This was unexpected

http://wiiudaily.com/2013/01/zelda-wind … reenshots/

I have to say, this might be awesome. I really do hope, Nintendo FINALLY introduces voice acting in the game. I don't care if Link talks or not, but seriously, I think Nintendo needs to move past the few little "oooh" and "aaah" that have been present in Zelda games since the N64.

Wow, they really know how to give people what they want...A remake of one of the least-popular and most controversial games in the series. Makes me want to go right out and buy the console AND preorder this sucker.

I could do without any added voice acting, but I hope they get rid of the annoying depth of field blur that was in the original.

might buy it if i ever get a WiiU. never played WW before and i like the artstyle.

I've always had the impression that this was the "indie darling" of the series.
There's a surprisingly vocal minority that really loves it.

Anyway, screenshots look absolutely gorgeous.
Looks like they're not just simply upping the resolution.

I guess it depends on who you ask. My friends debate this one all the time, though no one puts it above OOT as far as 3D Zelda goes. Admittedly, I didn't get far enough to make a strong argument against the game, but I never liked the graphics style (figured they would grow on me, but between this and Wild Arms 3 at the time, I quickly grew to hate cell-shading) or how slow and draggy this game is at the start and after seeing how reliant the game was on the boating part...Yeah, I never went back to this one.

I loved the look but found the game painfully dull. Eventually just gave up. Replacing landscapes with endless blue nothingness really didn't do it for me. The boating was a chore and there simply didn't seem to be enough in between. I really never want to play WW again.

Let me say, I definitely prefer Wind Waker over OOT.

Everyone has different taste, and I found Wind Waker to be refreshingly different. I honestly found OOT to be a bit dull. Why? I felt there wasn't that much freedom, and it was mostly a force-feed type of game. On the other hand I found Majora's Mask to be amazing, but then again I appreciated a game that was darker and hey... Zelda is NOT kidnapped and the "bad guy" is NOT Ganon... wow, someone at Nintendo had a bout of creativity! Despite the fact that Wind Waker is the same old story, I actually enjoyed roaming the oceans looking for treasure, the beautiful art style, the wonderful music, I felt it really was wonderful. It definitely had that indie feel to it as Amazing noted. To each their own of course!

I didn't like WW as much as OOT or MM, but I wholeheartedly agree with the above. It was so different from other Zeldas, and it was fun to just sail around and discover all the tiny little islands and outposts, taking notes as I went. And how can you not love getting to possess a seagull? Or the amazing music that accompanies Dragon Roost Island? Or the heavily streamlined version of MM's "help the townspeople" quests? Sure, there were things I didn't like such as the depth of field blur, the slightly "off" controls, and the fishing for treasure at spots of light, but I have fond memories of Wind Waker, and I'm looking forward to the remake.

At least we can all agree on that one.

I've been on a big Zelda kick recently. Over the past couple of months I've played through most of Link to the Past (stopped at the desert temple, crystal #6, after getting bored since I've gone through the game at least a dozen times by now), Ocarina of Time (GC, completed the Water Temple with help from a FAQ), Twilight Princess (GC, completed with all 45 heart containers over several days last week in 31 hours with no FAQ - it was during the big blizzard around these parts) and am currently going through OoT's Master Quest completely blind (just finished the Forest Temple with a mild headache). Suffice to say, I've had lots of experience and time spent with the series recently so I'm very much in that Zelda headspace. The new WW screenshots rustled up some buried emotions, as it doesn't look like the original game to me, which will always be a visual favorite.

I've played through WW a few times since its release, and even though the game doesn't flow very well, it's my second favorite Zelda game to just exist in (OoT is currently my first). There's something about the original cell shading and the open-ended exploration that really makes me feel like I'm just coasting around on the ocean with a friend, enjoying the game at my own pace and seeing the sights as I see fit. It's a fun sea-exploration game, but as a "Zelda" game it does fall short in a few pretty crucial ways (Triforce hunt, not enough dungeons, too much superfluous stuff). I've only played OoT once before my recent playthrough (back when WW first came out), so when I went through again it really cemented what my ideal Zelda experience is. Comparing OoT to WW is very different for me - WW feels more like a side story than a proper entry in the series, but it's not all bad. That said, I have a feeling I'll go through WW again at some point this year just to "wrap up" my Zelda experience, but I'll be playing the original instead of the remake.

(Side note: I've never played Majora's Mask before, but am going to grab that GC bonus disc sometime soon to check it out. I've heard lots of different things about the game, but am looking forward to seeing how it is! I love weird shit when it's done well, so I'm hoping I find the experience to be enjoyable.)

If you have any access to a Wii or Wii U, I'd recommend playing the Virtual Console version - the Gamecube disc apparently has a freezing bug occasionally and you do NOT get to save very often in that game...

Damn, that's good to know. Thanks, Joe!

And uh, apparently also expect

A Link to the Past

remake...

http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/17/423439 … ntendo-3ds

The word "sequel" is in gigantic letters in the headline of the article you linked to.

Link to the Past 2 warrants its own thread me thinks.

http://www.soundtrackcentral.com/forums … hp?id=7162

Me things not. Me likes this thread
I know it said sequel, but on the other hand, I've also read reports that by sequel Nintendo means "remake". Wait and see I suppose, but right now from the screens it definitely looks like a remake.

it's a sequel, not a remake.

A new thread is indeed warranted. This Wind Waker remix is old news already (as most straight remakes are), a sequel to Link to the Past is cause for celebration and many forward-looking statements. Even then, a non-Toon Link, non-touchscreen-controlled overhead Zelda is cause for celebration by itself.

Touchscreen I can handle. The horrible, horrible, controls of Skyward Sword I can not fathom. Nintendo turned what would otherwise have been a solid game into a really mediocre game. I don't know what they were thinking, or lack thereof.

edit: for the most part, I agree with this guy, Skyward Sword is likely the worst Zelda game
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9093308

Touchscreen controls and controller wiggling are both things I would like to forget from the past 5-10 years of gaming. And yes, no one in my group had any enthusiasm for Skyward Sword. It came and passed with barely a mention.

Touch screen works fine for some games  -- stuff like Layton games work perfectly well and can be very useful (except the useless pointless letter/number signing of the first game)....the problem is shoehorning it in when it's completely unnecessary (can we say Dawn of Sorrow?) or even worse using it as a replacement for what works perfectly (Zelda Phantom Hour Glass and Spirit tracks).

Yep. Any type of action game, basically.

But yeah, I agree about motion controls. Every time I tried a Wii I felt it very clunky and couldn't figure out what to do at all. Skyward Sword really didn't work for me at all.

Motion controls are really hit or miss for me.  Skyward Sword is actually a good example - I LOVED the swordplay in it, but absolutely hated every other forced implementation of it (flying, Nintendo, really?  WHY).  I also think the Wii remote is brilliant for anything involving POINTING at the screen (vs. "waggle").  Point and click adventures shine on the Wii, as do things like the Trauma Center/Caduceus series.  Shooting/flashlight pointing is also pretty great with the thing (Metroid Prime, Sin & Punishment for the former, Fragile [Dreams], Silent Hill Shattered Memories for the latter).  The only third party game I can think of right now that really did MOTION controls right was Kororinpa by Hudson early on in the system's life.

On the other hand, motion control felt way too shoehorned into games that didn't need it.  Twilight Princess was annoying for sword use.  There was NO NEED to have to shake the controller for stuff in the Nintendo 2D platformers for the Wii, either (as great as they are otherwise, I'm looking at New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns here).  I also found games like Madworld annoying and repetitive and tiring.  And why exactly the Tales of Symphonia sequel couldn't have just used the classic controller I have no idea.

I feel similarly about touchscreen stuff.  Layton and Gyakuten Saiban and 999 (so, point and clicks again) are great.  I really didn't care much for what they did with Zelda with the touchscreen though.

So I guess I'm pretty much up for use of that kind of tech, but it has to be done RIGHT.

Controls aside, I'm wondering if Nintendo will actually upgrade their next Zelda games (Wind Waker remake and LttP 2) to modern standards? I know WW will get HD graphics, but what else? Every Zelda game since OoT, which came out back in 1998...15 years ago! has had the same sound effects for the most part. Characters still say things like "Hey" and "Thank you" and "Ugh" and "aaaah!" but that's about it. Can you imagine if just about any other franchise were to release a game with sound effects/voice that have not been upgraded for 15 years? That game would rightfully get roasted! but, people say things like "Oh, it's a Zelda game"... so what? If the next Zelda games don't step into modern gaming than I think they deserve to get lambasted. I don't care if Link never says a word, but I want to hear Zelda, and other characters speak. Cutscenes should include more than Link going "ooooh" and a few giberish words by a Fayish/spritish creature! If Nintendo does not deliver on this, then forget them, there are plenty of other games with far far less money that are doing far far more than I've seen out of Nintendo for a long time. And by the way, I am a Zelda fan, and loved Twilight Princess.

Wii U limited edition Zelda System

*The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Full Game Download
*The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia Digital Download

Here's a video of graphical comparisons between the two versions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4hOVb1GCfg

Holy moly... I can not believe how UNimpressive the HD version looks! Honestly, the GC version looks nearly the same as far as I can tell. I'm sure on an HDTV the difference would be noticeable... and yet, I'm completely underwhelmed by the Wii U version.

Yeah... the Cube version seems to have a lot more color as well.

Don't judge a game by crummy YouTube videos.
The HD version looks absolutely gorgeous.

Agreed, it's looks fantastic. The lighting and shading are a somewhat different style, but it looks great. Funny you should mention the quality of YouTube videos for judging game videos as that's become a hot topic with the new consoles having graphical details that are too good to be captured correctly in YouTube. The latest Killzone trailer was made available as a download video because Sony was worried about people unfairly judging the it based on a lower quality streaming video.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/4/506629 … 080p-60fps

Again, while I'm sure it looks good in HD, that's not the point I was trying to make. The point was in all the details. Side-by-side comparison shows that there's relatively little difference in the overall details. Below is a link to compare the original Halo (2001) with the HD-remake. The details in the Halo-remake, the lighting, everything looks outstanding. Yet, it's "just" a youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtC2wKC_wmI

From what I've seen (in person on a HDTV - not mine, obv ), WWHD looks great. However, I will say that I prefer the GC color palette, as things look more "bold" with that version - the ocean, in particular, looks drab to me on the WiiU version in comparison.