by Kenny » Sun Jun 15, 2014 3:50 pm
I agree AG, it feels like people focus more on graphical power and peripheral gimmicks now. But the difference between then and now is we are rehashing gameplay formulas from the past. I think the jump from 2D to 3D had alot to do with that, Super Mario Bros. was basically the same game (minus the second one for obvious reasons) until it jumped to 3D.
Thing is, you can't really fuck with a solid formula. Mario's 3D mechanics are sublime as are Zelda's. My major beef with the new installments though is that they don't have the magic the 64 games had. By magic, I mean the soundtracks aren't as brilliant. The level designs don't feel as immersive. Everything is bigger and graphically superior, but it feels empty.
I still think they need to go much bigger than what they're doing now, and by bigger I mean add more detail. Like with Star Fox, make it more free roaming and highly encourage exploration in between major missions (destroy X starbase). Have more conversations between more characters. That's what made the N64 game feel bigger, the inclusion of Kat and Bill as side characters that only pop up when you go past certain areas. Same with Star Wolf. If you have characters that only pop up when you go through certain areas, it'll feel much bigger.
Not sure what you could do with Mario or Zelda. Maybe with Mario, take him back down from the Galaxy to his own World again. With Zelda, I still want the anti-Link thing but that aside make Hyrule have more side missions like in Skyrim or those MMORPGs (keep it offline, obviously). I'm sure Skyward and Twilight had lots of side missions, but in Windwaker and Ocarina they were littered with them. With each character offering those missions having their own story to tell. It made the world of Hyrule feel bigger.
I'm not sure if they did this already, but did any of the Zeldas open with Link running away from his village burning from the ground? Monsters or Ganon's goons are attacking and Link has to fight back and save his fellow Kokiris? Maybe it's going more into the dark territory which is what Nintendo is straying away from in this installment, but i'm not sure how you can make whimsical exciting especially since Windwaker did it pretty well already.
Those are my thoughts. I have more to say with Star Fox though, that franchise is much more personal to me than the other Nintendo franchises. It sparked my imagination like no other and I feel it has the most potential to grow.