecube I always put in the Action Replay "have big wallet" code so I don't waste alot of rupees in the beginning of the game when I can only carry 200. The whole upgradeable wallet thing is just bad design too.

As for upgrading instead of buying new, I remember how horrible FF 8 was in that regard coming right off of FF 6 and FF 7. It seemed like a downgrade in 1998 and it still does. Grinding for rare drops is not fun.

 

[automatron]

I'm not a huge fan of this. It sounds like if you want weapons that are actually any good, you have to now grind for them.
I would prefer a system where you have to find the upgrades, or do side quests for them.

 

[l3o2828]

This is hardly a territory not explored by other games, but im glad the zelda franchase wants to expand.

 

[Epona]

This is hardly a territory not explored by other games, but im glad the zelda franchase wants to expand.

It's not new territory for Zelda either.

 

[Torrasque]

If they incorparate it well so you don't need to grind, yay.
If they don't and I do need to grind, well I won't need to go buy that nunchuck that I still need.

This is what I was thinking.
If they do it right, and every Keese I kill has feathers, then I wouldn't mind killing a bunch for the mats.
But if they do the WoW thing, and I am killing heartless wolves, or scale-less lizards, then I'll be mad.
So long as they don't immitate WoW or Phantasy Star, then this is a step in the right direction.

Edit: after reading a bunch of posts, I agree that the only way this system would work, is if:
1. The upgrades are meaningful: a longer hookshot or bigger bomb bag would be sweet, but +1% crit to sword is silly and pointless.
2. Drop rate for items is great: *read above*
3. Upgrade costs are reasonable: I really don't want to have to TRY and get rupees cuz I don't have enough somehow, or have to kill a trillion Keese for the amount of feathers I need.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

So they're adding Monster Hunter elements to Zelda?

Eh, works for me.