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Miyamoto Says Something Was "Missing" From Zelda: Twilight Princess. We Know It, Too.

Posted by Nadia Oxford

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...

Related Links:

Faster, Link! Kill! Kill!
Whatcha Playing? BS Zelda
Philosophy? In MY Zelda?

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Posted Oct 29 2008, 05:33 PM

Filed under: the legend of zelda, ocarina of time, twilight princess, nadia oxford, link to the past, link’s awakening, adventure of link, ganon

Comments

Roto13 said:

It's true that Twilight Princess could have been fresher. I don't think the series as a whole is stale, though. Hell, there has already been a Zelda game since Twilight Princess and it was pretty different from other Zeldas.

I don't think the whole series needs a complete reboot or anything, and I'm completely cool with the idea of doing some things differently in the next installment. That's one of the things I've always loved about the series, after all.

Write a post about what he said about Mario Galaxy. I want to comment on that, too. I should probably be writing this on my own blog but there's too much Wii stuff on it already. xP

October 29, 2008 8:27 PM

Ian said:

Hmm...maybe not cel-shaded, but a Zelda 1 or 2 with a graphical style reminiscient of Minish Cap...yeah. I could see myself loving that.

October 29, 2008 11:00 PM

Sean Rose said:

I agree, a return to a kind of modernized Zelda 1/2 style would be really compelling.

I will say, however, that I love Wind Waker Link and that he makes Twilight Princess link look like a dopey, boring prettyboy by comparison.

October 31, 2008 1:21 AM

Demaar said:

I played TP RIGHT after playing Shadow of the Colossus, so it was disappointment city for me.

Wind Waker was pretty damned awesome in every way, except for the Triforce collectathon near the end. If they swapped that for two or three more dungeons it'd probably be my favourite Zelda game... 3D anyway.

October 31, 2008 7:50 AM

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