The new Zelda also has a great deal of information in our Nintendo Treehouse coverage but it is obviously deserving of its own article as well. What we are treated to is a magnificent spectacle of what will likely go on to exemplify an open world game of this generation. In many ways, they take the flexible mechanics of a survival game and marry them to the core elements of the Zelda franchise. After Skyward Sword, there was a great deal of discussion of how in the modern age that a new Zelda would have to be built with more freedom beyond what we were given in the last several. It is no surprise that such a talented team have taken stunning visuals of a vast world and made it entirely inhabited. There isn’t an area you turn without something to do or an enemy to fight. The game has such freedom with interaction between the player and objects there open up numerous possibilities for any encountered situation.
Here is our deeper coverage of the event. This is really the innovative shot in the arm the franchise has needed. Each title itself has been spectacular, but merely building on a preexisting formula, while this completely starts with a fresh take with only the core principles showing. The one thing seen in the earlier trailer that hasn’t been shown again in any of the footage of early areas of the game has been taming a mount. An interesting feature that adds some more variety, they haven’t explained if mounts will remain where you leave them, or if there will be some form of stable to use since we haven’t really encountered any human settlements as of yet.
The only human we have seen outside of shrines, the old man, seems vague. His proximity to our location in the beginning may bely some greater importance. While we haven’t seen that far into the game, it does leave open when in the timeline this takes place. Skyward Sword rooted itself as one of the earliest aspects of the franchise with a great deal of events being explained even earlier. This seems to take place after some great catastrophe, though some of the technology seems built to last, everything is so overgrown and derelict this may take place significantly after. These are all things that Nintendo has been keeping purposefully hidden so not to spoil us, so it is likely we will find answers to everything.
The Sheika Slate itself is interesting. The Sheikah themselves have always remained hidden protectors, and with relics so early on showing such a connection to the main character it seems likely that he himself was already through ordeals that led to his seeming stasis. A relic of a past age preserved to handle a dire situation that has brought the downfall of an entire kingdom. This seems to be an epic enough story to bear the Zelda name. We also do not get much clarity on numerous constellation looking symbols that crop up in the shrines. It may just be symbolic, but they may hold greater significance. It is also worth note that they do specify shrines and dungeon are separate entities that they had not shown yet. Either they aren’t in the initial area or they are to relevant to the plot so they are avoiding them for now.
No matter the vast scope of what we have been shown, there is still an extensive world to learn ahead of us. I for one look forward to it, though the last parting thought is just how different will the game be from the Wii U to the NX that we still know so little about. We will know, in good time.
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