After reviewing five different Zelda games I felt it would be a good idea to summarise the main problems the series faces. Belief or disbelief rests with you.
In Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, every time you turn on the game and start your save file, it congratulates you on finding your first rupee! Every single time. It's annoying and stupid, and there is no reason the game should explain what a rupee is EVER.
Yes and no. In TP everytime you grab a different color rupee after turning on the console it tells you how much it’s worth it by stopping you in your tracks. In SS it doesn’t do that anymore but to my surprise they still did it with all the bugs and knickknacks you collect which are way more than just 5 different colors of rupees. It’s stupid, annoying and felt like they’re insulting my intelligence.
@@taner873 I'm not the person you're replying to, but I think it's worth criticizing a minor inconvenience if there's no reason for it to be there. The minor inconvenience could have been removed from the game without any detriment in the player's experience. Sure, it's a minor inconvenience, but I would really like to not see this minor inconvenience pop up again in future Zelda games.
Matthew proceeding to outline BotW with remarkable accuracy, possibly even before Nintendo outlined it themselves, is a testament to how in-tune he is with the series, and game design in general.
I really want him to get back to this, because the internet is currently awash in totk/botw hate videos where people pretend zelda started with oot and anything that isnt exactly oot is bad design...having someone who knows what he's talking about would be refreshing.
Exactly. I've watched and re-watched his videos over the years anytime they feel relevant to me, and hearing the same subject (in this case, Zelda games) talked about in a different light than all the other voices (often much later after the hype has worn down too) is appreciated.
I haven't worked in the industry but I am a programmer and I've studied games development. As far as I can see any team that knows what they're doing will code the basics like camera and button inputs so they can very easily be tweaked should the need arise. This makes it easy to put them on an option screen. I don't know how much extra testing this would incur but the actual changes to controls/camera themselves should be very simple.
Twilight Princess has some nice original ideas, sure, but it is obviously trying to mimic Ocarina in most of it’s general structure. To say otherwise is just being willing in denial.
@@alexanderfreeman3406 Any game trying to replicate anything of the past instead of being original. This isn't exclusive to games trying to be like Ocarina of Time. For example, Indie games trying copy the style or aesthetic (or both) of NES and SNES video games for example. They throw in needless, shameless references to inflict an emotional response to the player, usually towards nostalgia, another example.
One complaint I never understood about MM is the dungeon count. The whole reason why there's so much atmosphere in that game is because you're not stuck in some cave or temple for the majority of the game. There's always something major you have to accomplish before entering a dungeon which can take about as long, if not longer than the dungeon itself. With that said, those segments allow you to understand the characters and the weight of how the world is in chaos from Majora. The major theme of that game isn't the masks, the time, or even the moon staring at you, but healing. Those segments before the dungeon and most of the side quests really drive that theme home, in my opinion, and without them, the game would be really shallow.
eh...in other games there is also stuff that you do before then dungeon majora's mask still has a rather short dungeon count. like themes aside there isn't as much great dungeons in a game like majora's mask as say twilight princess which may have the most dungeons in a zelda game
A Link to the Past has more dungeons than Twilight Princess. I like all the dungeons in Majora's Mask, I don't like all the dungeons in Twilight Princess but overall its dungeons are superior.
I thought about that while watching the gameplay previews. So many of Matthew's critiques seemed almost directly addressed. It made me happy since articulated so many thoughts similar to mine, so addressing his critiques is like giving me what I want, too ^_^
Matthews critique isn't a rare one among the Zelda fanbase. People have been arguing for Nintendo to go back and see what worked about the early Zelda titles that has been lost in later games.
It's funny that while most developers are scared of creating something the player might not see, the designers of Dark Souls put six entire game areas and seven bosses in incredibly obscure locations requiring esoteric knowledge and items to access, if you even realize they exist... many players of the PC version managed to complete the game completely unaware of Oolacile, or even Ariamis
Michael Jaradeh It's a nice idea but I think those games are just too similar. They're amazing, I love that series, but they're all kinda same-ish. No where near the variety found in the 3D Zelda and Mario games.
Decided to type out what things Breath of the Wild did in regards to the check list Matthewmatosis made (minor spoilers for BotW below) "An overworld that as big as it needs to be"- Since BotW main basis is exploration, one could argue that the world size is as big as it needs to be, however on the flip side, another could argue that the world is too big and could've been smaller. Personally for me though, I think the world was as big as it needs to be "Bigger is better to an extent"- I think BotW was a success in this department. In terms of content, there are enemy camps, Minibosses, ruins, stables, towers, shrines, chests, resources to collect, towns, sidequests, wild life to hunt and find, fairy fountains, Korok seeds, main story (which includes 4 dungeons, some basic lead up to the dungeon, and of course, hunting down the memories) and a little more. In terms of the feel of exploration, that's definitely present for nearly the entire game. And for tedious travel time, I hardly found this an issue in BotW. "Warp Points are useful"- There are over a 100 warp points in the game however, "Reliance on warp points is a bad sign"- BotW fails at this but at the same time, doesn't. Yes there are over 100 warp points everywhere, but I can't say that the world wasnt interesting. Quite the opposite in fact. There was tons of stuff to do, and while I did use the warp points to get to places faster, it wasn't because the land wasn't interesting enough. Plus in a map that big, it doesn't hurt to have that much "A new setting"- This is another one where BotW fails but at the same time doesn't. You are still in Hyrule, but however certain areas that haven't been present before in past games and even certain areas are redesigned. However as I said earlier, it still is in Hyrule "Drop Zelda & Ganon for a change"- BotW fails at this part. It pretty much does recycle that Zelda Ganon plot "If Ganon is the villain establish him ASAP"- Yes this is the case. You immediately are told Ganon is a threat in the opening area "Well developed new element"- The new element is exploration as well as throwing out the conventions of Zelda. I think they developed it pretty well enough "A focus on getting this right above all"- As said earlier before, I believe they got it right "Not a mode of transport"- Yes BotW main gimmick is not a mode of transportation "Not a 2nd world"- This is also the case "Reduced emphasis on Story"- Definitely. In fact some people did find the story underwhelming because they did decided to let it take a backseat "Optional story elements make this up"- The entire story for the most part is completely optional "Start the game as quickly as possible"- Yep. It's not even 10 minutes. It's takes less than five to get to meat of the gameplay "Option to skip tutorials"- BotW doesn't really have tutorials that pause the game. The closest thing the the old man teaching you stuff which is optional. However unless you bought the DLC, mode of difficulty really isn't a thing "More options in general"- There is an options menu which does give a decent amount of options "Harder difficulty mode"- It's not really in the base game as it's included in the DLC. Even then the hard mode is more annoying than hard (plus some equipment kinda kills the challenge) "Perfect as much as possible"- Ehhhhhh. It's arguable. BotW is fantastic but it is no perfect game. It has it's issues, but the question is, how big the issues are to you. Most of them too could be easily fixed with the DLC/updates (and so far there doing a good job at that). I think they tried to make it as perfect as they could but there is some small room for improvement "Try to be timeless"- Easily BotW is timeless "8 dungeons minimum"- Nope. You could argue that the amount of shrines makes it equal to more than 8 but if we're basing it off actual dungeons, there's only 4-5 (depending if you count Hyrule Castle as a dungeon) "Think outside the box on at least 2"- I am not completely sure. The Devine Beasts are different from what you would see from a normal dungeon but on the flip side, they do repeat the same gimmick (although admittedly in a different way) "Art style chosen to fit the game"- I think the Style of BotW fits well so I think that's a yes "Choose the art style after other things"- I can't really confirm this since I'm not sure how they developed the game. But as I said earlier I think it fits well. "Don't try to please everyone"- The art style of BotW worked well so I would say Nintendo tried to do what they think is best. Same goes for the base game "Surprise me"- BotW is filled with surprises "Don't ruin the surprise"- While some trailers did reveal certain things, I think for the most part they did a good job not ruining everything "Accessibility shouldn't hurt experienced players"- BotW has little handholding so yes So pretty much, I do think BotW did fill in some aspects he was requesting, but I don't think it's 100% accurate as people are saying.
I Can't Think of a Good Name BotW is quantity>quality in a lot of aspects. The world has some great environments, but when it comes to gameplay it falls short in many departments save for maybe the combat.
Great comment, I really liked your analysis of how BotW responded to Mathewmatosis' review. About the "Don't try to please everyone" point, in his recent video he states the was some compromise with that, specifically with the item storage being so big, the menu of otems accesible at all times, etc, so they made them way too convenient. I guess they failed on that department.
Breath of the Wild doesn't follow his list perfectly, but it was basically impossible for that to happen. But, hey, you could say that Nintendo didn't try to please everyone, and everyone includes Matthewmatosis.
I know it's blasphemy to Zelda fans to look outside and take influence from other things, but I think Zelda can learn a lot from Metroid. One of your praises in the SS video was context sensitive actions for link's items. I think this could be expanded further. One of the reasons exploration feels so natural in Metroid is because Samus power ups are abilities, they're an extension of herself, not items you constantly have to equip, toggle, or set to buttons. You rarely get an item to use on one boss and then never touch again, the world demands these abilities for Samus to even survive. The next Zelda can have a greater focus on magic rather than equipment in order to do this. Of course then the makeup of the world would have to be designed much better to allow this rather than just being a big slab of land, but that goes with what you say about having the world have more meaningful content so it would work. Those are my 2 cents anyways
+Waidara Cabudu Yeah, but the magic system should be changed completely. Having like a million abilities relying on the limited, shitty excuse for a magic meter the early 3d games had is a fucking nightmare. Hookshots should remain though
Really loud girl if you continued reading you'd know i referenced neither of those games. Just cuz the new ones suck doesn't mean there isn't influence to be taking from the existing/older ones.
Breath of the Wild did that to some capacity. The Runes you can equip are yours from the beginning of the game and they are very useful in both combat and world exploration throughout the whole experience. In fact, the runes actually habe plenty of different uses that make each puzzle feel open ended with multiple solutions. Almost every time I complete a shrine I think "Oh I could have just done this instead." And that's an awesome feeling.
What I don't understand is why the series is giving MORE hand holding as time goes on. I mean, I can google almost ANY question if I get stuck somewhere and find an exact answer. The only tutorial we should be getting is a warning in the beginning: "If you get stuck, look it up, dumbass."
Link between worlds, while a top down game, gets a lot of these things right. I'd recommend it to anyone. It has: An awesome twist Cool art style (although cut scenes seem to clash with it a little bit, they are few and far between) I think 11 dungeons It reinvents the weapon system in a really great way, that really adds to the game It has a fair amount of warp points, and a better warp system to accompany it. I also like the change in the save system. And a Hard mode is available after completion. However, a long opening and lots of story still plague this game. Although I did appreciate the end cut scenes, I still didn't read most of the games dialogue up until that point, and I wish there could at least be a skip button for cut scenes.
Batman There is a skip button for cutscenes in Link between worlds. You just had to press start and then a (SKIP) button showed up on your touchscreen.
+Batman ALBW suffered from very easy dungeons, probably as a result of allowing you to do them in any order. It's a shame because it could have been basically perfect otherwise. Well... not perfect, because it's still on a handheld. I fucking hate handhelds.
+Batman Speaking of a hard mode, I don't think it should be unlocked after beating the game; I think it should be available from the start. Doing it the other way is asking you to play the same game again after you just beat it. Just have it from the start and let people looking for a challenge know that this is the difficulty for them.
+Batman it has an evil minigame (which is the bane of all challenges for 100% completions) that is a completionist killer. despite theproblems I had with the game, overall it restored Zelda back to what Zelda should be.
My only problem with link between worlds is, surprisingly, the openness of the world and the ability to complete the main 7 dungeons in any order. On the surface, it seems like a brilliant idea, one that allows players to craft their own unique path through the story. However, I think it backfires in the realm of pacing. Allow me to explain... Since the devs had to assume that the dungeons could be done in any order, they had to design each one to be independent from one another. For example, the hookshot is required for the water dungeon in that game, but not for any other dungeon. This is because the devs had to assume it was possible for players to enter the other dungeons without the hookshot. Imagine if you had to complete the water dungeon first. That would mean all the other dungeons could incorporate interactivity between the hookshot and their own unique mechanics. It's sad to think about what could have been in that respect. Another aspect of the pacing that's a bit spoiled by the openness of link between worlds is the difficulty. The dungeons actually get easier as you get closer to the end of the game, and that's mainly because by the time you've reached your last dungeon your arsenal of weapons is wider than it has ever been before that point, but the dungeon has to assume you only have access to one item. Your last dungeon is also probably your easiest because of heart containers. You have more heart containers at that point than ever before, but the developers still had to assume that your last dungeon could have also been your first, and so it's damn near impossible for the boss to kill you in the last dungeon. What's even more disappointing is that this one could have easily been fixed, by having the boss health and damage output scale with the player's progress. Overall, I really liked link between worlds for all the reasons you mentioned, but I think the pacing is poor compared to the other games in the series. I consider it a flawed masterpiece, because the other elements that aren't related to pacing are so good it's almost excusable.
You are such a pleasure to listen to, your points are well backed up and I agree with every one. You explain how I feel about the Zelda series better than I could myself. You deserve so many more subs its ridiculous, keep up the good work and heres hoping zelda wii u will take some of your points into consideration.
WOW. been ages since I watched this vid and posted above comment. Re watching now it still stands. Great upload. So glad to see how your channel has grown so much also :)
It’s amazing how even 8 years ago you were making high quality video essays like this. I can’t believe I just found your channel, where have you been all my life lol
I absolutely love your videos and you are the best reviewer on TH-cam of these types of videos for one simple-yet-gifted reason; you can articulate the soul and essence of a game. There are a lot of great reviewers out there, but they merely convey the mechanics or story very well; to describe and explain these games the way you do - understanding the quiddity and haecceity of it - is almost non-existent on YT. I hate it when people tell others to "keep it up", but for my sake - and many others I'm sure - I really hope you do continue with these wonderful in-depth reviews.
After being a stalwart Zelda detractor, I'm finally trying to sit down and give the series its due time. Your videos have been explaining a lot of my frustrations with the games, and are refreshing amongst the sea of blind praise the series largely receives. I hope you give the upcoming Wii U installment a similar in depth look when it drops next year. If your other videos are any indication, it'll be quite the treat.
I hope someone at Nintendo watches this. It sounded like a lesson on how to make a game better, and honestly I would love it if they followed these excellent tips. Your videos are amazing pieces of work. Even if not everyone cares to sit through until the ending, they are very well edited and logically thought out.
You got one of your facts wrong. You can change how Z-Targeting in Ocarina of Time works from Hold to Switch via the Option menu when you boot up the game. Anyway, personally, I would add a greater emphasis on combat to your list, specifically the bosses. Let's be honest, almost all bosses in the 3D Zelda games, not counting the final phase of the final bosses, are essentially glorified puzzles, usually use dungeon item at the right time then whack it with your sword. I think Ghirahim being the first boss in Skyward Sword was a welcome change of pace, getting its point across that just using the dungeon item won't be enough to defeat all the bosses, and serving as a nice wake-up call against those who just swings wildly or maybe mash the attack button to win. How good you think the execution was is up to you. While I also appreciate Skyward Sword putting more emphasis on sword combat, I'd like to see something like that done in the style of Twilight Princess, with multiple sword moves, since it makes you feel like Link is getting better and stronger as time goes on.
The Z-targetting toggle option was omitted in the European versions that he played in order to (rather lazily) fit extra language options into the options menu. If he played an NTSC version, you'd be correct. Sing on about that combat though--the only Zelda I ever felt that did combat well was Zelda II (though it was simple, it was really effective), and that was a _long_ time ago!
***** It's always defaulted to Switch. What Matt means is that each game should always have the option of being able to use Switch or Hold, which apparently has always been the case anyways.
I really enjoy the parts you hated about SS and TP. The opening and story in both games was really enjoyable for me. I feel like those were the things that those games got right. In TP, I love the opening because its lighthearted, and thrusts everything about the basic mechanics on the player in the start, and its kind of fun to run around the village exploring. Its story was relatively good , but some moments and characters were underdeveloped or boring. As for SS, I really love Skyloft's atmosphere, and yet again, I'm not confused later in the game because of the tutorials, so I would say it's opening is a success. As for it's story, there aren't really any flaws, and the way Groose, Zelda, and to an extent, Link, act is really great. I especially like the opening in both games, because it provides a fun and harmless atmosphere to explore the games mechanics.
SS and TP are by far my least favorite games of the series. I've beaten twilight princess 3 or 4 times, and even though I feel it's a weak Zelda game I think it's a very good game in general. All the hand-holding and tutorial stuff bored me to tears though. I've played 8 or so Zelda games at this point, some of them multiple times (I beat OoT like, god, 40 times or something. I was beating it in 2 days at one point, starting again as soon as I had finished) and having to spend upwards of an hour hearing about how to swing a sword or jump or fire a slingshot really killed the beginning pacing for me. It would take me about FOURTY SECONDS to figure this stuff out on my own, and even if I somehow missed it at the beginning I would be forced to learn to swing my sword and aim at stuff soon anyway so I would figure it out then.
I'm the opposite. I found the moments and characters to be amazing and very well developed, but the overall story to be just okay. Basically the opposite of Skyward Sword where the story (Japanese version) is great but any character outside of the main five (Link, Zelda, Groose, Impa, Fi (Because of the ending) was underdeveloped and didn't reach their potential because they didn't take their individual character story arcs far enough for them to work (Mallara doesn't get out of the horrible habit of spending her son's hard earned money for school, and Batuerex doesn't learn to accept himself as he is and go out and have the people of Skyloft accept him as he is, and they have the stupid decision to make it so the Remlits are possessed simply because of Bateruex's form which says that even if you're a really good person your form can hurt others and monsters appearing because of that. They should do tutorials the way Ocarina of Time did them. Have them be optional areas in the first town that you have to go out of your way to look into to get information on them. That way no one is forced to go through them if they don't want them.
Yup, you pretty much nailed it. Whats even more amazing is that this video is from 2012, when the internet landscape was much different than it is now...
I just noticed that you said that OoT doesn't have an option to change between switch and hold Z-targeting modes. It does. There's an settings menu in the file select, and the option is there. Same for Majora's Mask.
I just watched all of your Zelda reviews in a row, which (when combined with this excellent summation/conclusion) are collectively one of the best single pieces of critical analysis I've ever experienced. This is dissertation quality stuff here, and I can't wait to see more.
I know it 2 years late, but Ocarina of Time actually give you the option of select z-targeting from hold to toggle in the first screen, when you select audio type. It's called "expert mode" or something like that.
I was confused on that part too, but I think he was saying he wanted an Options menu directly in the game, and in OoT, you can't change the options unless you save and quit and go to File Select. He does show the TP Options menu right after (which is in the game's pause menu itself).
I guess your right in that it serves no purpose for the big picture, but none of the overworlds in any of the games really do other than getting to other areas if you think about it, some are just more interesting than others, such as majoras mask with its interesting heart pieces and things happening in the caves you enter and etc
Majora's Mask made the hub field small, made each corner a unique and interesting visual theme (based on the four "levels" of the game), put a few hidden money stocks, characters, and items in it, and made travelling around very fast and simple with the Goron mask, bunny hood, and horse. Basically fixing every single problem that there is in the hub fields for OoT and TP.
MiddleClasshole345 The overworlds of OoT and TP are more about creating an atmosphere than constantly shoving content in your face. MM’s overworld is really good too, but it would be wrong to say that the lack of “things to do” in OoT and TP are “problems,” that’s just how the games were designed, and they have a pretty epic feeling in my opinion.
Quality review, I feel you've really evolved since your first reviews. You make some excellent points, and try to look at these from different angles. Your diction is also superb, I get hooked in the first minute and I'm listening attentively 'till the end. Make more dammit!
I have to say sir that was a fantastic review series and I think one of the best I've ever seen. Your honesty along with just how in depth you are regarding these games makes you one of the best reviewers I've seen on youtube. I hope you keep it up and I look forward to your next review.
The funny thing is that in many interviews, such as the Iwata Asks, they have said they start thinking of the gameplay before the story, and figure it out afterwards. If they decide the art style after they settle on the gameplay and story, they'll need more time. So, we're either willing to wait 5+ years for a Zelda game or have a superficial game per year. Me, I'm willing to wait. But most of the fanbase keeps pressuring for new games, and in the end, it's business for them. Great video.
More areas that are unnecessary to visit, but available to visit. Maybe even whole towns. One of the things I loved about Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was all the different towns available, many of the buildings you could enter had no purpose in the way of the story or gameplay, but just by being there it made the game feel just a little more immersive.
Just watched all of your Zelda reviews today and I have to say, I'm impressed with the amount of thought you put into them. I also think they improved as you went along, because while your OoT review is good, it feels a bit like a summary of how the game progresses--while you SS review is very to the point and delves into the mechanics of the game. All in all though, pretty great stuff.
This was a very thoughtful video with great points and explanations. As a game designer and Zelda fan, this video alone convinced me to subscribe to your channel. I look forward to watching your other videos!
Great overview of the problems and possible solutions. Would be interested to watch a similar video on A Link Between Worlds (technically a 3D Zelda) or failing that the two Darksiders games, which owe a lot to the Zelda franchise.
If Matthew does this with the Darksiders games, I suggest he does them on the consoles. The PC ports aren't all that stellar, and the 2nd 1 was schizophrenic at best as a port... Either way they are Zelda-lites, as are also Ōkami & Ōkamiden.
CyrusBluebird I agree they borrow heavily from Zelda (especially the first Darksiders) but (IMO) the Darksiders game's have better combat, a more interesting story (Darksiders 1 anyway), and represent a superior challenge (on higher difficulty levels) than Zelda games which are always let down by 'far too easy' combat. But importantly, the Darksiders games eschew many of the criticisms Matthew has of the Zelda series. Players are put almost straight into the action. Cut scenes and tutorial interference are minimal. Darksiders II has 8 Optional Dungeons (out of its total 23)! So although far from perfect, and obviously drawing massively upon the Zelda franchise, both Darksiders game's are good enough to stand on their own merits. For my money, both are better than weaker Zelda installments (such as Skyward Sword) while Darksiders 1 is almost up there with the best of the series (for me Ocarina).
13:10 - it's possible to change the lock-on type in OoT from the save screen! Go down to Options and you can choose between "Switch" or "Hold" in the Z Targeting section. c:
Really enjoyed this video. Very in depth and to an experienced Zelda fan I knew and agreed with everything you said. All points were introduced, explained, and supported well. Counter-arguements were adressed and the level of persuasion was astounding. I found myself agreeing with every one of your points. I would be interested in seeing these points taken into consideration by NOJ Dev 2 on the Zelda Wii U. Good watch.
"dungeons are the most standardized element across all of zelda. so it'd be great to see this part of the series shaken up more." Breath of the wild changed a lot of things to great effect. it also had the most lackluster dungeons and bosses in the entire series. sometimes you shouldnt change things if you dont have an idea with what to replace it with.
Breath of the Wild's ideas and execution are two different things. The shrines, divine beasts, and bosses aren't lackluster because they're non-linear and/or optional. The content's issues are asset reuse, lack of challenge throughout most of the experience, short length, and sparsity of interesting ideas. If Nintendo tried it again they would undoubtedly see more success.
@@Pan_Z eh...there is certainly challenge in the games.what sort length? ok divine beasts yeah but shrines are of good length. sparsity of interesting ideas? eh...I wouldn't say that there was quit a bit of interesting ideas
@@jaydenc367 I honestly have no idea what I meant by "short length." I think I meant to say short length of the divine beasts. As for density of novel or engaging ideas, Breath of the Wild is definitely lacking. The mechanics are great, but much of the setting blends together after you fight the same palette swapped moblin the 200th time.
@@Pan_Z oh those novel ideals! I meant like more so puzzle stuff really. I will admit the enemy variety is lacking. the setting of the world is honestly pretty amazing I found. I still found there a lot of interesting ideas even with the whole enemy variety issue
Great video, could I put in a request for something from Clover Games? I loved Okami, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand, and I feel you'd do a great job at exploring why they work so well.
link between worlds misses a lot of the points he brought up though -reliance on nostalgia -takes place in an existing world -has two split worlds -doesn't introduce a new element (other than selecting dungeons in whatever order but thats not that big of a change)
lanelafisking The thing was, was that i loved link to the past. But i didnt want to replay link to the past. thats what link between worlds seemed to me, a hd version of link to the past.
Awesome reviews, including the separate five you done on all 3d Zelda games. As a big Zelda fan, I appreciate your honesty and dedication to improving the series.
This is a wonderful video, a lot of the point you bring to the table make absolute sense. I will always enjoy a good Zelda title but some just lack that same feeling of immersion and enjoyment as others.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with a fair amount of this, and I think that Okami (a game I will never shut up about when zelda comes up, yes I am "that guy") fixes a lot of the problems mentioned here. Although, I'll be the first to say that that game could REALLY have used a dedicated "Issun, I'm a Goddess, I know this stuff already" button, and I LOVE the story in that game.
I'd love the option to turn off text prompts from chests after i've picked up the item, and key/rupee icons on chests in dungeons when you find the compass, so many times i wasted time opening chests that had rupees in that i would not have bothered with had i known.
I really do wish Zelda would take a number of cues from Dark Souls. For starters, Zelda features underwhelming rewards for those who thoroughly explore the environments. Your efforts usually result in accumulating more useless rupees or just a heart piece. Dark Souls, on the other hand, allows you to find hidden items, weapons, armor, magic, miracles, and maybe even stumble upon a hidden boss for those who thoroughly explore. Bloodborne was terrific at featuring a nice array of hidden, optional bosses be it Paarl or Ebrietas. I also wish Zelda featured more engaging combat. Most enemies go down after a few mindless sword swipes, and the majority of all bosses just involve hitting the obvious glowing weak point. Dark Souls features ferocious bosses that require skill and quick-toed thinking to take down, never holding your hand or treating you as if you lack the skill and ability to succeed. Zelda doesn't have to feature the difficulty of Dark Souls but I do wish they'd make the combat more engaging and rewarding. Finally, I wish Zelda would enhance its musical compositions. This might sound subjective at first, but objectively speaking Zelda's music could use some work. Too often the songs are incredibly short and just loop endlessly. The theme for the Yuga-Ganon battle in ALBW, along with Demise's Second Phase in SS, are notorious for this. The Souls series and Bloodborne, on the other hand, feature FULL, unique compositions for so many of its bosses. Just listen to the themes for False King Allant, Ornstein and Smough, Gwyn, Aldia, Vendrick, The Burnt Ivory King, Sinh, Sir Alonne, Father Gascoigne, and Ebrietas. They're all incredible pieces of music.
+OtterloopB Speaking of music, I think the Zelda games use remixes too much. I want to see a Zelda game where every single song is completely original.
+OtterloopB Sometimes, I feel like Nintendo developers settle. They're not ambitious anymore and just make mediocre games that try to appeal to as many people as possible and are happy with that.
+OtterloopB I don't know why, but heart pieces in zelda games feel like virtual heroin to me. It is the only reward I hope for in every game. I'ts not like I need more health, they are not hard, but it is just such a good feeling when collected.
+OtterloopB I think people expect Zelda to be like Dark Souls, and they're a bit misguided. Even before Dark Souls, the fans just expected Twilight Princess to be something Zelda isn't. Zelda will never be like Dark Souls. It's fundamentally different.
Loved the review! It made me realize how the Zelda games have similar elements, yet add a more abstract theme each time. Time travel between future and past, time reversal, animal transformation and alternate reality AND black magic/ancient curses. One quick question: what is your relationship to HellfireComms? I saw that they had favorited your video and thats how i discovered your channel.
I would love to see Matthew do a series like this on the Metroid franchise. As there aren't as many 3D Metroids as there are Marios and Zeldas, perhaps we could a video for the 2D Metroids before Prime, Echoes, Corruption and then Other M.
Niklas L. A long time ago, in a game grumps episode, he plugged Matthew and said that he loved his reviews. They also follow one another on Twitter I believe
I've found that ever since I've started analyzing games from a critical perspective, I've had less fun playing them but more appreciation towards the games themselves. I think its a phenomenon that occurs with critics of all media, whether film, literature, or music. It's not a practice for everyone, but if you're a passionate gamer, approaching games as a critic will make your time feel more worthwhile.
Yhere was something about twilight princess that I feel you didnt mention and it was how exploring the overworld is practically useless as its basically filled with rupees, while you can find the location of heart pieces by using the fortune teller (bad addition on a game you are supposed to explore) And on wind waker you didnt note that some treasures on the water have a different glow which tell the treasure either a heart or something else of interest like gold rupees (basically tells you to ignore the rings of light and looks for the pillars of light) Also you missed on wind waker that holding directions while swinging your sword makes link perform different sword slashes
I just wanted to comment saying that you are by far the best Zelda reviewer I have ever seen. You put in-depth discussion into your videos and point out flaws that I did not even notice, but then realized that they were true. Thank you for your vids. Bawse.
the only issue i have with this, is an issue i have with alot of discussions on zelda games, is the desire for 8+ dungeons and that any zelda game with less than 8 is lacking. Firstly, i would rather have 4 really amazing dungeons than 8 mediocre/good dungeons. Secondly one of the most discussed and highly praised elements of zelda games is the personality of certain NPCs and how people love sidequests. More dungeons typically means less sidequests because there are less heartpieces to find. I understand that the reward for sidequests doesnt need to be heartpieces, but that is typically what happens. I feel that there is a lack of discussion of quality over quantity when it comes to this. Not that i want less dungeons, i just think it should be addressed.
Chris Smith Seems like quantity>quality is what people want these days. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, as long as you’re doing something, and there’s a bunch of it to keep you constantly occupied.
While I don't think there should necessarily be 8 dungeons minimum (although more dungeons would be welcome) some optional dungeons (proper full length, puzzle-style dungeons) would be welcome. They could go all out on an insanely long and complicated dungeon full of everything people find frustrating about Zelda dungeons and it could be ok because it would be optional (the reward would have to be pretty great though)
Having played it recently, OOT 3D has an options screen. Hold/toggle for Z-Targeting is definitely there, which is promising for future games that might use the same gameplay style.
You should play A Link Between Worlds, if you haven't already. I know this video came out before that game did, but from what I can tell, many of the problems that you addressed were solved there.
Can you make a review of breath of the wild? Your opinions on what has been shown so far, in comparison to the other games and what you felt needed to change?
You actually can change the z targeting from hold to toggle in Ocarina of Time, but it has to be done from the file select screen when you boot up the game.
Are you going to do a video on Breath of the Wild (now that all the DLC is out). It seems like Nintendo watched this video haha, many of your improvements were implemented in BotW.
I hope Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto stumble upon to these reviews. Great review! You really nailed what was bugging me about Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.
I think the biggest problem all Zelda games face when it comes to exploration is the lackluster rewards. At the end of the day all the items you find that aren’t necessary or given by progressing the main game are pretty pointless. It’s usually just going to be a bottle, a heart piece, or rupies. If they made some of the required items optional I think they could have more utility. For example, the gloves of strength. If they were optional, the rocks that you struggled to move before could be made easier and quicker to move around. You wouldn’t NEED them, but you would be happy to have found them. If they made the main game possible to complete without these items, you could place them around the world as optional items that are rewards for exploration and only serve to make the game easier. BoTW almost gets this right but the problem is once your stats are higher, gear that gives you bonuses become less important. Food also kind of ruins this because you don’t really need gear that makes you climb faster when you can eat food that lets you climb faster anyway. Elden Ring did a nice job of this. In Elden Ring completing one of the many caves can reward the player with many different rewards. The weapons, armor, talismans, or ashes you find might become things the player uses for the entirety of their playthrough. In BoTW you know the shrine will give you a spirit orb, the weapons you might find are always temporary because they will break and most likely could be found elsewhere, and the armor, while providing different buffs, are offset by food or just leveling anyway. OOT of time had less exploration than WW and SS but it doesn’t matter if there’s not much reason to explore anyway. Imagine going through some optional dungeon and finding the hook shot. Imagine if you didn’t NEED the hook shot to complete the game but it made it a whole easier. That would be an awesome reward for exploration and definitely encourage players to spend time searching the game. ALTTP had some good ones. The cane of byrna and magic cloak were completely optional but pretty nice rewards for exploration.
Nintendo! Listen to this guy. He has good ideas. Obviously don't follow to a T, be creative like you always are, but he's really hit the nail on the head for most points.
ha since dark souls came out, designers all over the world should understand, that hiding content from the player, even to the degree where many will never find all of it on their own, isnt a bad thing at all. since souls doesn´t punch us in the face with its story, lore, secrets, drama and whatever, we want to experience that so much more. MM is my favourite zelda, awesome atmosphere, I actually cried at some occasions, like when healing darmanis soul. and it also has got neat sidequests, additional content, that I dont think everyone is expected to make it through. kafeis quest is pretty difficult to figure out all on your own, especially considering you were like 10 years old when you played it first time. also you have to do it twice to receive all rewards. zelda usually had a few items I was really looking forward to find, I celebrated when I did: heart pieces of course, always a good reward, also challenging to find all of them. empty bottles would be the other item I enjoy finding. having a bottle changes much in the older games and having more than one is pretty great. actually I was pretty disapointed by WW at first, because at this time I basically expected and wished for an OoT like zelda with much better graphics. that cell shading look and link having more personallity and this much water etc. really threw me off. but in retrospective, I´d say WW has been one of my most joyfull zelda experiences, and that means something, since despite being a zelda fan from my early days on, I only played like 6 games in total: ALttP was my first, OoT, MM, WW, TP and I played but never finished zelda 1 and links awakening. And the 3 mentioned first are arguably the best of the series. yes I love snes and n64 zeldas best, didnt bother as much with the others, WW marked the end of the hype for me and TP was an ok´ish conclusion to zelda for me. but when I think of zelda, I think of the first 3
The problem with the artstyle being chosen last is that they will have less time promoting the new Zelda game and showing the fans new material. For Skyward Sword for example we got promotional material very early. With Zelda U it took them a very long time to show any promotional material of Zelda U for a long time and the Wii U sales really suffered from that I think. Ultimately I'm hype for Zelda U though, because they appear to be doing everything right with it
But wouldn't we see Wii U sales go up when Zelda U actually releases? I don't think Nintendo needs to overmarket their games like Destiny or other new IPs do.
I dont get it why the wii u is selling so bad. It got so many games and you can play most of them with your friends. you can even play most of the older games. I honestly dont get it. Its a great console and nothing like a wii 2.0. I play on it much more often than on my ps4
I don't think it should have minimal of 8 dungeons or wtv, that'd be stupid imo, that's one of the things that made TP not really that great, they should have as many dungeons as it fits the game, shoehorning content that might not be on par with the rest of the game just for the sake of having more dungeons is not at all a good idea. They should implement the creative ideas they have that are good, not try to force other ideas just so the game can have a little more play time. The setting, side quests and amount of things you have to do outside the dungeons also influence that.
I agree with the quality over quantity take. Twilight Princess had tons of dungeons, but a lot of them feel too similar. That said, I don't think Breath of the Wild quite got it right, either, with its four dungeons (five, if you got the DLC), although I liked its shrines quite a bit.
Are you kidding me? The only, and I mean only, good parts about TP were the dungeons; they were the fun in a game that was otherwise a series of boring chores.
Absolutely fantastic. It's a joy to see someone actually support their opinions with several examples. These are the best reviews I have ever seen. Don't stop expressing your opinions in these videos.
There actually is an options screen in Wind Waker and the N64 games. For Wind Waker, it's on the second page of the pause screen, above save, and on the N64 games, it's at the bottom of the file select screen.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 60 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "สุริยันต์เล็ก vs ฤทธิเดช"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2ls0lZplik4/mqdefault.jpg)
God damn it's uncanny how much BotW seems like a direct response to this video. I hope you'll analyze that one too :)
2:50:00 matts take on nintendo BotW E3
th-cam.com/video/87IbuTN4AL4/w-d-xo.html
Watching this video for the first time now and I'm like wtf did Nintendo watch this video while developing the game?
Except for the “new setting” part. Nintendo did the complete opposite.
But no dungeons
Enjoy ;D
In Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, every time you turn on the game and start your save file, it congratulates you on finding your first rupee! Every single time. It's annoying and stupid, and there is no reason the game should explain what a rupee is EVER.
Not in the remake :P
Thank GODDESS!
Yes and no.
In TP everytime you grab a different color rupee after turning on the console it tells you how much it’s worth it by stopping you in your tracks.
In SS it doesn’t do that anymore but to my surprise they still did it with all the bugs and knickknacks you collect which are way more than just 5 different colors of rupees.
It’s stupid, annoying and felt like they’re insulting my intelligence.
why are you complaining about such a minor inconvenience
@@taner873 I'm not the person you're replying to, but I think it's worth criticizing a minor inconvenience if there's no reason for it to be there. The minor inconvenience could have been removed from the game without any detriment in the player's experience. Sure, it's a minor inconvenience, but I would really like to not see this minor inconvenience pop up again in future Zelda games.
Matthew proceeding to outline BotW with remarkable accuracy, possibly even before Nintendo outlined it themselves, is a testament to how in-tune he is with the series, and game design in general.
He even highlighted that a return to the island concept would be worthwhile, which we now get in tears of the kingdom
I really want him to get back to this, because the internet is currently awash in totk/botw hate videos where people pretend zelda started with oot and anything that isnt exactly oot is bad design...having someone who knows what he's talking about would be refreshing.
Exactly. I've watched and re-watched his videos over the years anytime they feel relevant to me, and hearing the same subject (in this case, Zelda games) talked about in a different light than all the other voices (often much later after the hype has worn down too) is appreciated.
@@Multipurpose_Bagel cap burgeson is a good alternative while we wait for matthew to wake from his 100 year slumber.
@@daniel8181 I can't seem to find this "cap burgeson" you mentioned.
I haven't worked in the industry but I am a programmer and I've studied games development. As far as I can see any team that knows what they're doing will code the basics like camera and button inputs so they can very easily be tweaked should the need arise. This makes it easy to put them on an option screen. I don't know how much extra testing this would incur but the actual changes to controls/camera themselves should be very simple.
'There's no point emulating Ocarina of Time, because Ocarina of Time already exists'. This is a perfect statement.
Except not really since Twilight Princess is amazing and had lots of originality and it’s own unique identity. Matthew was off on that game.
Twilight Princess has some nice original ideas, sure, but it is obviously trying to mimic Ocarina in most of it’s general structure. To say otherwise is just being willing in denial.
I mean, yeah. That's true of any game, really.
@@charlie1234500 All games are trying to replicate Ocarina of Time? I mean, if you say so.
@@alexanderfreeman3406 Any game trying to replicate anything of the past instead of being original. This isn't exclusive to games trying to be like Ocarina of Time. For example, Indie games trying copy the style or aesthetic (or both) of NES and SNES video games for example. They throw in needless, shameless references to inflict an emotional response to the player, usually towards nostalgia, another example.
One complaint I never understood about MM is the dungeon count. The whole reason why there's so much atmosphere in that game is because you're not stuck in some cave or temple for the majority of the game. There's always something major you have to accomplish before entering a dungeon which can take about as long, if not longer than the dungeon itself. With that said, those segments allow you to understand the characters and the weight of how the world is in chaos from Majora. The major theme of that game isn't the masks, the time, or even the moon staring at you, but healing. Those segments before the dungeon and most of the side quests really drive that theme home, in my opinion, and without them, the game would be really shallow.
eh...in other games there is also stuff that you do before then dungeon majora's mask still has a rather short dungeon count. like themes aside there isn't as much great dungeons in a game like majora's mask as say twilight princess which may have the most dungeons in a zelda game
A Link to the Past has more dungeons than Twilight Princess. I like all the dungeons in Majora's Mask, I don't like all the dungeons in Twilight Princess but overall its dungeons are superior.
Absolutely :)
@@jaydenc367 TP has 9 dungeons, OoT has 9 dungeons and 4 mini-dungeons. Besides, MM's dungeons are far more intricate and better designed than TPs
@@Thierce Better designed? Lol no...the only truly great one is Stone Tower Temple. TP has Arbitar's grounds, temple of time, City in the sky, etc.
"If there was ever a time when Zelda needed to win over it's core audience it would be now"
Ah I love a happy ending.
Anyone get the feeling Nintendo somehow caught wind of some of the critique and comments from this video and took it to heart for Breath of the wild?
A little yeah. Glad I wasn't the only one that went back and watched this video again after that Breath of the Wild stuff came out.
i'm almost certain this was the case
I thought about that while watching the gameplay previews. So many of Matthew's critiques seemed almost directly addressed. It made me happy since articulated so many thoughts similar to mine, so addressing his critiques is like giving me what I want, too ^_^
Matthews critique isn't a rare one among the Zelda fanbase. People have been arguing for Nintendo to go back and see what worked about the early Zelda titles that has been lost in later games.
We'll see when it comes out *fingers crossed*
Can't wait to hear Matthew's thoughts on Breath of the Wild. It seems like they're delivering everything he's wanted.
+Faizan Ali He has a second channel and he gave his thoughts
+Faizan Ali It is on this channel. Look at the channel Tab
I can't find it or he took it down.
Everything except "full-on voice acting" which he said would be a "train wreck."
And he's kind of right with what's been shown in the English version.
I definitely agree with a lot of this.
I also really like the emphasis on "here's what worked in these games", even if it's very critical.
It's funny that while most developers are scared of creating something the player might not see, the designers of Dark Souls put six entire game areas and seven bosses in incredibly obscure locations requiring esoteric knowledge and items to access, if you even realize they exist... many players of the PC version managed to complete the game completely unaware of Oolacile, or even Ariamis
***** it was included
You want to talk about exploration and missing content, you talk about finding "Ash Lake"
Are you psychic? You literally sounded like you were describing BOTW.
Brandon Petruska His wish list was pretty close
came here to say this
wished he make a review on it!
@@Gadget-Walkmen wish granted
Ocarina of Time does offer a toggle Z-targeting option
Could you do something similar to this Zelda series about the Metroid Prime Trilogy?
That would be super interesting.
Michael Jaradeh It's a nice idea but I think those games are just too similar. They're amazing, I love that series, but they're all kinda same-ish. No where near the variety found in the 3D Zelda and Mario games.
might even be as fun to hear matthew shit all over other m
Decided to type out what things Breath of the Wild did in regards to the check list Matthewmatosis made (minor spoilers for BotW below)
"An overworld that as big as it needs to be"- Since BotW main basis is exploration, one could argue that the world size is as big as it needs to be, however on the flip side, another could argue that the world is too big and could've been smaller. Personally for me though, I think the world was as big as it needs to be
"Bigger is better to an extent"- I think BotW was a success in this department. In terms of content, there are enemy camps, Minibosses, ruins, stables, towers, shrines, chests, resources to collect, towns, sidequests, wild life to hunt and find, fairy fountains, Korok seeds, main story (which includes 4 dungeons, some basic lead up to the dungeon, and of course, hunting down the memories) and a little more. In terms of the feel of exploration, that's definitely present for nearly the entire game. And for tedious travel time, I hardly found this an issue in BotW.
"Warp Points are useful"- There are over a 100 warp points in the game however,
"Reliance on warp points is a bad sign"- BotW fails at this but at the same time, doesn't. Yes there are over 100 warp points everywhere, but I can't say that the world wasnt interesting. Quite the opposite in fact. There was tons of stuff to do, and while I did use the warp points to get to places faster, it wasn't because the land wasn't interesting enough. Plus in a map that big, it doesn't hurt to have that much
"A new setting"- This is another one where BotW fails but at the same time doesn't. You are still in Hyrule, but however certain areas that haven't been present before in past games and even certain areas are redesigned. However as I said earlier, it still is in Hyrule
"Drop Zelda & Ganon for a change"- BotW fails at this part. It pretty much does recycle that Zelda Ganon plot
"If Ganon is the villain establish him ASAP"- Yes this is the case. You immediately are told Ganon is a threat in the opening area
"Well developed new element"- The new element is exploration as well as throwing out the conventions of Zelda. I think they developed it pretty well enough
"A focus on getting this right above all"- As said earlier before, I believe they got it right
"Not a mode of transport"- Yes BotW main gimmick is not a mode of transportation
"Not a 2nd world"- This is also the case
"Reduced emphasis on Story"- Definitely. In fact some people did find the story underwhelming because they did decided to let it take a backseat
"Optional story elements make this up"- The entire story for the most part is completely optional
"Start the game as quickly as possible"- Yep. It's not even 10 minutes. It's takes less than five to get to meat of the gameplay
"Option to skip tutorials"- BotW doesn't really have tutorials that pause the game. The closest thing the the old man teaching you stuff which is optional. However unless you bought the DLC, mode of difficulty really isn't a thing
"More options in general"- There is an options menu which does give a decent amount of options
"Harder difficulty mode"- It's not really in the base game as it's included in the DLC. Even then the hard mode is more annoying than hard (plus some equipment kinda kills the challenge)
"Perfect as much as possible"- Ehhhhhh. It's arguable. BotW is fantastic but it is no perfect game. It has it's issues, but the question is, how big the issues are to you. Most of them too could be easily fixed with the DLC/updates (and so far there doing a good job at that). I think they tried to make it as perfect as they could but there is some small room for improvement
"Try to be timeless"- Easily BotW is timeless
"8 dungeons minimum"- Nope. You could argue that the amount of shrines makes it equal to more than 8 but if we're basing it off actual dungeons, there's only 4-5 (depending if you count Hyrule Castle as a dungeon)
"Think outside the box on at least 2"- I am not completely sure. The Devine Beasts are different from what you would see from a normal dungeon but on the flip side, they do repeat the same gimmick (although admittedly in a different way)
"Art style chosen to fit the game"- I think the Style of BotW fits well so I think that's a yes
"Choose the art style after other things"- I can't really confirm this since I'm not sure how they developed the game. But as I said earlier I think it fits well.
"Don't try to please everyone"- The art style of BotW worked well so I would say Nintendo tried to do what they think is best. Same goes for the base game
"Surprise me"- BotW is filled with surprises
"Don't ruin the surprise"- While some trailers did reveal certain things, I think for the most part they did a good job not ruining everything
"Accessibility shouldn't hurt experienced players"- BotW has little handholding so yes
So pretty much, I do think BotW did fill in some aspects he was requesting, but I don't think it's 100% accurate as people are saying.
I Can't Think of a Good Name BotW is quantity>quality in a lot of aspects. The world has some great environments, but when it comes to gameplay it falls short in many departments save for maybe the combat.
Great comment, I really liked your analysis of how BotW responded to Mathewmatosis' review.
About the "Don't try to please everyone" point, in his recent video he states the was some compromise with that, specifically with the item storage being so big, the menu of otems accesible at all times, etc, so they made them way too convenient.
I guess they failed on that department.
Breath of the Wild doesn't follow his list perfectly, but it was basically impossible for that to happen. But, hey, you could say that Nintendo didn't try to please everyone, and everyone includes Matthewmatosis.
Lots of “I think” I know yer not the arbiter of whether these predictions check out but maybe try to be slightly more impartial
I know it's blasphemy to Zelda fans to look outside and take influence from other things, but I think Zelda can learn a lot from Metroid.
One of your praises in the SS video was context sensitive actions for link's items. I think this could be expanded further.
One of the reasons exploration feels so natural in Metroid is because Samus power ups are abilities, they're an extension of herself, not items you constantly have to equip, toggle, or set to buttons. You rarely get an item to use on one boss and then never touch again, the world demands these abilities for Samus to even survive.
The next Zelda can have a greater focus on magic rather than equipment in order to do this. Of course then the makeup of the world would have to be designed much better to allow this rather than just being a big slab of land, but that goes with what you say about having the world have more meaningful content so it would work.
Those are my 2 cents anyways
+Waidara Cabudu Yeah, but the magic system should be changed completely. Having like a million abilities relying on the limited, shitty excuse for a magic meter the early 3d games had is a fucking nightmare. Hookshots should remain though
Really loud girl if you continued reading you'd know i referenced neither of those games. Just cuz the new ones suck doesn't mean there isn't influence to be taking from the existing/older ones.
Breath of the Wild did that to some capacity. The Runes you can equip are yours from the beginning of the game and they are very useful in both combat and world exploration throughout the whole experience. In fact, the runes actually habe plenty of different uses that make each puzzle feel open ended with multiple solutions. Almost every time I complete a shrine I think "Oh I could have just done this instead." And that's an awesome feeling.
What I don't understand is why the series is giving MORE hand holding as time goes on. I mean, I can google almost ANY question if I get stuck somewhere and find an exact answer. The only tutorial we should be getting is a warning in the beginning: "If you get stuck, look it up, dumbass."
Link between worlds, while a top down game, gets a lot of these things right. I'd recommend it to anyone.
It has:
An awesome twist
Cool art style (although cut scenes seem to clash with it a little bit, they are few and far between)
I think 11 dungeons
It reinvents the weapon system in a really great way, that really adds to the game
It has a fair amount of warp points, and a better warp system to accompany it.
I also like the change in the save system.
And a Hard mode is available after completion.
However, a long opening and lots of story still plague this game. Although I did appreciate the end cut scenes, I still didn't read most of the games dialogue up until that point, and I wish there could at least be a skip button for cut scenes.
Batman There is a skip button for cutscenes in Link between worlds. You just had to press start and then a (SKIP) button showed up on your touchscreen.
+Batman ALBW suffered from very easy dungeons, probably as a result of allowing you to do them in any order. It's a shame because it could have been basically perfect otherwise.
Well... not perfect, because it's still on a handheld. I fucking hate handhelds.
+Batman Speaking of a hard mode, I don't think it should be unlocked after beating the game; I think it should be available from the start. Doing it the other way is asking you to play the same game again after you just beat it. Just have it from the start and let people looking for a challenge know that this is the difficulty for them.
+Batman it has an evil minigame (which is the bane of all challenges for 100% completions) that is a completionist killer. despite theproblems I had with the game, overall it restored Zelda back to what Zelda should be.
My only problem with link between worlds is, surprisingly, the openness of the world and the ability to complete the main 7 dungeons in any order. On the surface, it seems like a brilliant idea, one that allows players to craft their own unique path through the story. However, I think it backfires in the realm of pacing. Allow me to explain...
Since the devs had to assume that the dungeons could be done in any order, they had to design each one to be independent from one another. For example, the hookshot is required for the water dungeon in that game, but not for any other dungeon. This is because the devs had to assume it was possible for players to enter the other dungeons without the hookshot. Imagine if you had to complete the water dungeon first. That would mean all the other dungeons could incorporate interactivity between the hookshot and their own unique mechanics. It's sad to think about what could have been in that respect.
Another aspect of the pacing that's a bit spoiled by the openness of link between worlds is the difficulty. The dungeons actually get easier as you get closer to the end of the game, and that's mainly because by the time you've reached your last dungeon your arsenal of weapons is wider than it has ever been before that point, but the dungeon has to assume you only have access to one item. Your last dungeon is also probably your easiest because of heart containers. You have more heart containers at that point than ever before, but the developers still had to assume that your last dungeon could have also been your first, and so it's damn near impossible for the boss to kill you in the last dungeon. What's even more disappointing is that this one could have easily been fixed, by having the boss health and damage output scale with the player's progress.
Overall, I really liked link between worlds for all the reasons you mentioned, but I think the pacing is poor compared to the other games in the series. I consider it a flawed masterpiece, because the other elements that aren't related to pacing are so good it's almost excusable.
You are such a pleasure to listen to, your points are well backed up and I agree with every one. You explain how I feel about the Zelda series better than I could myself. You deserve so many more subs its ridiculous, keep up the good work and heres hoping zelda wii u will take some of your points into consideration.
It did. ;)
WOW. been ages since I watched this vid and posted above comment. Re watching now it still stands. Great upload. So glad to see how your channel has grown so much also :)
It’s amazing how even 8 years ago you were making high quality video essays like this. I can’t believe I just found your channel, where have you been all my life lol
3:36 amazing how they are literally doing so right now!
You CAN change the Z targeting in ocarina of time from hold to toggle, it's in the option menu when you select your save file.
I absolutely love your videos and you are the best reviewer on TH-cam of these types of videos for one simple-yet-gifted reason; you can articulate the soul and essence of a game. There are a lot of great reviewers out there, but they merely convey the mechanics or story very well; to describe and explain these games the way you do - understanding the quiddity and haecceity of it - is almost non-existent on YT. I hate it when people tell others to "keep it up", but for my sake - and many others I'm sure - I really hope you do continue with these wonderful in-depth reviews.
Wow, I believe I found my new favorite youtube channel :)
+Quimoxx The party is open to everyone!
George Bob no.
+Jane Evans O-o-o-o-okay...
3:36 Basically what Nintendo is doing with the sequel to the breath of the wild
Will you ever review a link between worlds?
After being a stalwart Zelda detractor, I'm finally trying to sit down and give the series its due time. Your videos have been explaining a lot of my frustrations with the games, and are refreshing amongst the sea of blind praise the series largely receives.
I hope you give the upcoming Wii U installment a similar in depth look when it drops next year. If your other videos are any indication, it'll be quite the treat.
Good comment lol :P (yes I recognize you as a PCP guy...)
Tommy Oliver 3D this comment sucks
A Matthewmatosis vid I haven't watched yet?? Freaking made my night, can't believe I missed this one
I hope someone at Nintendo watches this.
It sounded like a lesson on how to make a game better, and honestly I would love it if they followed these excellent tips. Your videos are amazing pieces of work. Even if not everyone cares to sit through until the ending, they are very well edited and logically thought out.
You got one of your facts wrong. You can change how Z-Targeting in Ocarina of Time works from Hold to Switch via the Option menu when you boot up the game.
Anyway, personally, I would add a greater emphasis on combat to your list, specifically the bosses. Let's be honest, almost all bosses in the 3D Zelda games, not counting the final phase of the final bosses, are essentially glorified puzzles, usually use dungeon item at the right time then whack it with your sword. I think Ghirahim being the first boss in Skyward Sword was a welcome change of pace, getting its point across that just using the dungeon item won't be enough to defeat all the bosses, and serving as a nice wake-up call against those who just swings wildly or maybe mash the attack button to win. How good you think the execution was is up to you. While I also appreciate Skyward Sword putting more emphasis on sword combat, I'd like to see something like that done in the style of Twilight Princess, with multiple sword moves, since it makes you feel like Link is getting better and stronger as time goes on.
The Z-targetting toggle option was omitted in the European versions that he played in order to (rather lazily) fit extra language options into the options menu.
If he played an NTSC version, you'd be correct.
Sing on about that combat though--the only Zelda I ever felt that did combat well was Zelda II (though it was simple, it was really effective), and that was a _long_ time ago!
Nope, it's in the european version too.
Enlace al Pasado Yes, I took a look at it again. Enlace al Pasado is correct. My apologies for not looking into it more carefully.
From Hold to Switch? I thought it defaulted to Switch. 'S what I always use, anyway. So I was pretty confused when Matt said that.
***** It's always defaulted to Switch. What Matt means is that each game should always have the option of being able to use Switch or Hold, which apparently has always been the case anyways.
3:38 i am glad that nintendo didnt wait too long to bring sky exploration back and i really hope nintendo fleshes it out in totk.
I really enjoy the parts you hated about SS and TP. The opening and story in both games was really enjoyable for me. I feel like those were the things that those games got right. In TP, I love the opening because its lighthearted, and thrusts everything about the basic mechanics on the player in the start, and its kind of fun to run around the village exploring. Its story was relatively good , but some moments and characters were underdeveloped or boring. As for SS, I really love Skyloft's atmosphere, and yet again, I'm not confused later in the game because of the tutorials, so I would say it's opening is a success. As for it's story, there aren't really any flaws, and the way Groose, Zelda, and to an extent, Link, act is really great. I especially like the opening in both games, because it provides a fun and harmless atmosphere to explore the games mechanics.
I totally agree with TP. For me, the only "meh" part was the light-bugs bullshit.
SS and TP are by far my least favorite games of the series. I've beaten twilight princess 3 or 4 times, and even though I feel it's a weak Zelda game I think it's a very good game in general. All the hand-holding and tutorial stuff bored me to tears though. I've played 8 or so Zelda games at this point, some of them multiple times (I beat OoT like, god, 40 times or something. I was beating it in 2 days at one point, starting again as soon as I had finished) and having to spend upwards of an hour hearing about how to swing a sword or jump or fire a slingshot really killed the beginning pacing for me. It would take me about FOURTY SECONDS to figure this stuff out on my own, and even if I somehow missed it at the beginning I would be forced to learn to swing my sword and aim at stuff soon anyway so I would figure it out then.
yeah, i wish you could skip tutorials, but they should be there for first timers or people who need them.
I'm the opposite. I found the moments and characters to be amazing and very well developed, but the overall story to be just okay. Basically the opposite of Skyward Sword where the story (Japanese version) is great but any character outside of the main five (Link, Zelda, Groose, Impa, Fi (Because of the ending) was underdeveloped and didn't reach their potential because they didn't take their individual character story arcs far enough for them to work (Mallara doesn't get out of the horrible habit of spending her son's hard earned money for school, and Batuerex doesn't learn to accept himself as he is and go out and have the people of Skyloft accept him as he is, and they have the stupid decision to make it so the Remlits are possessed simply because of Bateruex's form which says that even if you're a really good person your form can hurt others and monsters appearing because of that.
They should do tutorials the way Ocarina of Time did them. Have them be optional areas in the first town that you have to go out of your way to look into to get information on them. That way no one is forced to go through them if they don't want them.
OoT had toggle and hold z targeting
3:35 Now that we've seen some footage of the sequel to Breath of the Wild, it looks like the island concept could very well be coming back.
Just want to thank for all the work you put into these videos. They are very informative, and good food for thought.
Yup, you pretty much nailed it. Whats even more amazing is that this video is from 2012, when the internet landscape was much different than it is now...
I just noticed that you said that OoT doesn't have an option to change between switch and hold Z-targeting modes. It does. There's an settings menu in the file select, and the option is there. Same for Majora's Mask.
Anyone else anxiously anticipating his review of Breath of the Wild?
THE WAIT IS OVER
I just watched all of your Zelda reviews in a row, which (when combined with this excellent summation/conclusion) are collectively one of the best single pieces of critical analysis I've ever experienced. This is dissertation quality stuff here, and I can't wait to see more.
Great videos. Watched them all. I wish you could cover the whole series, including the handheld titles.
I know it 2 years late, but Ocarina of Time actually give you the option of select z-targeting from hold to toggle in the first screen, when you select audio type. It's called "expert mode" or something like that.
I was confused on that part too, but I think he was saying he wanted an Options menu directly in the game, and in OoT, you can't change the options unless you save and quit and go to File Select. He does show the TP Options menu right after (which is in the game's pause menu itself).
I loved the grassy field in majoras mask, everything felt more alive in that game for some reason.
I guess your right in that it serves no purpose for the big picture, but none of the overworlds in any of the games really do other than getting to other areas if you think about it, some are just more interesting than others, such as majoras mask with its interesting heart pieces and things happening in the caves you enter and etc
Majora's Mask made the hub field small, made each corner a unique and interesting visual theme (based on the four "levels" of the game), put a few hidden money stocks, characters, and items in it, and made travelling around very fast and simple with the Goron mask, bunny hood, and horse. Basically fixing every single problem that there is in the hub fields for OoT and TP.
MiddleClasshole345 The overworlds of OoT and TP are more about creating an atmosphere than constantly shoving content in your face. MM’s overworld is really good too, but it would be wrong to say that the lack of “things to do” in OoT and TP are “problems,” that’s just how the games were designed, and they have a pretty epic feeling in my opinion.
I lov your zelda reviews and stuff and I would certainly look forward to in depth reviews on the 3d mario games, would be really cool
Quality review, I feel you've really evolved since your first reviews. You make some excellent points, and try to look at these from different angles. Your diction is also superb, I get hooked in the first minute and I'm listening attentively 'till the end.
Make more dammit!
I would be intrigued to see what your thoughts are of Breath of the Wild. Seeing how many of your points were addressed in it.
after just playing BOTW this is a surreal video to watch
I have to say sir that was a fantastic review series and I think one of the best I've ever seen. Your honesty along with just how in depth you are regarding these games makes you one of the best reviewers I've seen on youtube. I hope you keep it up and I look forward to your next review.
The funny thing is that in many interviews, such as the Iwata Asks, they have said they start thinking of the gameplay before the story, and figure it out afterwards.
If they decide the art style after they settle on the gameplay and story, they'll need more time. So, we're either willing to wait 5+ years for a Zelda game or have a superficial game per year. Me, I'm willing to wait. But most of the fanbase keeps pressuring for new games, and in the end, it's business for them. Great video.
More areas that are unnecessary to visit, but available to visit. Maybe even whole towns. One of the things I loved about Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was all the different towns available, many of the buildings you could enter had no purpose in the way of the story or gameplay, but just by being there it made the game feel just a little more immersive.
Nathanael Ries "I am Error"
Alastair Hadlow Actually, Error is important later on. You have to deliver a letter to him.
13:10
"They say that players who select the "HOLD" option for "Z TARGETING" are real "Zelda players!""
- Gossip Stone
Watched all your videos, keep up the great work man!
Just watched all of your Zelda reviews today and I have to say, I'm impressed with the amount of thought you put into them. I also think they improved as you went along, because while your OoT review is good, it feels a bit like a summary of how the game progresses--while you SS review is very to the point and delves into the mechanics of the game. All in all though, pretty great stuff.
03:36 I am here from 2022 telling you they're trying it once more.
Third time a charm... I hope.
Watching this in 2017, hoping for you to do one of these for Breaht of the Wild^^
I really appreciate that you took the time to make this Matthewmatosis. Thank you!
This was a very thoughtful video with great points and explanations. As a game designer and Zelda fan, this video alone convinced me to subscribe to your channel. I look forward to watching your other videos!
Great overview of the problems and possible solutions. Would be interested to watch a similar video on A Link Between Worlds (technically a 3D Zelda) or failing that the two Darksiders games, which owe a lot to the Zelda franchise.
If Matthew does this with the Darksiders games, I suggest he does them on the consoles. The PC ports aren't all that stellar, and the 2nd 1 was schizophrenic at best as a port... Either way they are Zelda-lites, as are also Ōkami & Ōkamiden.
CyrusBluebird I agree they borrow heavily from Zelda (especially the first Darksiders) but (IMO) the Darksiders game's have better combat, a more interesting story (Darksiders 1 anyway), and represent a superior challenge (on higher difficulty levels) than Zelda games which are always let down by 'far too easy' combat. But importantly, the Darksiders games eschew many of the criticisms Matthew has of the Zelda series. Players are put almost straight into the action. Cut scenes and tutorial interference are minimal. Darksiders II has 8 Optional Dungeons (out of its total 23)! So although far from perfect, and obviously drawing massively upon the Zelda franchise, both Darksiders game's are good enough to stand on their own merits. For my money, both are better than weaker Zelda installments (such as Skyward Sword) while Darksiders 1 is almost up there with the best of the series (for me Ocarina).
Craig Cochrane No need to explain, have over 100h on each Darksiders game on Steam. But good to see ppl like the series.
13:10 - it's possible to change the lock-on type in OoT from the save screen! Go down to Options and you can choose between "Switch" or "Hold" in the Z Targeting section. c:
Damn...I watched all of these back to back. Fantastic series of videos man, looking forward to your thoughts on BotW
Really enjoyed this video. Very in depth and to an experienced Zelda fan I knew and agreed with everything you said. All points were introduced, explained, and supported well. Counter-arguements were adressed and the level of persuasion was astounding. I found myself agreeing with every one of your points. I would be interested in seeing these points taken into consideration by NOJ Dev 2 on the Zelda Wii U. Good watch.
These zelda reviews are by far the best I've ever seen.
"dungeons are the most standardized element across all of zelda. so it'd be great to see this part of the series shaken up more."
Breath of the wild changed a lot of things to great effect. it also had the most lackluster dungeons and bosses in the entire series. sometimes you shouldnt change things if you dont have an idea with what to replace it with.
Breath of the Wild's ideas and execution are two different things. The shrines, divine beasts, and bosses aren't lackluster because they're non-linear and/or optional. The content's issues are asset reuse, lack of challenge throughout most of the experience, short length, and sparsity of interesting ideas. If Nintendo tried it again they would undoubtedly see more success.
The bosses were way more engaging in BotW than past Zelda games, and Diving Beasts were a great mix up of the formula, just not perfectly achieved
@@Pan_Z eh...there is certainly challenge in the games.what sort length? ok divine beasts yeah but shrines are of good length. sparsity of interesting ideas? eh...I wouldn't say that there was quit a bit of interesting ideas
@@jaydenc367 I honestly have no idea what I meant by "short length." I think I meant to say short length of the divine beasts.
As for density of novel or engaging ideas, Breath of the Wild is definitely lacking. The mechanics are great, but much of the setting blends together after you fight the same palette swapped moblin the 200th time.
@@Pan_Z oh those novel ideals! I meant like more so puzzle stuff really. I will admit the enemy variety is lacking. the setting of the world is honestly pretty amazing I found. I still found there a lot of interesting ideas even with the whole enemy variety issue
Great video, could I put in a request for something from Clover Games? I loved Okami, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand, and I feel you'd do a great job at exploring why they work so well.
I absolutely love your reviews man! Was wondering what you were planning to review next?
It's like Nintendo watched this video and decided to make A Link Between Worlds just for Matthew, haha
link between worlds misses a lot of the points he brought up though
-reliance on nostalgia
-takes place in an existing world
-has two split worlds
-doesn't introduce a new element (other than selecting dungeons in whatever order but thats not that big of a change)
lanelafisking Never played the prequel so the nostalgic effect was gone, and wouldn't you consider morphing into a painting being a new element?
chinezeFURY oh true forgot about that
but yeah its pandering to people who loved link to the past
lanelafisking whatever you say dood
lanelafisking The thing was, was that i loved link to the past. But i didnt want to replay link to the past. thats what link between worlds seemed to me, a hd version of link to the past.
"There's no reason to emulate Ocarina of Time, because Ocarina of Time already exists"
Tell that to the entire fucking games industry.
Awesome reviews, including the separate five you done on all 3d Zelda games. As a big Zelda fan, I appreciate your honesty and dedication to improving the series.
Daniel Evans I don't, I did not like Zelda 1 and I don't think it should be the groundwork for the series as it is a very poorly designed game.
This is a wonderful video, a lot of the point you bring to the table make absolute sense. I will always enjoy a good Zelda title but some just lack that same feeling of immersion and enjoyment as others.
Ocarina of Time totally has an option to switch Z-Targeting from hold to toggle. It's in the options menu on the file select screen.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with a fair amount of this, and I think that Okami (a game I will never shut up about when zelda comes up, yes I am "that guy") fixes a lot of the problems mentioned here. Although, I'll be the first to say that that game could REALLY have used a dedicated "Issun, I'm a Goddess, I know this stuff already" button, and I LOVE the story in that game.
Id love to hear your opinion on a Link Between Worlds weapon system, and on the Phantom Hourglass/ Spirit Tracks style of gameplay.
I'd love the option to turn off text prompts from chests after i've picked up the item, and key/rupee icons on chests in dungeons when you find the compass, so many times i wasted time opening chests that had rupees in that i would not have bothered with had i known.
I like how Breath of the Wild hits all of the suggestions Matthew has
I really do wish Zelda would take a number of cues from Dark Souls.
For starters, Zelda features underwhelming rewards for those who thoroughly explore the environments. Your efforts usually result in accumulating more useless rupees or just a heart piece. Dark Souls, on the other hand, allows you to find hidden items, weapons, armor, magic, miracles, and maybe even stumble upon a hidden boss for those who thoroughly explore. Bloodborne was terrific at featuring a nice array of hidden, optional bosses be it Paarl or Ebrietas.
I also wish Zelda featured more engaging combat. Most enemies go down after a few mindless sword swipes, and the majority of all bosses just involve hitting the obvious glowing weak point. Dark Souls features ferocious bosses that require skill and quick-toed thinking to take down, never holding your hand or treating you as if you lack the skill and ability to succeed. Zelda doesn't have to feature the difficulty of Dark Souls but I do wish they'd make the combat more engaging and rewarding.
Finally, I wish Zelda would enhance its musical compositions. This might sound subjective at first, but objectively speaking Zelda's music could use some work. Too often the songs are incredibly short and just loop endlessly. The theme for the Yuga-Ganon battle in ALBW, along with Demise's Second Phase in SS, are notorious for this. The Souls series and Bloodborne, on the other hand, feature FULL, unique compositions for so many of its bosses. Just listen to the themes for False King Allant, Ornstein and Smough, Gwyn, Aldia, Vendrick, The Burnt Ivory King, Sinh, Sir Alonne, Father Gascoigne, and Ebrietas. They're all incredible pieces of music.
+OtterloopB Speaking of music, I think the Zelda games use remixes too much. I want to see a Zelda game where every single song is completely original.
agreed
+OtterloopB Sometimes, I feel like Nintendo developers settle. They're not ambitious anymore and just make mediocre games that try to appeal to as many people as possible and are happy with that.
+OtterloopB I don't know why, but heart pieces in zelda games feel like virtual heroin to me. It is the only reward I hope for in every game. I'ts not like I need more health, they are not hard, but it is just such a good feeling when collected.
+OtterloopB I think people expect Zelda to be like Dark Souls, and they're a bit misguided.
Even before Dark Souls, the fans just expected Twilight Princess to be something Zelda isn't.
Zelda will never be like Dark Souls. It's fundamentally different.
Loved the review! It made me realize how the Zelda games have similar elements, yet add a more abstract theme each time. Time travel between future and past, time reversal, animal transformation and alternate reality AND black magic/ancient curses.
One quick question: what is your relationship to HellfireComms? I saw that they had favorited your video and thats how i discovered your channel.
I would love to see Matthew do a series like this on the Metroid franchise. As there aren't as many 3D Metroids as there are Marios and Zeldas, perhaps we could a video for the 2D Metroids before Prime, Echoes, Corruption and then Other M.
So much better than egoraptor's video
The funny thing is that even Egoraptor agrees. He loves this channel.
+Darkness X03 Where did he say that?
Niklas L. A long time ago, in a game grumps episode, he plugged Matthew and said that he loved his reviews. They also follow one another on Twitter I believe
Oh cool! Thanks
Niklas L. He mentioned this channel on the first Mario 64 video I believe
I've found that ever since I've started analyzing games from a critical perspective, I've had less fun playing them but more appreciation towards the games themselves. I think its a phenomenon that occurs with critics of all media, whether film, literature, or music. It's not a practice for everyone, but if you're a passionate gamer, approaching games as a critic will make your time feel more worthwhile.
Yhere was something about twilight princess that I feel you didnt mention and it was how exploring the overworld is practically useless as its basically filled with rupees, while you can find the location of heart pieces by using the fortune teller (bad addition on a game you are supposed to explore)
And on wind waker you didnt note that some treasures on the water have a different glow which tell the treasure either a heart or something else of interest like gold rupees (basically tells you to ignore the rings of light and looks for the pillars of light)
Also you missed on wind waker that holding directions while swinging your sword makes link perform different sword slashes
I just wanted to comment saying that you are by far the best Zelda reviewer I have ever seen. You put in-depth discussion into your videos and point out flaws that I did not even notice, but then realized that they were true. Thank you for your vids.
Bawse.
the only issue i have with this, is an issue i have with alot of discussions on zelda games, is the desire for 8+ dungeons and that any zelda game with less than 8 is lacking. Firstly, i would rather have 4 really amazing dungeons than 8 mediocre/good dungeons. Secondly one of the most discussed and highly praised elements of zelda games is the personality of certain NPCs and how people love sidequests. More dungeons typically means less sidequests because there are less heartpieces to find. I understand that the reward for sidequests doesnt need to be heartpieces, but that is typically what happens. I feel that there is a lack of discussion of quality over quantity when it comes to this. Not that i want less dungeons, i just think it should be addressed.
Chris Smith Seems like quantity>quality is what people want these days. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, as long as you’re doing something, and there’s a bunch of it to keep you constantly occupied.
While I don't think there should necessarily be 8 dungeons minimum (although more dungeons would be welcome) some optional dungeons (proper full length, puzzle-style dungeons) would be welcome.
They could go all out on an insanely long and complicated dungeon full of everything people find frustrating about Zelda dungeons and it could be ok because it would be optional (the reward would have to be pretty great though)
Having played it recently, OOT 3D has an options screen. Hold/toggle for Z-Targeting is definitely there, which is promising for future games that might use the same gameplay style.
It's been a great series of videos! Great job!
Zelda 2D video series after metal gear? :)
You should play A Link Between Worlds, if you haven't already. I know this video came out before that game did, but from what I can tell, many of the problems that you addressed were solved there.
Can you make a review of breath of the wild? Your opinions on what has been shown so far, in comparison to the other games and what you felt needed to change?
You actually can change the z targeting from hold to toggle in Ocarina of Time, but it has to be done from the file select screen when you boot up the game.
something about " Time Travel, Shape Changing Masks, and Sailing.... " just got me lol
Are you going to do a video on Breath of the Wild (now that all the DLC is out). It seems like Nintendo watched this video haha, many of your improvements were implemented in BotW.
Congrats on ghost directing BotW. Hope you enjoy the fruits of your input as much as I did!
I hope Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto stumble upon to these reviews. Great review! You really nailed what was bugging me about Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.
Did u play botw?
I think the biggest problem all Zelda games face when it comes to exploration is the lackluster rewards. At the end of the day all the items you find that aren’t necessary or given by progressing the main game are pretty pointless. It’s usually just going to be a bottle, a heart piece, or rupies. If they made some of the required items optional I think they could have more utility. For example, the gloves of strength. If they were optional, the rocks that you struggled to move before could be made easier and quicker to move around. You wouldn’t NEED them, but you would be happy to have found them. If they made the main game possible to complete without these items, you could place them around the world as optional items that are rewards for exploration and only serve to make the game easier. BoTW almost gets this right but the problem is once your stats are higher, gear that gives you bonuses become less important. Food also kind of ruins this because you don’t really need gear that makes you climb faster when you can eat food that lets you climb faster anyway. Elden Ring did a nice job of this. In Elden Ring completing one of the many caves can reward the player with many different rewards. The weapons, armor, talismans, or ashes you find might become things the player uses for the entirety of their playthrough. In BoTW you know the shrine will give you a spirit orb, the weapons you might find are always temporary because they will break and most likely could be found elsewhere, and the armor, while providing different buffs, are offset by food or just leveling anyway. OOT of time had less exploration than WW and SS but it doesn’t matter if there’s not much reason to explore anyway. Imagine going through some optional dungeon and finding the hook shot. Imagine if you didn’t NEED the hook shot to complete the game but it made it a whole easier. That would be an awesome reward for exploration and definitely encourage players to spend time searching the game. ALTTP had some good ones. The cane of byrna and magic cloak were completely optional but pretty nice rewards for exploration.
Nintendo! Listen to this guy. He has good ideas. Obviously don't follow to a T, be creative like you always are, but he's really hit the nail on the head for most points.
I have 4 words for you: Breath of the wild
ha since dark souls came out, designers all over the world should understand, that hiding content from the player, even to the degree where many will never find all of it on their own, isnt a bad thing at all.
since souls doesn´t punch us in the face with its story, lore, secrets, drama and whatever, we want to experience that so much more.
MM is my favourite zelda, awesome atmosphere, I actually cried at some occasions, like when healing darmanis soul.
and it also has got neat sidequests, additional content, that I dont think everyone is expected to make it through.
kafeis quest is pretty difficult to figure out all on your own, especially considering you were like 10 years old when you played it first time. also you have to do it twice to receive all rewards.
zelda usually had a few items I was really looking forward to find, I celebrated when I did: heart pieces of course, always a good reward, also challenging to find all of them. empty bottles would be the other item I enjoy finding. having a bottle changes much in the older games and having more than one is pretty great.
actually I was pretty disapointed by WW at first, because at this time I basically expected and wished for an OoT like zelda with much better graphics. that cell shading look and link having more personallity and this much water etc. really threw me off.
but in retrospective, I´d say WW has been one of my most joyfull zelda experiences, and that means something, since despite being a zelda fan from my early days on, I only played like 6 games in total: ALttP was my first, OoT, MM, WW, TP and I played but never finished zelda 1 and links awakening. And the 3 mentioned first are arguably the best of the series. yes I love snes and n64 zeldas best, didnt bother as much with the others, WW marked the end of the hype for me and TP was an ok´ish conclusion to zelda for me.
but when I think of zelda, I think of the first 3
Watching this now, it's amazing how many of your points were addressed by Breath of the Wild. Would love to hear your thoughts on that game.
I really hope you do all those games. I really love them all, and for different reasons.
The problem with the artstyle being chosen last is that they will have less time promoting the new Zelda game and showing the fans new material. For Skyward Sword for example we got promotional material very early. With Zelda U it took them a very long time to show any promotional material of Zelda U for a long time and the Wii U sales really suffered from that I think.
Ultimately I'm hype for Zelda U though, because they appear to be doing everything right with it
But wouldn't we see Wii U sales go up when Zelda U actually releases? I don't think Nintendo needs to overmarket their games like Destiny or other new IPs do.
This is actually an excellent point.
I dont get it why the wii u is selling so bad. It got so many games and you can play most of them with your friends. you can even play most of the older games. I honestly dont get it. Its a great console and nothing like a wii 2.0. I play on it much more often than on my ps4
I don't think it should have minimal of 8 dungeons or wtv, that'd be stupid imo, that's one of the things that made TP not really that great, they should have as many dungeons as it fits the game, shoehorning content that might not be on par with the rest of the game just for the sake of having more dungeons is not at all a good idea. They should implement the creative ideas they have that are good, not try to force other ideas just so the game can have a little more play time. The setting, side quests and amount of things you have to do outside the dungeons also influence that.
Yeah, "The Eight Giants" just isn't as catchy. =P
I agree with the quality over quantity take. Twilight Princess had tons of dungeons, but a lot of them feel too similar. That said, I don't think Breath of the Wild quite got it right, either, with its four dungeons (five, if you got the DLC), although I liked its shrines quite a bit.
Are you kidding me? The only, and I mean only, good parts about TP were the dungeons; they were the fun in a game that was otherwise a series of boring chores.
Absolutely fantastic. It's a joy to see someone actually support their opinions with several examples. These are the best reviews I have ever seen. Don't stop expressing your opinions in these videos.
There actually is an options screen in Wind Waker and the N64 games. For Wind Waker, it's on the second page of the pause screen, above save, and on the N64 games, it's at the bottom of the file select screen.