How Zelda Could Learn From Fallout 3

The Legend of Zelda series is in need of change. This mindset is shared by the majority of Zelda fans out there. The formula has remained basically the same ever since the first game with the exception of The Adventure of Link.

Of course there has been progress in the series, otherwise people would have stopped buying Zelda games years ago. This progress however has been very subtle and just enough to keep us coming back. Since The Ocarina of Time was released in 1998 we have yet to have any major changes to the series. The Ocarina of Time went on to sell 7.6 million copies and got one of the highest reviews of any video game in history. This was because Nintendo took the already popular Zelda series in a brand new direction and the result was absolutely amazing.

So where should Nintendo go now? How can they make the Legend of Zelda fresh and new for its fans and other gamers? In my opinion they should make the game more like the popular Fallout 3 series. Fallout was a well established PC gaming series but it had never appealed to a large gaming base. However, Bethesda Studios took the reins in making Fallout 3 and the end result was a huge success. Fallout 3 shipped about 4.7 million copies in the first week alone and many more with the release of the Game of the Year Edition.

[Kamikaze135]

Here's what Zelda can learn from Fallout 3: Don't crash every few hours >_>

[iamtehpwn]

Fallout 3 crashes a lot?
Yeah, it has quite a few glitches.

[wxer]

"a few glitches"

A FEW GLITCHES ??
lol

that game has glitches EVERY WHERE
freezes and crashes too

i think bethesda should get a new coding / programming team

[iamtehpwn]

I remember watching my brother play, and he would kill something, and the dead body would SPIN, out of control. o_o

[MisterNiwa]

heck, you think thats crazy? When i gave a Super Mutant a headshot he was like expanding his body over the whole map!? And then it started moving around, totally creepy.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

All these crashes and bugs?
You guys are obviously talking about the PS3 version which is severely gimped in comparison to the 360 version... Seriously multi plats for 360... You should know this by now :)

[Redempteur]

No maybe we're talking about these dlc on PC witch thanks to games for windows didn't even start ..

OK the ps3 froze more ..but the other version wereNOT exempt of bugs either ...

The entire game is a exemple of 3d buggy overwolrd... and some of these bugs could have been easily corrected for their game of theyear edition ..but ..they didn't ...

it's lazy work at best ...

Please fire the current coding team ...and TRY to use another engine ... that was the main flaws of fallout 3 ...

[MisterNiwa]

sorry to hurt your feelings, but im talking about the PC version. :(

[iamtehpwn]

What are you talking about dude? I played the Xbox360 version of Fallout 3. It's just glitchy...period.

[Tomdc]

Smooth gameplay experiance!

Decent and fun combat!

Use of colour! (yh americans I used the right spelling of "colour" deal with it :P)

[Seferoth75]

Yeah but sadly it is experience not experiance. Oh and Colour may be right in some country but not in American English. Which is probably why people correct you.. Don't cry to them though. Hell even the N4G spell check says colour is wrong

[TheDeadMetalhead]

- leave Megaton
- Travel across the Wasteland for 20 minutes to Smith Casey's Garage
- Game freezes as you open the door.

fml D:

@GametimeUK - You are a total fanboy idiot if you believe that. If Fallout Wiki is anything to go by, the PS3 version is the least glitchy version by far. The only way the PS3 version was inferior was that it had a f***ton of aliasing. @_@

[peeps]

yep. indeed. i personally went for the 360 version and he's speaking like there were no bugs in the 360 version lmao

with a game the size of fallout, theres no surprise there are bugs, but there were a ton. tbh tho the game was so enjoyable i didn't even care about the bugs

[iamtehpwn]

I'm sorry, I'd take Zelda anyday.

[sakura2009]

is this supposed to be a joke

[LegendZelda]

I dont see where it could be a joke at...

[sakura2009]

why would zelda need to learn from a crappy game

[LegendZelda]

Zelda is defo a better game IMO. I was just mentioning the interactive aspects of Fallout of which I enjoyed. And I would like to see zelda be more interactive. It would be nice to change the formula some and make a more interesting zelda experience.

[sakura2009]

nintendo alrdy said the new zelda will break away from the old formula and be more interactive with the wiimote

[LegendZelda]

Yea Im excited to see what they do with the next zelda wii. But I want some in game interactivity to go along with my controller interactivity.

Wouldnt it be cool to interact with your environment and to build deeper relationships and stuff?

[Redempteur]

wait ....you want zelda to be a regular rpg ?

Zelda is an action adventure game ...it always was ...it always will ..

Sure zelda games need to evolve a little but NOT to be "generic rpg#483187".

Besides , the gameplays elements ... the pacing of zelda games don't need to evolve that much ..TP did "great " on that aspect ..

PS: Learn to use the "reply" bouton

[Fierce Musashi]

I agree.

Most people would say Twilight Princess wasn't the best Zelda, which may so be ture, but it certainly wasn't that bad. The only problem I had with it was that it felt too empty considerng how big the over world was, mostly around the fields. Everything else was fine.

I'd wish people would remember that this is an action-adventure franchise. The main concept of it is deep exploration. It should stay that way and represent that genre which made Zelda what it always has been. People can complain that it's "getting old" and needs a little extra helpings of other genres, but I say: Stick to your roots. I hve no problem with a little change, so long as it doesn't take the gameplay away from it's original roots.

[eagle21]

Zelda kills Fallout in every way. :)

[NecrumSlavery]

Zelda needs a more open world style. Other than a few tidbits, Zelda is too linear.
I'd like to see ton of side quests, and bonus boss fights, etc.
Just don't go FPS or glitchy. Also add a more rpg style with levels perks skill etc

[LegendZelda]

That is what Im talking about. I never said I wanted the game to be more of a traditional rpg. I simply stated a few elements that would deepen the zelda experience.

TP was alright. But it did not change the series in any way that was overly unique.

Horse combat was new and that was it.

[Redempteur]

Zelda is linear ? And when being linear is not good ?
having abeginning , a middle AND a END is way better than a fest of event without relations to each other just to make it feel diverse ....

And as i said zelda is not a rpg it's an adventure game ... a fixed adventure with plenty of sidequests ...

i don't want rpg elements with my zelda game ...

Having a life bar and an inventory doesn't make the game a rpg ....
A zelda rpg doesn't work as well as you might think ... MOst of the zelda fans play the game for the fun and the adventure it allows you to enjoy , not for " perks " or the customisation ...

[NecrumSlavery]

Well Zelda has always delivered, but there's no reason for a change. But you are in this massive Hyrule, why not be able to really explore? Why can't the lost woods be more than a few left turns? Why can't the mountains be as high up into the clouds? I want to be able to mess around for 100s of hours with out even touching the main quests.

And I know this is over played, but I like an adult zelda game, where you can be good or evil. Link should be able to become evil. Or if anything, tie the damn lineage together. Just change it up a bit Shiggy.

[Redempteur]

link won't and can't become evil ..

he is the bearer of the courage PART of the triforce at best you can bring a little darkside ( as seen in TP ) but even then he won't become evil ..IMPOSSIBLE .. in zelda 3 , snes he became a rabbit if my memories are intact ...

No evil link playable .. an appearance as a boss battle at some point ..is encouraged ( seeing how it was in OoT ) but ...give it up ...a evil link ?? that's something that will not EVER HAPPEN ...

[bitboi]

fallout 3 is a very very boring game with no exciting or clever puzzles or boss battles like the zelda series

[LegendZelda]

Which is why I dont think zelda should change their boss battles.
Those aspects are good in zelda games. But their interactivity with people and the world is not.

[NecrumSlavery]

you ran out already zelda? bubbles for you

[dragonelite]

what zelda was like the only franchise why i even got a freaking gamecube oh and ofcourse super smash brosh. Zelda doesn't need to change its was all about the adventure i had in the game that was awesome. Not the gimmicky gameplay. Thats why i didnt buy a wii yet.

[RockmanII7]

The only games I own for the wii are SSBB and TP :P

[MonopolyRSV]

I agree with everything written in this article. Twilight Princess was boring and left me with no desire to play it ever again.

[Snarkasaur]

This title intrigued me because I've had this idea before too. I'd love to see a Zelda where Ganon unleashes the Triforce and you're left with a dystopic landscape to wander around in that just screams depression and horror. Mutated stalfos with skin dripping from their bones and no fairies...anywhere.

What you've laid out is some of the most trivial crap from Fallout 3, which was an amazing game, that I can think of. Sorry, picking up metal cups doesn't feel interactive to me. In fact, having so much crap to interact with is something I find annoying in games.

And you're asking them to turn Zelda into an RPG, which it is not and probably shouldn't be. It's an action/adventure game with things in common with the rpg genre, but it's distinctive and should remain so.

You had the right spirit here, but you needed to actually put some thought into the article.

[Digitaldude]

Zeldas over rated. I never got into the Zelda Series.

[EvilTwin]

Well, seeing as Fallout 3 already got a release date, I suppose the next Zelda could learn how to get one of those...

[herukuti]

isn't a true gamer to me, at least not a generational gamer at least

the first zelda was an rpg in its time and the second was a hardcore rpg that wasn't turn based.just because a japanese developer doesn't make a turn based action game doesn't mean an offering of role play is an action game.

fallout 3 was the best game of 08, and any contentions to this fact lies on the gamer issues with themselves and being in a game environment as large as fallout 3's.

the ps3 version of fallout's glitches are primarily pauses in the gameplay, i attribute that to an engine; the gamebryo engine, not being optimized in full efficiency for the ps3 software and hardware architecture.

if zelda would learn from fallout it would benefit the zelda universe, and if bethesda would learn more about how to create characters for roles from zelda franchise it would benefit in the context of a good game for any future titles.

ps. you who tell lies of this and that as opinion stated as fact arent gameplayers in truth, maybe in popularity.

[Redempteur]

The first zelda wasn't a rpg

ZELDA II was a rpg and even then we know how zelda would work as a rpg with help from this title and everyone would agree that the result is not zelda by what nintendo decided ..and it's is what we , zelda fans want.

And zelda & fallout are soo different in term of quality and pacing that you can't help but wonder ...if both are video game ..

I DARE YOU to find 25 seconds in the overall world map without SOMETHING HAPPENING in zelda TP , in ZELDA OoT ... , In wind waker .
i can't say the same for fallout ...

[MathiasT-s]

Play Fallout 3 on PC with maxed out graphics, mods such as fellout, project beauty with all the expanions with the latest patch. I seriously can't believe what some of you are saying, Fallout 3 buggy? bullshit. It's the best single player RPG ever made. The world is MASSIVE with interesting NPC's, varied quests that actually have you emotionally engaged and superb voice acting.

It also had brilliant economy, graphics ( much better on PC maxed out )I mean fire the coding team? seriously? Fallout 3 does so many things so good that it's almost embaresssing. People saying that the combat sucks seriously need to rethink, it keeps the prime elements of shooters. Maybe not as advanced as COD4's or KZ2 but it's still good, especially with the VATS system. Plenty of weapons, sound puts a very fitting tone, I could keep on forever. Don't even get me started on how awesome all the interactioning is. FALLOUT 3 IS LEGENDARY! Zelda has PLENTY to learn from it!

[iamtehpwn]

We play the game? Dude, There are no excuses for some of these bugs/glitches. It was just insanity.

[NecrumSlavery]

Zelda better watch out, cause people are hungry for it. If they don't get us a new Zelda soon, the series will be passed up. Between Demon's Souls and 3D Dot Game Heroes...It looks like From Software is aching to takes its place in the adventure genre. They may just drop something that kills that series. And Nintendo is really supporting their A game titles very well.

[TABSF]

Fallout 3 has nothing to show Zelda

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

These are some of the best games ever and no CoD: MW2, GTA IV, U2: AT or Halo can match them for story and gameplay

Fallout is a poisonous drop of water in comparison to Zelda's Golden sea

[omegaortega]

Give Elder Scrolls its credit. This article points out a lot of positives that Elder Scrolls has been doing for years.

Besides it would make more sense considering the setting in Oblivion and Morrowind compared to post-apocalyptic Fallout.

[TruthbeTold]

Zelda to be much of anything like Fallout 3. Zelda works because the basic gaming principle is extremely sound and fun, rather than fleeting. Not to mention that the series already sells millions of copies of each game. It doesn't need a face lift for more sales. It may need a few fresh integral elements added to keep some people buying. But if they were to pattern Zelda after Fallout 3 it would be an insult to the franchise, and most of the fans. Besides, Fallout 3 is a Western style RPG. Japanese gamers want nothing to do with that style. And that audience is who they cater to primarily. In this particular case, I'm glad.