The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

[Robin Firedrake]

Watch it here.


So Ganondorf is gonna tie Zelda to the tracks now?

[Whitefang]

If that actually happens, you will have my eternal admiration for predicting it. Of course, if Link is conducting the train, wouldn't he just stop?

[Robin Firedrake]

Epona got grabbed by bulblins. Train could be grabbed by bulblins too.

[Peanut]

Because I can't manage to create a coherent post with any logical sense of order...here are my thoughts on this aranged in no specific order...

-You've seen him on a horse. You watched him sail the seven seas on a talking boat. Now, this summer, see Link like you've never seen him before...driving a train!

-For a second there I actually thought they had done something original with Zelda and moved it from the medieval fantasy setting to an industrial revolution setting...and then as the trailer continued I realized how wrong I was for thinking this...

-I also thought for a second that maybe Nintendo had combined a game like Railroad Tycoon with Zelda which would have been...strange but at least it's different...of course it doesn't look that way at all now...

-If this is the Zelda game Reggie was refering to at last years E3...I think any shred of faith I had left in Nintendo is now officially dead and buried...

-Who thought it was a good idea to put a train in the Zelda universe? I mean who there in Nintendo took a look at The Legend of Zelda and thought "Hey you know what would be a good idea, if instead of using a boat or a horse to get around the world you used a Train." Do any of them realize that those train sections will likely be as boring as the boat sections in Wind Waker except, unlike in Wind Waker where you felt like you had a sense of freedom to explore the world around you, you're now confined to a section of tracks that can't and won't go everywhere?

-I will admit that it might be a litte unfair of me to dismiss this game based soley off of it's questionable choice of a mode of transportation...but to be quite honest I don't think I will ever be able to get over the fact that someone decided to stick a train in a Legend of Zelda game...

[Robin Firedrake]

Well maybe it means Hyrule may have moved on to steampunk. It is a very small trailer after all. Which means... Really big guns!

[Peanut]

Well maybe it means Hyrule may have moved on to steampunk. It is a very small trailer after all. Which means... Really big guns!

I don't think so...the golem thingy Link was controlling didn't look very Steampunk-esque and Zelda was still dressed in the typical Legend of Zelda medieval period clothing...which is sad really because if they did move to a steampunk universe for this one game, while I would find it to be rather odd, I would be much more interested and less hostile towards it...mostly because it would actually make sense...

[Robin Firedrake]

Quick thing I wanna say: You never know with a Zelda game. Ever. Kay? Kay. Besides, Link and Zelda always wear those clothes. They're iconic to the Zelda series. And to me, it really did look steampunk.

[Cognitive Gear]

THe only thing I can say is that everyone was really upset when they first saw Wind Waker, saying that Zelda had been ruined, that Nintendo was crazy, et cetera.....

I would have thought that people would have a little faith in Nintendo's eccentric choices by now, but I guess not. Anyways, I for one, am looking forward to this. Hopefully the train will add some interesting new puzzles to the mix.

[Robin Firedrake]

Yeah I'm thinkin' this is gonna be fun too.

[Peanut]

I watched the trailer again...and no I don't think they switched to a steampunk style...everything, except the train, looks like the same style of what you would find in a normal Zelda game...now maybe they've just hidden it in every other place around the world except the dungeon shown and the obvious castle Link is meeting Zelda in...but I really, honestly think that someone at Nintendo just decided "hey let's put a train in our next Legend of Zelda game" and that's why Link's riding a train...

THe only thing I can say is that everyone was really upset when they first saw Wind Waker, saying that Zelda had been ruined, that Nintendo was crazy, et cetera.....

I would have thought that people would have a little faith in Nintendo's eccentric choices by now, but I guess not. Anyways, I for one, am looking forward to this. Hopefully the train will add some interesting new puzzles to the mix.

I know...I know...and it probably will still end up being a rather solid game...it's just, the train seems to be so out of place...and I'm worried they are going to do what I expect them to do and not address how strange it is that a piece of industrial revolution technology managed to be built in a fantasy medieval setting.

[Robin Firedrake]

Remember the chicken cannon in TP peanut? Blame the cucoo (or whatever they're called)

[KumaruRockz]

Hehe wow.

[Shiningmonk_e]

I saw this yesterday and it looks really cool. I enjoyed the Phantom Hourglass (except the temple of course) and this looks similar. Now I just need Nintendo to announce my 1:1 motion Wii Zelda at E3. ^_^

[Scarecrow]

Oh snap, this looks awesome! I was completely unaware a new Zelda for the DS was coming out. Can't wait!

[blkmage]

I know...I know...and it probably will still end up being a rather solid game...it's just, the train seems to be so out of place...and I'm worried they are going to do what I expect them to do and not address how strange it is that a piece of industrial revolution technology managed to be built in a fantasy medieval setting.

Don't they usually, though? I mean, they explained the central game mechanic for all of their games since they started including that one item that is central to the game thing pretty well, like the Ocarina, the Wind Waker and the boat, the masks, and the turning into a werewolf (I assume). Is there a case where they haven't?

[Fantasy Dreamer]

THe only thing I can say is that everyone was really upset when they first saw Wind Waker, saying that Zelda had been ruined, that Nintendo was crazy, et cetera.....

I would have thought that people would have a little faith in Nintendo's eccentric choices by now, but I guess not. Anyways, I for one, am looking forward to this. Hopefully the train will add some interesting new puzzles to the mix.

Oh snap, this looks awesome! I was completely unaware a new Zelda for the DS was coming out. Can't wait!

Yes, and yes! I'm looking forward to it. So what if a train is a little odd for medieval time period? Its another Zelda game for DS, that in itself is awesome. And besides, its medieval fantasy with magic and stuff, so who says they can't have a steam engine? :p

And... was that a wind gun he was using!? lol

[Whitefang]

And... was that a wind gun he was using!? lol

According to what I read at ZU, it's a deku propeller. Perhaps Link can attach it to an airplane or helicopter and take off!

[Fantasy Dreamer]

According to what I read at ZU, it's a deku propeller. Perhaps Link can attach it to an airplane or helicopter and take off!

XD who knows? Maybe he attaches it to his train and it becomes a heliocopter! XD

[Robin Firedrake]

What are ZU Whitefang?

[Whitefang]

ZU are http://www.zeldauniverse.net/

I would highly recommend not perusing the forum, unless you like shaking your head a lot.

[Robin Firedrake]

Mmmkay.

[Nate]

I'm calling it now.

I bet twenty bucks the train will be named "Epona."

[goldenspines]

I'm going to hope for the best on this one, because like Cognitive said, we all thought Windwaker was going to be awful, but it totally wasn't.
This actually looks pretty awesome. I like Link's new outfit while he's driving the train(and yes, that matters). XD

And, as long as the game doesn't have the never-ending temple of doom like in PH, I will be content.

[Robin Firedrake]

The new Epona.

[Jingo Jaden]

I am not jumping up and down because of this. Although I liked Wind waker, the sailing part got a bit boring at times. Looks like the same deal with the train, but I will say this. If they use it right, it could potentially become alot of fun.

[Nate]

At any rate I didn't buy Phantom Hourglass, nor will I ever, and unless this one makes some decent changes to Zelda I won't be getting it.

[Whitefang]

At any rate I didn't buy Phantom Hourglass, nor will I ever, and unless this one makes some decent changes to Zelda I won't be getting it.

I'm going to have to revoke your Nintendo fanboy badge, assuming you have one.

Sorry, Nate. We can't have everyone thinking for themselves, now, can we?

[Scarecrow]

At any rate I didn't buy Phantom Hourglass, nor will I ever, and unless this one makes some decent changes to Zelda I won't be getting it.

Why, what was wrong with it? The controls? Or just tired of the same old story basically retold and repackaged?

[Dante]

Stares... every new Zelda game torments me. It torments me in a way that makes me want to go out and create my own and send it to Nintendo just to add a change in flavor to the game. I couldn't repackage games like they do. Its... Its just wrong! I mean, the original Nintendo was ORIGINAL and that's what made it great. Zelda was cool because it differed. Legend of Gaia was in and of itself fun because IT also differed the storyline, characters and what not... but I've fallen off the console wagon as of late because Nintendo just repacks the same stuff over again, and PS3 costs too much and the XBOX 360 is microsoft... which means that its like playing your PC on a television screen (or so it felt when I played Halo).

This is sad. RIP Link. May Gannon kill you and bring mercy upon us all.

[Nate]

I'm going to have to revoke your Nintendo fanboy badge, assuming you have one.

I thought that got revoked when I said the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess was better than the Wii version. :O

Why, what was wrong with it? The controls? Or just tired of the same old story basically retold and repackaged?

Well, a couple of things. I won't diss the controls, because I haven't played it and I hear from people who have that the controls are very intuitive and work well, although I don't like the idea of having to use the stylus to move (Sonic Chronicles did this and it was terrible). So I won't say I don't like those. I don't have an opinion on that.

I have two major problems, and one minor one. I'll get the minor one out of the way. What did everyone hate about Wind Waker? That's right, the sailing. So of course, Nintendo listened to our complains and got rid of it, or at least made it less boring, right? Nope, they threw all the letters into a giant fire and laughed as they gave us more sailing.

Here's the two major ones. The first one is that Zelda games now go through the motions of being a Zelda game. I realized this in a Dr. McNinja comic, when he uses a torch to light two other torches, opening a door. The alt text on it read, "Zelda, I challenge you to make a game without this puzzle." That's when it hit me. Sure the dungeon layouts are different, but they're the same puzzles. Light this torch. Push this onto a switch. Hit a thing with your boomerang. Twilight Princess and Wind Waker changed things up a bit, like using the Iron Boots to walk on walls and being carried by a magnet, or the Grappling Hook which was surprisingly NOT a ripoff of the Hookshot.

Phantom Hourglass just from the looks of it seems to be a Zelda game that "goes through the motions" without adding anything new or interesting.

The second major problem I have with Zelda is the uninspired boss fights. See, boss fights used to be interesting. I've said this in another thread, but I'll say it again.

Boss fights in the new Zelda games are hideous. They follow the same pattern. Use dungeon item, attack, wait, use dungeon item, attack, wait, so on. I'm tired of getting a dungeon treasure and going "Well guess I need this to beat the boss!" Some might say "ALL ZELDA GAMES DO THAT." No, they don't. Let's take, for example, my favorite Zelda game. Link to the Past.

1. Armos Knights (dungeon treasure: Bow) - Yes, but only for the red one, the blue ones can be beaten without it.
2. Lanmolas (dungeon treasure: Power Glove) - Nope
3. Moldorm (dungeon treasure: Moon Pearl) - Nope
4. Helmasaur King (dungeon treasure: Magic Hammer) - You can use bombs to destroy his helmet too, so no
5. Arrghus (dungeon treasure: Hookshot) Yes
6. Mothula (dungeon treasure: Fire Rod) - It helps, but not necessary, so no
7. Blind (dungeon treasure: Titan Mitt) - No
8. Kholdstare (dungeon treasure: Blue Mail) - No
9. Vitreous (dungeon treasure: Cane of Somaria) - No
10. Trinexx (dungeon treasure: Mirror Shield) - No

Not including Agahnim at Hyrule Castle (there is no dungeon treasure in that level) or the rematch against him at Ganon's Tower (which the dungeon treasure is the Red Mail).

So tell me. How many bosses in that list used the dungeon item to fight the boss? TWO. Out of ten that REQUIRE the item, and a couple where it's helpful but unnecessary.

Using the dungeon item to fight the boss is lazy, lazy, LAZY game design. There is zero excuse for it, the only reason we allow Nintendo to get away with it is because it's Nintendo.

So until they can get back to unique ideas and not lazy dungeon and boss design, I have no interest in purchasing another Zelda game.

Also, I heard that temple was a load of crap in a hat.