Zelda Wii - Revisiting the formula or revolutionising it?
A brand new Zelda for Wii will finally be announced at E3. It will have a name, we will see gameplay and the earth itself will crack open, swallowing up all of civilisation into its magmatic bowels.
Yes, if theres one thing that gets Nintendo fans all hot and sticky with excitement, its the promise of a new Zelda game on a mainstream console. The game will require MotionPlus - a positive sign that combat will be heavily focussed on swordplay. Development of the game was rumoured to have started as early as 2005 - before the release of Twilight Princess - but production did not ramp up until 2008. Famed Zelda mastermind Eiji Aonuma is involved in the project but is not the head director for the game.
The first solid information came at E3 last year. Shigeru Miyamoto showed a piece of concept art at a developers roundtable, and after the image was leaked online, Nintendo decided to release it officially. The image is characterised by Link wielding a shield but weaponless, with a distinctly fairy-like female in the foreground that shares traits with the Master Sword. Combine the ominous foreboding of Link gazing wantonly at the figure with the news that MotionPlus would be a requirement, and you have a recipe for an interesting relationship between the saviour of Hyrule and his weapon of choice.
We know that combat will be front and centre, but how will the rest of the game play? If the musings of the development team are anything to go by, we can likely expect that large chunks of the established Zelda formula could be cast aside in favour of a less complicated experience. Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks on the DS did away with the conventional map-compass-boss key approach to dungeon design and were none the worse for it. Could we expect that other aspects taken for granted in a Zelda game could also be changed or removed entirely from Zelda Wii? Its doubtful that the game will be heavily reworked to appeal to casual audiences, but there will be some surprises in store and we may see a quantum leap for the series that hasnt been seen since the switch from 2D to 3D.
Speaking of the Zelda teams goals for the next adventure, Shigeru Miyamoto touted the broad possibilities they were hoping to bring to the player. "Every persons own individual experiences with the game should be unique and be their own sort of My Zelda experience, and I think thats super important, and we have to look at that when were creating dungeons and how we can make that come true. So were spending a lot of time concentrating our efforts in that area. But its not going to become individual: Hi, Im this Zelda or Im this Link! The experience will be unique but within the world that weve defined."
But easily the best news about the next Zelda, is that it is coming this year. Last year, Nintendo unveiled New Super Mario Bros. Wii at E3 and the game was out a few months later, a fantastic marketing move and one that keeps the more rabbid fans from going off the deep end. Gamers may have been aware of the existence of a made-for-Wii Zelda game for years, but this time around, Nintendo will have a finite window to unveil the game, release a torrent of media and build up a frenzied level of hype before the game releases. The new approach to shorter marketing cycles is a move in the right direction and we just dont think we could wait another Twilight Princess-like wait between the unveiling and release.
And heres a final thought for you - before next week is over, we will all know the name of the next Zelda game!