Zelda has always been one of my favourite Nintendo series’, mainly Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess; although I’ve completed Majora’s Mask and some of the handheld titles, those three are the ones that really stick out in my mind as being masterpieces. Ocarina of Time was spectacular for an N64 title, with a vast, vibrant world, breathtaking dungeons and bosses, and a ton of things to do. To top it off, it introduced Adult Link to the series, who I found infinitely cooler than his child self; though many other fans would disagree. When Wind Waker came around, I – like many – was incredibly put off by the return of child Link and the new visual style. Although not necessarily the spiritual successor that I hoped for, I eventually accepted it and enjoyed it for the great game it was in its own right. And last of all, Twilight Princess delivered what everyone wished of the Wind Waker, giving us a brand new Zelda that gave us all of the good elements of Ocarina of Time and improved upon it, the first title ever to feature only the adult version of our silent green-clad hero.
However, it’s been almost three years since the release of Twilight Princess, and it’s getting to that time where we begin to wonder… what’s next for Zelda? There’s been the odd handheld title, but personally I see these as filler, leading up to the next grand adventure. But what can they do? Wind Waker gave us a beautiful, young adventure, the child Link off on a colourful quest to face the darkness, and Twilight Princess perfected the greatness of Ocarina of Time, giving us the mature and gritty Zelda we’d dreamed of for the eight years since it’s N64 predecessor. How could they possibly follow up from those two without being too similar?
Well, for now we can’t really know. However, we do have the first bits of news regarding Link’s latest adventure – so listen up and see what you make of it. The new title has apparently been in development for almost four years, so it should be well on the way by now.
At E3 this year, the first piece of artwork was shown relating to the next Zelda – in a very similar style to that of Twilight Princess. I for one am glad to see this, as TP had my favourite style so far. This image may give up a little more information than you may initially realise, however, as Link is notably missing his legendary Master Sword, his right-hand empty (looks like they’ll be continuing to make Link right-handed for gameplay’s sake). However, the female figure in front of him bears a strange resemblance to the sword’s hilt, the blue “robe” forming the familiar shape, a gem adorned at her centre. Co-incidence? I doubt it. It particularly reminds me of the “closed hilt” version seen in The Wind Waker. If this is so, perhaps the creature is some sort of sword spirit/fairy, maybe leading us further into the sword’s history - but that’s just my speculation!
Although the new artwork clearly looks in the same vein as Twilight Princess, it seems that this may not be the same Link as that of the most recent title, as this will apparently be set in a different era to Twilight Princess. Miyamoto’s exact words were “Well, the story setting for this Zelda is, of course, in a completely different era and Link is older than he was previously. More approaching adulthood. There is one hint. Maybe from the art work you can see that he’s not holding a sword.” – so it sounds as though it could go either way, possibly suggesting Link is ‘older than he was in Twilight Princess’ or perhaps just an older version of Link than we’ve seen before. If it isn’t the same Link, it is strange that the artwork is very much the same, as in the past each new Link has generally come with his own design.
More recently, IGN had an interview with series producer, Eiji Aonuma – and for the first time we have a little information as to the game itself. Seeing as Twilight Princess was merely a GameCube port in essence, the new Zelda will be the first title produced specifically for the Wii, meaning it’s controls should be more even more integrated into the gameplay. According to Aonuma, the game will actually feature 1:1 swordplay using the MotionPlus add-on – sounds intriguing, but I’m a little skeptical – we’ve never seen true 1:1 swordplay before, so I’ll believe it when I see it. Looks like I’ll have no choice but to splash out on the controller add-on, though..
It’s also been said that the new Zelda will change the regular structure of the series, diverting from the classic “Field-to-dungeon-to-field” scenario seen in the previous titles. Although I have no problem with new ideas, I hope this won’t see the game with a more linear style, without Zelda’s usual free-roam, side-questing nature. In Nintendo Power’s August 2009 issue, Miyamoto did claim that the new Zelda ”[is not] going to be that radically different” than past games in the series.”, which is reassuring.
Hopefully we’ll hear more soon, it’s a bit of an unknown situation really seeing as the news only gives us more questions, rather than spelling victory or doom for the future of Link. Whatever the new structure is, I believe that Nintendo will make a quality game, but I’m unsure if they can top the classic format with anything better, while keeping the sheer epic scale of exploring Hyrule – I’d feel gutted if they drop the free-roam aspects. I only hope that the series doesn’t divert so much that it loses it’s Zelda feel – hopefully they don’t stop Link from playing the silent hero!
-Leon
