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How in the name of the Goddesses are they going to beat this?
Real horses do not run into trees very often...
Right?!
Welcome to Zelda Unknown
Hey everyone and welcome to a new episode of Zelda Unknown.
Across nearly twenty episodes we have time and time again painstakingly dissected specific provinces ranging
from the vast sea in the East,
across the field and Castle Town in the centre
to the wilderness of the snowy mountains, inhospitable desert and wild woods in the west.
But all of these are just separate entities in what is a seamless and fully connected Hyrule.
Based on all official statements Zelda Wii U will most likely be a radically different Zelda from past Zelda games,
when it comes to its over-world, dungeons, puzzles, pacing and so on.
Yes, we need to hold series producer Eiji Aonuma to his word about rethinking the conventions of Zelda.
A move that will change the way we will play Zelda forever and is something we need to be prepared for.
Let this sink in for a minute, Hyrule in Zelda Wii U will for the first time appear as a seamless and fully realistic country
with no artificial boundaries or loading screens and mark for the most immersive Zelda experience to date.
This will cause for whole new possibilities when it comes to travel, exploration and puzzle solving
as there will be multiple ways to get to specific locations.
A series first for a 3D Zelda game.
In order to give a little taste of these, we have brought together
the two current teasers
the Game Awards gameplay presentation
Zelda Wii U concept arts by Jessica Smith (Mei-Xing)
And a little help from a custom map of Zelda Wii U made in Minecraft.
We depart from what is likely the starting point of the game
in the south-eastern area of Hyrule from the original Legend of Zelda.
The reason for selecting this specific area is that we have map and gameplay footage of this position
The gamepad map will serve as our reference when moving across the known areas and later into the unknown.
But before we leave the gamepad
I think we should spend a little moment to talk about its function and features in Zelda Wii U
as the main and intended controller for the ultimate Zelda experience.
Let us begin from the map, which unlike in Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD have multiple zoom levels
a position marker button
and indicated points of interests such as villages with icons
At the top we have the in-game clock
while in the lower right corner we have a compass for navigation and an inventory menu button.
We believe that this inventory screen will be modelled similarly to the ones found in the two Wii U HD remakes
On top of this we know that there will be heavy emphasis on Gyroscope controls for aiming
and Amiibo support similarly to TP HD.
What used to be chunks of bound hubs with designated entrances and exits
have been replaced by believable and varied landscapes.
After two brief scenes around this area we are moved over to what looks like an endless Hyrule field,
talk about massive.
And this is not something we just state, but based on actual calculations
and statements given by series creator mr. Shigeru Miyamoto and series producer mr. Eiji Aonuma.
"How far is our destination from here?"
"Well it will still take about four or five more minutes."
"Four or five minutes more?!"
All of this is in accordance with Eiji Aonuma’s statement
about environmental hazards and handing back control to the player.
"It means you can enter any area from any direction"
"So the puzzle solving in this game begins the moment the player starts to think about where they want to go"
"How they will get there and what they will do when they arrive"
Instead of just pushing a block to reveal in game secrets
we might be set to use our own intuition and exploration skills to trigger
mini-bosses such as the giant energy monster from the E3 2014 reveal.
It seems as Nintendo EAD 3 is blurring the lines between dungeons and the over-world
as we have environmental puzzles and challenging mini-bosses
And when it comes to dungeons, these have also been hinted to undergo an overhaul for Zelda Wii U when it comes
their size being equivalent to that of Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule Field
and follow in the footsteps of The Legend of Zelda and more recently A Link Between Worlds.
This in order to offer the most non-linear 3D Zelda dungeon progression ever!
Over to the Lake Hylia and the Great Bridge of Hylia
which unlike in Twilight Princess are not separate areas divided by a thick loading screen or a mini-game.
This is far from the only area that was a separate map in the past,
In fact every loading screen in Zelda games mark the transition for separate maps
In Zelda Wii U each of these will be merged into one giant over-world.
I believe it is this massive leap, which lead Eiji Aonuma to demonstrate the gamepad map
in the first and to this point only gameplay demonstration.
Just to tell us the following: no areas in Zelda Wii U are cut off or restricted by Nintendo EAD 3.
But what impact will this have if you can explore the entire world from the moment you press start?
The obvious answer is more challenging dungeons
and that some areas of the over-world could feature way tougher opponents
both in term of their capability of dealing damage
but also tactics to prevent the game from being a walk in the park.
This is a well-known gameplay feature intended on increasing the difficulty in the original Legend of Zelda
For instance you might be able to pass to the inhospitable provinces of Gerudo Desert and Snowpeak in the west
but it will not be recommended in the beginning of the game due to overpowered opponents found in these areas.
That is unless you are a hardcore.
These changes might as well undermine the traditional Zelda dungeon progression
and lead Nintendo EAD 3 to abandon the three introductionary dungeons found in Zelda.
In return we might get a higher number of dungeons to complete, but in no chronological order.
Back to some of the unknown provinces.
The north-western province of Snowpeak has likely underwent a massive extension
as this area was probably the most bound in Twilight Princess
and stood in stark contrast to the open and wide Gerudo Desert.
Could it be that all of these mountains will be traversable/climbable and hide treasures and other secrets?
But one thing is clear; Ocarina of Time's Castle Town is back!
and this time I believe that castle will offer the only loading screen in the game. (Apart from the dungeons)
Yes, I believe that the town itself will be a different map
but in return be bigger and better than ever
Time to talk about something that we have never seen in a Zelda game,
namely destructive environments and physics.
In the chase scene of the E3 reveal we could clearly see
that the energy monster was capable of destroying objects such as the little wooden bridge Link attempted to cross
Closing in on the final provinces we reach the hilly but grassy location of the scene from last year’s November Nintendo Direct
Apart from the dominant Death Mountain almost no area in the game is visible from anywhere.
This just evidences the sheer scale of the map
and how massive each province will be compared to what we are used to.
By reaching the east coast we complete our great tour of Hyrule as we look out at the open and seamless sea
wondering whether we will be able to sail across it to the many islands.
Summing up, this game will by no doubt redefine how we see and play Zelda
as Eiji Aonuma has promised something completely new for this ultimate Zelda experience.
We believe that this transition will first and foremost be visible in the form of
a more extensive and detailed over-world with actual content instead of empty hub areas
and tons of secrets and points of interests to uncover.
The same goes for Puzzle solving
which will be overhauled and embody the areas outside of the Dungeons.
In the form of environmental puzzles.
The dungeons will be bigger and more elaborate
as each of them will have a unique opportunity to shine with the non-linear progression.
This again might indicate that the limited three traditional introductionary dungeons will be scrapped
in favour of a greater number of dungeons in this vast world
and all of them being open from the beginning of the game, but require the right equipment
With it, the lending and purchase system from A Link Between Worlds could make a return in Zelda Wii U,
but in a more extensive manner.
In the end we will have to wait and see whether these hopes will turn into reality
as we get to E3 in June.
But that will be told next week in Zelda Ultimate
in term of Zelda Unknown,
I want to give you a choice on what of these two provinces with great potential should be out next:
We all hope you still have a great day and we will see you girls and guys later!