I really enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. To me, it played like a much bigger, much more detailed version of Ocarina of Time, which is A-OK in my book. I also got to ride a horsey.
But in the most recent installment of a long-running interview with MTV Multiplayer, Shigeru Miyamoto acknowledges that perhaps Twilight Princess could have been...fresher.
Whatever your stance on the current status of the Zelda franchise, you can't really argue that it's a bad thing when its creator decides it's high time to innovate.
I like reading message board threads about the steps Nintendo should take to freshen up Zelda because nobody agrees on anything. Since I already know people are going to fire arrows on me for merely sharing my suggestions, I thought I'd belt out a few.
First, I'd love to see some cel-shaded graphics again, but not Wind Waker Link. The original Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link included some great instruction booklet character art that jogged our imaginations while we played as jagged snot-green sprites; I would love to see a return to that traditional art style. It inspired so many of us when our imaginations were still supple.
I'm a little tired of the Z-targeting system Zelda adopted with Ocarina of Time. It's been revised very little over the years. So what's my big idea? I don't know. I'm not a far-reaching thinker.
On the other hand, I don't complain when handheld systems give us the traditional top-down Zelda view--and God knows I will drop everything at anytime to start a fresh new game of A Link to the Past. So I will settle for some kind of adjustment to the gameplay mechanics of Twilight Princess. Majora's Mask built off Ocarina of Time, going as far as to use the same character models. But Nintendo explained things nicely by making Termina and alternate, doomed dimension of sorts. As such, the re-appearance of old characters under new names feels genuinely creepy instead of cheap.
That brings us to the flipsides and Dark Worlds that seem to be commonplace in Zelda these days. Link to the Past has the most successful example with the looming danger of the Dark and Light Worlds mingling and each major console release since has played off that since: Ocarina of Time presents a dark future where Ganon rules supreme and Twilight Princess features patches of darkness that bond Link to a wolf form.
Some gamers are tired of Light versus Dark Worlds in Zelda. I personally love them and I am super intrigued by shape-shifting beasties of all kind. I like the idea of Link being stuck in a non-human form that reflects his heart (and pink bunny beats lone wolf any day of the week). I was less thrilled when Twilight Princess turned its grim shadow worlds into a collect-a-thon and an extended game of "Ride the Birdie." Let me tear ass around Ganon's domain like you did in Link to the Past, Nintendo.
Those are my suggestions. Also, Link should be louder, angrier and have access to a time machine. Hey, wait a minute...
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