Zelda: If it ain't broke, don't fix it

Filed in archive Zelda on March 1, 2007

From the first time we wandered in to that cave and read the words "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.", The Legend of Zelda had us hooked. But after 13 official games, a successful transition from 2D to 3D and over 47 million units sold, are we getting tired of the same old stuff? Phillip Levin at Advanced Media Network is one of the many gamers who thinks its time for a major overhaul. Although the gameplay mechanics in the original Zelda game were innovative, the formula has become stale over the years. Ocarina of Time freshened things up and adapted the formula to 3D, but it's the same ole "enter a dungeon, find an item, use said item to beat the dungeon, repeat" concept. Compared to more "modern" games, there's little character interaction, predictable puzzles, a thin storyline and not a whole lot of bang and pizzazz.



So what do we want if not more of the same? That's a great question. The Zelda games started as Shigeru Miyamoto's attempt to translate his childhood experiences exploring the countryside into a video game environment. He wanted the player to feel as if he were running around inside of a little garden. And run around we have, and run we still desire. The series is beginning to feel a bit shaky on its twenty year old stilts and another major installment would likely be its collapse. Miyamoto-san stated that Twilight Princess would be the "last Zelda of this kind", so Nintendo has probably already started down the path of reform. Can we expect flashy cutscenes, voice acting and dialogue trees with every NPC? Hopefully not. It's obvious we like Zelda for what it is, so hopefully the evolution will take the mysterious exploration aspects and push it into a new realm. What that is we can only dream about. What will the new Zelda be like? What is the series missing and how can it launch itself into another 20 year reign?