A Link to the Past, A Link for the Future

By Shawn White / Wednesday, 06 June 2007

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess deserves recognition as one of the finest pieces of software in recent history, especially given the mind-boggling, GameCube-to-Wii challenges faced by the development team. But with the game's release, many people, including Series Creator Shigeru Miyamoto, feel the time is right for an overhaul of the system Ocarina of Time pioneered nearly a decade ago. What changes the Zelda team might implement I would not dare guess, but Twilight Princess may already foretell plenty about what's in store. One could be so bold as to make the following correlation: Ocarina of Time is to Majora's Mask as Twilight Princess will be to the next Wii Zelda. Consider the similarities. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess both spent roughly three years in development. Such is a long time for any game project, made more troublesome by instances in each where Twilight Princess developers said that Miyamoto "upended the tea table"; that is, he saw where the project was heading, didn't like it, and went more hands-on to guide the game back to his standards. Significant changes during an already lengthy development process can only mean more headaches for the EAD (Entertainment & Analysis Division) staff and more time spent tweaking. In the case of Majora's Mask, the development team needed only half the creation time to deliver a new experience. The team fell just short of that goal, requiring nearly two years to complete Majora's Mask, but their work became an admirable success in terms of inventive mechanics, a surreal, character-driven story and solid gameplay - all still in less time than Ocarina of Time required. Granted, Majora's Mask contained fewer dungeons and the time mechanic became a 'love it or hate it' affair, perhaps irking as many fans as the game pleased. If the Zelda team approaches the next Wii game in the series with the same mindset - to deliver fresh, if not original gameplay methods in a shorter development time - gamers may very well see history rhyme with itself. An experimental game you probably loved or hated. How likely might be the next Zelda on Wii reuse the Twilight Princess game engine as Majora's Mask did in its time? Many fans - enough to make Twilight Princess a million-plus seller in the U.S. alone - are fond of the visual style, and Series Director Eiji Aonuma has noted that the 'realistic' style fits well on a home console. Shigeru Miyamoto even considers the Twilight Princess Link "first-rate," and that "it won't be easy to make something as good as [him] again," so some motivation is in place to give that particular Link more time in the limelight. {page} Reusing the engine would certainly cut down on necessary development time and funding, for which Satoru Iwata's checkbook would no doubt approve. Reaping full power from the Wii would be relatively easy with the GameCube code already in place and simply in need of upgrading. With many of the technical hurdles already dealt with, the team could focus extensively on a powerful story (with proper pacing this time) and fresh Wii-only mechanics. Don't forget Midna, even if her return wouldn't really make sense... The main problem, however, rests in Twilight Princess' core design and its potential inability to make the translation. Majora's Mask worked because the development team found a viable excuse to reuse a hefty majority of Ocarina of Time's characters, items and moves: Link being thrust into a dimension parallel to Hyrule. And of course, the two games shared the same controller. Although Twilight Princess managed to accommodate the Wii controller well, the game engine was still designed with GameCube in mind. Beyond that, Twilight Princess was designed with Ocarina of Time in mind, and though that formula has proven immensely successful for 3D Zelda games, the series needs freshness to survive. The relatively poor sales of Twilight Princess in Nintendo's home country of Japan make clear that something needs to change. What is that something? The answer lies somewhere between Majora's Mask and Phantom Hourglass. Both games retain that intangible, yet unmistakable Zelda essence. Majora's Mask expanded on its predecessor's design in addition to incorporating bold new elements that provided a familiar and yet fresh experience. The game earned the coveted title of 'unique' as a result, producing no true followers or copycats. Phantom Hourglass, on the other hand, attempts to add a new level of intuitive control to the series, using the DS' capabilities in full. I have little doubt the gaming world will also grant Phantom Hourglas a similar praise, if only based on the enthusiasm towards the project Aonuma displayed at GDC 2007. Will the next Wii Zelda follow the idealogy of Phantom Hourglass? Probably. Given that which the past relays - adding also the limitations of time and corporate mentality - this is the direction I see the next Zelda voyaging. Will Miyamoto hold to his claim that Twilight Princess would be the last 3D Zelda of its kind? One might presume that to mean an end to the formula Ocarina of Time established, reasonably enough. Could the next Zelda pioneer new visual techniques, turning away from both the gritty atmosphere of Twilight Princess and the light-hearted cartoon feel of Wind Waker? Could the next Zelda shock the gaming community with a new formula that revolutionizes not only the franchise, but the action RPG genre? Could Nintendo allow the Zelda team another three years to craft a game that usurps Twilight Princess in scope and yet differs in most every way? All are possible, even if not wholly realistic. Of course, the glory of fantasy is that it doesn't much need reality. Reflecting on the franchise he's worked on for nearly a decade, Eiji Aonuma told the audience of his GDC 2007 lecture that "[With Twilight Princess] We had to make a game that met expectations of fans in North America. If it didn't, it could mean the end of the franchise." Aonuma delivered on those expectations - in the view some, his team surpassed them with style. And so to those who bestow this venerable franchise your respect, even if merely an ounce, I ask only this: allow the creators the freedom they deserve, the freedom to now take Zelda to heights unimaginable, rather than bind Link to the trappings of acute familiarity.