Random Gaming Thoughts II ~News Items Beware~

Personally - and totally as you might expect - I prefer the 'light' Zeldas to the 'dark' ones. The aesthetic of Skyward Sword is a big part of its appeal. In contrast, crossing large expanses in TP felt like much more of a trudge than sailing in WW, for example, ever did. I know they have to swap between the styles to satisfy fans of each sort of style, though, so they'll always get played.

I don't disagree WW, SS (saw a video of this last night it is starting to look a bit rough, though) and BotW will age better then how OoT, MM or TP have but if we get an another Zelda on Switch in a few years time and it is in a more darker realistic style which looks good for 2019, should we really worry how it will like in 2029? To me no.

Bloodborne I was drawn into due to its Gothic arts-style which looks great and so does BotW, both are very different both can look good if done right.

It doesn't even have to be a Zelda game that's just what I would like to see again from the series but Nintendo could do a there take on the Souls genre with a New IP if they wanted to and they showed they could possibly have the art-style down.

Not every game made has to have a unique art-style or look like Mario and this is a lot like I was talking about having more mature stories and themes in gaming, not everything has to just save the princess but hey the gameplay is great.

We can have variety and I don't know why it just seems to be gaming that things are ever get mentioned. You don't get this as much in any other entertainment medium, I feel Nintendo if we're talking just about them and not gaming as a whole are the Disney of gaming.

Disney just doesn't do Frozen or Cars they have loads more than that but I've never heard a Disney fan go why is there Darth Vader walking around Disney land.

Variety is the spice of life and that shouldn't be any different for gaming as none of us can say we only watch or listen or read or look at one type something in any other medium.

Thankfully with just on the Switch which Balla will pretty much only game on, seems like it will get plenty of games and even this month we're getting DOOM, Skyrim, Rime and LA Noire which brings different varieties of game genres, storytelling, art style, gameplay.

The early open-world games (let's say the GTA3-GTA4 years) are something I've got a soft spot for. Granted, Zelda is a very different type of open-world, but there's a charm and purity to some of those games. Soul Reaver 2, Twilight Princess, even Xenoblade Chronicles has it - that magic feeling of epicness without feeling overwhelming. There is a linearity to the PS2-era RPG/adventure that I'm hoping to spend some time with - Rogue Galaxy particularly grabs my eye. Granted, there's a drab, washed out colour to much of the textures that Wind Waker doesn't suffer from, but the games were still small enough to explore every nook and cranny. I think Shenmue birthed that magic for me - that was what that game was all about to be honest.

Oh I loved the structure of TP, it remains in my top five ever (I think Xenoblade has just slipped outside that). It's just the look.

And the trouble is, what with a Zelda only being a four-year event at most, I'm not really happy to see them 'waste' an entire generation's Zelda on something less colourful. Other adventures, yes. Bring Dark Souls to Switch, I'll give it a shot! But keep Zelda full of colour and life, not grim and brown/purple.

But why should it be though? like Zero said some people like myself would like to a more darker game like OoT, MM, TP or this


yeah some like yourself might not be happy about it and remember Wind Waker people weren't happy with that to begin with, so even having a art-style might not be for the best either also how many of the other games Nintendo do aren't darker in tone.

And I said I liked the look of that style and wanted to see what Nintendo could with it and Zelda was the first series that came to mind due to OoT, MM, TP but hey Drunka summed it perfectly with his post anyway.

If I tell you this came from the SMO thread originally, Jas...?

It still sounds bizarre as purple is a vibrant colour.

They used to use purple as an evil colour in some Tenth Doctor episodes of Doctor Who...

masofdas wrote:

But why should it be though? like Zero said some people like myself would like to a more darker game like OoT, MM, TP or this
[video of Wii U Zelda tech demo]

Man, I'd be pretty disappointed if the next Zelda game took an art style like that. It just looks like any other game with that colour palette - Zelda, to me, should be visually arresting, not a washed out identikit action-adventure game. What's to separate that tech demo from Darksiders or games like that, besides the inclusion of Link himself?

For what it's worth, I think Twilight Princess in all of its muddy glory - hoo boy, that game has not aged well - was at the very least interesting at points to look at. Something like this with its autumnal colour palette is a pretty unique look, even if the textures are miserable to look at now. That's even a screenshot form the HD remaster and I still mourn for poor Epona in the screenshot.

Fuck it - give me grimdark future Zelda in a dystopian city, like that one edgy fanfic Balla, myself and a few others started back on the ol' ship NGamer.

Your picture of TP is what I'm on about, that it looks great and Nintendo or whoever can make more realistic style titles great looking.

This is going around in circles, all I was saying I liked the look of that art-style from Mario Odyssey and Nintendo could make use of it in a game.

masofdas wrote:

Your picture of TP is what I'm on about, that it looks great and Nintendo or whoever can make more realistic style titles great looking.

That's only a very small part of that game though - large swathes of it were pretty miserable to look at. Remember those dull brown canyons in and around Hyrule Field? Blegh. But, they couldn't just have the whole game covered in that autumnal twilight colouring as that'd grow tiresome to look at too. That's why I'm more of an advocate for the colourful and bright Zelda games - they hold up better and I think it's easier to make sure that the whole game looks sweet rather than just a distinct couple of areas.

Do you think Witcher 3 looks dull? As that's most properly the best example of what I'm thinking off from a more realistic Zelda in today's standard.

No, but I will say that I absolutely prefer how Blood and Wine looks compared to the main game. The vibrant colours of that DLC are a delight to behold.

JayMoyles wrote:

Fuck it - give me grimdark future Zelda in a dystopian city, like that one edgy fanfic Balla, myself and a few others started back on the ol' ship NGamer.

If they're doing that, fill it with neon. Master Sword Runner 2049.

Here's something neat - Skyrim on New 3DS.

Well, not really. It's just the environment for the first town with none of the NPCs or game mechanics in place, but it's impressive nonetheless.

That was still pretty remarkable stuff. Reminds me of the Halo on Ds footage that did the rounds back in the day.

Wow, that Whiterun demo was neat. Blow on the mic to Fus-Ro-Dah.

This morning I figured out where the 2D Mario series could go next. I feel that the New Super Mario Bros. concept is over, so it should be replaced by New Super Mario World. The ability to fly from the beginning, Switch Palaces, the power to take Yoshi from one level to another... if it's handled properly, it could be smashing.

I also liked your man Scullion's idea: adapt the hand-drawn visuals of classic Mario boxart into a 2D game. That'd be sumptuous.

I also miss super-acrobatic single-screen platforming like in DK 94. The Mario vs Donkey Kong series sort of started down that road but it ended up more of a lemmings-esque puzzler.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I also miss super-acrobatic single-screen platforming like in DK 94. The Mario vs Donkey Kong series sort of started down that road but it ended up more of a lemmings-esque puzzler.

This in its entirety. I had a theory that Captain Toad was Nintendo's attempt to bring the 2D single screen game into 3D but I would be more than willing to have another Mario game in the style of DK94. What a corker that game was.

I think I'd find single-screen platforming an interesting curio, but I can't see any such game blowing me away. Exactly like CTTT in that regard: the levels felt like cute toys, but the game itself was never going to be one of the greats.

Anything that shakes up 2D Mario would be welcome, be that World-esque, Land-esque, or something we've never seen before. It does need shaking up though, badly. Last generation, the machine's 2D Mario (assuming we count SM3DW as 3D, which I'd dispute) was worse than Donkey Kong's and Rayman's offerings. If you'd told that to the SNES crowd they'd have laughed you out of town.

ZeroJones wrote:

Drunkalilly wrote:

I also miss super-acrobatic single-screen platforming like in DK 94. The Mario vs Donkey Kong series sort of started down that road but it ended up more of a lemmings-esque puzzler.

This in its entirety. I had a theory that Captain Toad was Nintendo's attempt to bring the 2D single screen game into 3D but I would be more than willing to have another Mario game in the style of DK94. What a corker that game was.

Yep. Yep yep. I'd make use of the HD and squidge up Mario's size a bit, and get a big level in, but still confine it to one screen.

Years ago when the forum first started we talked about Sports and eSports, this week the Overwatch League started on Twitch who paid $90 million for the rights.

With games evolving over the last few years and more of games-as-service such as Overwatch, has any opinions on eSports changed?

I don't know that much about eSports but have been checking out the Overwatch League as Blizzard seem to be making a big deal about it, as it is the first major global esports league with city-based teams (I'm supporting London), and not seen anyone else really do anything to this degree and it all sounds very much like any other sport on how they are showing it and talking about it such as the rights broadcasting deal, who owns which teams (Such as the owners of New England Patriots owning the Boston team for instance), showing your support with kits in game and real life.

All feels like it's being treated like American Football (the league has two divisions with playoffs etc), it has a bit more legitimacy about it which has peaked my interest along with being a game I like.

Still not keen on Esports and that's with trying to watch some Rainbow 6 Siege pro league matches a while ago, no doubt the people playing are very skillful at the game but how it's all put together from the commentary to how you actually view the match just puts me off.

Then there's the fact I could probably just be playing the game myself.