When picturing the Zelda franchise of today I think back to the opening cinematic sequence of Wind Waker. In the story book like narrative, the sequence describes of a time where darkness once again descended upon the land of Hyrule and the people prayed to the Golden Goddesses, in hopes that the great Hero of Time would once again appear to save the land, yet their cries were ushered toward deaf ears. The hero did not appear. The darkness descended and all hope of savior disappeared in its depths. This is the franchise of today.For almost three years Nintendo have promised Zelda fans a new edition to the franchise that will change everything they know about the series, and will possibly become an entry known as the greatest Zelda title of all time. They have made huge promises such as non-linearity and massive dungeons with nothing but rumors and their word to back it up. These promises have been huge but when they were made just a few months after the release of one the strongest Zelda titles of all time, and possibly the greatest Wii title of all time, Skyward Sword, fans were willing to take the all mighty Nintendo's word on faith alone. Now that some time has past we can appropriately look at the alleged 2014 release date and the actions of Nintendo since that promise.
Darkness has once again descended upon the land of both Zelda fans and Nintendo supporters in general. The greatly hyped release of the Nintendo Wii U system has been grossly ineffective and systems have been moving at an alarmingly slow rate. The company is losing money and in the face of two new systems from both Sony and Microsoft, the Wii U has a great battle of comparison ahead of it. To be completely honest I see the Xbox 1 as a complete failure and time bomb just waiting to explode in the face of Microsoft, and the PS4 as merely a slight improvement, but never the less it will still pose a problem for the already struggling Wii U. The only hope the system has is the promise of some huge releases such as a new Super Smash Bros., a new Pikmin, and most of all a new Zelda; none of which have been released.
Nintendo along with its fans are calling once again calling upon the Hero of Time for assistance, but this time he will not only need to save the land of Hyrule, but an entire console and the future of the Nintendo brand... but where is he? Nintendo has hyped the next Zelda game as both the savior of the console and the franchise's greatest entry, but where is this prophesied game, where is the hero of time? Nintendo has already pushed back the release date twice, and signs show that it may be pushed back again. In this time Nintendo has promised the release of a remade Wind Waker, and a new sequel to Link to the Past coming out on the 3DS, a system primarily used by young children. All of these seem as titles used to hold over fans while Nintendo realizes how long it will take to fulfill there immense promises and in the process the filler games may in fact be taking resources away from the new title.
To be completely honest, Wind Waker might be my favorite game of all time and a remake of the game does excite me, however I still understand that the underlying reason for the creation of this game is to hold back the angering crowds from ripping the company apart for its promised releases of the company's best franchises. It is dark times for both Zelda fans and Nintendo, but the Hero of Time will supposedly rise up again and save us from that darkness. I believe the new Zelda title will be as spectacular as promised and may even be the greatest game in the series, but will it be too late? Many people do not realize when looking at Wind Waker that yes eventually a hero did come but he came after the flood... after it was too late to save the majority. I hope the new Zelda title will come before the flood, otherwise it might just be a great game only purchased by a few hardcore fans, and unable to save gaming as we know it. Hurry up Nintendo... the flood is coming.
- BF
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