Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

@VoidofLight That sounds like he wanted the game to be more accessible, not that "he genuinely hates Majora's Mask."

Righty, thought I would post my outlandish playtest prediction. (Fasten your seatbelts!)

Well, since the playtest logo is a globe, it could be about bringing folk together, via some sort of social media. Like Miiverse I guess, but more like a digital themepark you can walk around in with your Mii / Avatar.
In it, youll be able to play Nintenoland (WiiU) style mini games as well as join online games such as Mario Kart 9 or what have you. If you don't own the game the area will be closed, so the more games you buy, the larger the themepark opens up.
You'll aklso be able to doodle, post videos and screen shots and chat with others. Basically a hub you subscribe to. You can still play the games online without the expansion pass...but you'll not get the extra stuff in the digital park.

Or something (Hey, I haven't been spending the last couple of years thinking of this like Nintendo have been!)

@Banjo- I mean a lot of the stuff they changed were needless changes. There's some I really think were good but for every good one you have stuff like changing how Deku Link controls or changing the Zora controls.

@GrailUK I just think it's Miiverse 2 but even more heavily moderated so that people don't post what they used to post.

@VoidofLight But that is unrelated. One thing is what we think about the 3DS remake, my opinion was posted above; another thing is what Aonuma intended when planning the 3DS version, according to the interview you mentioned. It's not the same wanting to make the game more accessible and genuinely hating the game.

@Ulysses I mean I'm not the only one who has said that about Aonuma. I thought it was fact given I've seen countless people mention that Aonuma was in a tough spot during the development of Majora's Mask, and that the remake was the "undoing" of the original because he didn't like the original game. I don't think it reflects upon my character at all.

@Ulysses Ahh, I found the source for it https://youtu.be/aS0CRT6_W1A

Around the 1:44 mark they talk about Aonuma making his list of things he didn't like about Majora, which was written as "confession style apologies," with one of them being "What in the world was wrong with me."

I'm the opposite, I despise those types of remakes. They feel like a copy/paste job and they usually come with a full $60 price tag, which is part of the problem with Nintendo's remakes lately. If you're paying the same price for these remakes as you are for the likes of BotW, Mario Odyssey, etc. you would expect the experience to be comparable and they're not, so it makes the remakes feel like a ripoff. The graphics and QoL additions are nice, but usually minor and barely noticeable unless it's something 20+ years old. To justify that full $60 price tag... I really don't see how you can do anything other than significant content additions.

OoT is one such game that really feels like it needs content additions. Hyrule Field is really cramped and empty by modern standards and could use a major scaling up. Like, it should be at least the size of TP's Hyrule Field. The story feels a bit poorly paced and could use another dungeon or two (Why is there no Light Temple for Rauru? Why does Zelda just unceremoniously throw us the titular Ocarina of Time instead of having us go on some grand quest to obtain it? That middle section of the game between Jabu-Jabu's Belly and the Forest Temple feels rushed af and could stand to be paced better). That's more the kinds of content additions I think OoT needs the most. It's not TOO too different but not nothing either. But then again, it might also be enough to warrant just straight up going back to the drawing board with Hyrule's map design for this game. I really don't care if it's a remake or reimagining. Either is fine. Just as long as it's not some barebones recycling whose only selling point is "The same game you've played 5 times already, but now in HD!". It comes across as so lazy and boring from the consumer side, pretty much the real life version of the "Corporate needs you to find the difference" meme.

@Bolt_Strike I feel like Hyrule Field being on the level of Twilight Princess’ field would only make things worse if you’re complaining about emptiness. Twilight Princess’ Hyrule Field was extremely empty, and the size genuinely didn’t help matters at all.

@VoidofLight Well it is two conflicting complaints, that's for sure. But if they scaled it up AND added more sidequests/collectibles/whatever to find, that would come closer to striking the right balance I think. Having something equivalent to Shrines, having more than like 5 Gold Skulltulas, having actual things you can use Epona for aside from being a generic steed (I guess there's the Poe quest, but that's not much), having materials you can collect, that kind of stuff would strike a good balance I think.

It's a delightful suggestion, beautifully described. Bravo.

Well, I'm sorry to differ with you, but my take on this one is just the opposite! What you see as cramped, I see as the perfect size. I wouldn't want it to be any larger than it is. I see many modern games, especially open world games, as too large and often full of repetitive content. I also don't see Hyrule Field as being empty, really, when there are plenty of secret holes, Gold Skulltulas, Big Poes, etc. If it were any bigger, then I think it would start to feel tedious to traverse and empty of content. I actually quite prefer the breezier pacing of older games, relative to modern games where NPCs have more and more dialogue all the time, and each quest must be drawn out with increasingly larger amounts of puzzles and enemy encounters.

The idea about adding back in the cut plans for the Light Temple is an intriguing one, though.

I sorta hope we don't get a Nintendo game that's just a virtual themepark like Fortnite or whatever Disney has. Those types of games really aren't fun to play, especially given how micro-transaction ridden they tend to be.

@BougieBeetle I agree!

Awful writing and embarrassing voice acting (especially Zelda) in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom aside, the bloated yet shallow world of them, packed with more (boring) stuff in the sequel-DLC Tears of the Kingdom, that also happens to include the worst alternative world I have ever played (The Depths), is not my idea of masterpieces. I played Assassin's Creed (1) and Skyrim after these games and I found both infinitely better games.

Back to your comment, I enjoy much more the older The Legend of Zelda games. I consider Ocarina of Time to have a perfectly round story, the best storytelling in the whole series; featuring enjoyable exploration and memorable dungeons and characters. Although I get why some people dislike Majora's Mask, it is the most immersive and has the best side quests and characters in the series, with music as great as Ocarina of Time. Skull Kid is probably the most interesting character Nintendo has ever made. As I mentioned earlier, I consider Twilight Princess the most perfect Zelda game and somehow the most perfect Nintendo game. I didn't hate The Wind Waker when everybody hated it, but I don't love it like many people do now. It's very bare-bones in terms of content and locations and sailing the world is extremely boring, which is why the Wii U version takes care of that. I think that Skyward Sword has some great dungeons and one (yes, one) great song, but overall is mediocre and has the worst (repeated) boss. In few words, my favourites are Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. I wouldn't mind Nintendo remaking them in 4K60 and slightly improving the mechanics, but not filling them with questionable content nor toning them down.

it sounds like GameFreak was hacked and a bunch of details about upcoming games is being leaked

@skywake From what it seems like the leaker apparently isn’t going to leak anything from the upcoming titles outside of codenames. It’s being kept to mostly pokemon youtubers who are keeping it all private out of fear of Nintendo striking them down.

@VoidofLight
The leaker shared a screenshot which included the name of an employee. Presumably the one who's credentials they phished to gain access to these assets. So I'm not sure I would be going around trusting their ability to keep things quiet

@skywake I mean it would be interesting if they don’t keep their word- but at the current they’re saying they aren’t going to leak any of the new games.

@VoidofLight
They're now saying they will release more information. This is starting to sound like classic data extortion type dealeo. Say pay up or we'll release it online. When they don't budge release some of the low value stuff. Then when they still refuse escalate

Complete scumbag, I'm not at all surprised. As fun as it is to see what's essentially years worth of news happen all at once we need to remember that people who do this kind of thing are criminals

@skywake Ahh, yeah it’s beginning to look like this guy is extorting the situation. Hate that they doxxed actual employees, even if it’s cool to see a ton of beta content from games past.

Yeah, that sucks. Why would anyone go out of their way to dox employees’s personal info at game freak? What do they get out of it? Those people didn’t do anything, they simply go to work, get paid, go home. Yeah, go ahead and leak concept art of Pokemon Ruby and sapphire, whatever. Actual employees’ info though? Too far