Well, they're the Nintendo subsidiary that people online seem to want to make a future Legend of Zelda game, but would they do a good job?
I like Retro Studios other games, but to be honest I'm still a bit cautious about the idea of them making a proper Legend of Zelda game. On the bright side, I think it'd get these things right:
1. The open world, sandbox game type experience. If any part of Nintendo seems willing to let you look around and not get railroaded into an overly linear plot, it's probably Retro. Maybe as someone I know said, the fact they're a 'western' development studio and the general preference for games with lots of freedom to explore in the US (supposedly a reflection of the frontier days or something) might mean they'd give us a massive Hyrule to explore with plenty of things to do and see in a similar way to Skyrim or such like.
2. The technical side like graphics and music. They do really well at these things and a Zelda Wii U made by them would probably look and sound amazing. It'd probably also have a more realistic looking art style and be more marketable to a 'western' audience.
3. Difficulty. Past Retro made games were hard as nails, like the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns, so a Zelda game by them would likely be much, much more difficult than anything Aonuma and co have ever made in their entire career.
Unfortunately, there are some things they may not be able to handle, and these kind of worry me. They could easily make mistakes like:
1. Overusing gimmicks. Yes people rag on Zelda for annoying gimmicks forced into every game in recent history (boats, trains, wolf transformation, flight, masks...), but Retro have their own problems with this too. Look back at Metroid Prime for example, the latter two just threw quite... divisive gimmicks into the gameplay that may not have made the games any better. Such as the light and dark world gimmick in Echoes, or the whole Hyper Mode/Phazon stuff in Corruption. Or the rocket barrels in Donkey Kong Country Returns. It seems fairly possible Retro could make the same 'mistakes' people blame Nintendo and Aonuma for...
2. Being a bit too 'conservative' in what elements they add in/bring back. Not a problem in Metroid where they brought back pretty much everything from the original series bar maybe the music, but in Donkey Kong Country Returns they pretty much cut out absolutely everything not from the original game bar the rocket barrel, and even most of the stuff that was in the first game like the Kremlings, many other Kongs, Animal Buddies, etc. Not to mention the music while good was generally all remixes of themes from the first game.
I fear they'd do the same to the Zelda series, remove pretty much everything and everyone bar Link, Zelda and maybe Ganon, remove/change about half the items and things and end up mainly remixing music from the older games. I can almost see everyone's outrage when they say they're replacing Ganon with the Tiki Tak tribe... Or when they say that only the bow's a returning item and stuff like the hookshot, bombs, boomerang and various other items are being removed/replaced entirely.
3. Potentially throwing the story out the window. Not a bad thing for Malstrom followers and people who wish Zelda was basically home console World of Warcraft, but it's a pretty damn bad thing for longtime fans and people who actually played the earlier ones. And we all know any possible Zelda game by another party without Aonuma involvement would likely be alternate continuity or a reboot.
And combat could go both ways really, it could be really good if it actually takes advantage of Wii MotionPlus and just makes the enemies more interesting than the ones in Skyward Sword. On the other hand, it could easily be the rather cut down 'western' style of combat involving more button presses and enemies basically blindly attacking in the style of a hollywood movie, which would make it pretty dull and indistinguishable from so many mediocre action games out there. Hopefully Retro would make it the former, I just fear that it could be dumbed down into the latter.
I like Retro Studios other games, but to be honest I'm still a bit cautious about the idea of them making a proper Legend of Zelda game. On the bright side, I think it'd get these things right:
1. The open world, sandbox game type experience. If any part of Nintendo seems willing to let you look around and not get railroaded into an overly linear plot, it's probably Retro. Maybe as someone I know said, the fact they're a 'western' development studio and the general preference for games with lots of freedom to explore in the US (supposedly a reflection of the frontier days or something) might mean they'd give us a massive Hyrule to explore with plenty of things to do and see in a similar way to Skyrim or such like.
2. The technical side like graphics and music. They do really well at these things and a Zelda Wii U made by them would probably look and sound amazing. It'd probably also have a more realistic looking art style and be more marketable to a 'western' audience.
3. Difficulty. Past Retro made games were hard as nails, like the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns, so a Zelda game by them would likely be much, much more difficult than anything Aonuma and co have ever made in their entire career.
Unfortunately, there are some things they may not be able to handle, and these kind of worry me. They could easily make mistakes like:
1. Overusing gimmicks. Yes people rag on Zelda for annoying gimmicks forced into every game in recent history (boats, trains, wolf transformation, flight, masks...), but Retro have their own problems with this too. Look back at Metroid Prime for example, the latter two just threw quite... divisive gimmicks into the gameplay that may not have made the games any better. Such as the light and dark world gimmick in Echoes, or the whole Hyper Mode/Phazon stuff in Corruption. Or the rocket barrels in Donkey Kong Country Returns. It seems fairly possible Retro could make the same 'mistakes' people blame Nintendo and Aonuma for...
2. Being a bit too 'conservative' in what elements they add in/bring back. Not a problem in Metroid where they brought back pretty much everything from the original series bar maybe the music, but in Donkey Kong Country Returns they pretty much cut out absolutely everything not from the original game bar the rocket barrel, and even most of the stuff that was in the first game like the Kremlings, many other Kongs, Animal Buddies, etc. Not to mention the music while good was generally all remixes of themes from the first game.
I fear they'd do the same to the Zelda series, remove pretty much everything and everyone bar Link, Zelda and maybe Ganon, remove/change about half the items and things and end up mainly remixing music from the older games. I can almost see everyone's outrage when they say they're replacing Ganon with the Tiki Tak tribe... Or when they say that only the bow's a returning item and stuff like the hookshot, bombs, boomerang and various other items are being removed/replaced entirely.
3. Potentially throwing the story out the window. Not a bad thing for Malstrom followers and people who wish Zelda was basically home console World of Warcraft, but it's a pretty damn bad thing for longtime fans and people who actually played the earlier ones. And we all know any possible Zelda game by another party without Aonuma involvement would likely be alternate continuity or a reboot.
And combat could go both ways really, it could be really good if it actually takes advantage of Wii MotionPlus and just makes the enemies more interesting than the ones in Skyward Sword. On the other hand, it could easily be the rather cut down 'western' style of combat involving more button presses and enemies basically blindly attacking in the style of a hollywood movie, which would make it pretty dull and indistinguishable from so many mediocre action games out there. Hopefully Retro would make it the former, I just fear that it could be dumbed down into the latter.
