Firstly, let's go back 14 years...
Anyone who watched that SpaceWorld 2000 clip at the time will remember the excitement. It’s like Zelda, but next gen and purdy! Imagine what it'll be like…
Anyone who watched that SpaceWorld 2000 clip at the time will remember the excitement. It’s like Zelda, but next gen and purdy! Imagine what it'll be like…
The Wind Waker’s ‘Celda’ backlash was petty and reactionary but
proportionate to the positivity generated by that 25 second GameCube
tech demo. It wasn’t that Wind Waker looked bad – with time, most people calmed
down and accepted the bold new art direction – but ideas were kindled by that
Link/Gannondorf duel. A Zelda that builds on the Z-targeting combat system developed
for Ocarina, and layered with tactics and swordplay and sexiness? Imagine it!
Twilight Princess eventually delivered something superficially closer to what the people wanted, but it was years too late. The formula had lost its sheen and Okami showed the world that the competition had mastered the grammar Nintendo invented. Zelda needed to evolve to avoid stagnation, and still needs to. Skyward Sword felt like a culmination of the series’ very best, with motion control weaved throughout in a way the Twilight Princess Wii port promised but couldn’t deliver. But motion control was never going to change the series and, in truth, we’ve been playing the same game since 1998.
Twilight Princess eventually delivered something superficially closer to what the people wanted, but it was years too late. The formula had lost its sheen and Okami showed the world that the competition had mastered the grammar Nintendo invented. Zelda needed to evolve to avoid stagnation, and still needs to. Skyward Sword felt like a culmination of the series’ very best, with motion control weaved throughout in a way the Twilight Princess Wii port promised but couldn’t deliver. But motion control was never going to change the series and, in truth, we’ve been playing the same game since 1998.
And Link does level up. FromSoft put the stats on the
screen and increase nuance and choice, but Link collects souls too. What’s that
ringing, rotating heart piece every boss leaves floating after their banishment
if not a soul? The extension of that lifeline at the top of the screen is
Zelda’s levelling system, and inspires ‘3-heart runs’ identical in theme to a
SL1 run. The magic bar is equally upgradable. In Zelda II the player earned EXP to upgrade Life, Magic or Attack as they chose. Skyward Sword introduced the
Stamina Meter ripped straight from Souls. Nintendo keeps things simpler but the
system is there.
There’s a similar focus on gear, though combat in Dark Souls
takes precedence over doohickeys and their associated puzzles, thus avoiding
the item gimmick cycle Nintendo seem locked into. Zelda has been iterated to the
point of cliché whereas FromSoft aren’t weighed down by tradition. In The
Gutter, a rickety network of wooden platforms and huts hanging in a pitch-black
cavern, I impulsively lit all the sconces expecting a chest to
appear with a Zelda-style jingle. Of course, nothing happened, but the video game grammar laid
out by Nintendo is so pervasive that I lit the lot, assuming that was their
purpose. No, these (shock!) provide
only light. And very welcome it is too; the area is genuinely dark, not just ‘darkish blue’. There are no clues or
signposts leading the way here – you’re on your own and light itself becomes a
precious commodity in a way Nintendo could now only justify in a 60-second
puzzle room. Eiji Aonuma and co. are in the unenviable position of having to evolve
the definition of a 'Zelda' game while curating all the accumulated facets fans believe are essential to the experience. Contrary to belief, Zelda is not an item-get jingle.
Comparing the series' protagonists, both are essentially blanks filled in by the player. This is almost forgotten now in Zelda games, though
again, perhaps that's more due to the players than the games. What
discerning fan names the boy in green anything but Link? But the option to personalise is ever-present.
Dah-dah-dah-DAHHHH?... |
Given the baseball and the archery competitions and bicycle-powered balloon shops, it’s also easy to forget how bleak Zelda can be. A boy
adventures alone – oftentimes an orphan – crossing a land of evil creatures,
magicians, traders, zombies and weirdos because…, well, legend fortold it. It
happened before, it’ll happen again. The moon will always fall. Every victory
is tinged with melancholy due to its impermanence. Even the delightful Wind Waker
has faceless automaton knights and other Souls-esque moments. Battling
through the Lost Bastille, all I could think of was Forsaken Fortress. The
backstab, the Z-targeting, the timing – all that’s missing is the musical
flourish with each strike.
Dark Souls takes influence from other games too. The tone and
palate of Resident Evil 4 can be felt, though it’s difficult to know whether
that’s simply a by-product of that game’s European/rustic/castle setting.
Shadow of the Colossus is also brought to mind, with its themes of corporeal and
geographical decay. It also has the player questioning the motives of the
protagonist. Why do these creatures deserve to die? Because that’s the game?
Who here killed the Queen Ant creature in The Gutter? Me too. It’s the game what made me do
it, guv’.
Though people highlight its challenge and inscrutability as innovations, it’s the multiplayer/multiverse system that I feel is Dark Souls
true contribution to games. I was unprepared for the joy of reading those
messages and summoning allies as I quested. As gleefully impenetrable as it is, the hints and help provided by other players make the experience accessible
and inclusive in a way Nintendo would surely endorse. It shows a glimpse of
what an online Zelda might have been – not an openworld MMO, but a singular
quest shared with the interaction and
empathy Nintendo now prioritise (and instruction too, without reams of
laborious tutorial text). It will be interesting to see where Zelda goes next,
but there’s really no need to fret. We don’t need the game of that SpaceWorld 2000 demo. We
have it already. Hurrah!
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