The Legend of Zelda on Wii U Showcased at The Game Awards; Shows an Enormous World

At The Game Awards being held in Vegas Nintendo provided a new glimpse of The Legend of Zelda on Wii U.

[ashen122]

this demo was awesome although I am worried traversing the open world will get tiring here's hoping for a type of quick travel

[Metallox]

I have experience with open world games, and I'm sure they work properly even if they are too big. It's logic to assume there's going to be a warp option in the game, like in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

[ABizzel1]

Oooooo Yazzzzzz, Yazzzz.

2015 is going to be a brawl for GOTY, Zelda, The Withcer, Uncharted, Halo 5, Tomb Raider, etc....

My only complaint is they didn't zoom in or show Star Fox -_-

[mikeslemonade]

That's an insult to Naughty Dog. There's Uncharted 4 and then there's the rest.

[Gazondaily]

No there's Zelda THEN the rest ;)

Man I can't wait for this. Still hoping this will recapture the wonder of Ocarina of Time. And a new StarFox game!

[Ryuk_2007]

I take it that you've never played a zelda game before? EVERY zelda game has a way where you can warp across the map to specific points.

[_-EDMIX-_]

LMFAO! Sorry you didn't play Skyrim bud. So your worried that exploring will get tiring huh?

Why are you play games buddy? lol

[ashen122]

I have played skyrim and the 5 minute horse rides from a to b get boring

[3-4-5]

This game = going from 2D to 3D all over again.

At least in terms of the comparison from ALTTP to Ocarina of Time.

I will be spending 20+ hours just wandering around...

[Relientk77]

The gameplay was really good

[Conzul]

I like the addition of slo-mo. Such pretty world too, reminds me of Rime or Journey.

[DigitalRaptor]

I may get some flak for saying this but that demo was really disappointing.

They were touting things that open-world games have had successfully implemented for many years. The gameplay doesn't look all that impressive, the world looks empty and some of those ground textures are appalling.

Still… the art style is gorgeous, and it still has months of dev time left, so I will wait to see more.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

You do know that monsters are inhabited in dungeon, cave and temples not much the overworked in 3D Zelda games.

Besides the footage look very early in the game.

[The 10th Rider]

I definitely see what you're saying...But it's hard to tell without some direct feed gameplay. I really hope they give us some before too long. I feel so trolled.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Link only has 5 hearts so it definitely early in the game.

[Metallox]

It's not really the proper game (early footage that means) I'm pretty sure of that.

[Realplaya]

Dude the game isn't coming out till probably Christmas they have another 12 months to update whatever people like yourself who prefer looks over substance likes.

[Ck1x]

I think the craziest thing about your comment is that Nintendo most likely took anything out that would spoil the game. Their main point was to show off the vastness of the world and some combat on horseback, you act as if they're shipping the game next week!

[spicelicka]

I just find really disappointingg nintendo's choice to stay a generation behind in hardware and processing power. Imagine if the Wii was as powerful as an xbox 360 or ps3 and this game came out in 2008, it would be amazinggg, or imagine Wii-U being as powerful as ps4/XB1 how amazing this game could look.

Nevertheless I know it's not about graphics, the game already looks awesome. But with open world games specially, the new hardware can make significant improvements to gameplay which will likely not be there on Wii-U.

It looks great now, but in a few years I wouldn't pick Wii-U over next gen consoles.

[THEMIGHTYDOOVDE]

So old games are redundant? Good luck with that!

[browngamer41]

Not sure what the fuck your smoking, but this game looks graphically amazing-quit trolling chump..

[MSBAUSTX]

Do your research moron. Wii U is much more powerful than XB 360 or PS3. Just slightly less powerful than XB1 and PS4. Any number of web searches will show you this.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Miyamoto said the Wii U is upgradable. Ever hear of laterall thinking with withered technology? Look it up!!! Skyrim is of course a great game but how many times did your npc's stand in front of you when you tried to attack? How many times did you see a dragon fly bavckwards. The water effect, sorry guys, is ugly. I tried GTA 5 (360) at a buddy of mines's house and the pop up was unbelieveable great game but... This isn't going going to be a nice happy thing to say but The Wii U is the PS360 perfected.

[thehobbyist]

Open-world games haven't successfully implemented auto-piloting. FarCry 4 almost got it right. But your auto-pilot could cause you to crash right into oncoming cars because it doesn't account for objects in it's path. In this demo Epona actively avoids nearby objects that are in her path.

So I'd say they are doing something that hasn't been successfully implemented previously.

[N4g_null]

I wouldn't be too concerned. They have enemies that chase you down at a high rate of speed. Also xenoblade has plenty going on in a similar huge landscape. The first demo show how active the land can be.

[-Foxtrot]

Looks really fun and colourful, glad something big came out of the game awards.

Hopefully it will have pro controller support not liking the gamepad gimmicky looking features. Something which I hated about SS with the motion controls

[nucky64]

something big did come out of the awards - more bloodborne, the order, and no mans sky footage.

[-Foxtrot]

I'll give you No mans sky but everything else we knew about. Zelda was surprising, didn't think it woukd turn up

[Ck1x]

Still not sold on No Man's Sky and The Order though. Bloodborne, Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Online looked great

[Amigaengine]

What is gimmicky about the map on the gamepad ?

[deafdani]

I think he means more the moving the Gamepad around to move the camera thing. That's gimmicky. But I'm sure there will be an option to control the camera with the right stick as well, so no harm done.

[-Foxtrot]

Deafdani gets it

[tinkypop]

you mean how it was used in WWHD to lock on to things?
Where you could use the right stick if you wanted as well!
I used both,as faster to lock on to swing with the gamepad, but faster to lock on when fighting with the right stick.
But having a wii u and the game helps to understand how both can be helpful in WWHD.

[Amigaengine]

Well said :)

actually owning and using the hardware does change ones perception as to what is gimmicky and what is just a control option.

[mcstorm]

Your spot on and tbh no one uses Nintendo's tech in their consoles better than Nintendo. This game looks amazing and still an early Build. Looks like 2015 is going to be another great year for gamers with this and Star fox too looking the wiiu at the moment.

[thehobbyist]

The gimmick features could be turned off in Wind Waker HD. I imagine the same will apply here.

[Ilovetheps5]

What an amazing trailer. I am so pumped for this game now.

[WeAreLegion]

Looks good! Can't wait to play it!

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

need to buy a wiiU ASAp

[Gazondaily]

Do it!

[Harold_Finch]

Nintendo, always reliable and always has to charm the pats off everybody.

That Imagine Dragons performance was fantastic.

[ritsuka666]

Nintendo saved Geoof ass again lol

[Kevlar009]

The world looked a little sparse, the camera movement stuttered a bit, and I think the jump slow-motion was a little too slow.

But I expect it will play and look better by release. For Nintendo to release a game that's not super polished is quite rare. This was also just one area. I'm sure once you leave the open field it will be a lot better. Still time left.

[AKR]

This is very early footage from a game that's a year away. The amount of polish Nintendo puts on their games is near insane, so, no need to worry.

[ChickeyCantor]

The whole video stuttered actually. Not just the tv screen.

[Harold_Finch]

Nintendo, always reliable and always has to charm the pants off everybody.

That Imagine Dragons performance was fantastic.

[Mr_cheese]

The performance wad brilliant!

[George Sears]

Will Link ever reach his destination? The world will never know.

[Mr_cheese]

Big fan of the Zelda franchise but I must admit that the trailer was very lack lusting. The scale of the game is impressive but there wasn't really anything shown that was completely "wow". It was all very casual.
Still looking forward to seeing more.

[Metallox]

I think it's early footage, again. I mean, there wasn't even grass or ground drawing in the part of the horse riding. That says a lot.

What we got from this is that the game is going to release in 2015.

[izumo_lee]

You got to hand it to Nintendo when it comes to 1st party games, they are the best at what they do with them. People may say it is milking or rehashing stuff, those people clearly aren't gamers.

Mario, Pokemon, Smash, Zelda are powerhouse names in the gaming industry & if people continue to support these games cause A: the are good and B: they sell a sh*t load, go on Nintendo do what you do best.

[telekineticmantis]

I usually prefer gameplay at revealings, but this gameplay didn't tell me anything I didn't know or show me anything I didn't expect. I would of rathered a trailer with some insight as to what to expect, with a little gameplay mixed in.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I'm sorry, but you couldn't have possibly predicted that we'd get slow-motion dismounts for mid-air shots, for one thing. Everyone was assuming that was just a cut-scene thing; there's no way anyone here guessed it would be a game mechanic.

And the return of a Sail Cloth has potential storyline implications that tie it to Skyward Sword's timeline, which is big news for theorists.
I'm sure Game Explain is going to have a FIELD DAY with this.

[telekineticmantis]

That's it?.. Bullet time? That's a pretty common game feature where have you been? What I'm refering to is a trailer that mixes up some of the gameplay, story and features in it. The Skyward Sworld trailer was like that at the revealing, so I don't think I'm asking Nintendo to break the mold here...

[Summons75]

It showed a lot to keep me content until E3. Zelda is going back to traditional controls, which was a big concern since after Skyward Sword they mentioned how they couldn't see a Zelda game going back to traditional controls. The world is HUGE and completely open world, which is what they promised. Epona (or whatever horse this is) is going to be the main mount. Day/Night cycles are back. Moblins had a new and personally darker look to them which can hint toward a darker story. Air dismounts are a thing. Horseback riding is 100% improved since Twilight Princess and looks 100x better than most open world games. The sail cloth returns, and the called it such so we may have out place in the timeline being closer to Skyward Sword. Finally (last detail I noticed) Link is still right handed despite going back to traditional controls, which could hint there is motion control options but not a focus.

This was clearly a teaser demo and very early stages of gameplay. They mentioned the trees had apples "last time", which would suggest they either took them out or the world has a more real timeish ecology in the game and you have to wait some time before being able to get more apples. What does that mean for Link as well, do you need apples to make Epona stronger/faster or are we going Metal Gear Solid 3 having to make sure we are supplied with food/water before heading into the world/dungeons.

[telekineticmantis]

Most of what you just said is either following tradition of any traditional open world game, or any traditional zelda. What I was looking for was some questions answered like what is your goal in this game, who is the main antagonist, are there any survival elements, are there any new weapons/tools etc. You know tge normal questions one would want answered, similar questions I asked about No Man's Sky, or bloodbourne, but for some reason I get the feeling Nintendo enthusiasts feel Nintendo doesn't need those things.

[Summons75]

But your asking those questions too early. They simply revealed the gameplay, a very very small slice of pie. Nintendo knows what they are doing and after the E3 reveal sure we had questions about story and timeline but the major questions were controls what the game actually looked like to play. We got that. Come E3 or maybe an earlier direct we will get a full fledged trailer detailing everything. The game is still 10/11 months away there is more than enough time to give out tidbits here and there. I'd rather they give out as little info like this demo with plenty of clues than (like Smash) have absolutely everything revealed to me. I want to be surprised when I play the game. I don't want to be told the end before I even start. They showed more than enough here to keep us talking for a good 5/6 months until the full trailer and release date.

[telekineticmantis]

And that's alright if you feel that way, but when l look at the revealing of a game like Kings Crown,with all the great elements it showed, and this being it's FIRST ever revealing to us, which got me excited for a game, I didn't have the highest expectation for, due it's long hiatus, I dont understand, why when it comes to Nintendo, I can't even say, I would of preferred something like that, to bring about more excitement to the game expecially at such a big event, seeing as Nintendo has a reputation for skipping events, and I might have to wait 7 months to see anything new from Zelda..I mean I get overreactions from all console and PC enthusiasts, but such big spectacles, over such small requests, seems mainly precedence of Nintendo enthusiasts, which are the only fans who personally insult me in the name of their preferred brand.

[N4g_null]

I feel you tele. The spectacular event is always January direct or E3. Truthfully if you are playing a wiiu with its big hitter you are not worried. Also how much does all of those distractions add to game play. Plus you have the wrong site to accuse nintendo fans of going to hard at you. This is a sony site with about 10 nintendo fans on it literally.

What you want is more showmanship and cgi. I won't fault you for that but you also need to be patient. Nintendo always brings the good gameplay wise. Yet if you are not interested in that then just know nintendo and it's fans don't care because it's about the game graphics are just something that comes along with it.

[Gemmol]

dude its not a trailer, this was just to show people an early look at the environment

[matrixman92]

Hope that wilderness gets populated by release...looking like second son level empty

[Ck1x]

Nope Nintendo is going to release the game just like this!

[_-EDMIX-_]

I just got to agree. Many don't really get that they are likely looking at a lot of what it will look like upon release.

Nintendo is not like Bethesda when it comes to games in terms of immersion, ie animals, the meat, pelts etc giving you money, every action having a reaction etc. They just are not like them. You legit might be seeing lots of what will likely release.

Many have that um...wishful thinking with their games ie "I hope" this or "I wish they do " that idea.

Sorry but they don't make games that way. lol.

[jhoward585]

I was really surprised by how well Nintendo's animations are in Zelda wii U. Mocap animation is good and all, but doing the animations manually frame by frame can really makes a games shines. Way to go Nintendo.

[XXXL]

That's a lot of grass for me to cut...

[diepdiep]

We're gonna need a bigger rupee wallet...

[Plagasx]

An enormous..dead world.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

It's called early game footage. You're making that call too soon.

[Ck1x]

The sad part is that Zelda U is coming out late 2015 and The Order is coming out in 2 months and we've seen more game play for Zelda!

[mysteryraz11]

looks like it was downgraded

[C_Ali88]

For one its off screen footage which means a significant loss of fidelity, Secondly this game won't be released for a while there will be improvements made. I'm sure they worked with monolith to create a vibrant world or at least used them in some capacity.

[mochachino]

The lighting certainly seems less vibrant. Still looks good, but from the footage shown a little less impressive.

[C_Ali88]

For now, but I'm confident it was because its off-screen.

[zavierkai]

They don't want too show too much of the game play. They want to show us open world of the game nothing more that's cool.E3 is when we see game play.

[jhoward585]

Yeah, the game can't really be that empty. Its was just a showing, and that's it. Lol, its funny how Some gamers didn't get it.

Well, We all know Nintendo are all about game play.

[MNGamer-N]

Looks awesome! Too bad only a small nugget for all Zelda fans to chew on for a few more months, until they release another small nugget.

[EliteGameKnight]

I don't know if it's this way for everyone, but the Majora's Mask remake seems like a fairly nice nugget. and LOZ:ALBW only came out last year and its pretty good IMO

[AWBrawler]

i just came to see what kind of nonsense the haters would spout. LOL as expected its mostly talk of Texture and crap. What? would you rather play Adrift? lol

[LOL_WUT]

I have no problem with the footage they showed just how they presented it. Really off screen footage? What were they thinking overall it was love and hate thing ;)

[tinkypop]

looking at it i think this was a last minute trailer.
Not plan at all.
Had the fill of getting told that morning you need to show off Zelda U and this was the outcome.

[tlougotg]

Cute art style, safe, boring, lifeless, basic and trying to be like shadow of collosus but two generations too late. Not impressive at all but all Nintendo fans need is cute, cartoon art style and colors and it's golden smh

The salt is heavy and the fans easily hyped lol

[AWBrawler]

riiiiiight and all you need is super realistic graphics period screw actual gameplay. i bet you loved that Adrift trailer lol

[_-EDMIX-_]

"boring, lifeless, basic" is actually describing not just sight but what is being done.

I have to agree with him. Not much seems to be going on. The whole "auto horse ride" has been done in MANY games.

They are so behind in terms of common development, that this concept is legit new to them, old for gamers. Nothing in that video screams, "new" to me. All those are old concepts and ideas in gaming.

He's right too, not even the damn art direction was something to marvel at. They really need to convince gamers to go on board with this game. As a person that played Skyrim, Dragon Age 1-3 and both Witchers, Zelda's new entry looks dated in terms of its ideas.

Map isn't doing it for me,

auto horse has sorta been done before by many games,

the open world legit looks lifeless

every time I see or hear anything about this game, you start to see just how behind they are on the times.

Lets hope that GRASS doesn't give you money as they seem to think this still logically makes sense in a damn game lol.

Skyrim says hello..

[C_Ali88]

Spell Colossus correctly and try again sir..

The ignorance is strong in this one!

[Segata]

Funny. Nintendo had the idea of Sotc before they did. Just N64 was unable to handle doing it in OoT for Gannon as the last boss. The idea was later used in Metroid Prime 2 and Mario Galaxy. The idea of climbing the giant boss and hitting them in a weak point to kill them.

Reminds me when people say *blank* ripped off God of War when GoW ripped off Castlevania Lament and Rygar. I esp love when people will start claim *blank* ripped off DAI's battle system..which actually ripped off The Last Story and watered it down.

Keep hatin bro

[Reeze]

I've never been interested in Zelda before, but this will be a day one buy for me!

[Ck1x]

This is what I can't stand about the gaming community. So Nintendo shows a very short trailer for Zelda U at e3 and people want to see more. The game is still in development and has close to a year before it's released and you actually have people critiquing what they saw as if Nintendo is known for releasing unfinished games. This is why we don't get early information about stuff that often from Nintendo. I actually think many don't understand what still in development means... what I like about what Nintendo showed was that the game is running on an actual WiiU and the whole jumping off the horse mechanic is actual game play. So all the people that didn't believe Aonuma on the reveal that it was actually being played on a WiiU.

[LOL_WUT]

If they were going to show a lifeless world then they might've just well waited till E3 to show some actual footage that wasn't off screen and had all sorts of combat. ;)

[Dubaman]

I guess it's because it was a teaser at an awards show which covered the entire industry rather than just Nintendo. If you put a full Zelda demo on stage then that is completely going to over shadow the awards show which would just be stupid.
It was essentially a demo world (like they did at E3 with Skyward Sword) and off-screen yet it's all anyone is talking about. Dragon Age won game of the year last night, i haven't seen anyone care about that. You put on a full E3 style presentation of Zelda and people would just be bitching about "Geoff is up Nintendo's arse" kinda nonsense for allowing it to happen.
I guess you can put it down to having a bit of tact while raising expectations and hype for the future.

[Back-to-Back]

Still milking Zelda Nintendo?

[AWBrawler]

yep, just like activision milks COD, Ubisoft milks AC, and EA milks sports, battlefield, and everything. your point???

[C_Ali88]

He has no point other than to troll..... Clearly has one bubble for that reason.

[masso9112]

yeah they "milk" it every SIX years... -.-

[randomass171]

The last 3D Zelda came out in 2011...

[Gezmoyassine]

2015 Game of the year!!!

[masso9112]

anybody else noticed how at some times link is wearing a hood and cape and in other takes he is not wearing it? does it mean there's some kind of customization in the game? or a bigger variety of equiopment for link to use?

[shaw98]

Don't worry, Gamexplain will have everything in the video covered. XD

[Summons75]

He's also not wearing the traditional grab so you may have a point and it would be interesting.

[MoreRPG]

Lets hope the world in the final product isnt that empty

[AKR]

I see a whole of people critiquing this already.

My goodness - do terms like "Work in progress", "still in development" or "footage from an early build" not register in your brain correctly?

Not only was this early-footage; it was also off-screen footage, which would naturally make the image even more harder to decipher little details. They did that intentionally; they wanted to give us a glimpse, not a full-on reveal. That's for next year. I'm surprised they even went this far at all; usually the high-profile Zelda titles are left behind the curtains for REALLY big events like E3.

Even so; it's looking good so far. That map-size alone made me shiver - it's HUGE. Not to mention the attention to detail really pushes it into "realistic" territory, which is great, considering Nintendo-titles are always being labeled as "kiddy" and "casual". Can't wait to see it closer to release.

[maniacmayhem]

Starfox confirmed for 2015!? *FAINTS!*

I really like the idea of the horse automatically running to your destination. It's those little things that I appreciate.

[Gamer777]

This game looks stunning and reminds me of Red Dead Redemption. This will likely be a real treat for Wii U owners in 2015.

[ritsuka666]

#2015yearofWIIU. Confirmed.

[Moonman]

Beautiful!!!!

[MasterCornholio]

Other than the framerate the rest of the game looks great. I'm impressed with what they were able to do with the Wii Us hardware.

[canek]

2015 game of the year. gooo Zelda!!

[browngamer41]

Holy crap I think my wallet just fainted! 2015 GOTY confirmed..

[MSBAUSTX]

I just woke up to see this video posed here. I am freaking blown away right now. That LOZ game looks absolutely amazing and the fact that it comes out next year and Star Fox BEFORE IT is ridiculous! Nintendo in beast mode for 2015. I cant freaking wait.

[ThaBlackBaron]

ALLL...THAT..GRASS!!!!!

[marloc_x]

*sharpens sword*..