More good news for Zelda in America

[Nintendarse]

I think what Darunia is talking about (and what I originally imagined as Zelda GCN) is that all of the major gameplay elements of Wind Waker: the battles, the puzzles, the story, the ocean, the emotion, etc. could be done in the style of Space World 2000. Thus, imagine Wind Waker as we know it does not exist, and that Zelda 2000 is all we know. To appease OB1, I'll say that yes, certain things would seem out of place in a realistic game. However, I think that with a little imagination and inginuity that practically all of the features of Wind Waker could be replicated with a SW2000 style. Instead of fantastical wind swirls, the wind direction in SW2000 Zelda would be indicated by leaves, rain, dust, fog, Link's hair, the ruffling of Link's tunic, the direction of the clouds, the direction of sound (for those with surround sound), and all the other things we pick up on in real life which allows us to know which direction the wind is blowing simply by watching through a window (without tactile clues). Puzzle design, I might add, has very little to do with graphics. Sure, Link wouldn't dodge in the same way that he does in Wind Waker, but that hardly makes it impossible to include a dodge/counterattack move in a SW2000 Zelda. For example: Link in SSB:M has a dodge move that is quite acrobatic. Does this look somehow awkward or out of place? I think we can agree that it does not. In addition, I think that a Zelda game that attempted to realistically tackle the epic proportions of the ocean would be just as innovative as Wind Waker, just in different ways. If you're claiming graphical/emotional innovation, I think that a reflective, refractive, transluscent ocean that reacts properly to weather and time of day would create magnificent vistas that evoke just as much emotion as Wind Waker. It would simply take a lot of work to get it right. The type of commitment that Miyamoto had with Ocarina of Time. And we would have to be willing to wait several years. *Sigh* Perhaps the next generation of consoles...

That said, I'd take Wind Waker over a prettier version of Ocarina of Time any day. It's just that I don't believe that the SW2000 style is so limiting that it could not allow for several of the innovations that are included in Wind Waker.