This post is probably going to oust me as a
hypocrite (well, more so than usual). I
can see it now. I mean, even though The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild isn’t
officially being called an open-world game, it shares a good number of
traits with the subgenre. Plus, being
called “open-world” carries a lot of baggage with it these days. Ubisoft and its AAA contemporaries have run
what was once a good thing -- if not a symbol of progress for the medium --
into the ground, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the mere concept is enough to
make someone’s eyes roll so fast that they could break the sound barrier.
I’m pretty sure I’ve taken shots at open-world
games as well, so the fact that I’m excited for Breath of the Wild means that I’m a dirty liar in need of a bath
filled with holy water. More to the
point, I’m a hypocrite because this game appeals to me, but I’m about ready to
write off the superficially-similar Horizon:
Zero Dawn for what may come off as arbitrary reasons. In my defense, it’s not as if I love one and
hate the other; it’s just that I feel like BotW
appeals to me more. And while I’m
pretty confident that Horizon will
eventually be a solid game, it feels redundant -- and significantly less
special -- in the face of BotW.
I guess now I’ll have to explain why. So let’s go ahead and step back into the ring
for another smackdown.
Ha. Again.
Like I said last time, neither game is exactly
ready to be grabbed from your local GameStop or Best Buy. There are plenty of details missing, and
there’s no guarantee of either game’s quality just yet. We only have trailers and articles to go by
(minus the odd demo or preview), so plenty could change between now and
release. Promises can be upheld or
broken on a moment’s notice. And of
course, maybe a wrongheaded decision made on Day 1 will cripple the whole
experience. That can happen.
And yes, it can happen with BotW. It’s an open-world(ish)
take on the franchise, which opens up plenty of opportunities. Unfortunately, that also means it could fall
into the same traps that have plagued other games or otherwise hamstrung them. Will the game have focus? Will the game’s myriad activities have
entertainment value, or simply mistake the quantity
of things to do with quality? What about the story? On top of all that, there’s the question of
how well the devs will adapt to the new genre.
Once upon a time, Resident Evil 6 abandoned
its roots to try to appeal to a wider audience (and the west) with a sharp lean
towards action. It
didn’t end well for anyone.
Time will tell how the games pan out, BotW especially. In the meantime, let’s have another look at
some of the footage released a while back.
Once again, here’s footage for Horizon:
Zero Dawn.
And once again, here’s footage for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
There are articles out there that are excited
about BotW because it stands as proof
that Zelda is evolving, or becoming
more modern, or something like it. Fair
point, I suppose, but I wonder just how big of a step forward it’s taking. It’s doing things that Zelda games don’t usually do, of course; you can apparently get
your hands on classic items and weapons by putzing around in the world, not
earning them from beating dungeon minibosses.
Still, it’s already been confirmed that dungeons will return, so maybe
the classic formula will only see an expansion -- i.e. a bigger time investment
-- instead of a total overhaul.
Whatever the case, let’s not pretend that the Zelda formula can solely be pared down
to how many dungeons you explore. Also,
let’s not act like BotW is the only
game across the series’ history that’s ever bothered to innovate. Ocarina
of Time brought the franchise into the 3D space, with both cinematic flair
and a dedicated targeting system to smooth out the experience. Majora’s
Mask revolved around a time loop mechanic in a smaller but denser world,
featuring a story that’s still terrifyingly powerful to this day (and a villain
that’s powerfully terrifying). Wind Waker broke the limits on the scope
of the world, necessitating travel from one corner of the ocean to the
other. Twilight Princess tasked players with managing two different forms
while putting in work to create one of the most beloved sidekick characters to
date. Skyward Sword turned the space between dungeons into dungeons in
their own right, alongside a narrative that did its damnedest to give weight
and meaning to the typical “everyman becomes the hero and saves the girl”
plotline. And all of that is ignoring
the nuances from one game to the next.
So while Zelda
games may have a formula to them, the formula is absolutely NOT all there
is to them. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn’t
been paying attention, might be crazy, or is an idiot. That’s my hardline stance.
I still have my concerns about the game, of
course, and they won’t be quelled until there’s enough substantial
information. As unlikely as it is, we
have to be prepared for the possibility that a Zelda game can go off the rails -- and deciding to go open-world
might be a hell of a good way to make that happen. Does Nintendo have the chops to deliver a
sprawling experience, given that they usually specialize in structured, focused
titles? You can’t help but wonder,
especially since they
pulled in guys who worked on Xenoblade
Chronicles X to lend a hand. On
the other hand, the same company (albeit not every member of the same team)
also put out a wildly-popular multiplayer shooter on their first try, so
they’re not exactly locked into a niche.
The usual Nintendo polish is probably going to be
in full effect, which means we won’t have to worry about a buggy release that
needs patches out the gate (or weeks into its lifespan). Likewise, we can safely assume that the game
will function as intended; Skyward Sword took
heat for its motion controls, but with the GamePad -- and the Switch, in
combination with arcane magicks -- in players’ hands, the impact of and demand
for extra player effort will likely be minimized. So at the very least, we’re in for a game
that works. The question then becomes
“What makes this game special?” And
really, there’s already proof of that in the footage released so far.
Back when Final
Fantasy 13 held the promise of being good had its pre-release
information make the rounds, one of the major talking points was that there
would be no conventional towns. You
still kind of visit a couple in the game, though they’re in states of disarray;
still, it represented a break in the long-since accepted cycle of JRPGs. Was it even possible to have one without a town between dungeons and
fields? Yes, but it’s not always a good
idea.
Between the confirmation that there would be towns
and voice acting, we can expect BotW to
have at least a few cast members so that Link won’t be exploring the brave new
world completely alone. Granted we still
need to see the towns and characters in question, since it’s implied that the
game takes place in a post-apocalypse/after some cataclysmic event. Still, think about the footage shown off so
far. Think about the trailer. What did the devs show off, and why? What message did they want to impart upon
viewers across the globe? What did they
reveal as a way to prove why the game is special, not just functional or
passable?
I’ve drawn my own conclusion. The
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is special because it’s a rare game
that knows how to shut the hell up.
As someone who can be positively ruined by just
the implied presence of a bug, I’ve
never been what you’d call the outdoorsy type.
Still, I can imagine what it’s like.
This may be an educated guess, but I’d imagine that nine times out of
ten, there’s no sweeping soundtrack that matches a common hike through the
woods. It’s a silent, peaceful,
meditative affair, and one that’s captured by this new Link as well as his
upcoming game. Obviously this game is
going to have a ton of top-notch music upon release -- it’d be a hate crime if it
didn’t -- but the minimalist approach (for lack of a better phrase) makes for a
game with a sterling tone.
You can get a sense of it in the early
goings. I mean, remember the main theme for Skyward Sword? It was bombastic as all get out -- a booming,
triumphant orchestral track that practically bellowed “Yeah! Let’s go on an adventure!” That was to its benefit, of course (I’m of
the opinion that Twilight Princess had
good music, but the timbre of it did the OST a disservice). But BotW
proves that you can have multiple styles and affects and still win people
over. The early showings prove that the
game doesn’t need bombast, and instead revels in something much stronger. If it follows through on what’s been implied,
then we’re in for a game that thrives on subtlety. On simplicity. On softness.
On solitude.
A defined narrative and dialogue are practically
givens in the game (the latter more than the former, probably). Still, what Nintendo has shown off has been
about a quiet, thoughtful experience.
Inevitably, it’s going to reach a fever pitch once you start dealing
with dungeons, bosses, and Ganon; even if that’s true, a huge swath of the
experience is about letting the player interact with and explore a sprawling
world. “One with nature”, and such. Like I said, I’m not the outdoorsy type --
but in the few instances where I’ve actually gotten out there and had a little
adventure, I was justly rewarded. I
didn’t get to do much besides walk through a woodsy area -- to a decent-sized
river -- in the midst of a wintry coating, but damned if it wasn’t a treat for
my soul. BotW is primed to capitalize on that refreshing feeling, and soothe
the soul with its reverence of nature.
No frills, no excess, no tricks.
Just a raw experience.
And because it’s a raw experience, BotW’s world feels like one that
matters. Even if it’s been experienced
so far almost exclusively in video format (at least by a bunch of mere
plebeians like the common gamer), it’s not hard to get the sense of a living,
breathing world. It’s not something done
purely with high-end graphics or engines; in fact, concerns
have cropped up over performance dips in early builds of the game. No, it’s the impression that the world is
more than just cheap window dressing. It
actually matters. It has an impact on
you, Link, and the gameplay at large.
You can set grass ablaze. You can chop down trees. You can put on warmer clothes to avoid taking
damage in cold environments. You can
glide through the air with a Sailcoth.
You can push rafts across water with gusts of wind. You can cook with whatever ingredients you
find along the way. And perhaps most
crucially of all: you
can surf on your shield like you’re playing SSX. There’s likely more to
it than that, what with the inventory that’ll no doubt expand your traversal
abilities even further. (Maybe you’ll be
able to burrow underground again?) But
what’s been shown so far has already made a pretty strong case; the fact that
you can push boulders to hassle enemies means that thought has legitimately
been put into the integration of setting and gameplay.
How much of that is a bunch of smoke and
mirrors? Maybe a bigger chunk than I’d
like to admit; after all, the amount of integration featured could end up being
trivial or annoying, or just a gimmick to say “LOOK AT HOW MUCH WE’RE
INNOVATING!” It’s absolutely
possible. But with a playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles X behind me, I feel
like there’s definitely been an evolution.
XCX had a gigantic, beautiful
world to explore, one where you could see incredible sights and the local fauna
running through their daily routines.
With that said, there was (and still is) a static nature to it. You can run across fields, jump off stuff,
find hidden attractions, salvage resources, plant probes, and eventually fly
through the skies, but I feel as if more could’ve been done. In a sense, of course; the Wii U nearly dies trying to contain all of XCX’s content, so we’re lucky we got
what we got.
So here comes BotW
to remedy all that. It pretty much
has to. If there’s a de-emphasis on
interaction with other characters and a re-emphasis on the stark yet soothing
solitude of nature, then the setting ABSOLUTELY has to be a character in its
own right -- and a good one, no less. It
can’t be static, it can’t be window dressing, and it can’t be shallow. If BotW
doesn’t go all in, then it fails.
Fortunately, I get the feeling that we won’t be forced onto the darkest
timeline where a Zelda game is bad…well, not again, at least. The E3 content has let Nintendo and crew show
off more than just the game; they’ve tried to sell you on the feeling of the game. The affect.
It goes beyond just being the “experience” that gets tossed around as a
buzzword. It’s a comprehensive mission statement.
I do have lingering concerns about how good the
finished product will be, of course. The
game seems like it’s co-opting elements from Bayonetta and Dark Souls
for its combat -- which to be fair aren’t bad games to pull from -- but I
wonder if the fighting element is going to be refined as well as properly
integrated. Even if Zelda games have always had combat with varying nuances, I still
don’t know if it’s going to be properly used in BotW -- or rather, how it’ll
be used. Is it emphasized? De-emphasized? Is it crucial? Is it an afterthought? Is it deep?
Is it shallow? A careful balance
needs to be struck, and I wonder how they’ll accomplish that in a sprawling,
quasi-open-world game. Would there even be that many enemy encounters to begin
with? Who knows?
There are a lot of unknowns with BotW right now. It’ll be that way for a good while; videos
and previews have started popping up in the time since its full reveal, sure,
but until it’s in the hands of gamers -- and we’ve all had time to digest it --
there’s no telling where it’ll stand in the Zelda
legacy. Maybe it’ll be as revered as
Ocarina of Time. Or maybe it’ll be as controversial as Skyward Sword. I hope it’s the former, because I feel as if
Nintendo could really use a win after the bad luck it suffered with the Wii U.
Even so, I want them to succeed because they make
a high-quality game, not just because of the name attached (the company or the
franchise, take your pick). It’s not
enough to just make this game open-world, because some of the stuff that’s got
me salivating here is just as applicable as the stuff in Skyrim -- which, as a reminder, is just over five years old. There needs
to be something special here, especially in the face of countless open-world
games on the market. A strong story can
go a long way toward that, but even then it’s not necessarily that simple.
The elements are definitely there for BotW, no question. At the same time, you can think of them as
building blocks -- pieces that’ll form a foundation, not necessarily build a
world wonder in the making. So the
question then is simple: what’s the game going to do to guarantee, to prove that it’s elevated above the
common fare? The affect it’s pushing is
strong, without a doubt. But will that
appeal to everyone? Will that be strong enough
to appeal to anyone? Can they truly pull
everything together and make a game worth playing for 40 hours? 30 hours?
20, 10, or even 1?
I don’t know.
But I want to believe -- because I can feel the potential
overflowing. BotW, at the very least, feels
like a unique experience, and something that fills a niche in the gaming
world. Countless devs have proven that
they can handle bombast and spectacle, especially in the AAA space where money
is tossed around like a beach ball. Now
it’s time to try something different.
It’s time to use the money, attention, branding, and prestige to swing
in the opposite direction: to be quiet instead of loud, to be thoughtful
instead of obtuse, to be modest instead of hubristic. If BotW
can capitalize on that -- which it already might have -- then it’s going to
be a hell of a game. And the fact that
Nintendo decided to show off that mission statement means that they
understand. They know what needs to be
done, and now they’re doing it.
That’s why I have
to praise it more than Horizon: Zero
Dawn. To be clear, it’s not as if
the upcoming PS4 game is destined to be bad or disappointing. On the contrary, it looks pretty good. It’ll probably be a solid entry. But at this stage, being “solid” isn’t enough
for me. Not in this case. Even if Horizon
is primed to offer up something new and exciting, and even though it’s
clearly taken steps toward offering a mission statement of its own, I wonder --
if not outright doubt -- how successful it is. What does it have to offer that BotW doesn’t?
Both games are taking the same approach, more or
less. They’re out to use nature to
enhance the gamers’ experience, and that’s absolutely praiseworthy in a medium
that’s suffered from dingy, brown environments for what feels like an
eternity. With that in mind, I feel as
if one of them is more successful than the other. One of them comes closer to following through
on its mission statement -- its thesis, so to speak -- and stands primed to win
the hearts of fans all over the world.
The other, to reiterate, is still probably going to be a good game. It’s just that it’s going to be overshadowed
by a game that, by saying less, ends up saying -- and being -- much, much more.
And you know the name of that game.
IT’S TOKYO JUNGLE, BABY!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. BEST GAME IN THE UNIVERSE, BABY! GREATEST OF ALL TIME, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!
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