Zelda Needs to Stop Playing it Safe and Start Innovating

Hardcore Gamer: That feeling of comfortable familiarity that accompanies a series like Zelda has been steadily morphing into a feeling of fatigue with each new game for myself and many fans of the series. The games remain extremely well made, but the gameplay and design concepts are beginning to feel stale; it's clear the series needs rejuvenation.

[admiralvic]

Why is everyone attacking Nintendo for playing it safe all of a sudden? It's not like BF / CoD / AC / Rayman / Sonic / Ratchet and Clank / Uncharted / Halo / Killzone / Dynasty Warriors / BlazBlue / Street Fighter / Resistance and many many others make massive innovations that set the bar with every new release.

[Kingthrash360]

to be fair none of these games are older than nintendos first party games like mario/zelda and so on.

imo tho mario/zelda has done some innovations and they can stay how they are.
its nintendo who needs to bring some new first party gems. they been playing it safe with the success of their first party games by constantly making sequels or spin offs.
nintendo once known as the best minds in gaming has lost it to devs like naughty dog. every generation nd had brought something new to the table
ps1-crash
ps2-jak & dax
ps3- uncharted/tlou
thats four totally differnt games in three generations. that where nintendo lost it they have brought nothing new to the table.
im not bashing the nintendo crowd in fact i respect nintendo for what they have done for gaming, but i expect better and more from them. as i should they have the talent but playing it safe is partly the reason the wiiu is failing. just imo

[admiralvic]

"to be fair none of these games are older than nintendos first party games like mario/zelda and so on. "

So? Nintendo has still changed these titles up a lot more than most of these titles have changed in the same span of titles (especially CoD).

"thats four totally differnt games in three generations. that where nintendo lost it they have brought nothing new to the table. "

There is a difference between bringing nothing new to the table and nothing new you WANT to the table. Furthermore, if you look at the same span of time for Nintendo (Crash 1 being 96), they've done quite a lot... (sorry if some of these games are "too similar", but there is still a sizable number regardless)

Yoshi Story
Super Smash Bros.
Mario Party
Luigi's Mansion
Animal Crossing
Pikmin
Donkey Konga
WarioWare
Wii Sports
Wiifit
Pokemon Rumble
Rhythm Heaven
Wii Music

Some of these games, like Wii Sports, Super Smash Bros, Mario Party and Animal Crossing had an impact on the industry as much as Crash / Jak / Uncharted / TLOU. Not to mention, this list doesn't even count games like Metroid Prime or Paper Mario, which vastly changed and innovated their respective franchises. Or weird Japanese games like Zekkyō Senshi Sakeburein, which uses vocal commands to input attacks.

Not a Nintendo fanboy or anything, but saying they've brought nothing to the table in the past 15+ years is a bit silly. Especially when they're the ones pushing innovation and weird ideas which don't always pan out.

[Kingthrash360]

like i said, im not bashing nintendo. its just they need to bring something new to the table because they are very talented. im not gunna comment on your list of games because it proves my point even more.
if you think im wrong then fine i understand. but look at it like this.
why did the wii fly off the shelves?
wii sports.
introduction of innovative controls.
cheap.
family friendly.
all that pulled the casual gamers
the games pulled the hardcore gamers.
wiiu brings what? a tablet controller...in the ipad era?
more expensive.
not many games.
nothing new (wii sports was a wii new game wiiu has no game that was an introduction to the system but a remake of a old wii sports game.)
say what you will but numbers dont lie.
ps4 and x1 combined numbers in 2 days after their launches sold as much as wiiu in over a year. so yeah nintendo needs to bring a new aaa 1party game that would bring in the casuals and hardcore.

[N4g_null]

Hmmmm the wii sold because of solid game play period.

Nuaghty dog is better than nintendo? Really? Really? Why arnt other developers saying this? What game play has that studio mastered?

also...
the list of games sony copied and failed at....
a mariokart clone, failed... check.
a smash bros clone, failed... check
a rpg no where to be seen from a sony studio... pans tower, xenoblade, zelda. Then nintendo helps team ninja fix ninja gaiden... all that is missing is a failed fps in killzone area, and a zombie game copying bio shock.

crash was junk, jak was a graphical gimmick not fun.... come on... why not bring up god of war, I can respect thst game. Uncharted still is tomb raider to me.

there are still wii games or even gc games that are better designed than any thing nd made. Why does a nd game not fetch more than its cost after resale? Why did crash end up on the game boy like sonic?

Im sorry praise gg for the deffered rendering tech in killzone and nd for great art direction yet seriously keep game design far from them.

Otherwise sony has nothing to offer exclusive wise. Its just prettier version of the bad ps2 exclusives they had before.

[worldwidegaming]

Lets do a DMC! If its not broke lets brake it!

[admiralvic]

More like Lost Planet 3. Some people actually enjoyed the combat of DmC, though no one enjoyed anything from Lost Planet 3.

[CrossingEden]

DmC was actually a great hack and slash game so it would be a good thing if they went into new grounds like dmc did.

[Muffins1223]

Those games have not been around for 25+ years...

[N4g_null]

They are still not better than any thing that came out the 25 years before there release.

[TekoIie]

I think that all you need to say is compare A link between worlds, Wind Waker and Skyward Swords...

Don't look all that similar do they?

Same goes for Mario. You've got M&L, Mario Kart, 2D platformers and 3D platformers.

Ninty's most popular Mascots tend to be very flexible based on the amount of genres they can fit into. It's incredible how many times Ninty has succeeded in doing this when compared to MS and Sony.

[pootymcpoockle]

You're not wrong, just look at playstation allstars... That game was terrible!

[Fanboyssuck27]

They play it say, the trolls moan, if they do something different them same trolls will still moan.
Trolls just like to moan and try and discredit Nintendo for the sake of it.

[gravelchalice]

The Zelda series is still my favourite of all time & I think A Link Between Worlds has freshened up a lot of things. I do really think they'll take some of ALBW's rhythm & implement it into the next console game. Everyone who's rescued Hyrule at some point should agree, the WiiU Zelda has to be one of the most anticipated games since Ocarina of Time.

[McDaygo]

Zelda doesn't need to do anything but be Zelda.

[Crazay]

Zelda needs to be something better. Cause honestly, Zelda sucks sweaty homeless man scrot. Even as a kid I hated that series.

[link2Dpast]

said the sweaty homeless man, stop posting BS , how old are you with boobs as your profile pic, you do know there are REAL woman out there right, just step out your house and walk around also that big bright thing in the sky is called the sun, good luck kid

[McDaygo]

It is what it is, anything else and it may as well be a new game. What can I say, I got a hankering for sweaty homeless man scrot.

[RPG_Lover]

Zelda innovates more than 99 percent of series, this is nonsense

[Crazay]

true...unfortunate isn't it?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

The worst thing they could possibly do is try to move Zelda too far away from its medieval-oriented roots.
Spirit Tracks was about as far away from that idea as they could comfortably get without making the series feel less like Zelda and more like some sort of poser with similar characters in a world that evokes absolutely none of the majesty and enchantment that a kingdom as ancient and ever-changing as Hyrule can.

[secretcode]

...Did this dude not play Link Between Worlds? That's... a pretty drastic shift in gameplay.

[blackmanone]

I enjoyed the game, but are you really saying it's a huge departure from A Link to the Past? Really?

[kevnb]

When I get a Zelda game I want a Zelda game, it's not like we have one every year. Not only that, there isn't 50 Zelda clones coming out every year since it takes that special Nintendo touch to get it right, closest was okami

[BosSSyndrome]

I believe a big target for praise in Link Between Worlds was its multiple new mechanics.

[Theyellowflash30]

The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds shakes up the formula a lot.

I don't see where this article is coming from.

[Chrischi1988]

From a ninty hater of course, acting like other games innovate every time. Ninty games are often the first of their kind, they create totally new genres of gameplay. This is a silly article ^^

[truechainz]

If a Link between worlds is any indication of the kind of innovation this series can continue to look forward to, then this author has no reason to even write this article.

[link2Dpast]

the author seems to like to see himself type becuase its more than LbWorlds that indicate innovation just go back from the begining, no zelda game is alike for the logical reason that each new one is a new legend whcih comes with new items new innovation. i mean obvious stuff, first zelda you literally walked every where, then snes a bird picked you up, N64 a horse or masks that gave you abilites, gamecube a boat to travel the vast seas, then you become a wolf and finally fly on a bird. so really there needs to be change?? NO and those are obvious but are really important the mechanic and life of the game, these are nesccasry changes.

[browngamer41]

Hmmm, seems like odd timing for this article considering A Link Between Worlds is garnering amazing reviews with almost all of them praising how the game has shaken up the formula drastically....

[Blacklash93]

The thing is, people this set in the idea that Zelda is always the same thing aren't going to be satisfied by anything less than a full renovation of all tried and true mechanics and designs.

Was A Link to the Past not a major evolution of what the original LoZ was? Was Ocarina of Time not a game-changer for the series about 12 years in? Did Majora's Mask not do something new (and still remains unique to this day) with the doomsday clock and NPC-schedule cycle mechanics, as well as the transformations? Did Wind Waker not do a completely new aesthetic while updating the gameplay systems and try a new style of overworld design (some new platforming mechanics, too)? Did Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks not try something new for the series with the central dungeon and touch-screen controls? Did Skyward Sword not do a completely new style of controls for 3D Zelda, while experimenting with item upgrades and overworld-dungeon design? Did A Link Between Worlds not introduce a completely new concepts for the franchise with item renting, intentful non-linearity of dungeon order, and wall-walking?

I think Zelda does new things far more than people tell themselves. The basics in how there's an overworld, dungeons, new tools to obtain, and bosses remains the same... But that's Zelda's essence the same way that combat, platforming puzzles, and set-pieces are Uncharted's. There's always a distinguishing set of features and elements in every Zelda title and they are commonly controversial.

[Chrischi1988]

Yeah. the thing is, only gamers, who dont actually play Zelda games, say something like that. Most Zelda fans love Zelda. In every Zelda, you got a new special thing, like time travel, days or years, different dimension, shadow world, Lorule, Minish world, 2d and 3d world, Seasons amd so on, which change the gameplay drastically. Maybe they mean, not solving puzzles would be innovation^^ But that wouldnt be a Zelda anymore, that is like saying in GTA it is innovation, not to be able to steal cars and shoot people^^

Most people who say that, dont play Zelda, but act like they know, what Zelda fans want, or what they want (Nintendo to fail).

I see no other reason. I mean, I am sure there are some Zelda fans tired of the good working formula, but that is with every game, look at Call of Duty Ghost, its bad reviews and how it still sells like hotcakes.

There always people, who complain, but the majority of peole, who actually play Zelda games, do not say such things, only the gamer, who wants Ninty to fail, go the Sega route and make some kind of Mature Skyrim Zelda out of it, in Ego perspective and instead of a sword, you get the Master Gun.

[link2Dpast]

seriously small changes have gotten done, and for a series of games that span literally decades and is still relevant must be doing something right, yea there are hic-ups along the way but most of the time their polished and inovative gameplay, no need for change. They arent released as often that so many people say thats all nintendo has. with the amount of time it has been out, there have been 8 in total relases of zelda on home consoles in a span of 25 years, thats an established game, people act as if nintendo is constaly relasing the 1st party titles non-stop, when there are plenty of new Gen games that already literally have 3 different sequeals in a span of one console release,,,talking to you "uncharted" people praise a game thats the samething each different sequal, the game was boring after one play threw and the sequals were the samething in my opinon, people have some guts to put this game in the likes of zelda, mario, ect...dont let the funny names and game titles fool you these games made gaming what they are today,

[mii-gamer]

albw says hello. By I do agree about the story point

[brich233]

A game series that usually scores 9+ ratings does not need innovating if the fanbase isnt asking for it.

[linkenski]

I'm hoping they're simply saving the boom for whenever PS4 and Xbone starts getting some quality stuff revealed.