If I had never played Zelda:
With the near release of Breath of the Wild, I decided to create an interesting topic of discussion that everybody can participate in.
This topic might be a controversial one or may come across a bit of a debate encouraging topic, but it's an interesting subject I thought of today to see how much nostalgia plays into me being a fan of the Zelda series, and how I would view the series with my current attitude in gaming if I were not already a home grown fan. So throughout this first post I'm am going to create a hypothetical story of how I would approach Zelda today if I had never played it in the past.
I ask people to please keep an open mind as most of this post I will not be reflecting my actual feelings towards Zelda but perceived feelings by how I view other games that are similar to gameplay approach, art style, and console it is being built on.
I'd also like you to respect that much of this speculation will be built on what I believe will be superficial looks at the series from an outside perspective, so I may say things about the series that you might clearly not agree with because I feel as an outsider I would have a level of ignorance to the series. So I'm not trying to open up a debate to defend the series since I am not even looking at this from my own feelings or perspectives.
Also, a final reminder that this entire post is hypothetical, so please keep an open mind.
Before we Begin:
While this is a hypothetical situation, this could have in fact been my reality as I was convinced by a friend to play ALTTP. I was very reluctant to play the game, and if I had just stuck with my preconceived judgments towards Zelda during that day, I probably wouldn't have been a Zelda fan today, so this hypothetical situation was pretty close to have becoming a reality if my friend had not convinced me.
The Breath of The Wild Trailer:
Assuming that today is the day that got me interested in Zelda, it would have certainly been the Breath of the Wild trailer that somehow grabbed my interests. Chances are, if I were not a Zelda this entire time, I probably would have saw every game until now with a level of doubt, and probably would have seen this trailer with doubt too. I would have seen it as an attempt by Nintendo to chase games like Skyrim, Fallout, and the Witcher 3, but for kids due to the art style and my current feelings that most Nintendo's 1st party lineups are kid-like. But still, there's no denying the quality that went into that trailer, and it would have gotten me interested in what I may have missed in this series.
Ocarina of Time:
So because my information on the Zelda series is very limited, I would be interested in seeking out what is the best game in the series from a shallow perspective. In other words I'd start with pure ratings and legacy alone. Even though I know that isn't everything that makes a game, it's where I would still start because of my limited perspective of the series as a whole, I would have no other choice but to trust it's legacy.
Unfortunately here, I may find myself disappointed. I would feel the whole "Young Link" experience to be flat out annoying because I'm just not into that kind of thing. Also, with the underwhelming graphics and the very experimental gameplay of the 64 bit era, I would certainly not think of this game as highly as I do now, and I would have probably just flat out skipped Majora's Mask for these reasons and the fact that it was the more controversial Zelda title of that era.
A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds:
I would have then decided to go back farther and play A Link to the Past. Fortunately for this game I am very open minded to retro games and have found love for retro games I have not grown up with. I certainly probably wouldn't have had the nostalgic feel for the game as I do now, but I would have appreciated the overall level of design quality in the game, even with some of it's flaws. This game probably would have surely convinced me why Zelda is a highly regarded series.
A Link Between Worlds however wouldn't have impressed me so. Without the power of nostalgia, I wouldn't have seen much of what this game offers. I've been replaying it recently and I feel this game is really overrated. I want to like it as much as I did the first time I played, but I dunno, I'd rather play A Link to the Past any day. That's not to say A Link Between Worlds is bad, I'll still play it and beat it, but probably not without the nostalgia glasses I wear.
The NES Games:
I would have certainly tried these games, and I feel my impressions in these games would be no more different than they are now. I like them both, but I have an overall preference for Zelda 2. I would have certainly seen the first 3 Zelda games as the best in the series at this point.
The Mobile Zelda Games:
I'm not even sure I would even give any of them a chance really. None of them come off as impactful enough to even garner my interests as an outsider, and I would be a bit overwhelmed by the amount of mobile titles there are that I would probably just stray away from them.
Zelda Classic:
Probably would have never been interested. Sorry to say. I would have seen it the same way as I see Mario Maker right now. Something fun to play around with, but outside of that, forget it. lol
Wind Waker HD and Skyward Sword:
I wouldn't turn to the orginal Wind Waker because I'd probably try the new if I ever did try it, but I feel for sure I wouldn't warm up to the art style. The only possible way I could even get into this game today is if I got it for my son. Even then I would have been completely turned off by the bland and empty overworld experience of the great sea. I would not have beaten this game if I even took interest to play it.
Having already a low opinion on 3d Zelda games, I wouldn't have given this game much of a chance because of the huge investment of Wii Motion controls. I seriously don't care for Nintendo's gimmicks today, and I would see this game as a testament of Nintendo's foolish nonsensical ways.
Twilight Princess HD:
At this point I probably would have given up on 3d Zelda games, considering that Ocarina of Time of time and Wind Waker are probably considered the bests. I would however try this game at a very reasonable price, and you know what, I think I still would have very much liked this game. I feel Twilight Princess in general is very underrated, and today still stands as my favorite 3d Zelda experience. Though at my age now, I would have probably been turned off by all the strange and weird NPCs that used to crack me up during my pot smoking days. I would have just seen many of these characters as annoying and immature, but I would have still loved the game overall.
In Conclusion:
My impressions in Zelda would be mixed and bias towards the retro games over the newer games. I would have certainly felt that Zelda is a series that didn't age well and would have seen this as another reflection of Nintendo's current failures. My favorite games would probably be the first 3 Zelda games and maybe Twilight Princess, but I wouldn't care much for everything else. I certainly wouldn't have thought of the series as highly as I do now, and I'd probably only play these games once and maybe never pick them up again, except for the retro ones.
Would I play Breath of the Wild? Actually, yes, there would be enough in the series to have convinced me that Breath of the Wild would be a "good enough" game, but I wouldn't see it as ground breaking compared to the heavy competitive market in gaming today, I would have just seen other games like Witcher 3 for example as far superior. I still do consider Witcher 3 to be superior, but only time will tell if this game will truly shine or hit the shelves to disappoint.
So what is your story? Looking at your current views and attitude towards gaming, how would you have looked at Zelda series by watching the Breath of the Wild trailer if you had never played a Zelda game in your life?