What Graphics Style Could Zelda U Have?

A new Zelda game is upon us 

The Legend of Zelda series, as many of you may realize, is my favorite video game series of all time. And I’m not alone on this. All around the world are hordes of Zelda fans, young and old alike, whose lives have been changed by the game. It’s rare for a single game to be the soul reason people purchase a console, but The Legend of Zelda games have proven to be that reason in the past. When the Nintendo 3DS was released in March of 2010, sales were slow until two months later when Ocarina of Time 3D came out. Though the sales didn’t really start to spike until the holiday season, it’s clear people were holding out until they could play a Zelda title.

3DS sales compared to the PS Vita. The small spike between weeks 4 and 7 could be attributed to the release of Ocarina of Time 3D

So with E3 having come and gone, people are wondering what will the new Legend of Zelda game be like. Shigeru Miyamoto, one of Nintendo’s chief developers, has confirmed that they have been working on Zelda U for a long time, and that they were almost ready to show it at this year’s E3. They didn’t, however, because they felt it would overshadow the other announcements and they want to polish the game before revealing it to the public. So what can we expect from this game? What will the graphics and gameplay be like?

Eiji Aonuma, a developer at Nintendo who has overseen several Legend of Zelda titles, has been the chief correspondent with the public about the upcoming Zelda game. Being dubbed the “foster daddy” of The Legend of Zelda series by Zelda Informer, he has been more than happy to speak in interviews about this highly anticipated installment in the series. In an interview with Eurogamer, he was asked what games he is pulling inspiration from to create the next Zelda title. He responded, “Skyrim! Obviously I play other games, and I'm curious what Zelda fans like about the Skyrim experience. Maybe there are some Zelda fans who are looking for something similar out of a Zelda game. But I don't look at the technology that made these games possible. I don't look at what's happening in the game, but how it made me feel, what in the game moved me, and how I can bring out those same emotions in players who play my games.”

Skyrim, a game that has sold over 10 million copies and bringing in an impressive $640 million, would be a great choice to model a Zelda game after. With a massive overworld, interactive NPCs, and interaction with other people, this could be the next step that Zelda has needed for a long time. It was revealed at E3 this year that Zelda-U will have a multiplayer component to it, something that was technically achieved in Four Swords Adventures but might be more streamlined. On taking ideas from Skyrim, Aonuma said, “My intent isn't to copy them, but those are the things that stay with you as a player. It's not what you see but how the game makes you feel that makes you feel closer to the experience. It's more about the feeling and expression of emotions in the game, and I do take that into consideration when working on my own projects.” I like that he said this, because I agree with this notion. My favorite Zelda game of all time, Majora’s Mask, focused more on the emotions and expressions of the characters more than any other Zelda game, and it was brilliant.

So what can we expect this game to look like? Will it have ultra realistic graphics like Skyrim, or more of a watercolor look like they did in Skyward Sword. In a Nintendo Life Interview, Aonuma gave us a small look at what we can expect. He said, “The thing about Zelda is we want everything to be unique, whether it’s the graphical presentation or the gameplay,” he said. “It has to be something you can’t see anywhere else. We wouldn’t want it to be ultra-realistic because you can see that elsewhere. But I can’t say that it’s going to be cartoony-realistic, the fantastic presentation that we’ve already done in the past [with Wind Waker].” He goes onto say that, “It will be something new.” We’ve possibly seen a preview of what the graphical choice will be, given Link’s design in the Super Smash Bros. U trailer.

The art style of Link, as seen in the trailer for Super Smash Bros. U

Though it hasn’t been a terribly long time since we’ve had a brand new console Legend of Zelda game (The last being Skyward Sword that was released in November of 2011), I am looking forward to seeing what the Wii-U hardware will be able to do with the game. It’s been hinted that we’ll get more of an open world, non-linear story, something that would be a nice touch since most of the games have had a specific direction and order in which you do things. Though nothing has been confirmed, my speculation is that by the end of this year we will hear an announcement for a release date of November/December 2014, just in time for the holiday season. One thing is for sure - The moment it becomes available I’ll be putting my name in for a pre-order.